Nobody has a more stacked lineup of fantasy analysts and NFL team reporters than ESPN. It's the rare backfield by committee that's actually a good thing for fantasy managers. Every Tuesday, we'll ask our NFL Nation reporters a series of burning questions to help inform your waiver-wire pickups and roster decisions.
One of the fantasy themes that emerged in Week 6: a changing of the guard in backfield timeshares.
D'Andre Swift and Phillip Lindsay made compelling cases to become the leading men in Detroit and Denver, respectively. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ronald Jones II and the Los Angeles Rams' Darrell Henderson Jr. are making cases to do away with timeshares altogether.
Here is a look at some running backs on the rise -- and whether they can sustain their gains:
Ronald Jones II, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It didn't look great for Jones' chances to finally emerge as a No. 1 back when the Bucs added both Leonard Fournette and LeSean McCoy shortly before the season. But Jones has finally broken through in a big way with three straight 100-yard rushing games while Fournette has been dealing with an ankle injury.
Buccaneers reporter Jenna Laine wrote a great story last week on Jones' climb from the "cellar" as a seldom-used rookie in 2018 to now, when coach Bruce Arians is complimenting his growth in the offense.
As Laine has consistently pointed out, Jones is still a work in progress in the passing game. And the Buccaneers like the idea of using Fournette as a power runner against worn-out defenses in the fourth quarter. But the way Jones is wearing out defenses himself right now makes it hard to envision him ceding too many touches when Fournette returns. And Laine said the team won't rush Fournette back.
"I don't have any trouble handing it to him 20-25 times and throwing it to him five or six. He can handle that load," Arians said.
Darrell Henderson Jr., Los Angeles Rams
This has been one of the more frustrating backfields to project for most of the season -- and this past week was no exception.
As Rams reporter Lindsey Thiry pointed out, Rams coach Sean McVay seemed impressed when rookie RB Cam Akers returned from a rib injury in Week 5 and ran for 61 yards on nine carries. McVay even went so far as to say, "I think you can expect his workload to increase next week against the 49ers."
Then, as Thiry said, "fast-forward to Week 6, and Akers did not have a touch and played only one snap."
Meanwhile, Henderson continued to lead the team with 14 carries for 88 yards on 32 snaps. And veteran Malcolm Brown had two carries for 4 yards and three catches for 18 yards on 27 snaps.
"So what will the Rams' backfield look like moving forward?" Thiry said. "It seems safe to say that Henderson has proved himself as a starter and significant contributor and Brown has a steady role -- especially on third downs -- while Akers must make up for lost time and provide a sound reminder in his next opportunity that he is capable of being a big-time playmaker who shouldn't be left on the sideline."
Phillip Lindsay, Denver Broncos
The third-year pro returned from a Week 1 toe injury and made the most of his opportunity with 23 carries for 101 yards while leading rusher Melvin Gordon III was sidelined with strep throat.
Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold said it will be a "shared job" going forward. But he suggested Lindsay could carve out a significant role, since his explosiveness has been missed. Legwold said the team likes the way Lindsay pops to the hole quickly, because the offensive line struggles at times in the middle of the formation. On top of that, Gordon was recently arrested for DUI, which could lead to a multigame suspension if he doesn't appeal it into next season.
"Gordon has apologized for his DUI arrest. But the team is certainly not happy, and they have enough struggles on offense without having to worry how he fits in the run game, too," Legwold said. "There were concerns even before the arrest, given that Gordon had 19 carries over the first four games of the season for either no gain or negative yardage. He does still lead the team at 4.3 yards per carry -- but take his 43-yard touchdown run in the closing minute against a battered Jets team out of the mix and his per carry is 3.7."
D'Andre Swift, Detroit Lions
This was arguably the most exciting breakout of the week (14 carries for 116 yards and two TDs, three catches for 7 yards). We've been waiting to see the Lions lean more on their rookie RB's big-play potential. And Lions reporter Michael Rothstein correctly projected in this column two weeks ago that fantasy managers dropping Swift were "jumping ship too soon."
However, Rothstein has also stressed all year that the timeshare won't go away in Detroit, where veteran Adrian Peterson also had 15 carries for 40 yards and a TD Sunday and one catch for 18 yards.
"Remember, almost half of Swift's yards (54 of them) came on one run," Rothstein said. "It's probably closer to a 50-50 split now -- Swift had two more snaps than Peterson against Jacksonville -- and Swift is still the back to roster in PPR leagues. But the Lions aren't going to abandon Peterson. And which back receives more work could be very, very matchup-dependent."
J.D. McKissic, Washington Football Team
You would've thought that rookie runner/receiver Antonio Gibson's role would increase each week, especially if the struggling team turns an eye toward the future. Instead, fifth-year pro McKissic is the one who keeps getting more touches, including eight carries for 41 yards and six catches for 43 yards Sunday.
"Who the heck knows," Washington reporter John Keim said of the expected split going forward. "They still like Gibson quite a bit but acknowledge how much he still has to learn while transitioning from a college receiver. His 13 touches Sunday were his third-fewest of the season. He does show growth, and at some point I think he'll be good. But whether that's as a complementary piece or lead back remains to be seen.
