The question of is Cordarrelle Patterson playing in Week 9 has essentially been lingering for fantasy football managers since he was placed on the IR a few weeks ago. With the Atlanta Falcons having the chance to activate Patterson this week, will we see him on the field against the Los Angeles Chargers this week?
Is Cordarrelle Patterson Playing Today?
The opportunity for Patterson to play in Week 9 became apparent when the Falcons activated him from the IR on Saturday. He returned to practice on Wednesday and seemingly proved to the coaches that he is able to suit up this week.
While the updates have been limited this week, the fact he was activated now means the Falcons intend to use him this week. However, the emergence of Caleb Huntley and Tyler Allgeier over the past few weeks has clouded the situation in terms of what we can expect from Patterson when he returns.
This three-headed RB committee could be extremely complicated for fantasy managers. Whether it is in season-long formats, daily fantasy contests on Underdog Fantasy, or trying to exploit the stat projections of the Falcons’ RB position, this week is confusing.
Let’s examine the matchup for the Falcons this week and whether there is the potential for fantasy value among this group in Week 9.
What Is the Potential Fantasy Value for Patterson, Caleb Huntley, and Tyler Allgeier in Week 9?
While there are three backs to be concerned about in this picture, the matchup this week is intriguing. The Chargers have allowed an average of 26.44 fantasy points to the RB position in half-PPR. That is the second-highest number in the league, behind only the Houston Texans.
Prior to the bye week, the Chargers’ defense had really struggled against the RB position. Three of their previous four games had seen them allow more than 30 fantasy points to the position. Going further back to Week 2, the Chargers have allowed more than 20 fantasy points to running backs in five of the last six weeks.
While the matchup is a nice one, the picture this week is cloudy. Before Patterson was hurt, he averaged 14.5 rushing attempts and 85 rushing yards. He also found the end zone three times in four games. However, having got hurt with that usage, it would be no surprise to see the Falcons limit Patterson to closer to 10 touches per game over the coming weeks.
The skills we saw from Patterson in the first four weeks mean there is plenty of upside for him. However, expecting him to average 5.9 rushing yards per attempt and 0.75 touchdowns per game on reduced touches would be somewhat optimistic. Additionally, the hard-running style of Huntley in recent weeks, as well as the threat of Marcus Mariota, could limit the goal-line upside.
In the last three weeks, Huntley had 16 rushing attempts in two of the three games. That came despite him only playing 20 and 24 snaps in those games, respectively. In Week 8, he averaged 5.69 yards per rush attempt and has certainly established himself as a threat, proving to be highly effective. However, Huntley’s high touch-to-snap ratio could indicate the Falcons are worried about him in other elements, such as pass blocking.
The biggest beneficiary of Patterson’s absence has been Allgeier. He’s averaged 14.5 rushing attempts per game, which is, ironically, exactly the number we saw from Patterson in the first four weeks. However, Allgeier averaged just 46.25 rushing yards per game at an average of 3.2 yards per attempt. His inability to produce efficiently could make it tough for Allgeier to retain similar usage now.
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Prior to Patterson’s injury, Allgeier had a total of 26 rushing attempts in four games through Week 4. He averaged 8.7 rushing attempts per game in that spell, which could be viewed as a reasonable floor.
The beauty of all of this is that the Falcons have the third-most rushing attempts in the league this year at 268. Overall, they average 33.5 rushing attempts per game. Of those, Mariota is averaging 6.9 rushing attempts per game, leaving 26.6 per game for the running backs to split between them.
Therefore, there’s room for all three to potentially have success if there ends up being a reasonably even split in the work. The trouble is that the exact split is close to impossible to predict this week, making it tough to really trust any of them.
Patterson started the year as the RB1 for the Falcons and produced doing so. Therefore, we should expect him to have the most work, even if the Falcons don’t throw him back into the 14-15 touches per game he averaged through the first four weeks.
Patterson currently ranks as the RB20 in Tommy Garrett’s PPR fantasy rankings for Week 9, making him an intriguing RB2 consideration in both 10 and 12-team leagues.
However, the potential we see all three mixing in means in deeper leagues, all of them have some level of fantasy value. In Garrett’s Week 9 RB fantasy rankings, Allgeier is the RB34, with Huntley as the RB45. Allgeier is intriguing as a 14-team Flex consideration, while Huntley is a more realistic consideration as a touchdown-dependent option in 16 to 20-team leagues.
