Maybe it’s my advancing age, but man, did this fantasy football season fly by. Here we stand in Week 16, with just two weeks separating us and those much-deserved fantasy championships.
This week’s Roundup will be my last one for 2021. Don’t worry, though. I’m not abandoning you altogether. I will still be posting my rankings at FantasyPros for Week 17 and will surely spend plenty of time talking RBs in the weekly recap and weekly preview episodes of the Rest of Season Rankings podcast. If all else fails, send me an SOS on Twitter @andrew_seifter, and I’ll be more than happy to help you navigate those choppy backfield waters.
Good luck in the rest of your fantasy playoff matchups, friends. Now go out there and take home that title!
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As always, this week’s Roundup will break down all of the fantasy-relevant happenings in backfields across the NFL. If you don’t see a backfield listed here, it just means that the backfield hasn’t significantly shifted since I wrote about it in a previous Roundup. I’m always happy to talk about any backfield situation or anything fantasy-related on Twitter @andrew_seifter. You can also get my thoughts on waiver wire pickups, weekly rankings, and rest-of-season player values by going to ROSrankings.com and subscribing to the Rest of Season Rankings podcast.
Arizona Cardinals
James Conner was able to play through an ankle injury in Week 15, but his snap share plummeted to just 44 percent, the lowest it’s been since Week 4. That may have been because of the ankle, Chase Edmonds returning from injured reserve, or the shockingly negative game script that the Cardinals faced against the lowly Lions. Likely it was some of each.
Whatever the case may be, there will now be a bit of uncertainty surrounding Conner’s workload heading into a difficult Week 16 matchup with the Colts. If you’re in the playoffs, Conner is probably a big reason why, so I wouldn’t get cute and consider benching him. Just realize he may be more of an RB2 than an RB1 next week.
Edmonds touched the ball just six times against Detroit and was uninvolved in the passing game. He should certainly be rostered for the potential upside but is a dicey RB3/flex option right now. Realistic hope is that he can emerge as the Tony Pollard to Conner’s Ezekiel Elliott. Still, fantasy managers don’t have the luxury of being patient at this stage of the season.
Atlanta Falcons
After playing less than 50 percent of the snaps for three straight weeks, Cordarrelle Patterson played his second-highest snap share of the season (62 percent) in Week 15. The only problem is that his usage didn’t change.
Four of Patterson’s six games with double digit rushing attempts have occurred over the last month, but his pass-catching role has vanished. CPat caught 5+ passes in six of seven games from Weeks 2-9, but he’s averaged just two catches per game since. It hasn’t killed his fantasy value but has left open the possibility of the occasional dud against a strong run defense, which is precisely what we saw happen against San Francisco last week.
Patterson’s declining snap share has served to put Mike Davis back on the fantasy radar, at least in an RB3/flex kind of way. Davis has carried the ball more than six times just once over the last six games, but he has inherited some of the passing game work that Patterson has left behind. That wasn’t the case last week –, and his snap share was down a little, too. He’s still got a little bit of sneaky flex appeal heading into a soft matchup with Detroit, but hopefully, most fantasy playoff teams will have better options.
Baltimore Ravens
You’ve heard of Lazarus rising from the grave, but how about Latavius? After serving as the Ravens’ de facto lead back from Weeks 4-6, Murray missed nearly a month and settled in as a lightly-used backup to Devonta Freeman. He played fewer snaps than Freeman once again on Sunday, but Murray led the way in touches 8-to-7 and more than double Freeman’s yardage output, 51 to 24.
Unfortunately, the takeaway for fantasy isn’t that you should rush out to add and start Murray. It’s that Freeman is now a little less trustworthy as an RB2 for a decent matchup with Cincinnati next week.
Buffalo Bills
I had pretty much given up on any Bills running back providing reliable fantasy value this season, but Devin Singletary is making me rethink that stance. Or more to the point, the Bills’ coaching staff is making me rethink it by scratching Zack Moss and handing Singletary a true, every-down role.
Remember way back in Week 1, when Moss was shocking inactive, and Singletary played 75 percent of the snaps? Well, Moss returned in Week 2, and from that point on, we saw a reasonably even — and relatively ineffective — running back committee between the two, with Matt Breida eventually joining in as well.
