Top Three Backup Running Backs For 2023

September 7, 2023 Preston Evans

Your Fantasy Homeboy, Preston Evans @PJ2082 on Twitter/X, is back this week, and in this article, I want to talk about three running backs that will help your fantasy teams this season, even though they are not the number one running backs for their respective teams. Let’s get to it. Here are my Top Three Backup Running Backs For 2023.

Samaje Perine

Perine performed well as a backup to Joe Mixon in the Bengals offensive attack last season. He showed that he was more than just a backup. He played the third-down role mostly, but heads began to turn when Joe Mixon went down for a few weeks, and the Bengals had to demand a little more from him. The games that Mixon did not play. From Week 11 to Week 13, Perine scored 28.2, 17.3, and 18.5, averaging 21.3 points in half PPR formats.

Sean Peyton is known in the fantasy community for having two fantasy-relevant running backs for years. From 2018 to 2020, Sean Payton’s backups averaged 8.6 ppg and 137.5 points per year in half-PPR formats, which makes for a solid flex player. With the receiving chops of Perine and the Broncos probably working Williams in slowly with the devesting leg injury that cut his 2022 season short makes Perine a must draft and possibly a week-to-week flex starter.

A.J. Dillon

The next running back that I believe will have stand-alone value is AJ Dillion. For the past two years, he has served as a solid backup to Aaron Jones. His fantasy points per game in half-point PPR has gone up every year from 4.6 in 2020 to 10 in 2021 and 9 in 2022. Last season, he finished with 153 fantasy points. His workload will increase even more this year, with Jordan Love taking the reigns. The Packers will lean on him more than in the previous seasons, and I believe him to be a guaranteed weekly flex start this season, and some weeks, in a pinch, you could put him in your RB2 spot.

Elijah Mitchell

The last running back I want to discuss is Elijah Mitchell. He has a lot of stand-alone value in this 49ers offense. This offense relies on the running back position a lot. The rumors around the Niners camp are that they want CMC as fresh as they can for the end-of-season playoff push. This opens the door to a lot of touches for Mitchell. With the amazing efficiency of CMC, this strategy is definitely doable. Mitchell still saw a lot of work last season with CMC on the team as the lead back. He averaged 8 fantasy points per game. Also, in the past two seasons when he was the starter and at the end of last season when CMC came, he earned 187 fantasy points in half-PPR formats. Mitchell saw 248 attempts for 1,079 yards within those two years. Injuries are definitely a concern, but if he can stay on the field, he could make for a good weekly flex option.