In two of the more surprising outcomes of Week 1, we had a couple of running backs shine through for fantasy football. Rhamondre Stevenson ran for 120 rushing yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Aaron Jones made the Minnesota Vikings feel like geniuses with the offseason addition by rushing for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Both players had amazing days, but the question for Week 2 will be which player can outshine the other and start for our fantasy football lineups? Let’s break down the New England Patriots and Vikings matchups to correctly identify the right running back for your lineup.
Should You Start Rhamondre Stevenson or Aaron Jones This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s Consensus Rankings say that Jones and Stevenson are slated to score the same amount of points in Week 2. Neither have great matchups as the Patriots face off against the Seattle Seahawks and the Vikings will face the San Francisco 49ers.
Our reasoning that breaks the tie is that Stevenson is a more significant focal point of the offense, whereas Jones has to compete with Justin Jefferson in Minnesota. Stevenson should still be able to touch the ball over 20 times on the ground, and he also ran more routes than Jones did in Week 1, as he received 21 routes to Jones’ 13.
Since volume is king for the running back position, we must crown Stevenson within this debate and our rankings for Week 2. As long as Antonio Gibson is a non-factor within the Patriots’ offense, Stevenson should continue to be an automatic start for your fantasy football lineup.
Stevenson’s Fantasy Outlook This Week
Stevenson dominated in nearly every metric that can be recorded for a running back last week. TruMedia slated Stevenson for the third-most rushing attempts in the NFL in Week 1. He also produced the fourth-most rushing yards with 120 while recording the 13th-best yards per rush in the NFL to start the season.
Stevenson made defenders feel weak all day as he had the third-best yards after contact per rush. Even when the defenders were able to get their hands on him, they couldn’t stop him.
Jones’ Fantasy Outlook This Week
Jones was also an unstoppable force last week against the New York Giants. His 6.7 yards per rush was third-best in the NFL. TruMedia ranked him second among running backs in first downs per rush with a total of 42.9%. Jones created more magic than Stevenson in terms of yards after contact per rush, finishing second overall. No matter how you slice it, the veteran showed flashes of brilliance throughout Week 1.
Kyle Soppe’s Week 2 Fantasy Outlook for Stevenson and Jones
Rhamondre Stevenson: Everything played in Stevenson’s favor last week. His Patriots were competitive throughout, ensuring a positive game script against a below-average defense, and he was at full strength (79.7% snap share). With the stars aligning, he racked up 126 yards and a touchdown – a production level that potentially came on your bench.
There’s a chance he takes advantage of the bellcow role again this week against a Seahawks defense that allowed the fourth most points per drive a season ago (2.2). If he produces top-20 numbers this week, he’ll be the most obvious sell-high candidate in the sport.
“Sell high” gets misunderstood sometimes. Most think the manager with the player is in a position of power and can dictate terms. In theory, that’s great, but it rarely works in practice. In my experience with these sell-high opportunities, one manager aims too high, the other too low, and the deal falls apart.
Should Stevenson put numbers on the board Sunday, I’m moving him to the highest bidder, even if that ends up being at a price below what his two-week stats suggest is reasonable. After this week, the Pats, a team I had projected for under five wins this season, get the Jets and 49ers. After that, they get a pair of offenses (Dolphins and Texans) that I don’t think they have a prayer at keeping up with, bringing in a low floor for Stevenson.
Go ahead and start Stevenson as a low-end RB2/Flex option this week. As he is putting points on the board, start crafting your trade offers – you’ll want to have some in your pocket ahead of time as you try to flip this asset before New England kicks off Week 3 on Thursday night.
Aaron Jones: Jones and Mason rank in the same tier for me this week. In his Vikings debut, Jones played the majority of snaps and rewarded his new team by producing 54.3% over expectation (2023: 12.7% below expectation).
We saw Jones thrive in Week 1 last season too, so let’s not get out of control. He drew a plus-matchup, and with Darnold opening his season as efficiently as anyone, the stage was set. I think his best days are behind him and am not willing to admit that we were wrong in our offseason evaluation of this offense.
As skeptical as I am, Jones’ touch count projects favorably enough to make him a low-end RB2 in this difficult spot.