Pick at least one running back from each subset you prefer to target and fade (so four selections total) for Week 11:
High-Salary
Christian McCaffrey (vs. Atlanta)
Dalvin Cook (vs. Denver)
Ezekiel Elliott (at Detroit)
Josh Jacobs (vs. Cincinnati)
Low-Salary
J.D. McKissic (vs. Dallas)
Miles Sanders (vs. New England)
Kalen Ballage (vs. Buffalo)
JAMES BRIMACOMBE
High-Salary
Target: Christian McCaffrey (vs. Atlanta) – I think just like Lamar Jackson at quarterback you almost just have to force in McCaffrey and build your roster around him no matter the cost. The amount of volume and production that he is seeing right now is ridiculous and it is almost equivalent to two or three players combined. Through nine games, McCaffrey is averaging 25.9 touches, 153.9 yards, and 1.6 touchdowns per game. It will be hard to ignore him this week against the Falcons at home regardless of his price tag.
Fade: Ezekiel Elliott (at Detroit) – Fade for now as the Vikings showed on Sunday night if you can focus on shutting down Elliott and take your chances of Prescott and the passing offense beating you that it is worth it. Elliott seems to keep having so-so type of games at a high DFS salary and just doesn’t have the production to pay it off.
Low-Salary
Fade: Kalen Ballage (vs. Buffalo) – I am taking a hard stance on fading all Dolphins players for the rest of the season. They continue to send off their talented players with trades or injuries and the remaining product is one of the most watered-down offenses we have seen in a long time. The matchup against the Bills is one that does not benefit the Dolphins running game either.
JASON WOOD
Full disclosure, I like all four high-salary running backs this week. They're four of my top-5 choices at the position (along with Leonard Fournette) for the main slate. Based purely on my rankings, Elliott slots fourth (fifth overall) but, again, I wouldn't advise fading him particularly if you're building multiple lineups. My top-rated back of the bunch is Josh Jacobs. The Raiders are much better than I expected, and Jacobs is Jon Gruden's new Cadillac Williams. Jacobs will be an old-school workhorse until he's too beaten up to handle the workload.
On the low-salary side, I have zero interest in McKissic. He's a gimmicky player and I don't know how you confidently build lineups with him, particularly with Stafford's status up in the air.
I can see Miles Sanders playing well against New England, particularly as the Eagles appear to have found an identity as a power-running team. But my favorite of this quartet is easily Brian Hill. The Falcons coaches made it clear Hill will be given the opportunity to handle a three-down workload with Devonta Freeman doubtful. It's his time to shine.
PHIL ALEXANDER
High-Salary Target
Josh Jacobs has a 30-touch upside with Oakland favored by double-digits at home. Part of me wants to say the Raiders shouldn't be favored by 10+ points against any NFL team, but they're in the midst of a playoff run and Bengals' rookie quarterback, Ryan Finley, looked overmatched last week in his NFL debut. Oakland should be able to control the clock by riding Jacobs on their way to an easy win.
As an added bonus on DraftKings, Jacobs saw a career-high five targets in Week 10. Hopefully, the Raiders have realized Jacobs has been a smooth pass-catcher since coming out of Alabama and are finally putting more passing-game work on his plate.
High-Salary Fade
Like Jason, I'm not eager to fade any of the running backs listed. Elliott has been held back by a lack of involvement in the passing game, but fading him against the worst rush defense in the sport doesn't feel like the right play.
Christian McCaffrey is in the midst of the best fantasy season a running back has ever had. He's long since proven himself immune to bad matchups and he happens to have a very good one this week against the Falcons.
The implied game script doesn't get much better for Dalvin Cook with the Vikings favored by 10.5 at home over Denver.
If I had to fade one to save my mother's life, I guess it would be Cook. Maybe he's not called upon to catch as many passes if the Vikings open up a big lead? And perhaps Alexander Mattison gets more involved in the event of a blowout? In any event, be advised this take is as tepid as they come.
Low-Salary Target
Low-Salary Fade
Could Miles Sanders turn in a GPP-winning performance? Sure, but it's in his upper-90th percentile range of outcomes. Even in their last game before the bye, when the Eagles gave him double-digit carries for the first time since Week 5, he topped out at 40% of the snaps. I'm a big believer in Sanders' talent, and the loss of DeSean Jackson should keep him running more downfield pass routes, but it's hard to get too excited with values like Hill (and even Ballage) in the same price range.
DAN HINDERY
Kalen Ballage
