ESPN Ownership: 53%
Yahoo! Ownership: 41%

I get the draw of handcuffing running backs: you want to have an insurance policy in case of emergency for one of the riskiest positions in fantasy football. We feel like rostering the backups of a three-down running back – while it may not pan out in the short-term – is the best way to get a potential fantasy RB1 for cheap. For a player like Minnesota Vikings running back Latavius Murray, that allure is even stronger since we’ve seen what he can do with a nearly-full complement of touches.

Still, it’s important to remember that Murray lost 196 opportunities (rushes plus targets) to Jerick McKinnon in 2017 across the 12 games that he was a starter, mainly in the form of 56 targets to Murray’s 15. While Murray does have some upside as a starting running back, there’s a cap to his ceiling.

Even more so, with starter Dalvin Cook playing (and continuing to play through an injury), Murray is seeing little-to-no playing time. Across four games this season – including one Cook sat out – Murray has just 25 opportunities. He’s highly game-flow and volume dependent (just 3.4 yards per rushing attempt), and when neither are there, Murray is absolutely droppable in standard leagues.