Facing off in Week 1, both the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ starting running backs had relatively productive performances against one another.
But who should you start between Brian Robinson Jr. or Rachaad White in your fantasy football lineup entering Week 2?
Should You Start Brian Robinson Jr. or Rachaad White This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s consensus rankings say that White is the player to start. His projected 13.8 points include 48 rushing yards, three catches, and 27 receiving yards. That doesn’t seem like a big stat line, but it outperforms the consensus projection for Robinson (11.8 points).
My ranking for these two running backs aligns mainly because I believe in White’s elevated fantasy floor as a pass-catching threat in what should be a very high-scoring affair between the Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions.
The Commanders’ passing offense was virtually non-existent against a banged-up Bucs secondary, which could create some issues sustaining drives against a formidable New York Giants pass rush in Week 2.
Brian Robinson Jr.’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
Robinson managed to come away with a respectable 17.9 fantasy points in full-PPR formats in a tough Week 1 matchup against a solid run defense with 40 rushing yards on 12 carries, adding another 49 yards on three receptions to go with a score.
One of the most encouraging signs was his usage compared to the dangerous Austin Ekeler, who had just two carries for 10 yards in Week 1.
Additionally, the Week 1 usage numbers strongly favor Robinson as the leading back in Washington this season.
Robinson saw more snaps, dominated the total touches, and saw twice as many red zone touches as Ekeler in the season opener.
Sure, Ekeler may have run more routes, but they both finished with four targets in the passing game, which suggests that the older veteran doesn’t have a clear advantage there, either.
The Giants run defense wasn’t exactly a juggernaut against the Minnesota Vikings last week, as Aaron Jones finished as RB10 overall on 14 carries for 94 yards and a score in Week 1.
Despite me preferring White in this particular head-to-head matchup, Robinson is still firmly in the RB2 conversation entering Week 2.
Rachaad White’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
The Buccaneers offense showed signs of life in the running game in their season-opening win against the Commanders, rushing for 112 yards on 30 attempts.
Unfortunately for fantasy managers, White’s lack of efficiency on the ground continued with just 31 yards on 15 carries. It was a rough 2.1 yards per carry (YPC) average in a game where the Bucs were marching up and down the field against Washington.
KEEP READING: PFN’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings
White did manage to generate one explosive rushing play of over 10 yards, but his efficiency on the day was still a bit disappointing.
If there is anything to monitor from this backfield moving forward it will be the usage of rookie running back Bucky Irving, whose nine carries for 62 yards (6.9 YPC) suggest he outplayed White on the ground in Week 1.
Additionally, Irving did see 32.8% of the offensive snaps in his NFL debut, which could be concerning if this efficiency trend continues and Irving sees his snap share rise in the coming weeks.
Fortunately, White’s dominance in the passing game was still very obvious, catching all six of his targets for 75 yards, which is gold in full-PPR formats.
In a contest where the Bucs’ offense may have to air it out early and often in an attempt to keep pace with Detroit, expect White to be very busy in the passing game in Week 2.
Kyle Soppe’s Week 2 Fantasy Outlook for Robinson and White
Brian Robinson Jr.: This backfield isn’t a committee. The overall snap shares were similar, but break it down further and there is only one answer as to which running back in Washington you want sniffing your lineup.
Snap share between the 30s:
- Robinson: 50%
- Ekeler: 50%
Snap share inside the 30:
- Robinson: 77.8%
- Ekeler: 33.3%
Robinson has made nice skill set strides up to this point in his career and is a legitimate threat as both a between-the-tackles runner and a receiver in space. He gave fantasy managers 15.2% more production given his area of touches than the average back last season, and that rate was 24.2% in the Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers.
I think it’s fairly safe to assign Robinson a 15-20 opportunity projection with decent scoring equity weekly – that’s going to land him in your fantasy lineups consistently.
Rachaad White: Football guy and fantasy guy are never going to see eye to eye on White. Against the inept Commanders last week, he carried 15 times for a whopping 31 yards, and you could argue that he was fortunate to get there (15 yards came on a single carry).
White, however, did what White does and finished the week safely as an RB2. For the afternoon, 81.3% of his PPR fantasy points came through the air, an unsustainable way to produce for most, but we are dealing with a unique exception.
I’m obviously late to the party here, but what White does is different. It’s also sustainable.
We grow as humans, and that’s the first time I’ve written that. White doesn’t fit into a neat box, and that’s OK. We like our featured backs to be versatile and our secondary backs to be pass-catching specialists (remember all of those years from Theo Riddick?).
White is a lineup lock. Every single week.
Defenses are worried about Mayfield taking the top off and will live with the dump-offs to White, plays that pile up the fantasy points. If he ever develops efficiency on the ground, White will move into my second tier at the position. But even without it, he’s a top-15 option who should be trusted in what might be the highest-scoring game of the week.