"McKissic's 14 touches Sunday were a season high and likely were as much a byproduct of him having more success (in that given game). He's a more elusive runner and more polished overall. But I think this will be a game-by-game basis as far as their usage."
La'Mical Perine, New York Jets
Jets reporter Rich Cimini gave great advice in this column last week, suggesting rookie Perine would be a potential sleeper pickup in the event that Le'Veon Bell was eventually released. Unfortunately, Bell got traded even before the weekly waiver deadline in most leagues -- so Perine wasn't a sleeper for long.
Veteran Frank Gore got more touches than Perine on Sunday (Gore had 11 carries for 46 yards and four catches for 24 yards, while Perine had 7-27 and 2-9). But Perine played significantly more snaps (41-25). And Cimini said the plan was actually to give Perine twice as many carries as Gore -- something he expects to see going forward.
"I think the front office wants to play the young guys, so Perine's role should grow," Cimini said. "They also like Ty Johnson because of his speed, so maybe he will get a few carries."
Here is the rest of our weekly tour around the NFL:
Mike Davis, Carolina Panthers
Don't expect any timeshare dilemmas whenever Christian McCaffrey returns from his ankle injury. As Panthers reporter David Newton said in fantasy analyst Mike Clay's 32 questions post last week, McCaffrey rarely leaves the field -- and that won't change despite Davis' strong play in his absence.
Newton said it's possible the Panthers could design more plays with both of them on the field at the same time and McCaffrey lining up as a receiver.
"But not to the point that I could envision more than 6-10 touches a game for Davis," Newton said. "Mike Davis was such an emergency option that I dropped him before Week 2 because he barely got on the field until McCaffrey was injured. As good as Davis has been while McCaffrey has been on IR, he'll still be more of an emergency back to stash instead of a viable scoring option."
Darren Fells, Houston Texans
Fells has now had two double-digit fantasy scoring weeks in a row. But he just set his career high with 85 yards on six catches Sunday -- in the 97th game of his career, including the playoffs. So it should come as little surprise that Texans reporter Sarah Barshop doesn't expect this to start a trend.
"Fells' performance came in part because Jordan Akins (concussion/ankle) has not played the past two games," Barshop said. "Fells is a trusted red zone target for quarterback Deshaun Watson, but it's hard to trust Fells to be a difference-maker when Akins is healthy given how Watson spreads the ball around."
Keelan Cole Sr., Jacksonville Jaguars
We have probably been guilty of shortchanging the fourth-year receiver Cole while discussing the breakout potential of fellow Jaguars DJ Chark Jr. and Laviska Shenault Jr. But Cole now leads the team in both receptions and receiving yards this season after catching six balls for 143 yards Sunday. Jaguars reporter Michael DiRocco agreed that makes all three of them fantasy-relevant -- but hurts all of their chances of being fantasy standouts.
"What's helping is the Jaguars are falling behind early and by multiple scores, so they're forced to abandon the run to try and catch up," DiRocco said. "Cole has actually been more of a downfield threat than Chark, but that's partly because Chark has been dealing with ankle and chest/back injuries. If Chark gets healthy, then it's sort of a crap shoot as to which guy will be the top target each week, which does make the Jaguars' receivers low-end starters."
Anthony Firkser, Tennessee Titans
Speaking of unexpected performances from a tight end, Firkser had eight catches for 113 yards Sunday. His previous career highs were four and 52. However, Titans reporter Turron Davenport did point out that Firkser caught TD passes against the Patriots and Chiefs last year.
"Firkser has sticky hands and uses great leverage on his routes, making him a tough player to cover," Davenport said. "However, it would be wise to stay away from him in fantasy because of inconsistencies. Also, starting tight end Jonnu Smith could return from his ankle injury on Sunday."
Buffalo Bills
If you didn't understand why the Bills were interested in signing Bell after he was released by the Jets already, then Monday night's game certainly drove home the point. Second-year pro Devin Singletary ran the ball 10 times for 32 yards and caught one pass for 13 yards, while rookie Zack Moss returned from a toe injury with five carries for 10 yards.
"That Bills coach Sean McDermott was willing to publicly confirm the team's interest in Le'Veon Bell means one of two things: either Buffalo wanted to send a message to its two young running backs, or this staff is currently not happy with the production it's seeing out of its backfield. The latter seems more likely to be true," Bills reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques said.
"The Bills rank 27th in the league in rushing yards per game after finishing eighth in 2019. With the backfield to himself over the past three games, Singletary was averaging just 3.9 yards per carry despite averaging 5.1 as a rookie last season. Singletary has still been somewhat fantasy relevant, if not touchdown-dependent, during that span. But it would be hard to trust either back as things currently stand in Buffalo."
Kansas City Chiefs
Even before rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran wild for 161 yards on 26 carries Monday, Chiefs reporter Adam Teicher insisted that Kansas City's signing of Bell was not an indictment on the first-round draft pick. Teicher wrote -- and continues to believe -- that the Chiefs are simply a Super Bowl-caliber team that wanted to make sure it had enough depth to last into February if needed, since they "had no proven insurance for Edwards-Helaire, himself still something of an unknown."
"I don't think Monday's game changed much. I still think there's going to be a role for both -- and probably a significant role for both," Teicher said. "But I'm not sure that even the Chiefs have a solid idea yet on how this might go, so this will likely be an evolving situation."