Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
In most fantasy football leagues, the winner of this week’s matchup will go to the championship game. There are a lot of running backs who can help lead the way to a huge win.
It’s the most crucial week of the year for four teams in fantasy football leagues across the world. The teams on bye week are back in action. The teams who won in Week 15 are now in the semifinals. It’s a crucial week as the leagues that are playing for money could guarantee themselves profit with a win this week. Last week, the top-scoring running back in fantasy was Duke Johnson. He wasn’t even on a team two weeks ago. Now, he’s deciding fantasy leagues. Ameer Abdullah is someone no fantasy owner thought they would pay a single thought on this season, but here he is making moves for the Tennessee Titans.
This week, COVID cases is wreaking havoc on the position. Dalvin Cook is out for the Minnesota Vikings. Austin Ekeler is out for the Chargers. Leonard Fournette is out for the Buccaneers, but that’s because of a hamstring injury.
There are some running backs who would usually make this list, but they are ranked way too high. James Robinson’s matchup versus the Jets has him outside of sleeper standards. Everyone thinks that Alexander Mattison is going to dominate this week. However, there are some names not everyone is keen on trusting, but you should. It could decide your league.
10 running back sleepers who you should start in fantasy football.
10. Ronald Jones – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This one is at the bottom of the list because we’re still weary to trust Ronald Jones after he hurt us so many times. Jones has been named the starter, and head coach Bruce Arians says he thinks he could have a similar impact to Fournette at the end of last season. Does Jones have that kind of performance in him?
The Bucs were dreadful last week against the Saints, getting shutout for the first time in the Tom Brady era. This week, they are taking on a Carolina Panthers team that started off really well against the run, but they haven’t been as good as of late. They’ve allowed around 24 points to the position on average over the last four weeks. The Bucs are looking to get the offense going again with Jones now the starter, Antonio Brown returning, and Chris Godwin out for the season. We expect to see a healthy dose of Jones in the beginning of the game.