Fantasy Football RB Report: Cam Skattebo frozen out of Giants' backfield leads messy Week 6 for splits

There was no shortage of tilting in Week 6 if you rostered some running backs in backfield committees. One split formed thanks to a young back and his fumbling issues, while two other situations continue to be tough to figure out when setting lineups. Here, we're going to break down touches in these key backfield splits and what it means for fantasy football going into Week 7.

New York Giants

It doesn't get more ugly than the above chart for fantasy managers … unless you, for whatever reason, played Tracy today (props to you, go play the lottery). I mostly put Skattebo up there for effect as he was effectively benched after last week's fumbling fiasco. There were reports prior to this game that Harris would cut into Skattebo's workload as punishment. But nope, it was even worse than that as Skattebo only played a handful of snaps and didn't touch the ball.

Not only that, but Harris did next to nothing on limited touches. As mentioned, it was Tracy who stepped up a bit, and while he scored twice, he wasn't very efficient. The Giants also trailed most of this game and benched QB Jameis Winston for J.J. McCarthy, who was surprisingly good in the fourth quarter. McCarthy ended up as the Giants' leading rusher with 26 yards on two carries.

I wouldn't worry so much about Harris and Singletary. Tracy, however — we've seen him produce plenty over the past two seasons. He's the player to target off the waiver wire. As for Skattebo, you'd think he's too talented to remain on the bench and will get a crack to redeem himself in Week 7 against the Texans. But there are a few issues there.

We almost never see players benched entirely like this for fumbling. Giants coach John Harbaugh downplayed that Skattebo was benched and his lack of work came down to the game flow.

Bottom line, Skattebo can't be trusted until we actually see him part of the game plan again. Given the brutal injury last season, you have to wonder what Skattebo's future will look like on this team. We could see Tracy retake the lead back role while Harris and Singletary work in here and there. Or we could see some split between Skattebo and Tracy. This is a situation we'll need to wait and see what happens in Week 7 before reassessing.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers got Dowdle back in the fold in their Week 6 win against the Buccaneers. With Dowdle out for three games, Warren had been feasting with at least 15 touches and over 100 total yards in each contest, topping out at 188 yards and two scores in Week 5's matchup with the Colts.

After that stretch, head coach Mike McCarthy called Warren a "featured player" when asked how Dowdle's return might impact the backfield. It appeared Warren's role as the lead back wasn't in jeopardy. Well, Dowdle really cut into Warren's touches and neither back was effective against a tough Tampa Bay front, though overtime helped for fantasy.

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The extra time was Warren's friend, giving him a handful of additional touches to get to a respectable mark for fantasy managers. Without OT, both backs were heading toward being complete busts. I'm willing to chalk this down game for Warren up to the matchup and game script.

Dowdle's return isn't great because it will leech touches and limit Warren's ceiling. But he's still a solid RB2 option. For Dowdle, we know he'll be involved and could have games where he finds the end zone and spikes. He's going to continue to be a risky flex option.

New England Patriots

This is morphing into the most volatile RB room in the NFL for fantasy managers. Just a complete mess. And the perplexing injury reporting makes things even worse.

After last week, we all expected Henderson to miss this game after it was reported he had a high-ankle sprain. Multiple weeks was the language used.

Nope.

Henderson was active and got eight touches, finishing with more rushing yards than Stevenson, whose role we thought was established. Even after Henderson lost a fumble in the second half, he came in on the next drive and got meaningful touches.

Then there's Kiner, who was more involved than any of us thought given Henderson's health. Not only did Kiner cut into the RB split, but he was used almost exclusively on arguably the most important drive of the game late in the fourth with the Patriots up a TD. He had EIGHT straight touches to make up most of his production, which set up a field goal to make it 26-16.

That type of usage for Kiner should concern both Stevenson and Henderson managers. Kiner now has 17 carries for 107 yards over the past two weeks, better than what we'd been seeing from the other two backs. We also know Drake Maye will run when it makes sense.

Stevenson's pass-game role disappeared in Week 6, which is odd. It could have more to do with New England scoring on some splash plays and A.J. Brown being back in the fold. Still, this was viewed as a week where Stevenson should smash, but he was a bust because of how ineffective he was on the ground. He's looking more like a risky RB3/flex than an RB2.

Henderson is an enigma at this point. Is he hurt? Will he find that explosiveness we saw last season? Will he get benched after fumbling again? Will he be targeted at all? It's just too many question marks and now, he has Kiner breathing down his neck. Henderson isn't really a viable fantasy option right now — a risky flex at best.

Kiner is a very interesting waiver wire add and someone I would prioritize in most formats. It feels like he could start to overtake Stevenson and Henderson — dominating that fourth-quarter drive was very telling.