Singletary’s snaps finally jumped up to 82 percent in Week 14, but it only resulted in 10 touches in a game where the Bills became the first team in the 21st century to go the entire first half without a running back carry. It was an entirely different story last week, though. Singletary played 93 percent of the snaps and carried the ball 22 times for 86 yards and a touchdown, sparking hope that he can be a legitimate RB2 the rest of the way. The playing time is certainly there.
Carolina Panthers
As predicted in this space last week, the Panthers fell behind the Bills, leading to passing-down back Ameer Abdullah outperforming base back Chuba Hubbard. With Tampa Bay next on the docket, Abdullah should once again be the preferable RB3/flex option, although neither is a particularly attractive play.
Cincinnati Bengals
For the third straight game, Joe Mixon was ineffective as a runner (17 carries, 58 yards) and uninvolved as a receiver (1 catch, 2 yards). Adding injury to insult, he also sprained his ankle in the contest.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Monday that Mixon’s injury situation is “encouraging,” but his track record on Mixon injuries isn’t so hot. As you may recall, Taylor called Mixon “day-to-day” when he suffered a foot injury last October, and he ended up missing the rest of the season. Taylor also called Mixon “day to day” when he sprained his ankle in Week 4 of this season, and sure enough, he didn’t end up missing any time.
Samaje Perine was already well worth stashing when Mixon was healthy, so he’s certainly a must-roster player with Mixon’s status up in the air. Perine is the only Cincinnati running back to play meaningful snaps this year, and he is averaging a healthy 4.5 yards per carry (better than Mixon’s 4.2). Chris Evans would likely play a role, but he hasn’t played more than 16 snaps in any game this season, so his chances of overtaking Perine on the depth chart seem remote.
Cleveland Browns
The Covid-depleted Browns could not lean on the running game quite as much as anticipated against a subpar Raiders run D on Monday. With Cleveland missing multiple offensive linemen, Nick Chubb struggled to find much running room until the second half but ultimately finished with a solid line for fantasy managers: 23 carries, 91 yards, 1 TD.
Chubb played on first and second downs and third and short situations, while D’Ernest Johnson was in for third and long situations and the two minute drill. It resulted in a roughly 2-to-1 snap share in Chubb’s favor. Kareem Hunt was already expected to miss this game due to an ankle injury, but now he is also dealing with Covid. His status for the Browns’ Christmas Day game with the Packers is TBD, but Johnson will continue to fill in if he remains out.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys took Tony Pollard’s Week 15 status up to game time, but he was ultimately cleared to play through his foot injury and got his usual allotment of snaps. As has often been the case this season, Pollard was Dallas’ most effective back on a per-touch basis, while Ezekiel Elliott produced a solid fantasy day by catching a few passes and finding the end zone.
Elliott is not the dynamic back he used to be. However, he still ranks seventh among running backs in fantasy points this season, meaning very few fantasy managers will have the luxury of sitting him against Washington in the fantasy semifinals.
Denver Broncos
One week after they split the backfield snaps down the middle, Javonte Williams went back to the nearly 60-40 edge over Melvin Gordon that we had seen in Weeks 10 and 12. Neither back had a huge day against Cincinnati, but Williams produced 19 more yards on the same number of carries and remained more involved than Gordon in the passing game. Williams has been breaking tackles all season and can be trusted as a high-end RB2 even though this situation remains a timeshare. Gordon is more of a borderline RB2/3 moving forward with his snaps on the decline again.
Detroit Lions
The legend of undrafted free agent and Kutztown University product Craig Reynolds continues to grow. It all began in Week 14 when Adam Schefter revealed an hour before kickoff that he would start Reynolds on his fantasy team. Reynolds ended up with 13 touches for 99 yards against Denver. With D’Andre Swift (shoulder) and Jamaal Williams (Covid) out in Week 15, Reynolds was granted another opportunity to shine against the Cardinals. He didn’t disappoint.
Reynolds piled up 112 rushing yards, the most by any player in Sunday’s action. The Lions have since activated Williams from the Covid list and will reportedly try to work Swift back into practice this week, although coach Dan Campbell calls him “week-to-week, day-to-day” (whatever that means).
In the next two weeks, Detroit has enticing matchups with the Falcons and Seahawks, meaning any back who gets significant work in this backfield could be in line for big fantasy production. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to decipher how Campbell will divvy up touches if all three backs are active. I would tentatively expect Swift to be the best fantasy option in that scenario, with Reynolds perhaps better positioned than Williams if Swift were to remain sidelined.
