The Commanders have been one of the most surprising teams this season and come into Week 11 at 7-3 just one half-game behind the Eagles in the NFC East. They’ll visit the Eagles in an epic Thursday Night Football matchup this week. With Jayden Daniels ($10,400 in Showdown) at QB and Dan Quinn as head coach, the Commanders’ offense has been jump-started this season with Brian Robinson Jr. ($8,200) and Austin Ekeler ($8,000) both finding success in the backfield. With Robinson possibly returning from injury, should you start or sit Robinson and Ekeler this week? Let’s take a look.
Brian Robinson Jr.’s Fantasy Outlook
Here’s what Robinson said on Wednesday, and he had no injury designation on the injury report:
The Washington Commanders would love to have RB Brian Robinson Jr. for Thursday's showdown with the Eagles.
On if he will play on Thursday, BRob said, "I think I have a really great chance…I've improved tremendously…starting to build confidence in it again." pic.twitter.com/x5CeU23ic4
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) November 13, 2024
Robinson produced double-digit fantasy points in each of his first six games of the season with six touchdowns. His best game was a multi-touchdown effort against the Cardinals that resulted in 23.3 fantasy points.
He originally sustained his hamstring injury in Week 8 vs. the Bears and was questionable for Week 9. He appeared to be on track to play but things didn’t go well in warmups and he was ruled out. Last week, he was ruled out on Friday after it was reported earlier in the day that he would be a game-time decision. Part of the reason he was held out of that game vs. the Steelers may have been the team looking ahead to the quick turnaround for this game on Thursday.
If he is able to return as expected, Robinson will be in a tough matchup against the Eagles, who have given up the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. He’ll be high-risk even if he plays and his return will also take away lots of work from Austin Ekeler.
Austin Ekeler’s Fantasy Outlook
Ekeler has been very good while Robinson has been sidelined. I wrote that he was a must-start vs. the Steelers without Robinson last week, and he produced 18.1 fantasy points with two touchdowns in the Commanders’ one-point loss.
In the two weeks that Robinson was out, Ekeler had 17.3 and 18.1 fantasy points. Before that, Ekeler had posted double-digit fantasy points in five straight games to start the year but had a smaller role against the Panthers and Bears.
Last week against the Steelers was the first week all season that Ekeler didn’t have multiple receptions. He is averaging 28.3 receiving yards on 2.5 catches per contest.
If Robinson were out this week, Ekeler would be a great RB2 against Philly and would be a must-start in almost all formats. However, with Robinson back, Ekeler becomes a much higher risk since he may not get all the work. He still has potential as a receiver and goal-line option, though, and would still be my slightly preferred play of the two.
The Bottom Line
The Commanders are 3.5-point road underdogs against the Eagles, and both Ekeler and Robinson have identical odds at +115 to score a touchdown.
With both running backs are available, they both have upside with Ekeler having a slightly higher floor and ceiling due to his pass-catching role. Both are worth considering for DFS, with Ekeler a slightly safer play in single-game DFS contests like the NFL $1.5M Thursday Night Showdown [$500K to 1st] (WAS @ PHI).
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