We didn’t give you the highest scoring RB on the slate in Week 3. And that’s primarily because it was a 2nd string RB with only one career carry that ended up leading the board in fantasy points. And “oh by the way”, he was 0.27% owned in the millionaire maker GPP’s. So if you rostered De’Von Achane then I tip my cap and hope you won money. For our other plays, we hit on five of the top ten RB’s with the best play being Kenneth Walker III.

This week looks to be an uphill climb for RB’s as there are several tough spots for some of the higher priced backs. But we have a few angles and plays we’re looking at that can hopefully help you bust the slate and turn your screen GREEN!

Please check out Stix’s weekly projections when evaluating NFL DFS using the NFL Projection Model. It’s the best predictive tool on the market and will give you a competitive advantage against the competition! Also, remember to check out the NFL Pre Lock Show on Sunday at 11am on YouTube.

Each week I highlight my favorite ten RB’s and break them up into Tiers (Tier 1 = $7K above, Tier 2 = $6K to $7K, Tier 3 = below $6K). So, let’s get started with the top ten running backs of Week 3 in the NFL.

TIER 1 DFS RUNNING BACKS

CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY $9200 DraftKings $9400 FanDuel

McCaffrey has been an every down back for the 49ers this season. So far this year, Christian McCaffrey has 81% of the snaps. He also has a total of 71 touches which is 2nd most in the NFL. Outside of Austin Ekeler, who has only played one game this season, the 49ers RB has averaged the most points for RB’s in the league at 25.6.

While those numbers have been great, the better news this week is he faces an Arizona team that allows the 6th most points to RB’s in 2023. So far this season, they’ve allowed an average of 23 touches per game to RB1’s. And here’s what it has looked like so far:

• Week 1: Brian Robinson – 13.6 DK points, 1 TD, 20 touches
• Week 2: Saquon Barkley – 27.2 DK points, 2 TDs, 23 touches
• Week 3: Tony Pollard – 18.10 DK points, 0 TDs, 26 touches

I don’t love paying a steep price like this for RB’s. But this is a good game environment as Arizona has proven they can stay in games and even beat some of the “elite” teams in the NFL. The volume will be there and the opportunity to create positive plays will also be in McCaffrey’s favor. You can build your lineup around CMAC with value plays at WR. So, he’s in my player pool and has a realistic chance at 30+ fantasy points this week.

JOSH JACOBS $7100 DraftKings $9000 FanDuel

The Raiders are once again a floundering team that has no sail or direction. Last year’s top RB, Josh Jacobs, has been underutilized seeing an average of 18 touches per game (he averaged 23.1 touches per game in 2022). It’s just another example of Josh McDaniel failing at the head coaching position.

But he has a chance to get it right this week as the Raiders get to face the 29th ranked defense according to DVOA in the LA Chargers. And LA has allowed the 5th most points in the league as they’ve played three games over the total in 2023. And looking back at 2022, Jacobs totaled 201 rushing yards against the Chargers. But more importantly, he averaged 5.6 ypc.

With Garoppolo likely out with an injury, the Raiders gameplan should feature Jacobs. So that bodes well for the NFL’s leading rusher of a year ago to finally get the consistent reps and push towards his first big game of the year. This is a very high ceiling, and one that could mirror that of McCaffrey but for $2100 less.

TIER 2 DFS RUNNING BACKS

RAHEEM MOSTERT $6500 DraftKings $8000 FanDuel

Scoring 70 points in an NFL is unheard of. Having your RBs score eight of your teams ten touchdowns is literally unbelievable. But those two occurrences did happen last week when the Dolphins beat the Broncos by a score of 70-20. In that game Raheem Mostert and DeVon Achane ended up as the top two RBs of the weekend accounting for a combined 95 fantasy points.

With Jeff Wilson out, the backfield is primarily Mostert’s. While his snap total last week was only 51% that was more based on game script. In Week’s 1 and 2, Mostert had a 73% snap count and 66% touch rate. This week he faces the Bills which has one of the highest totals on the board. The Bills will be focused on limiting Tyreek Hill and the Dolphins explosive passing game which should open up room for Mostert. Also take into account that the Dolphins lead RB has 10 receptions in the first three games.

JAMES COOK $6300 DraftKings $7000 FanDuel

James Cook has been everything the Bills hoped for and more as he’s rushed for an average of 6.1 ypc so far this season. And he’s been very active in the passing game totaling ten catches in the first three weeks of action. The only blemish on Cook’s resume so far is his lack of touchdowns. Latavius Murray, Damien Harris and Josh Allen have reaped the benefits of goal line carries leaving Cook with 0 TDs. But that’s not sustainable for a back with this talent and once he hits the endzone he will surely break the slate.