Green Bay Packers
In recent weeks, the Packers’ backfield was seemingly shifting in AJ Dillon‘s direction, but that trend came to a screeching halt against the Ravens. Aaron Jones out-snapped Dillon 39-to-23 against Baltimore, and while both backs hit pay dirt, Jones had almost twice as many touches and came away with the much more productive fantasy day.
Whether that discrepancy is a sign that Jones is finally healthy and reassuming the lead role is hard to say at this point. Short of a definitive statement to that effect from Matt LaFleur, we probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions based on one game. Yes, you can be a little more confident relying on Jones next week, but I wouldn’t put him back into the RB1 conversation just yet, and would still consider Dillon a viable fantasy option, too.
Houston Texans
It’s infrequent that you see a player ruled out mid-week and then end up playing, but that’s exactly what happened with Rex Burkhead. On Wednesday, Texans coach David Culley said that Burkhead would not play against Jacksonville. He ended up not only playing but leading the backfield in snaps.
You probably know by now that you shouldn’t be starting Texans’ RBs in fantasy, but Burkhead does get a favorable matchup with the Chargers next. So if you play in an extremely deep league, he should be the first Houston RB for you to hold your nose and consider deploying.
Indianapolis Colts
Jonathan Taylor keeps putting more and more separation between himself and the rest of the pack at running back. After a relatively slow first three weeks, Taylor has been virtually unstoppable, amassing 285.3 fantasy points in 0.5 PPR formats — 71 more than Austin Ekeler, who is second over that span.
This has generally been a disastrous year to have invested an early first round pick in the running back, but if you managed to secure Taylor, you’ve been laughing all the way to the bank (depending on the size of your league buy-in, of course).
Jacksonville Jaguars
With Urban Meyer (general idiocy) and Carlos Hyde (concussion) out, James Robinson was destined to smash, and smash he did. Robinson dominated backfield snaps, carries, and targets, finishing with 21 touches for 88 yards and a TD against Houston.
Hyde was recently placed on season-ending IR, and now Robinson gets a date with the Jets and an even juicier matchup than the Texans. Interim head coach Darrell Bevell has made it clear that Robinson will be the Jags’ featured runner over the rest of the season, and I’ll be ranking him as a high-end RB1 against the Jets.
Kansas City Chiefs
Clyde Edwards-Helaire played his highest snap share since Week 1 (71 percent), but it only translated to 11 touches, 50 yards, and a two-point conversion against a Chargers defense that has been gashed by the run most of the year. Between injuries and mediocre production, it’s fair to say he’s had a disappointing season, but most fantasy managers who’ve made it this far will need to stick with him as an RB2. Despite all the warts, he’s still the clear lead back in an explosive offense.
Darrel Williams‘ fantasy viability, however, has become a little shakier. Williams has seen his snap share drop in four straight games, and he hasn’t reached double digit touches in any of the four games since CEH has been back. Williams constantly threatens to come through with a big play in the passing game, but limited opportunities have rendered him a dicey RB3/flex option.
Las Vegas Raiders
Jalen Richard‘s return to the lineup predictably took a bite out of Josh Jacobs‘ Week 15 snap count, but Jacobs still played roughly two-thirds of the snaps as he’s done most of the year. Jacobs also maintained his enhanced role in the passing game, posting 38+ receiving yards for the third straight game after doing it just once before that.
The Raiders have never allowed Jacobs to serve as a true bell-cow for an extended time, and it sure seems like Richard and Peyton Barber will continue to mix in. That’s a little frustrating, but Jacobs is still a mid-to-high end RB2 as long as he remains active in the passing game.
Los Angeles Chargers
Austin Ekeler had a typically productive game against the Chiefs last Thursday, despite playing limited snaps due to an ankle injury. The bigger news, though, is his Covid status. It was initially reported that Ekeler was heading to the Covid list, but that didn’t end up happening, although he did miss practice on Monday. That would seemingly put him in the clear, at least for now, but we will have to keep our eyes peeled to the transaction wire in this crazy omicron era we’re living through.
Should Ekeler ultimately end up on the Covid list for real, the Chargers backfield will become a messy one to sort through. The most logical beneficiary would be Justin Jackson, whose skill set closest resembles Ekeler’s. With Ekeler limited, Jackson played most of the snaps against Kansas City and impressively posted 99 scrimmage yards on just 14 touches. We’d likely see Joshua Kelley, Larry Rountree, or both factor into the equation.
