If Chris Rodriguez Jr. is sitting on your fantasy bench collecting dust, your eyes aren’t lying. He is the Jaguars running back stuck behind starter Bhayshul Tuten, and for Week 6 against the Texans he is a fringe option at best. Most analysts say he is safe to cut if your roster is tight.
That’s the short answer for anyone typing the name into a search bar. There are other people named Chris Rodriguez, but Rodriguez Jr. is the only NFL player in the mix, so he’s the one fantasy managers are asking about.
Why Chris Rodriguez Jr. lost fantasy value
The touches vanished. In the Jaguars’ 19-17 win over Philadelphia in Week 5, he carried the ball twice for 5 yards and caught one pass for 6 yards. Those two carries were his fewest of the season, per CBS Sports.
Tuten ran 22 times for 72 yards. Rodriguez ran twice.
His snap share dropped to 13%, according to RotoBaller’s Week 6 rankings. Tuten, a 2025 fourth-round pick, has become the near-every-down back, and the backup role keeps shrinking.
It also ended a short hot streak. Rodriguez scored in Week 3 against New England and again in Week 4 against Cincinnati, including a 25-yard touchdown. Then came a quiet Week 5. A goal-line carry was stuffed and he lost the ball, but officials ruled no fumble and replay did not overturn it, NBC Sports reported.
Chris Rodriguez fantasy numbers so far
Through five games, Rodriguez has 28 carries for 113 yards, a 4.04 average, with 2 touchdowns and one catch for 6 yards, per the Jaguars’ team site. Jacksonville is 4-1, and all that winning hasn’t trickled down to its backup.
Those two touchdowns are most of the Rodriguez fantasy story. Take them away and he hasn’t done much with a small workload. Touchdown-or-bust is a fun label for a lottery ticket, less so for a roster spot.
What the Week 6 rankings say about the Jaguars running back
The projections are not kind. FantasyPros has the Jaguars running back as the consensus RB45 with a 4-point projection, and CBS’s Dave Richard projects 3.74 points. Athlon’s flex rankings on Yahoo put him 144th. RotoBaller’s Nick Mariano also lists him at RB45.
The matchup doesn’t help either. Houston has allowed just 78.4 rushing yards per game, third-best in the NFL, per RotoBaller. A backup with a handful of carries against a stingy run defense is not a plan, it’s a hope. For more Week 6 calls, see ESPN’s bold Week 6 picks.
Should you keep Chris Rodriguez Jr.?
Here’s the thing: C-Rod’s value is almost entirely tied to somebody else’s health. Analysts call him a handcuff, which means he’s worth holding only if you own Tuten and want insurance. If Tuten were to miss time, Rodriguez would instantly matter. Until then, he’s a bench stash on a thin leash.
If you don’t own Tuten, you can probably use that roster spot better. Rotoworld says managers can safely cut him. Also, check Jacksonville’s injury report before kickoff, since Tuten’s Week 6 status was not confirmed at the time of writing.
Where he came from
Washington drafted Rodriguez in the sixth round, 193rd overall, in 2023, and he signed with Jacksonville on March 13. Last season he set career highs of 96 carries, 435 yards and 5 touchdowns through 12 games with the Commanders.
Jacksonville needed to replace the 296 touches Travis Etienne Jr. handled last year, so Rodriguez looked like a decent late-round bet in August. A foot injury at minicamp, and a June report of foot surgery, muddied the picture. Tuten simply ran away with the job. Elsewhere in Jacksonville, Travis Hunter’s corner-first plan is drawing far more attention.
Watch Rodriguez’s snap share and goal-line work Sunday. If those numbers don’t climb, the cut list is where he belongs, because your bench only has so many seats and none are reserved for sentiment.
