Backfield Breakdown: RB Usage Report & Week 10 Waivers Preview

Week 9 continued the trend of RBs accounting for a large portion of the big fantasy games, with wide receivers taking a back seat despite Jaxon Smith-Njigba's career day. Four RBs topped 80% snap share — Kyren Williams, Tony Pollard, Chase Brown, J.K. Dobbins — and 10 others landed in the 70s (Chuba Hubbard, Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, Aaron Jones, Kenneth Walker, Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley, Rico Dowdle, Rhamondre Stevenson and Jonathan Taylor).

It was mostly the usual suspects that accounted for the 10 performances of 20-plus PPR points, but there were also some new faces on that list, namely Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle (21.7) and Bengals RB Chase Brown (26.7). A year of incredibly good injury luck at the position held strong for another week, although we did get news Tuesday that Zack Moss (neck) is likely out for the season, which prompted the Bengals to trade a seventh-round pick to the Bears for Khalil Herbert. 

Back in Chicago, the trade gives Roschon Johnson a bit more appeal as a bench stash, now that oft-injured passing-down specialist Travis Homer as the only other backup RB on the 53-man roster (or practice squad). The impact for Cincinnati is less clear, as Brown has played well in recent weeks and successfully handled a massive workload (see below) this past Sunday. Some would argue Herbert is a better pure runner, but Brown is clearly superior in terms of straight-line speed and receiving skills. Herbert may eventually force a 50/50 type split, or he might only take only a few touches per game (in which case Brown likely would become a low-end RB1 for fantasy).

You'll find all the usual stuff below, including additional discussion of Cincinnati's situation and other uncertainty-laden backfields around the league.

Injury Report 🚑

New Injuries

Saquon Barkley (back)

Barkley handled a full workload in Sunday's win over Jacksonville and isn't expected to miss any time. His injury has been described as "back tightness" so far.

Missed Week 9

Brian Robinson (hamstring / day-to-day)

Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle / day-to-day)

Tyjae Spears (hamstring / week-to-week)

Dameon Pierce (groin / week-to-week)

Jamaal Williams (groin / week-to-week)

Jonathon Brooks (NFI - knee / may debut Week 10)

MarShawn Lloyd (IR - ankle / eligible since Week 6)

Gus Edwards (ankle / eligible to return Week 10)

Isiah Pacheco (fibula / could return late November)

Kendre Miller (IR - hamstring / eligible Week 14)

The biggest news this week is RB Christian McCaffrey's return to practice Monday, following a Week 9 bye. He may play this Sunday at Tampa Bay but presumably won't leap right back into his usual every-down role. Teammate Jordan Mason is recovering from a shoulder injury, which means rookie Isaac Guerendo may have a role Week 10, although probably not a large one.

Stock Report 📊

A lot of what you'll see here is building on my work from Box Score Breakdown, the weekly recap article with stat tables for every team that include snaps, routes, and target/air-yard shares, in addition to all the basic stats like carries, catches, yards and TDs. I also discuss role specifics and make note of various circumstances that could cause numbers to be misleading, so it's worth checking out if you're looking to go into even more detail on running backs before making waiver adds or lineup decisions for the upcoming week.

Note: Opps. = carries + targets    

Trending Up 📈

De'Von Achane - 23+ PPR points in each of Tua Tagovailoa's four starts

Chase Brown - W9: 85% snaps, 32 of 32 RB opps, 157 total yards + TD

Rico Dowdle - W9: 73% snaps, 18 of 23 RB opps, 107 yards + TD  /  4 straight w/ 11.5+ PPR 

Cam Akers - W9: 23% snaps, eight of 33 RB opps, 53 total yards

Ray Davis - W9: 90 yards and a TD on six touches (only 14% snap share)

Injuries to Dak Prescott (hamstring) and CeeDee Lamb (shoulder) stole the show, but Rico Dowdle's dominance of the backfield work was another huge development for fantasy football. Dowdle's trio of TD catches over the past four games is a fluky stat, but he should be a solid RB2 for fantasy if he maintains this type of workload dominance. Ezekiel Elliot was a healthy scratch while Hunter Luepke and Dalvin Cook combined for just 29% snap share and five touches. However, Elliott was scratched for disciplinary reasons rather than performance, so it's anyone's guess if he'll be involved again Week 10. Coach Mike McCarthy said Elliott "will be available" this week.

Trending Down 📉

Austin Ekeler - W9: 47% snaps, 41% routes, 14 of 

Alexander Mattison - W9: 39% snaps, 32% routes, nine of 22 RB opps, 36 total yards

Raheem Mostert - W9: 23% snaps, 12 of 38 RB opps, played three snaps post-fumble

Travis Etienne - W9: 31% snaps , six of 17 RB opps, three snaps after halftime

Ty Chandler - zero snaps, Cam Akers got backup work

Antonio Gibson - W9: 12% snaps  /  split backup work w/ JaMycal Hasty 2 of past 3 weeks

Devin Singletary - three straight games w/ <40% snap share and seven or fewer touches

Pierre Strong - W9: 14% snaps, two touches

Commanders RB Austin Ekeler scored 17.3 PPR points with Brian Robinson (hamstring) inactive, but it looked like Ekeler was on track for a much bigger day when he got 74% of snaps and 11 of 16 RB opportunities before halftime. He then took just 33% of snaps in the third quarter and 11% in the fourth, adding four touches after halftime while Chris Rodriguez got most of the clock-killing work (11 carries for 52 yards in the second half). Ekeler presumably would've gotten more playing time if Washington hadn't been trying to run out clock with a lead, but it's still discouraging to see him getting less than half the snaps and touches in a game Robinson missed. Ekeler might be a better emergency starter than other backup RBs, but he's not one of the elite handcuffs who offers 25-touch potential in the event the starter ahead of him is injured.