Los Angeles Rams
Darrell Henderson returned from a two-game absence on Tuesday night, but he didn’t return to the starting job he had left behind. Speaking before the game, Sean McVay was non-committal on which back he’d lean on, but Fox’s Jay Glazer reported that the Rams “love” what Sony Michel brings to the table.
Michel has breathed life into the Rams running game over the last few weeks, which continued against the Seahawks. He out-snapped Henderson 48-to-18, out-carried him 18-to-6 and ran 21 pass routes to Henderson’s 9. Michel ended up topping 100 yards from scrimmage for the second time in three weeks, while Henderson finished with a meager 27.
It’s certainly possible that Henderson’s snap share increases as he becomes further removed from his quad injury and Covid diagnosis. Still, it’s looking unlikely that he retakes lead back duties from Michel. Consider Michel a strong starting option with RB1 potential for the rest of the fantasy playoffs.
Miami Dolphins
Myles Gaskin was activated from the Covid list to play against the Jets but not in time to take back the starting job. That went to hometown hero Duke Johnson, who had gotten the most reps in at practice during the week. Johnson walked away with his first 100-yard game and first multi-rushing touchdown game of his lengthy career.
I hate to pour cold water on a feel-good story, but before you fall head over heels for Duke, let’s remember that he was facing the worst defense in the entire league. Gaskin has hardly been an effective runner this season, but when he got his shot at the Jets in Week 11, he put up 96 yards and a touchdown himself. He also had ten carries for 54 yards against them this time around.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores has already said that he plans to use three running backs going forward, with the third presumably being one of Salvon Ahmed, Phillip Lindsay, or Malcolm Brown. In other words, it’s a messy situation, and the Dolphins don’t get to play the Jets this week, either. Instead of the best possible matchup for RBs, they get one of the worst, New Orleans.
Go ahead and pick Johnson up if he’s sitting on waivers, but I would have a tough time trusting him in a fantasy lineup in Week 16.
Minnesota Vikings
With Alexander Mattison on the Covid list, Dalvin Cook played a season-high 89 percent of the snaps against the Bears on Monday night. It didn’t result in one of Cook’s best fantasy performances but serves as a reminder that his already-massive ceiling and floor are elevated whenever Mattison is out.
New England Patriots
The bye week was not enough time for Damien Harris to get his hammy right, so he sat out Saturday night’s game against the Colts. That left Rhamondre Stevenson to serve as the Patriots’ base back, with Brandon Bolden handling passing situations.
Unfortunately for those rostering Stevenson, the game script quickly went haywire, so he ended up playing less than half of the snaps and posting just 40 scoreless yards from scrimmage on 11 touches. If Harris should need to miss another game, fantasy managers should not be afraid to go back to the well with Stevenson against a run-funnel Bills defense in Week 16.
New Orleans Saints
Week 15 marked the first time the Saints had Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram available since way back in Week 8 when Ingram was still acclimated to the offense after coming over in a trade from Houston. Neither back did much of anything against a brutally tough Bucs defense, but interestingly enough, the snap share between the two was fairly even and included several plays where both backs were on the field at once. Ingram ran almost as many routes and had nearly as many carries as Kamara.
New Orleans’ next two opponents, Miami and Carolina, are also tough against opposing running backs, so it may be tough for Kamara to string together big fantasy performances if he’s splitting snaps with Ingram.
New York Giants
Saquon Barkley may have been a bell cow early in the season, but it’s been a different story since he returned from his ankle injury in Week 11. Devontae Booker has played at least 35 percent of the snaps in four of those fives games, and he’s outproduced Barkley on a per-touch basis in each of the last three. Barkley remains the lead back, but he’s more likely to play 60 percent of the snaps than 85 percent like he was before.
Barkley’s floor remains high enough to keep him in the every-week RB2 mix, but it’s virtually impossible to make a case for him as an RB1 when you consider Booker’s growing role and what the Giants have going at quarterback right now. Booker remains a prime handcuff who would be an RB2 himself if Barkley went down again. He even has a bit of standalone value with how well he’s playing, although most fantasy playoff teams can probably do better.
New York Jets
Welp, Michael Carter‘s much anticipated return turned out to be quite a massive dud. The rookie did lead all Jets’ RBs in snaps, but he managed only 20 yards on nine touches while Tevin Coleman put up 50 yards on his eight. Both Carter’s inefficient rushing and his lack of a receiving role were extremely disappointing.
