Fantasy Football: Backup running backs with valuable weekly roles

• RB Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans: Spears’ unique high-volume, three-down backup role keeps him in play as a weekly RB2.

• RB Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos: McLaughlin’s promising preseason usage coupled with Denver’s expected personnel changes bode positively for his 2024 usage.

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Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Very few NFL backup running backs have access to high-value roles with sufficient volume to maintain weekly standalone value. Those that do are capable of providing weekly standalone value as situational RB2s and/or weekly flex options. In the event the team’s starting running misses time, these rare backups rocket from their helpful sidekick role to weekly must-start status, with potential RB1 viability. The article below breaks down three such NFL running backs who should be targeted in the mid-to-late rounds come draft day.

RB Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans

Tennessee Titans second-year running back Tyjae Spears is the rare No. 2 running back employed in a three-down manner. He is a weekly RB2 candidate with elite pass-catching talent. Spears’ 67.4 PFF preseason offense grade ties for 39th among 139 NFL preseason running backs with at least 15 offensive snaps. 

Tennessee’s depth chart lists Spears as the running back co-starter yet, as chronicled by PFF senior fantasy analyst Nathan Jahnke in his preseason Week 3 recap, running back Tony Pollard has started both preseason games in which the starters played. Pollard earned a 67.1 PFF preseason offense grade.

Jahnke notes, “Pollard played every snap on the Titans' first drive. Tyjae Spears entered the game for the second drive. Pollard returned for a fourth-and-1 passing play out of an unbalanced formation. Spears also played the first three plays with the backups before exiting the game… In the first preseason game, Pollard played eight snaps with the starters to Spears' six. In that game, the two rotated more often.” 

The snap counts below partially stem from offensive drive lengths so the most important takeaway is whether the player took snaps in specific situations. 

Spears and Pollard’s situational preseason usage:

Spears’ dual-threat, situational usage is extremely promising, as he would assume RB1 status if Pollard misses time. 

Spears demonstrated both efficient and explosive traits as a 2023 rookie, totaling 100 rushing attempts and 67 targets. His 29 third-down targets rank No. 1 overall among NFL running backs. 

Among 65 NFL running backs with at least 55 rushing attempts, Spears ties for 16th in yards per rushing attempt (4.5) and fourth in missed tackles forced per rushing attempt (0.26). His 3.2 yards after contact per rushing attempt ranks 15th, his 13.0% explosive run play rate ranks 11th and his 77.8 PFF rushing grade ranks 25th. 

Among 34 NFL running backs with at least 215 receiving snaps, Spears ranks ninth in yards after the catch per reception (9.0), seventh in target rate (22.1%), sixth in slot-target rate (4.0%) and No. 1 overall in missed tackles forced per reception (0.52). He ties for eighth in yards per route run (YPRR, 1.27) and deep-target rate (3.0%). His 74.6 PFF receiving grade ranks fifth. 

Spears maintains a slight edge over Pollard in pass protection, though both players are capable. Among 33 NFL halfbacks and fullbacks with at least 55 pass-blocking snaps, Spears’ 79.6 PFF pass-blocking grade ranks No. 1 overall while Pollard’s 70.6 PFF pass-blocking grade ranks. Spears’ 78.5 PFF pass-blocking grade on true pass sets ranks second while Pollard’s 77.6 PFF pass-blocking grade on true pass sets ranks third.

Spears possesses one of the highest-valued backup weekly roles among NFL running backs. He is a weekly RB2 candidate.

RB David Montgomery, Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions veteran running back David Montgomery enters 2024 as the team’s nominal starter, though he should trail second-year running back Jahmyr Gibbs in overall backfield touches. Montgomery’s high-volume complementary role will keep him averaging double-digit rushing attempts while bulldozing defenders in scoring position.  His 79.6 PFF offense grade ranks 12th among 64 NFL running backs with at least 200 offensive snaps in 2023. Gibbs’ 76.3 PFF offense grade ties for 19th.

As detailed in “Best Anchor RBs in Rounds 1-3 on Underdog Fantasy,” Gibbs’ role grew as the 2023 season progressed. From Week 10 through the NFC Championship Game, Montgomery totaled 164 rushing attempts and 20 targets, averaging 13.7 rushing attempts and 1.7 targets per game. Gibbs totaled 135 rushing attempts and 51 targets, averaging 11.3 rushing attempts and 4.3 targets per game. His 186 intended touches during that span narrowly edge Montgomery’s 184.

Should Montgomery experience a slight workload reduction, he will remain an efficient fantasy point scorer on 11 to 12 rushing attempts and one target per game. From Weeks 10 to 18, Montgomery produced weekly finishes between the RB11 and RB28 in PPR scoring formats. He should again regularly finish as an RB2. 

Montgomery’s 2023 rushing data among 50 NFL running backs with at least 100 rushing attempts:

Dan Campbell clearly trusts him in scoring position; Montgomery’s 41 green zone rushing attempts rank No. 1 among NFL running backs. Among 16 NFL running backs with at least 20 green zone rushing attempts, Montgomery’s 31.7% first-down and/or touchdown conversion rate ranks eighth. 

Montgomery is a serviceable receiver with above-average post-catch traits. Among 51 NFL running backs with at least 25 targets, his 8.3 yards after the catch per reception rank 21st.

Montgomery possesses a high-value weekly workload running behind Jahnke’s second-ranked offensive line.

RB Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos second-year running back Jaleel McLaughlin enters 2024 with the requisite skillset and high-value workload to qualify as an RB2 for “Zero RB” and “Anchor RB” roster builds and as a matchup-based flex option overall. His 58.0 PFF preseason offense grade ties for 76th among 96 NFL preseason running backs with at least 30 offensive snaps. 

Janke notes in his preseason Week 2 recap, “Williams started again this week, with McLaughlin rotating in after a few plays. The two continued their rotation on the first two drives, with McLaughlin playing on third-and-9 and at the goal line. McLaughlin ended up playing more snaps, which meant Williams left the game first… Many have speculated that [passing-down specialist, running back Samaje] Perine could be released from the team. After the first game, it seemed unlikely, given Perine was taking all the usual passing-down work. Now that the Broncos seem more willing to give McLaughlin opportunities in those situations, it’s more likely Perine won’t make the team.” Perine earned a 51.1 PFF preseason offense grade.

9NEWS’ Mike Kliss and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport affirmed Jahnke’s speculation on Monday — Denver will attempt to trade Perine before ultimately releasing him if unable to strike a deal.

McLaughlin profiles similarly to Spears (detailed above) as a three-down player with access to scoring position snaps, though McLaughlin likely fails to match Spears’ per-game touch volume. Still, McLaughlin possesses matchup-based starting viability as an RB2 or flex option, depending upon the roster build. 

McLaughlin played efficiently as a dual-threat rotational player under Denver head coach Sean Payton in year one, as detailed in Ambiguous Backfield to Target in 2024. 

McLaughlin’s respective 2023 rushing and receiving data among 63 and 38 NFL running backs with at least 60 rushing attempts and at least 35 targets:

McLaughlin excelled in a limited red zone role last season. Among 68 NFL running backs with at least 25 red zone offensive snaps, McLaughlin’s 70.3 PFF offense grade ranks 14th. He forced seven missed tackles on 13 combined rushing attempts and receptions. 

Jahnke ranks Denver’s offensive line 15th overall and ninth in run-blocking. 

McLaughlin will have a high-value weekly role in 2024, keeping him in play as an RB2 and/or flex option, depending on the situation.