On one of my first fantasy teams, a contending team, I struggled to fill the RB2 slot all year. It was a weekly challenge, sorting through injuries and pickups and underachievers. Last week, in the middle of a trade deal, I laid a white flag. I am the most lost thing in the world.
I asked Alvin Kamara to be a throw-in.
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Of course, Kamara used to be a fantastic royal. We remember the 21-touchdown season and the 18-touchdown season and the six-touchdown game. We recall the five straight paths of Pro-crates. Remember the “Lights, Kamara Action” fantasy team names.
Kamara hasn’t been that player lately, of course. The NFL is a back nine running back. Kamara dropped to 3.9 YPC during the 2021 season, and is down to 3.0 this year. Sometimes it’s surprising that the Saints gave the ball to Kamara at all. 31 he is, and he face 31. This could most likely be his last time.
So there I was, Week 7, dialing Kamara up as my RB2. All I wanted was something. But on Sunday morning against the Steelers in France, Kamara gave me something good;
– It carries six, five yards
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– Seven targets are taken, seven yards, 57 yards
– 9.7 average PPR points
And with this I was ready to begin embracing the guests. For one thing, I intuitively knew that Kamara would probably only score what mediocre options on my bench would eventually score (looking at you, TreVeyon Henderson). And there’s something oddly satisfying when you’re leaving something — I knew Kamara didn’t play well enough, but it was a passable foul (at least it gave me low hopes).
And we have a comma for this: PPR scam.
Wan’Dale Robinson is probably the patron of the PPR scam. Think back to his 2024 season, when he caught 93 passes and finished as a WR41, a quasi-user. Robinson’s rating was greatly tied to those catches, as he just amassed 699 receiving yards and scored three touchdowns. Your league scoring was critical as you judged Robinson worth.
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We will discuss receiving this year’s PPR scams another time. In today’s spreadsheet dive, the focus will be on Kamara-like running backs who use the opportunity in the passing game to keep their fantasy profiles alive.
I picked the top-40 scoring backs this fantasy season, and looked at the players who are getting the most of their scoring and receiving yards in half of PPR leagues. I didn’t run any production, and I ignored all the touches. Who lives so much as catches and blows?
Here are the top five on the list. Surprisingly, you will see a familiar name near the bottom.
RJ Harvey, Broncos (62.3% of points from catches and receiving yards)
Denver’s offense has been the best side of the season, and Harvey’s rushing performance doesn’t help (3.6 YPC). But he’s solid in the passing game, catching 25 of 28 targets and averaging 7.8 yards per target. This doesn’t make Harvey the second coming of Marshall Faulk, but he can swim him even if Jonah Coleman runs away with this backfield, as suspected. The best thing you can say about Harvey right now is that he outplayed JK Dobbins every time. Harvey doesn’t have an exciting ceiling, but his floor is worth chewing on. Averaged 9.2 points in half of PPR leagues. Fraud, fraud.
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Chase Brown, Bengals (46.5%)
We can live with Harvey’s return because it wasn’t expensive in the summer. Brown’s season is legitimately troubling because it brought a second-round draft pick.
I’ll admit that I was legitimately worried about Brown, especially after seeing the Bengals’ situation after the bye. Those post-bye week games often show, and here’s what the Bengals revealed — Samaje Perine stole a goal-line touchdown, and Tahj Brooks carries some clockwork picks. Brown has always been seen as a good talent but not unique, and the case has always been built for him to need a large volume. I am not confident that I will save enough to replace ADP. He is currently RB25 in cumulative PPR scoring and averaging 10.1 points.
Ashton Jeanty, Raiders (45.9%)
While my backfields might have 99 problems, Jeanty is not one. I didn’t see a generational prospect in his rookie season, and when Jeanty had an ankle sprain in the summer, I put him on the drop list.
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Is the fade hit or miss? Jeanty offense 3.1 carry and rookie Mike Washington Jr. shows more juice in the running game. But Jeanty runs all the backs on the targets, takes and takes the fronts (he even goes to the goal with his lips). The reception work has been particularly useful in the team’s current losing streak, making Jeanty capable of beating negative player writers.
The timing of Jeanty’s trade might be right. He is currently RB12 in cumulative PPR scoring (RB14 if you turn to per-game) and his struggles despite consistently running the ball. Head coach Klint Kubiak is frustrated with the recent losses and seems open to changes. Washington is also crying out for a greater role.
Alvin Kamara, Journal of the Saints (44.3%)
We couldn’t do this piece without Kamara, our spirit animal. But I wonder if I’ll even get a second week of play from the veteran. The Saints do not play in Week 8, and Jr. Travis Etienne should be ready to return later. Kendre Miller is also around, though somehow his YPC is actually lower than Kamara’s.
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I don’t have to call Kamara until Week 9, and I guess I’ll probably end up giving him RB2 or flexing privileges until he beats me at least once. 9. The average PPR point is about 9. points, but I would be surprised if it has held a certain value over time. Meanwhile, I cut the ears of the dress with smaller backs, hoping to achieve success.
Tyler Allgeier, Cardinals (41.0%)
I will admit frankly, I do not understand cardinals. I don’t get why Allgeier was signed to a decent contract and Jeremiyah Love pulled it after a few weeks. Why they ran Love to the ground in the game of predestination, I do not get the result of the injury. I haven’t seen Bam Knight emerge recently, though 6.4 YPC (just over 25 carries) sure looks nice.
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Allgeier earned the bench bruise, catching 16 of 17 targets but only got 84 yards with them to go along with a 5.7 PPR points average. Jacoby Brissett doesn’t want to hold the ball for long. Somehow, nothing seems to be working in this passing offense — every first Arizona pass catcher has been held to 6.5 yards per target or less.
The Cardinals will have friendly halftime schedules, which means some of the most talented players will be watching the game’s highlights. Maybe he buys Love low, maybe he adds a soldier for a small price, maybe he believes in the veteran Allgeier. But I can’t escape Arizona’s decision-making and the ineffectiveness of the offense altogether. Unless one of these backs is given to me as a free gift, I’ll just pass it on.