Carter remains the only Jets back worth rostering in standard-sized leagues. Still, he will be tough to trust as an RB2 against a Jaguars defense that has been above average at limiting fantasy production from running backs.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles had all four of their running backs active for the first time all season on Tuesday against Washington. Boston Scott did not play a single offensive snap. Kenneth Gainwell was used sparingly in passing situations, leaving most backfield work to Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard.
Sanders and Howard ended up nearly even in snaps, carries, and routes run, but Sanders operated as the lead back for most of the game while Howard took over in clock-killing mode. Sanders looked explosive through the game, finishing with 146 yards on 20 touches. He still hasn’t scored a touchdown yet this season but nearly did in this game and continues to get a decent number of red zone opportunities.
Sanders can be confidently deployed as a high-end RB2 for favorable matchups with the Giants and Football Team over the next two weeks, while Howard will have some RB3/flex appeal in those contests.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Najee Harris had a game to forget against a tough Titans run defense, totally a mere 26 yards on 14 touches. There’s no need to panic, though. The name of the game for Harris is volume, and he had 20+ carries in each of the previous two games. He played every snap against Tennessee but didn’t get his usual workload in a game where the Titans dominated time of possession and ran 78 plays to Pittsburgh’s 45.
San Francisco 49ers
Elijah Mitchell (concussion, knee) missed his second straight game — and fifth of the season — on Sunday, but the 49ers were finally able to get Jeff Wilson going in his place. Wilson took full advantage of the favorable matchup with Atlanta, carrying the ball 21 times for 110 yards and a score.
Mitchell has now cleared the concussion protocol, so his knee irritation is the only thing standing in the way of a return to action. GM John Lynch says Mitchell’s knee has “taken a positive turn,” but that he will be a game-time decision for San Francisco’s game on Thursday night against Tennessee.
The Titans represent a very tough matchup, so Mitchell will be more of an RB2 than an RB1 if he’s able to go, especially considering the possibility he could play limited snaps. Wilson isn’t going to overtake a healthy Mitchell, but he showed enough last week to merit RB2 consideration if Mitchell remains out.
Seattle Seahawks
With Alex Collins, Travis Homer, and Adrian Peterson all inactive, Rashaad Penny seemed to set up to repeat his big Week 14 performance. Psyche! Penny started as the Seahawks’ main early down back, but he apparently “cramped up” at halftime and went to the locker room just in time for DeeJay Dallas to vulture a rushing score. Dallas, who started as the third down/hurry-up back, took some base work the rest of the way. Dallas played more snaps than Penny and was more productive than Penny with his touches.
Seattle will likely have more backfield options available next week against Chicago, meaning this backfield will remain difficult to gauge. Penny is still probably the best bet, but that isn’t saying much when you’re talking about a below-average rushing attack that hasn’t produced a consistent fantasy performer all year.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Leonard Fournette has been the fourth-best fantasy back in the league this season, but he suffered a hamstring injury against New Orleans on Sunday night that will likely send him to injured reserve. Ronald Jones has been one of my highest-priority handcuffs this entire season, and now we get to see why.
Bruce Arians has already confirmed that Jones will be the Bucs’ featured runner moving forward, at least for the rest of the fantasy playoffs. While Jones has struggled to see the field this season, that means he’s fresh. He posted over 1,100 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns over 14 games last season and ran eight times for 63 yards on Sunday against the Saints. He will be in the RB1 conversation immediately and has legitimate league-winning potential in Week 17 when the Bucs face the ultra-soft Jets run D.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans continued to evenly rotate all three of their running backs in Week 15. Still, D’Onta Foreman served as their primary rusher and had a huge game against the Steelers’ extremely vulnerable run defense. Foreman broke the 100-yard rushing plateau for the second time in three games and continues to force his way onto the RB2 radar. However, he’s yet to top 50 percent of the snaps, which suggests he could be quite game-script dependent.
Washington Football Team
With J.D. McKissic landing on IR, Antonio Gibson would appear to have a clear path to bell cow duties down the stretch. He’ll need to remain healthy, though.
Gibson picked up a toe injury in Tuesday night’s matchup with the Eagles, which forced him to cede some snaps to Jaret Patterson. Foot and leg injuries have been a constant issue for the Football Team tailback, who had his 2020 season cut short by turf toe and has dealt with a shin injury for a large portion of this season.
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Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter.