PigPen Weekly - Who's in, Who's out? (RB)
VP provides his RB rankings for the playoff push this week, with rational provided for each entry.
A fat pig is a symbol of prosperity, a well-maintained pig pen is a testament to a farmer's care and dedication.
- Anonymous CFF Manager
We've reached the point in the season now where I think most of the viable options in CFF have already been rostered, or at least previously discussed in my waiver wire articles. Instead, with the playoff period starting in many of my leagues, or this being a do-or-die week to get into the playoffs in many others, I figured I'd switch it up and provide a weekly ranking of the most important position: the RB position.
Below, you will find that I have segmented this article into three parts. The first is a ranking of RBs I like this week, with rationale provided for each. The second segment is a list of RBs that are generally very good, but I do not like this week, with rationale provided for each. The final segment is where I provide some thoughts on RBs that I am conflicted about this week.
Depending on the engagement and performance of this article, I may do other versions for WR and QB in advance of this weekend. I will make no such promises for the TE position.
I will continue to provide these articles for paid subscribers for the remainder of the season.
Who’s IN the PigPen This Week
The two main variables I will be leveraging throughout the following analyses are the player's individual role in the offense and the team's matchup strength against the run. Other factors will be utilized when relevant. There are 33 RB entries included in this segment, and 23 RBs in the other sections.
Ollie Gordon (vs. UCF) — No explanation needed here. He did get nicked up vs. OU in Bedlam, but he returned to the game and continued to run strong, so I don’t think there’s any health concern. The matchup is good this week. He and Carroll are fairly interchangeable at #1 and #2 in my ranking for this weekend.
Marcus Carroll (vs. APP) — Another one where there really isn't much explanation needed. Carroll has been a pillar of consistency all season, and I value that highly at this time of the year. Expect him to continue to see 20+ touches and to reach 100+ yards fairly seamlessly here against App State's 120th-ranked rush defense.
Tahj Brooks (vs. KU) — Brooks has morphed into a rather high-volume player down the stretch of the season. He's consistently getting over 20 touches (sometimes over 30) and continuing to rack up yards and scores in the process. This is another good matchup (KU's 104th against the run, according to Fantrax), and he's a safe floor player, which I'm valuing a lot this week.
Jonathan Brooks (vs. TCU) — Back-to-back Brooks RBs here, with UT's Jonathan Brooks coming in at #4 this week. We just saw the aforementioned Tahj Brooks rip through TCU's 114th-ranked run defense last week on Thursday night, and we know UT's offense will be running (no pun intended) through the ground game in QE's absence.
Mar’Keise Irving (vs. USC) — Bucky Irving’s been a consistent touch guy in a high scoring offence all season, but more importantly this week they play the