Fantasy Football Handcuffs: Where Every Backup RB Would Rank If Every Starter Took a Vacation

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Not injuries. Let's say every starting running back in the NFL won the lottery,
retired, or just took a season-long vacation. Where would his backup finish?

Ian Hartitz ranks all 32 of them, one back per team, counting up from the guy he
would want most. The board on screen fills in as he goes.

TreVeyon Henderson is RB1, and the case is not close: 17.6 PPR points per game
over the second half of last season, and 24.3 across the three weeks without
Rhamondre Stevenson on 75, 84 and 88 percent snaps, for an offense that finished
second in scoring. Blake Corum follows in the league's highest-scoring offense,
then Tank Bigsby, who ranks first in yards after contact per carry among the 44
backs with 200-plus carries the last two seasons, and Ray Davis, whose two games
as a lead back both came in at 23 touches.

From there it gets more interesting than the depth charts suggest. Rico Dowdle
might just be the starter outright. Kyle Monangai turned 29 touches into 198
yards in his one game without D'Andre Swift. Rachaad White is behind Jacory
Croskey-Merritt on Ian's own updated ranks, so he is a backup on a technicality.
Mike Washington posted the best relative athletic score of any back since 1987
before agility testing, and worked ahead of Dylan Laube on pass downs 10 routes
to 2. Tyler Allgeier is the all-time NFL leader in career touches without a
fumble at 737. Kenneth Gainwell is a reigning team MVP who caught 70-plus passes.

Further down, the profiles get louder and the paths get narrower. RJ Harvey
caught 47 passes as a rookie, and since 2020, 82 percent of backs who catch 50
or more have turned in top-24 numbers. Emmett Johnson forced 10 missed tackles in
his preseason debut when nobody else in the league forced more than five. Alvin
Kamara is still one of only eight backs to average 18-plus PPR points per game in
a season since 2024. Braelon Allen is a 22-year-old rhinoceros in an offense Ian
cannot stand.

And at the bottom is the group where the front office is already on the phone
with Kareem Hunt: Samaje Perine, Seth McGowan, Adam Randall and George Holani.

Every card carries the case, the numbers behind it, and who else is in the room.

Rankings, tiers and the Draft Assistant are all in the draft kit, linked at the
top of this description.

Timestamps:
0:00 The premise: every starting RB takes a vacation
0:57 RB1 TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots
1:55 RB2 Blake Corum, Rams
2:56 RB3 Tank Bigsby, Eagles
5:39 RB4 Ray Davis, Bills
7:58 RotoWire, code IAN35
8:47 RB5 Rico Dowdle, Steelers
11:36 RB6 Kyle Monangai, Bears
13:21 RB7 Rachaad White, Commanders
15:38 RB8 Woody Marks, Texans
18:19 RB9 Mike Washington, Raiders
21:10 RB10 Jonathon Brooks, Panthers
24:27 RB11 Kenneth Gainwell, Buccaneers
27:05 RB12 Brian Robinson, Falcons
29:10 RB13 Tyler Allgeier, Cardinals
31:27 RB14 Jordan Mason, Vikings
33:04 RB15 Chris Rodriguez, Jaguars
35:13 RB16 Isiah Pacheco, Lions
38:11 DraftKings
40:08 RB17 MarShawn Lloyd, Packers
42:17 RB18 RJ Harvey, Broncos
44:48 RB19 Keaton Mitchell, Chargers
46:36 RB20 Alvin Kamara, Saints
49:03 RB21 Tyjae Spears, Titans
50:43 RB22 Dylan Sampson, Browns
53:08 RB23 Braelon Allen, Jets
54:51 RB24 Emmett Johnson, Chiefs
57:25 Splash Survivor
58:20 RB25 Kaelon Black, 49ers
59:54 RB26 Jaydon Blue, Cowboys
1:01:55 RB27 Tyrone Tracy, Giants
1:03:40 RB28 Jaylen Wright, Dolphins
1:05:20 RB29 Samaje Perine, Bengals
1:07:08 RB30 Seth McGowan, Colts
1:08:36 RB31 Adam Randall, Ravens
1:09:58 RB32 George Holani, Seahawks