One of the ugliest three-headed monsters in fantasy football is the backfield in Buffalo. The Bills started the year with Devin Singletary as their primary back. After a couple of weeks, he became stuck in a timeshare with Zack Moss. Then, just to make things worse, they decided to add Matt Breida to the mix. Consequently, fantasy managers are scratching their heads on what to do with Moss, Singletary, and Breida in Week 12.
Update 11/25/2021: Zack Moss is officially inactive for the Bills’ Thanksgiving matchup with the Saints.
Zack Moss or Devin Singletary: Who should you start in fantasy on Thursday night?
This season hasn’t been very kind to the Bills’ running back room. It’s been frustrating for fantasy managers as well. Each running back has pros and cons, making the decision all that much tougher.
Devin Singletary’s hot start
On the year, Singletary has rushed 83 times for 415 yards and 2 touchdowns. He’s also caught 25 of 32 targets for another 114 yards. He’s scored 89.9 PPR points in 10 games for an average of 9 PPR points per game.
Singletary started the year as the lead back but has gradually lost the job, most likely due to his poor performance. His season-high carry total came in Week 3 when he got 14 carries. His season-low mark came last week against the Colts. Singletary rushed 3 times for 17 yards, finishing with a meager 7.3 PPR points on the week (thanks to his 3 catches for 26 receiving yards).
Singletary looked like the top option at one point, but based on last week’s results, it’s hard to feel confident in him for fantasy any longer.
He’s the Bills’ leading rusher on the year and the highest-scoring Bills RB for fantasy, but that doesn’t mean all that much now that Singletary is splitting time with two other backs.
Zack Moss has been touchdown-dependent
Bills running back Zack Moss has 75 carries for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground through Week 11. Moss has also caught 18 of his 26 targets for another 166 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air. He missed Week 1, but he has 89.1 PPR points on the year, a 9.9 PPR points per game average.
Moss was a healthy scratch in the Bills’ season opener, opening the door for Singletary out of the gate. However, since then, Moss has felt like the better RB option for fantasy. This is largely due to the higher number of touchdowns that Moss has scored, which helps boost his scoring.
Week 11 was far from ideal for him, though. Moss rushed 3 times for 5 yards and missed catching his single target. Much like Singletary, Moss had some fantasy value earlier in the year, but as of late, Moss probably feels better on your bench where he can’t tank your week.
There’s a new challenger in Matt Breida
Although the Bills already had two solid rushing options on their roster, they decided to go in a different direction in Week 10. Free-agent addition Matt Breida was the standout against the Jets. Breida only had 3 carries, but he ran for 28 yards (a 9.3 average). He also caught all 3 of his targets for another 22 yards and scored 2 total touchdowns. These helped him finish with 18 PPR points, good enough for RB13 on the week.
Week 11 wasn’t as awesome from a fantasy standpoint, but Breida still looked solid carrying the ball. He ran 5 times for 51 yards (a 10.2 average) and caught 1 of his 2 targets for 16 yards. He finished as the top RB on the team, both in yards and for fantasy. This is officially a three-headed monster, begging the question…
Which Bills RB should you start in Week 12?
The Buffalo Bills face the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving night. On the year, the Saints are third-best in the league in terms of rushing yards allowed with 898 yards. This doesn’t bode well for any running back playing against them, let alone a mix of three options.
If you’re desperate and looking for some upside, you might be looking at starting a Bills running back this week, but I’d seriously avoid it if possible. Singletary seems to be the most consistent, Moss seems like the most explosive, and Breida seems to be the most trustworthy of late.
It’s truly anyone’s guess as to who will score the most this week, so I’d rather bench them all if I can. If I had to pick one, I’d probably skip both Singletary and Moss and go with the hot hand in Breida. It might just be his time to shine. That being said, I wouldn’t be shocked if he puts up a goose egg against the tough New Orleans defense, either. Whatever you do, just know you did your best — try to enjoy the game as you eat some Thanksgiving leftovers.