Buffalo Bills RB Matt Breida saw just 6 total touches last week against the Jets. Nevertheless, they were enough to warrant an RB1 performance in fantasy football. Following his terrific outing, is Breida on tap for an increased role in the Bills’ offense, and is he worth a waiver wire pickup in fantasy for Week 11?
Matt Breida was a fantasy RB1 in Week 10
Prior to Week 10, Breida had not seen a touch in Buffalo’s offense since Week 1. And while 6 touches is nothing to get excited about, to Breida’s credit, he made the most of them.
Against the Jets, Breida rushed 3 times for 28 rushing yards (9.3 yards per carry) and a touchdown. In addition, he caught all 3 of his targets for 22 receiving yards and another score.
Breida’s production totaled out to 16.5 half-point PPR fantasy points and an overall RB11 finish on the week. For comparison, Breida’s counterparts in the Bills’ backfield — Devin Singletary and Zack Moss — finished the game with 11.4 and 8.7 fantasy points, respectively.
If you thought trying to figure out this backfield was confusing before, Buffalo decided to throw Breida into the fray to further complicate things.
Is Breida worth a waiver wire pickup in Week 11?
The initial answer is an emphatic no. As previously mentioned, Breida had not received a touch since Week 1. In fact, it was the first time he had even been active since Week 2. Thus, it’s not even a foregone conclusion that we will see him suit up this week against the Colts.
When it comes to Breida’s fantasy outlook, we simply need to see more. Ahead of last season in Miami, both he and Jordan Howard were the Dolphins running backs to roster. Yet, we quickly found out that it was Myles Gaskin’s backfield. Breida finished the year with just 59 carries for 254 yards and 0 touchdowns to go along with 9 receptions for 96 yards in 10 games.
He soon became an afterthought, and up until last weekend, the same could be said for his time in Buffalo as well. In truth, Breida hasn’t been fantasy-relevant since his time in San Francisco. While it’s possible that Breida turns a corner for the better, it’s more likely that Breida benefited from the matchup.
It’s best to stay away from the Bills’ backfield
When it comes to the Jets’ run defense this season, I can’t help but think of that Oprah Winfrey meme.
“You get a touchdown. You get a touchdown. Everybody gets a touchdown.”
While Breida clearly outperformed his backfield-mates, Singletary and Moss each still left the day with a touchdown added to their respective résumés. The week prior, Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines combined for 3 touchdowns against the Jets. Joe Mixon totaled 2 scores the week before that. In Week 7, you could’ve inserted a DFS lineup simply of Patriots players — headlined by Damien Harris and J.J. Taylor — and likely would’ve won a hefty amount of cash.
In truth, heading into Week 10, many fantasy managers were scratching their heads when it was just Singletary and Moss. Now throw in Breida, and I want nothing to do with this backfield. Breida is nothing more than a flier add for Week 11 in deeper formats.