A couple of things as we head into Week 7. First, today's Fantasy Football for Winners podcast episode walks through preseason must-fade RBs. As subscribers know, last year three of four must-fade RBs (75%) ended up being busts. Thru Week 6 this year, six of eight (again, 75%) are busts. All of this information is contained in my annual report on high-snap RB regressions. It's based entirely on home-grown research, and it's entirely actionable. For those who are interested in learning more, today's 10-minute episode offers a detailed rundown.
Second, one of my favorite midseason topics (or really, any time of the season) is trying to anticipate which backups have good shots at starting during the fantasy playoffs. As discussed previously, "bad" teams are prime candidates for throwing in the towel and sitting their stars down the stretch. This doesn't mean it always happens. But if two teams' comparable #1 WRs have questionable tags -- one on a 10-5 team fighting for playoff positioning, and the other on a 2-13 team eyeing 2026 -- the WR on the better team is realistically more likely to take the field.
Since RBs are such huge fantasy pressure points, let's zoom in on few off-the-radar options, starting with Miami rookie Ollie Gordon II. Despite Jaylen Wright falling out of favor, Gordon has run terribly on 26 touches. Although the #2 job is still Gordon's to lose, he's not doing enough to keep it. If Wright is available in your league, and if you have an open IR spot, I'd grab him quickly and stash him just in case, because the potentially imploding 1-5 Dolphins might have no good reason to overwork De'Von Achane in December/January.
Dallas rookie Jaydon Blue couldn't look much worse, and yet the Cowboys currently have no other healthy bodies behind Javontae Williams, who's on pace for a career-high 340 touches. A prolific pass-catcher in his final collegiate season, Blue is a little-to-lose short-term stash who might still develop into a complementary 1B running back.
For the free-falling Jets -- who now will be without Garrett Wilson in the short term -- it's unreasonable to expect big things from Breece Hall unless he's traded. Either way, there's a clear path for Isaiah Davis to get 14+ touches a game. And we shouldn't forget about Braelon Allen, who's on track to return sometime in December. Both guys have three-down-back college experience, and one or both are available in nearly every league.
Finally, 29-year-old Christian McCaffrey is on pace for 436 touches. I get that he's being forced into a mega-workhorse role due to injuries. But even before the injuries, he had 31 touches in Week 1. Something has to give. Brian Robinson Jr. remains an obvious must-roster handcuff who's probably not available in your league. But Isaac Guerendo probably is available, and you could do worse than stash a proven spot-starter in a plus offense.
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