Rex Burkhead (RB, NE) - Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

September 19, 2019

New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead is a fantasy football waiver wire pickup to target as a free-agent addition for Week 3 of the 2019 NFL season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

OWNED IN: 12% of leagues

ANALYSIS: We've all heard about how frustrating the New England Patriots' backfield can be for fantasy football purposes. Sometimes this backfield can be impossible to predict, so we just have to sit back and see who Bill Belichick wants to feed the ball to each week. 29-year-old Rex Burkhead is one of those RBs splitting the backfield with pass-catching specialist James White and second-year back Sony Michel.

Last week against the Dolphins, we saw the Patriots give Burkhead the ball just seven times, but he was very efficient with his touches. Burkhead had eight carries for 44 yards in Week 1 and five carries for 21 yards in Week 1, with zero total rushing touchdowns. In two games, he's totaled seven receptions on 10 targets for 88 total receiving yards. The volume isn't anything crazy, but the efficiency and just how good Burkhead looked with the ball was the most intriguing part.

While Michel is the running back in this offense that carries the most upside, White also is very solid in PPR leagues. We saw that last year as he finished as an RB1 in PPR scoring. Many owners may immediately be writing Burkhead off due to being buried on the depth chart or simply because he's in New England. However, in 2018, we saw Burkhead active in just eight games and as of now he is fully healthy and looks great when he's gotten the ball. He even spent some time running routes out of the slot, including a nice 32-yard grab last week. In 12+ team leagues, Burkhead is definitely worth stashing at the bottom of your lineups. With bye weeks approaching, he may end up being a nice fill-in option, and of course, there's always the upside that comes if something would happen to Michel or White.