Every week Committee Meetings breaks down some top storylines from the league's most head-scratching backfield committees in hopes of gaining some clarity for fantasy owners. If you're wondering about a backfield that's not discussed below, feel free to Tweet @MattFranchise for some additional advice.
Your top fantasy running backs for Week 15 are Isaiah Crowell (savor this moment), Todd Gurley (praise the fantasy gods), James Starks (it's cool, Lacy did well too), DeAngelo Williams (always consistent) and Lamar Miller (give this man the ball!). We got some bad news with Thomas Rawls' season ending injury and fantasy owners will want to keep an eye on T.J. Yeldon's sprained knee situation as Week 15 approaches. But other than that, it was a pretty great week for running backs in fantasy football. We saw five 100-yard rushers, five backs who scored twice and 20 running backs get into the end zone at least once. Now, lets get into some committee breakdowns.
Lacy and Starks shred Dallas defense
Eddie Lacy | James Starks // Packers
When given high-volume looks this year, Eddie Lacy has produced. In games with 17 or more carries this season, he's averaged 100.8 rush yards per game and 15.3 fantasy points per game. In a game that was seen as his redemption following some off-the-field issues the week prior, Lacy produced again with a heavy workload. Packers head coach Mike McCarthy was adamant all week about giving his back another shot and Lacy responded with a 20-point fantasy day. He notched season highs in both carries and rush yards. Lacy was the clear lead back here with 56 percent of offensive snaps compared to James Starks' 37 percent, but Starks had an even better day than Lacy did from a fantasy perspective.
Starks scored twice, once rushing and once receiving and averaged 6.5 yards per carry on his 11 totes. The Packers running backs exploited the Cowboys lackluster run defense for the team's best rushing performance in any game this season and totaled the most rush yards (230) in a game since 2004. Going forward, Lacy faces matchups I wouldn't quite call favorable against Oakland in Week 15 and Arizona in Week 16. Based on how he played in Week 14, you'd have to expect Green Bay to keep feeding Lacy the ball while Starks will still get his looks as a change-of-pace back and on passing downs. Both backs are decent flex plays for the remainder of the fantasy season, but since Lacy should be in line for more opportunities he has the upside over Starks.
Ivory bounces back
Chris Ivory | Bilal Powell | Stevan Ridley // Jets
I wrote last week in this space not to panic regarding Chris Ivory's usage in Week 13 when the Jets were playing catchup, which led to a bigger game for Bilal Powell. The Jets got back to their winning ways against an awful Titans team on Sunday and Ivory benefitted from his team being ahead for the entire contest. Ivory's 51 percent snap count should reassure you that he's a solid RB2 play the rest of the way, and will be especially valuable next week when the Jets take on a Cowboys defense that was just thrashed by the Packers running backs (see above). Keep Ivory in your lineup and trust that as long as he stays healthy he'll be the featured back in New York.
Bilal Powell did get some work on Sunday and has become a solid flex play over the last month especially in PPR formats. He only saw eight touches in total against the Titans but he was efficient with them gaining 82 yards and scored a receiving touchdown. In his last four games, Powell has collected 314 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns and has PPR fantasy totals in double digits in three of those four weeks. Both Powell and Ivory could have solid games in Week 16 against Dallas so if you're looking for a good PPR flex floor play Powell is well worth a look, just be aware that you're banking on his usage as a pass-catcher which can be a product of game flow.
Sproles continues to roll
DeMarco Murray | Darren Sproles | Ryan Mathews // Eagles
For the second week in a row, Darren Sproles led the Philadelphia backfield in snap count and was the efficient runner for the Eagles. Even with the return of Ryan Mathews, Sproles saw more playing time than both Mathews and DeMarco Murray and was the only Eagles back to score against the Buffalo Bills. To be honest though no member of this backfield did enough to warrant a fantasy start in Week 15 when the Arizona Cardinals come to town. Now that Mathews is back in the mix, he is sure to siphon opportunities from Murray who hasn't done anything worthy of a fantasy start in about a month now. And, despite reports on Sunday morning that Murray was "demoted" to the fourth-string running back, he still split touches evenly with Mathews against Buffalo, so he's not going anywhere either. This is probably one of the most frustrating, head scratching committees in the league right now, and for that reason, it's tough to make any calls on who the best start in fantasy will be for the rest of the season. My suggestion is to either find a different option, or if you must start any from this trio, just close your eyes and hope for the best.
Hightower steps up
Tim Hightower | C.J. Spiller // Chiefs
Crowell has career day
Isaiah Crowell | Duke Johnson // Browns
Matt Franciscovich is an associate fantasy editor at NFL.com. He can't get Alabama Shakes' "Sound and Color" out of his head. Hit Matt up on Twitter **@MattFranchise** for music recommendations and fantasy advice.