Shawn Siegele examines the RB position and recommends some of forward-looking moves to keep your bench loaded with potential impact players down the line.
I have to start by apologizing for the slight delay again this week. I got lost in the Passing Game Matchup Explorer and the Advanced Team Stat Explorer as I was preparing for our Friday recording of Stealing Bananas. These new tools from Dave Caban are extraordinary, and you can go down the rabbit hole only to emerge hours later. Many of the actionable notes in this piece will come from the Advanced Team Explorer.
Mostert Starting to Take Control in Miami?
Thursday night’s marquee matchup between the Bengals and Dolphins was marred by Tua Tagovailoa’s injury, but the subsequent news on his condition has been at least mildly upbeat.
At the RB position we got more of the same from the Bengals, as Joe Mixon carried 24 times for 61 yards and caught four passes for 13. Mixon came into the week leading the league in RB EP at over 22 a game, but mired at -9.2 FPOE. Although Mixon did punch in a touchdown, those numbers are going to continue at their catastrophic level. The Cincinnati starter failed to score on six additional carries in the green zone – including four that came from the 4-yard line or closer – averaged 2.5 yards per carry, 3.3 yards per reception, and also killed a drive by getting bottled up on a 4th-and-1 pitch. Mixon is a big faller in dynasty and a threat to set the single-season record for fantasy points under expectation.
On the opposite sideline, Chase Edmonds found himself on the lesser end of the committee this week, although he and Raheem Mostert both finished with almost identical 10-point performances due to Edmonds’ receiving score. Mostert held a 15-5 advantage as a rusher, and his speed flashed on a 25-yard run late as the Dolphins tried to rally for the lead. That drive unfortunately culminated in Teddy Bridgewater’s lone serious mistake, but Mostert has a chance to build on this performance if the Dolphins choose to lean a little more heavily on the run game in the short term.
Edmonds is still getting plenty of high-value opportunities. On Miami’s first drive of the game, Mike McDaniel schemed him wide open in the corner of the end zone, but he dropped the TD chance. He’s also been given plenty of chances in short yardage. Unfortunately, the Dolphins lost control of this game when they were forced to punt on their first drive of the fourth quarter when Edmonds was stuffed on 3rd-and-1.
