James White, Sony Michel, and Rex Burkhead are all productive in their own right but their on-field success comes in dribs and drabs instead of weekly consistency. For years the Patriots have employed a Running Back By Committee (RBBC) which is often frustrating for fantasy football players.

PatriotMaven’s Devon Clements joined Sports Illustrated’s fantasy analyst Corey Parson and Kaitlin O’Toole to discuss New England’s backfield and which rusher is the best pick for fantasy football in 2020.

Read the Full Transcript from the video:

 

Kaitlin O'Toole: The New England Patriots could shake up their backfield in 2020 and there may be a battle between running backs on who will earn the majority of the early down touches this upcoming season. Joining me now is Patriot maven Devon Clements and SI's fantasy and gambling analyst Corey Parson. Devon, how do you see the Patriots backfield shaking out this season? 

Devon Clements: Well, here's the thing, we know they're going to run the ball a lot, which is good news for anybody that wants to draft those guys in fantasy football, but with that being said, it's tough. There's going to be a committee approach, I believe it's going to be a hot hand week in and week out. I think Sony Michel will be the guy that will get the most touches out of the backfield. The question that remains to be seen is how many touches will he get? And I don't believe it's going to be a whole lot based on what we've seen from him over the past couple years. I believe someone like Damien Harris is going to challenge those touches along with Burkhead. So Sony Michel is going to be the guy with the most touches, but it won't be by very much.

Kaitlin O'Toole: Alright, Corey. Devon just spoke on a couple of different running backs for the Patriots. Who do you think would be the best one to draft for fantasy?

Corey Parson: The best one to draft in fantasy is Sony Michel. He's the guy with the highest upside. He's the guy who I think is the best running back. Listen, last year, Michel was terrible, under 4 yards a carry. But the bottom line is it was the Patriots offensive line. They had the 18th ranked rushing offense in the entire NFL. Then we got a guy like James White, he's an excellent pass catching back, but there's no consistency there. He can catch 8 passes one week and catch 1 pass the next week. Damien Harris is very interesting, I think he's the guy that should be stashed for fantasy in case of an injury. I think you can see his stock go up. As far as Rex Burkhead goes, he's not a player that I touch for fantasy. He hasn't played 16 games in the 3 seasons he's been in New England, so Sony Michel is the guy with the most upside, and the good thing about him is you don't have to pay the price you paid for him last year. But we'll see what the production brings. 

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