Blue
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- Mar 19, 2019
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RBs Jordan Wilkins, Jonathan Williams and Nyheim Hines
- Last game: Wilkins (Week 10) — 3 carries, 20 yards (6.7 avg.) — 2.0 FP | Williams — 13 carries, 116 yards (8.9 avg.), 1 catch (1 target), 31 yards (31.0 avg.) — 15.2 FP | Hines — 3 carries, 11 yards (3.7 avg.), 3 catches (4 targets), 24 yards (8.0 avg.), 1 total TD — 11.0 FP
- FantasyPros Week 12 Position Rank: Williams RB26, Hines RB38 and Wilkins RB49
- Texans vs. RBs: 16th (18.5 FPPG)
With Mack out, the Colts' backfield is a bit of a mystery this week. I can't pretend to tell you definitively how the backfield touches will be distributed. Mack was their bellcow, but they have plenty of reason to give any amount of touches to Wilkins, Williams and Hines.
Some things that we do know: Wilkins and Williams will split the early-down work that was typically Mack's role. This likely extends to short-yardage and goal-line carries. Williams has the hot hand, and Wilkins is in his first game back from an ankle injury. However, Wilkins has been Mack's backup for two seasons now. Next, Hines' role as the passing-down back will likely remain the same, although he will likely still get some carries per usual. If you are in a PPR league, Hines seems like the safest bet, as he has at least three catches in 7-of-10 games this season, including three games with four catches and a game with six. He has also had at least two targets in every game.
The best source for information on the backfield is from the man who calls the offensive plays himself, head coach Frank Reich:
“Yeah, that is more than likely how it will play out. Jonathan and Jordan will kind of split that role (Mack's role). But we love Nyheim running the ball as well. You guys have seen, we are not afraid to leave him in there on first and second down. There are times that we do that and there are certain runs we want him in there on. So that is kind of a week-to-week play-by-play situation. We will miss Marlon obviously. He is having a great year, but I feel very confident in all three of those guys.”
“..I mean everyone knows Marlon has been having this incredible year, but if you are going to lose him for however long we are going to lose him for it is nice we are coming off a game where Jonathan plays the way he played. Everybody knows how much confidence we have in Jordan and of course Nyheim, I mean we all love Nyheim and we know what he can do. So it is crazy to think that you can lose a player of Marlon’s caliber and still feel like, ‘Okay, we are going to miss him, but we’re good.’ We are good. These guys behind him are really good players.”
The Texans have given up some big fantasy performances to running backs this season — and they've really struggled in this area since losing Watt for the year — including Alvin Kamara's 169 yards on 20 touches, Christian McCaffrey's 179 yards and a touchdown on 37 touches, Devonta Freeman's 70 yards and a touchdown on 16 touches, Mark Ingram II's 85 yards and two touchdowns on 16 touches, and Gus Edwards' 112 yards and a touchdown on eight touches.
Running backs are the way to go on TNF, as teams' lead running backs this season average 12.4 fantasy points per game (visiting running backs average 12.5).
Week 7 statline: Wilkins — 2 carries for 9 yards (4.5 avg.), 1 catch (1 target) for 6 yards — 2.0 FP | Hines — 1 carry for 3 yards, 1 catch (2 targets) for 13 yards — 2.1 FP | Williams — DNP