Week 14 Running Back Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Ezekiel Elliott, Dameon Pierce, Keaton Mitchell, James Cook and More

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Ezekiel Elliott, New England Patriots

The Patriots play the Steelers on Thursday Night Football and it's going to be a disaster. It would be shocking to see more than three offensive touchdowns in this game and that's even pushing it. The Pats' offense is horrendous, however, that's why you want to start Zeke this week. While he doesn't have the upside of a guy on a team that occasionally scores TDs, he is all they got so he'll see a ton of volume. Rhamondre Stevenson will not play this week due to an ankle injury suffered in Week 13, leaving almost all the touches to Zeke. This is a team that has no choice but to lean heavily on their backs because they can't throw the ball at all. Elliott should see more than 20 carries in this game and more than five targets, potentially significantly more than both. If the Pats do somehow manage to find themselves in the red zone, all those touches will be going to Elliott as well. 

Dameon Pierce, Houston Texans

Houston's backfield has been a bit of a fantasy nightmare this season when both Pierce and Devin Singletary are healthy. However, this week you should be leaning on Pierce against the New York Jets and their leaky rush defense. The Jets are allowing the seventh-most fantasy points to running backs this season and the team looks more demoralized by poor coaching and terrible quarterback play with each passing week. They do still have a tough pass defense though. The way to crush the Jets is to run it down their throats. With the Texans expected to have a comfortable lead for the majority of this game, Pierce is more likely the back to start in this offense because he is the between-the-tackles bruiser who you grind the clock down with. Last week, we saw him out-carry Singletary 15-to-8 and we expect a similar touch distribution in this one with Pierce another week removed from injury.  

Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings

Whether fantasy owners like it or not, Mattison appears to be the guy who will be leading this Vikings' backfield for the remainder of the season, although, we don't hate rolling the dice on Ty Chandler this week as well coming off a bye week. Still, last time we saw the Vikings, Mattison out-carried Chandler 10-to-4 and outproduced him in the passing game. For the first time in a long time, he was also more efficient than Chandler on the ground, averaging 5.2 yards per carry to Chandler's 2. The matchup this week for Minnesota is excellent against the lowly Las Vegas Raiders and the Vikings should have their way with them on offense. Vegas is allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. Look for Minnesota to gash them on the ground just like everybody else does. We'll go as far as to predict that Mattison will score his first rushing TD of the season in this one as well.  

Keaton Mitchell, Baltimore Ravens

This isn't about the matchup but about the player. Coming off their Week 13 bye, we expect the dynamic rookie to become much more heavily incorporated into the offense. His role was already growing week after week, and he's so clearly their most explosive playmaker, along with Zay Flowers. Baltimore will be without Mark Andrews for the remainder of the season and are going to have to find new ways to move the ball. Mitchell along with Flowers will be the stars of this new-look offense. The Keaton Mitchell era will truly start this week in Baltimore for fantasy owners. 

Sit

Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears

In most Week 14 rankings, Herbert is still ranked ahead of Roschon Johnson which we disagree with. However, we don't want to start either of them this week anyway. The Bears have a tough matchup against the Detroit Lions who have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to running backs this season When you combine a brutal matchup with volume volatility, and a mediocre rushing attack to begin with, we want nothing to do with this backfield in Week 14.  

Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks

We weren't high on Charbonnet last week and he proved us wrong in a game that the Seahawks' offense surprisingly exploded in against a tough Dallas Cowboys' defense. We are doubling down on that this week and telling you to avoid him again. This week he is coming in banged up after getting injured late in Week 13 and has another very tough matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Unless you are in dire need of a volume-based flex option, we'd leave Charbonnet on your bench this week against the 49ers, or at least temper your expectations.  

James Cook, Buffalo Bills 

Cook is one of the more frustrating fantasy backs this season and we don't want anything to do with him this week against the Kansas City Chiefs if we can help it. The Chiefs have a tough defense and Cook doesn't see enough consistent valuable touches to be a strong fantasy option. This should be a low-scoring game and Cook doesn't sniff the field anywhere near the red zone to begin with. Sure, he sees targets, but he's only seen more than four targets in a game once since Week 1. On the season, he's averaging 12.75 middle-of-the-field carries a game that he's turning into 4.8 yards per carry while only rushing for one TD. In the passing attack, he's catching 2.75 passes per game for 25.6 yards with two receiving TDs. The volume is enticing as is the offense, but that's just not good enough. The Bills' offense also just can't sustain consistent fantasy value in a back.