Week 1 Running Backs You Need to Trade For...

Hey!

Today we’re talking trades, the most underrated part of fantasy football.

Now Week 1 always creates overreactions. A box score can trick people into selling the wrong players, while usage tells the real story.

Here are 3 running backs whose roles are far more valuable than the points they scored suggest:

Jonathan Taylor

Taylor’s Week 1 box score is lying to you. He put up 98 total yards and no scores, good for just 11 fantasy points. Casual managers will think, “decent performance, nothing special.” But the usage was elite.

He played 52 of 73 snaps, including every single first-half snap before being pulled in the 3rd quarter in a blowout. That gave him 21 touches in essentially one half of football.

Taylor’s ceiling is as high as anyone’s in fantasy. But your leaguemates will see “just 11 points.” Buy him now if you can…

Omarion Hampton

This rookie is already a workhorse for the Chargers. In his NFL debut, Hampton played 80% of the snaps for the Chargers. He dominated goal-line, short-yardage, and third-down work.

The efficiency wasn’t there against the Chiefs elite front, but nobody runs well on Chris Jones. What matters is Hampton earned 89% of the backfield opportunities.

Some managers will panic after a 3.1 yards per carry debut and Najee Harris active. That’s your buy window. Hampton’s locked into an RB1 workload and gets a more favorable matchup in Week 2…

Bucky Irving

Irving flashed down the stretch last season and erased any doubt about his role in Week 1 this year. He played 76% of the snaps, saw 18 opportunities, scored through the air, and handled every single goal-line snap.

Backup Rachaad White, meanwhile, was reduced to a third-down role only. The Bucs have clearly committed to Irving as their workhorse. Yes, he ran for only 37 yards - but sloppy Week 1 efficiency is exactly why you can still buy low.

The role is what matters. With this usage, Irving has high-end RB1 upside the rest of the way. And if your league mates still think he’s in a committee, this is your last chance to change that before the price spikes…

These are 3 running backs I’m sending trades for right now and you should too.

— Sal

P.S. Want my full Top 150 rest of season rankings to help you find the best trade targets each week?

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