Fantasy Football Start/Sit Lineup Advice: Running Backs (Week 3)

Start em or sit em? Fantasy football start or sit decisions can be excruciating. While it feels great to make the right call and cruise to fantasy glory, it hurts just as much when you have someone erupt while on your bench. You can use our Who Should I Start? tool to gauge advice from fantasy football experts as you make your lineup decisions. And you can also sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings and analysis.

Let’s take a look at a few polarizing players and what fantasy football expert Derek Brown advises. And you can find all of DBro’s fantasy football outlook in this week’s fantasy football primer.

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Fantasy Football Start’em, Sit’em Lineup Advice: Week 3

Derek Brown shares his Week 3 start/sit lineup advice for fantasy football managers.

Strong Starts

D’Andre Swift (RB – CHI)

D’Andre Swift is the RB5 in fantasy points per game, averaging 20 touches and 116 total yards per game. Swift has eight of the team’s 11 red zone running back carries. Swift has a 61.4% snap rate, 48.6% of the rushing attempts, a 32.5% route share, and a 9.4% target share. Among 43 qualifying backs, Swift ranks sixth in yards after contact per attempt and eighth in missed tackle rate. Swift should have success again this week. Philly has allowed the ninth-highest explosive run rate, the fifth-most yards after contact per attempt, and the fifth-highest missed tackle rate.

Chuba Hubbard (RB – CAR)

With Jonathon Brooks on the IR, Chuba Hubbard will retain his workhorse role for Carolina for the foreseeable future and possibly the entire season. Hubbard has averaged 13.5 touches and 75.5 total yards as the RB8 in fantasy points per game. Among 43 qualifying backs, Hubbard ranks 17th in yards after contact per attempt and 15th in missed tackle rate. Hubbard should have another strong outing against a run defense that has allowed the sixth-highest explosive run rate, the fourth-highest rushing success rate, and the tenth-highest missed tackle rate.

Bucky Irving (RB – TB)

Bucky Irving has been awesome so far as the RB11 in fantasy points per game. He has averaged 18 touches and 91.5 total yards. Irving has had a 71.1% snap rate, 55.6 % of the rushing attempts, a 56.6% route share, and a 17.7% target share. The usage has been awesome. Among 43 qualifying rushers, he ranks 16th in explosive run rate and 11th in yards after contact per attempt. Minnesota’s run defense is similar to their passing defense. They don’t give up a ton of big plays, but when they do, they are explosives. The Vikes have allowed the third-lowest rushing success rate while logging the fourth-highest stuff rate. The other side of the coin is they also have allowed the fifth-highest explosive run rate, the 12th-most yards before contact per attempt, and the tenth-highest yards per carry to gap runs. 48% of Irving’s runs have been gap, and he ranks fifth in gap yards per carry (6.92). I think Irving has another solid day in Week 3.

Fantasy Football FLEX & Deep Plays to Consider

Quinshon Judkins (RB – CLE)

Quinshon Judkins is the RB33 in fantasy points per game, averaging 15.5 touches and 49 total yards per game. Judkins has a 68.3% snap rate with 53.3% of the rushing attempts, a 38.5% route share, and a 13.5% target share. He has handled all three of the Browns’ red zone rushing attempts this season. Unfortunately, he has been woefully inefficient with his workload, with zero explosive runs, 1.42 yards after contact per attempt, and an 8% missed tackle rate. He could easily have his best game of this season this week, though. That’s how bad the Carolina run defense is. Carolina has allowed the 11th-highest explosive run rate, the third-highest rushing success rate, and the second-most yards after contact per attempt.

Bhayshul Tuten (RB – JAC)

Bhayshul Tuten has seen consistency in his workload through two games, with designed carry shares of 51.7% and 54.2% and route shares of 34.5% and 33.3%. He has averaged 15.5 touches and 75 total yards while splitting the red zone rushing role with Chris Rodriguez (each has two red zone rushing attempts). Tuten has been stellar on a per-rush basis. Among 41 qualifying backs, he ranks sixth in explosive run rate, tenth in rushing success rate, and third-best in missed tackle rate behind only Kenneth Walker and Saquon Barkley. Tuten has a tougher matchup this week. He’ll need another touchdown this week to pay off for fantasy. New England has allowed the 14th-lowest explosive run rate, the tenth-lowest rushing success rate, and has ranked 15th in missed tackle rate.

David Montgomery (RB – HOU)

Last week, David Montgomery‘s workload went out the window. He played only 53.2% of the snaps after dominating the snap count for most of Week 1. Montgomery also had only a 33.3% rushing attempt share and 41.9% route share (3.6% target share). He finished with eight touches and 24 total yards. Montgomery also split the red zone rushing role, with both he and Woody Marks getting an attempt inside the 20-yard line last week. Montgomery’s rushing metrics have been rough after two games, while the offensive line has given him only 1.15 yards before contact per attempt. Montgomery has a 4.5% explosive run rate, 1.54 yards after contact per attempt, and a 12% missed tackle rate. If Houston can play with a lead, Montgomery could have a bounceback game this week against Indy’s putrid run defense. Indy has allowed the third-highest explosive run rate, the sixth-highest rushing success rate, the seventh-most yards before contact per attempt, and the fourth-highest missed tackle rate.

