Heading into their Week 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, the Seattle Seahawks are asking themselves the same questions for the third straight week – is Chris Carson playing this week and will Carlos Hyde be back, or is this going to be another game where DeeJay Dallas dominates the backfield touches? While Russell Wilson has been fully capable of carrying the offense, adding one of the best running backs in fantasy can only help elevate everyone else’s play. Fantasy football over the past few weeks has been tough, but Carson coming back from injury could be a huge improvement for some rosters.
Update November 14th, 2020: Carson (foot) has been ruled out ahead of Sunday’s divisional matchup against the Rams, Curtis Crabtree of Sports Radio 950 KJR Seattle reports. Carlos Hyde has also been ruled out.
Chris Carson’s status is still up in the air for Week 10
Battling a foot sprain suffered against the Arizona Cardinals, Chris Carson is in jeopardy of missing his third game in a row. Head coach Pete Carroll said that Carson has been doing some running and is closer to returning from his sprained foot than number-two back Carlos Hyde is with his strained hamstring.
“Chris is running more so than Carlos is able to at this time,’’ Carroll said via Zoom. “Chris is ahead of Carlos coming back. He’s going to run today and tomorrow and see how he handles that. I can’t tell you anything more than that right now. I wish I could.’’
Related | Fantasy RB Injury Report Week 10: Joe Mixon, Austin Ekeler, Nick Chubb injury updates
Carson hasn’t practiced since Week 7 and has yet to get on the field this week. Until we see him on the practice field, it is hard to imagine that Chris Carson will play this week, which is a shame because he is one the most underrated running backs in all of fantasy football.
It seems that the whole fantasy world forgot that Carson was the RB12 in 2019. He played in 15 games, rushing 278 times for 1,230 yards and scoring seven rushing touchdowns. Carson also showed his value in the passing game, catching 37 of his 47 targets for 266 yards and two more touchdowns. It was the second year in a row that Carson has seen over 270 touches, more than 1,200 all-purpose yards, and scored nine touchdowns.
His 2020 started off just as strong. His 91 touches for 470 yards and six touchdowns still have Carson ranked as the RB16 in PPR formats despite having only played in six games this year. His 17.5 points per game are RB7 on the season in fantasy. Prior to the teams Week 6 bye, Chris Carson was RB5.
If he can make it on the field this week, Chris Carson would be a high-end RB2 even with limited practice.
If Chris Carson doesn’t play, who will lead the team in rushing?
It seems as if it will be a 50/50 on Carson to play this week and even less so for Carlos Hyde based on what Carroll is saying.
If that is the case, it looks that this will be another DeeJay Dallas game on Sunday in what has been a messy backfield. Even last week, the snap share was Travis Homer 31, DeeJay Dallas 20, and Alex Collins 13. Dallas’ snaps were capped due to the Seahawks trailing for most of this game. But it’s not to say he hasn’t been effective in his limited work. The rookie out of Miami has rushed 25 times over the last two weeks for 72 yards and two touchdowns while catching all seven targets for 25 yards and an additional score through the air.
The issue is the Rams are not a great matchup for opposing running backs. They are one of three teams who’ve allowed less than five total touchdowns to running backs, and one of 12 teams who’ve allowed fewer than 1,000 total yards to the position. They also allow the ninth-fewest fantasy points to the position at just 20.59 per game.
If Chris Carson is not playing this week, can you trust any Seattle running back for Week 10?
In what should be a passing-focused game, I have a hard time trusting any of the players in this timeshare on Sunday.
Seahawks running backs have combined for just 24.5 touches per game so getting someone who is already splitting that work limits a lot of potential upside. Where Chris Carson would see between 17-20 of those touches, it’s hard to see any running back between Dallas, Homer, or Collins seeing above 10.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the 54.5 combined total for this game is the highest of the week. It’s hard to see this being a game that is won in the trenches and not by players on the outside in the passing game. With it also being inside, it’s not like Seattle weather in November would impact the gameplan either. I’ll have DeeJay Dallas as a low-end RB3 with a chance to find the end zone but other than that, I would steer clear of any running back not named Chris Carson in Week 10.
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Tommy Garrett is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.