His opponent this week, the Miami Dolphins are ranked 26th in rushing defense DVOA. The Phins have allowed 390 yards rushing, 7th most in the NFL, as well as four rushing TD’s, 5th most in the league. They’ve also allowed the 9th highest fantasy points to RB’s as we saw Austin Ekeler put up 29 DK points against this defense.

RHAMONDRE STEVENSON $6200 DraftKings $6900 FanDuel

How about them ‘Boys! The Arizona Cardinals not only won the game against Dallas last week, but they dominated the line of scrimmage. The Cards ran for 222 yards on 40 carries registering a 7.4 ypc. Based on that performance, the Cowboys now sit at 30th in the league in yards per carry at 5.3. They’ve also slipped to 20th in rushing defense DVOA. And this wasn’t against a highly ranked offensive line in Arizona.

So I urge you not to just look at the matchup as a dangerous one as Arizona already taught us how to attack Dallas. As for Stevenson, he has a 70% usage rate and NE is targeting RB’s in the passing game at a 17.1% clip. He is also the primary goal line back so that’s a bonus when considering the NE running back.

ZACK MOSS $6000 DraftKings $6400 FanDuel

It’s hard to ignore any back that gets 32 touches in a week. Especially one that is priced at $6000 and has a good matchup ahead. Zack Moss looks to be it in the Indy backfield as he’s had a 90% snap share the last two weeks. The only back that has touched the ball besides Moss is Trey Sermon who was just signed onto the team two weeks ago.

This week he faces the Rams and will likely have Anthony Richardson back under center. That will bode well for the run game as Richardson’s threat of running will open up holes for Moss. Additionally, Indy’s O-Line ranks fourth in the NFL with a 90.8 run block grade. As for the Rams, they are ranked 29th in rushing defense DVOA and have already allowed a big game to Christian McCaffrey. This is a juicy matchup and one I will be heavily invested in.

TIER 3 DFS RUNNING BACKS (VALUE TIER)

ALEXANDER MATTISON $5800 DraftKings $7600 FanDuel

I had Mattison in my core plays last week and he paid off with his best game of the season racking up 17.5 DK points. The fear of Cam Akers is not real, yet, as Mattison had 80% of the snaps and 83.3% of the touches.

This week is another good matchup for the Vikings RB as the Panthers have allowed the 5th most rushing yards in the NFL. And according to DVOA, they have the 32nd ranked rush defense. So it’s still safe to use Mattison until he fumbles away his lead role. And barring turnovers or injury, he should pop this week for a big game in Carolina.

JAVONTE WILLIAMS DraftKings $5500 FanDuel $6100

Javonte Williams didn’t get the opportunities last week due to a classic bad game script. The Dolphins boat-raced the Broncos which left Denver to abandon the run game early. That should be different this week as their opponent is one of the four winless teams in the NFL and the game script should be much better for the Broncos RB.

The Bears have a very bad defense ranking 30th in defensive DVOA. They are also a mess offensively but should be able to put up points against a Denver D that last in total defense DVOA. This is a perfect script for a high-scoring game and one I recommend being heavily invested in this week. And that starts with a very affordable RB option that has a high ceiling in Javonte Williams.

JAYLEN WARREN DraftKings $5000 FanDuel $6100

Running Backs are in play anytime they face the Houston Texans. For one, the Texans are allowing the 7th most fantasy points to RB’s this season. And for two, they own the 31st ranked rushing defense according to DVOA.

Warren is my wild-card play of the week as he won’t standout on any charts and will likely have an ownership value of 2% or less. But at this point, it’s the eye test that does it for me as Warren looks much more dynamic than his counterpart, Najee Harris. And in Week 3, we saw Warren get 45% of the snaps which resulted in 8.2 fantasy points. The other key ingredient to this is that Warren has 12 receptions on the season so he is targeted heavily and thrives from Pickett’s inability to throw downfield.

RB PROP BETS

WILL BE UPDATED ON FRIDAY

Now that you finished reading the NFL DFS RUNNING BACK REPORT article make sure to check out our YouTube Channel for constant content for every game and slate in the NFL this season and hop in our Discord Expert Chat.

Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@dgloeck) and my other content that is part of the WinDailySports family.