Woody Marks (RB – HOU)

Last week, Woody Marks had a larger share of the Houston backfield with a 45.5% snap share, a 44.4% rushing attempt share, and a 37.1% route share (10.7% target share). Marks split the red zone rushing role with David Montgomery, with each getting a tote inside the 20-yard line. Last week, he finished with 13 touches and 35 total yards. So far this season, Marks has been the more effective Houston back on a per-touch basis. Among 43 qualifying backs, he ranks 18th in explosive run rate and tenth-best in missed tackle rate. Marks is a viable flex this week with a good matchup. Indy has allowed the third-highest explosive run rate, the sixth-highest rushing success rate, the seventh-most yards before contact per attempt, and the fourth-highest missed tackle rate.

Concerning Starts & Players to Fade

Rhamondre Stevenson (RB – NE)

Coming off a Week 1 where Rhamondre Stevenson was New England’s bell cow, we saw Stevenson quickly get into the doghouse and not come out in Week 2. Stevenson did Stevenson things and fumbled away his lead-back role. As punishment for his butter fingers, Stevenson played only 35.8% of the snaps with 21.4% of the designed carries. He had a 37% route share and a 9.1% target share. Stevenson finished with seven touches and 46 total yards. This backfield looks like a headache again with TreVeyon Henderson back and Stevenson fumbling the bag. New England has gone immediately back to him in the following week after fumbling issues, but there’s no way of telling if that will be the case in Week 3. I’m avoiding putting Stevenson in lineups this week if I can help it because of this uncertainty. If you have to go this route, it’s at least a good matchup on the ground to help talk yourself into it. Jacksonville ranks 17th in explosive run rate allowed while also surrendering the 12th-highest rushing success rate, the fifth-most yards before contact per attempt, and has the fifth-lowest rate of contacting the rusher at or behind the line of scrimmage.

TreVeyon Henderson (RB – NE)

Last week, Rhamondre Stevenson happened to fumble in his first game with his running mate, TreVeyon Henderson, back. The Pats proceeded to penalize Stevenson for his usual fumbling issues and handed the backfield reins to Henderson. Henderson played 60.4% of the snaps with 57.1% of the rushing attempts and a 40.7% route share. Henderson finished with 16 carries and 76 rushing yards (one score, zero targets) as the RB13 for the week. He flashed his usual explosiveness with a long run of 39 yards, accounting for over half of his yards for the day. Outside of that, Henderson’s per-touch efficiency was subpar with a 31.3% rushing success rate, 1.19 yards after contact per attempt, and a 13% missed tackle rate. I have no clue if the Pats will immediately hand the steering wheel of the rushing offense back to Stevenson this week as they have in the past or if this creates an opening for Henderson. I’m avoiding starting anyone from the New England backfield this week, but if you’re forced to start Henderson, the matchup is at least good. Jacksonville ranks 17th in explosive run rate allowed while also surrendering the 12th-highest rushing success rate, the fifth-most yards before contact per attempt, and has the fifth-lowest rate of contacting the rusher at or behind the line of scrimmage.

Cam Skattebo (RB – NYG)

Last week, with Najee Harris active, Cam Skattebo retained the lead-back role with a 60% snap rate, 57.1% of the rushing attempts, and a 55.9% route share (12.5% target share). He did lose out to Harris in the red zone, with Harris seeing two red zone rushing attempts while Skattebo had one. We’ll see if that sticks this week. Skattebo is the RB22 in fantasy points per game, averaging 17 touches and 68 total yards. Skattebo has a “decent” 2.0 yards after contact per attempt and a 17% missed tackle rate. If he’s going to have a nice Week 3, it’ll have to be because of his workload/volume, because the matchup isn’t great and I don’t know how often Jameis Winston will have the offense in the red zone. Tennessee has allowed the lowest explosive run rate, the 13th-lowest rushing success rate, and the 11th-fewest yards after contact per attempt.

Travis Etienne Jr. (RB – NO)

The backfield for New Orleans has been a mess through two games. Last week, with Alvin Kamara back, Travis Etienne led the backfield with a 53.1% snap rate, but he had only 29.6% of the rushing attempts (Kamara 33.3%) and a 33.3% route share (Kamara 23.1%). Kamara had a 17.6% target share while Etienne lagged behind with only a 5.9% share. Etienne finished with ten touches and 31 total yards. This isn’t the type of usage that anyone (including myself) projected for Etienne entering this season. Kamara also got the team’s only running back red zone rushing attempt. Etienne has posted a respectable 11.8% explosive run rate and 18% missed tackle rate. Etienne could be an RB2 with a bad matchup this week, but he’s best viewed as a risky flex at this point until his usage improves. The Raiders have allowed the tenth-lowest explosive run rate, the seventh-lowest rushing success rate, and the fourth-lowest missed tackle rate.

Alvin Kamara (RB – NO)

Alvin Kamara logged his first game of the 2026 season last week and further muddied the New Orleans backfield with 14 touches and only 22 total yards. Kamara handled the only running back red zone rushing attempt. He played only 29.7% of the snaps but he led the backfield with a 33.3% rushing share and 17.6% target share while seeing a 23.1% route share. He was woefully inefficient with 1.89 yards after contact per attempt, zero explosive runs, and an 11% missed tackle rate. I don’t know what Kellen Moore is doing with this backfield right now. I don’t expect Kamara to see this type of usage on a weekly basis, but we have to see how this plays out. Don’t flex Kamara this week as his usage could decline and it’s a bad matchup. The Raiders have allowed the tenth-lowest explosive run rate, the seventh-lowest rushing success rate, and the fourth-lowest missed tackle rate.

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