The Ravens backfield was absolutely desecrated by injuries to start the season, but it appears a clear No. 1 back has appeared in Latavius Murray. Baltimore signed the Pro Bowl RB to a one-year contract in September after losing J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill to season-ending injuries.
Former practice squad player Ty'Son Williams was the initial RB1 as Murray learned the Ravens' systems, but the veteran is now firmly atop the depth chart heading into Week 5. The Ravens are known for their rushing prowess, making any clear leader in this backfield valuable — but how aggressively should you target Murray?
Rostered in 48% of Yahoo! leagues as of writing, our trio of analysts break down his potential value and how much of your Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) to bid in order to roster him.
Target Latavius Murray On Fantasy Waiver Wire?
Chris Raybon
Murray is likely already rostered in your leagues. If he’s not, I’d consider him a very high priority. Murray’s snap count jumped to 62% in Week 4 from the 31-36% range in Weeks 1 to 3. And remember, unlike veterans Devonta Freeman and Le’Veon Bell, Murray was signed to the active roster from the start while the latter two were forced to accept practice squad deals.
Murray is averaging 11.0 carries per game and could inherit the full J.K. Dobbins workload going forward. I would spend up to 33% of your FAAB on him.
Samantha Previte
Ty’Son Williams was a surprising late scratch on Sunday, giving Murray, Le’Veon Bell and Devonta Freeman more opportunities. Murray saw 18 of the running backs’ 23 carries and tallied 59 yards and a touchdown. Williams had two strong games and one not-so-good game in Week 3, so it is a little curious to see him already in the doghouse with coach John Harbaugh. For now, consider Murray to be the lead back in this run-first offense. He should be rostered in all but the shallowest of leagues.
Murray is one of only three high-priority RB targets I recommended in my Week 5 breakdown of the waiver wire market.
Sean Koerner
Murray is the RB to roster from the Ravens. He is firmly the lead back (at least for now), which typically carries RB2 or RB3 value in the Ravens offense. He is running a route about 25% of the time, but still has zero catches so he loses value in any sort of PPR.
He's worth 15-20% of your FAAB for RB-needy teams, especially considering Baltimore could lower his floor with a "hot hand" approach going forward.
