Week 11 Waiver Wire Running Back Priority List | Selecting Between Ty Chandler, Rico Dowdle, Latavius Murray, Elijah Mitchell and Ezekiel Elliott
It’s crazy to think the NFL season is past the halfway point now. That means the fantasy football regular season is just about over and the postseason is nearing.
With that in mind, let’s try and find you a waiver wire running back that could help you make a postseason push.
We already took a look at some quarterbacks, and we’ll touch on the wide receivers and tight ends later, so check back for those articles.
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The Top Running Backs
There aren't a ton of options out there under 50%, but we will discuss Minnesota Vikings’ Ty Chandler, Dallas Cowboys’ Rico Dowdle, Buffalo Bills’ Latavius Murray, San Francisco 49ers’ Elijah Mitchell and New England Patriots’ Ezekiel Elliott.
Chandler was an afterthought in the Vikings’ offense just two weeks ago. An injury to Cam Akers vaulted Chandler into the No. 2 back role, and then Alexander Mattison was injured, which allowed Chandler to produce his best game of the season in week 10.
Chandler rushed 15 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. He played 32 offensive snaps, which topped his previous high by 20.
The second-year back was serving a secondary role to Mattison before the lead back’s injury, but Chandler was still on the field, and his touchdown came before Mattison left. That alone should have shown fantasy owners that Chandler was going to be more involved than we thought the rest of the season. The injury to Mattison opens up the possibility for Chandler to start in week 11, and then after that, he should have a decent offensive role, even as the No. 2 guy.
Dowdle is the No. 2 back in Dallas, but hadn’t gotten much work going into week 11. He received 12 carries in the team’s blowout win over the New York Giants, and made a case that he needs to be played and utilized more.
Dowdle ran for 79 yards and a touchdown on his 12 attempts. He played 22 offensive snaps, which was just one off his season high.
Dallas lead back Tony Pollard has struggled to get going this season, so Dowdle might see an uptick in carries moving forward. I wrote a ton about Dowdle on Monday, so be sure to check that story out.
Murray had his best game of the season on Monday night against the Denver Broncos. He rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown on nine carries. Murray also caught two of his three targets, but for only 1 yard.
Murray played 28 offensive snaps, which has been right around what he’s averaged over the past five weeks. Buffalo lead back James Cook also had a strong night, with 109 yards on 12 carries and 11 receiving yards on two catches and targets, but he did fumble twice and only played 25 offensive snaps.
This is a situation we’ve been monitoring for a while now, and this game could be the tipping point. With the Bills’ offense struggling, maybe they start using Murray a bit more.
One thing to note is that Leonard Fournette is on the team’s practice squad. He’s served as a workhorse back in the past and could be turned to soon if the offense continues to sputter.
Mitchell really hasn’t done much of anything this season, but because we are lacking a ton of options, I want to throw his name out there.
He’s the top backup to Christian McCaffrey, who is going to dominate the snaps and touches every week. If McCaffrey were to get dinged up, which he already has been this season, Mitchell would be the top waiver wire back for the ensuing week. If none of the other backs in this discussion interest you, maybe you simply take a chance on Mitchell.
Mitchell did get eight carries in week 10, but that was in a lopsided win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Only one carry came before the fourth quarter.
Elliott barely fits in the discussion, as his own percentage is exactly 50% according to our charts.
He’s been pretty consistently involved all season in New England, with five or more touches in every contest and four games with double-digit touches.
Zeke has only two games under 30 scrimmage yards and has four games over 40 scrimmage yards. He’s also scored twice.
He’s the top backup to Rhamondre Stevenson, but has a pretty defined role. With the lack of really good waiver wire options available, you could take a chance on Elliott and get a couple extra fantasy points a week by starting him. He would get a boost if the team could get more consistent quarterback play.
The Priority List
We will break this section down into two parts - first, taking a look at the best streaming options for week 11, and then determining the best long-term fantasy players of the bunch.
The Patriots are on a bye week this coming week, so Elliott is out as a streaming option. Chandler and Dowdle have favorable matchups on paper, while Murray has an average one and Mitchell a really tough one.
The Broncos’ defense has been better of late, but still rank as the worst defense against opposing running backs. That’s a good thing for Chandler, especially if he gets the start against Denver. He is the clear top streaming option of this group of backs.
Even though Dowdle’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers is an easier one than Murray’s clash with the New York Jets, I’d still take Murray as the better streaming option because of his workload. The only way Dowdle has gotten a lot of work this year is when they’ve crushed opponents - which could happen against the Panthers, but that’s hard to predict.
That leaves Mitchell for the last streaming option. He doesn’t get many touches, and he’s facing an elite Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense, so I’d avoid him unless McCaffrey were to miss the contest.
As for the long-term fantasy options, I’m still liking Chandler the best of the bunch. He appeared to have a sizable role even before Mattison went down, and I think that will continue the rest of the season too.
Elliott would be my next choice here. He doesn’t really dazzle anymore, but he gets consistent work and can contribute to your fantasy team in a pinch.
Murray is closely behind Elliott for similar reasons. I only rank him lower because of the threat of Fournette taking over eventually.
I’d take Dowdle over Mitchell for the last spot. Dowdle is getting more work right now, and I can’t anticipate an injury - which is how Mitchell would be more valuable. Dowdle should get more consistent playing time and usage as the season continues on.
Much like the quarterback list, this group of running backs isn’t going to turn a lot of heads. It lacks big fantasy names in today’s NFL, but still has some decent options in it.
The running back position is proving to be difficult to judge this season, so if some of the guys on your team have gone down with injuries or simply have underperformed, take a chance on one of the players in this discussion and see if you can scratch a few wins out of them.