Unsettled Backfields 🎲

These are the backfields that need to be monitored closely, where role changes could be imminent or we aren't sure about the team's depth chart moving forward. Backfields with a clear hierarchy/order won't be included unless there's a long-term injury to the starter and the backup situation is uncertain or confusing. 

Messy Backfields

1. Jacksonville Jaguars
2. Las Vegas Raiders

Jaguars RB Travis Etienne returned from a hamstring injury and took 72% of snaps in the first half, getting five of the seven RB opportunities, but the last of those chances was a target that went through his hands and into a defender's in the final minute of the second quarter. Etienne then played just three snaps in the second half, with Tank Bigsby taking 68% and D'Ernest Johnson getting 29%. Post-halftime, Bigsby got six of the nine RB carries, with Johnson getting two and Etienne only one. Johnson got the lone RB target in the second half, which was a jump ball into the end zone on the final drive (and one of the dumbest interceptions of Trevor Lawrence's career). How this plays out in coming weeks is anyone's guess... for now, Etienne and Bigsby both belong on rosters but (hopefully) not in lineups

The Raiders gave Zamir White six carries on the first two drives in Sunday's loss at Cincinnati, having him split work with Alexander Mattison, but then didn't use White at all for the rest of the game. It was nonetheless a bad day for Mattison, who played at least 58% of snaps in each of the first three quarters but then just one of 21 snaps in the fourth (with passing-down specialist Ameer Abdullah taking the other 20). While Mattison still seems to be the lead back, his Week 9 role was discouraging relative to the previous few games. There's also some chance new offensive coordinator Scott Turner sees things differently than recently fired Luke Getsy did.

On the Brink

1. Cincinnati Bengals
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Dallas Cowboys
4. Tampa Buccaneers

Bengals RB Chase Brown got 79% of snaps and all 32 RB opportunities en route to 157 total yards and a TD against the Raiders this past Sunday, handling a gargantuan workload in the absence of Zack Moss, who is expected to miss the rest of the season with a neck injury. Brown's star undoubtedly is rising, again, only now the Bengals are trading for Khalil Herbert. They'll likely start Herbert off in a small role, making Brown a strong fantasy option short term, but Herbert has enough of a track record that we should  consider the possibility he pushes things toward a 50/50 split eventually.

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard has been too good to lose his starting job, but his workload may decrease down the stretch in order to give second-round pick Jonathan Brooks some opportunities. It's also possible Brooks just gets the small amount of work that's been going to Miles Sanders, although there's a secondary motivation to scale back Hubbard's touches late in a contract year (be it because the Panthers want to re-sign him or because they hope he gets paid enough by another team to help them in the formula for compensatory draft picks). 

Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle dominated backfield work for the first time all season this past Sunday, but as mentioned above, Ezekiel Elliott's healthy scratch for disciplinary reasons was a factor in the massive workload. It's possible Dowdle scales back to around 50% of snaps and 60% of touches again in the coming weeks.

The Tampa Bay backfield has been steady for three weeks now since Rachaad White returned from a one-game absence due to a foot injury. It's essentially a 45/45/10 split, with White and Irving on even footing and Sean Tucker poaching a few touches per game. White tends to get more pass snaps and Irving more targets. Over the past three weeks: White has 19 carries and 15 targets (213 yards, four TDs), Irving has 25 carries and 13 targets (195 yards, one TD), Tucker has 10 carries and four targets (70 yards, zero TDs). The plan is working fine, but I still won't be surprised if the Bucs switch things up, perhaps making one guy the clear lead back or shifting more of the work toward Tucker to make it a true three-headed backfield. Irving's lingering toe injury is another potential factor, although he seems to be playing through it just fine.

Waivers Look-Ahead ±

If you're looking for a more comprehensive waivers article, RW's Kevin Payne has you covered. Here we're just taking a quick look at some RBs to target based on the work contained in this article and Monday's Box Score Breakdown. 

In order to qualify, the RB needs to be rostered in no more than 60% of Yahoo leagues.

Potential Short-Term Starters

1. Jaylen Warren - 42%
2. Justice Hill - 20%
3. Tyler Allgeier - 39%
4. Roschon Johnson - 13%
5. Cam Akers - 6%
6. Ray Davis - 21%
7. Dare Ogunbowale - 1%

There's not much in the way of RB help on waivers in most leagues, as the past few weeks have seen an unusual lack of injuries at the position. Saquon Barkley and James Conner got banged up this past Sunday, but both continued playing (and remained effective). It's always possible injury reports later in the week will create a new situation of interest, but right now the best bets on waivers are backup RBs that project for no more than 10-12 touches.

Bench Stashes

1. Tyler Allgeier - 39%
2. Blake Corum - 16%
3. Zach Charbonnet - 49%
4. Khalil Herbert - 7%
5. Trey Benson - 16%
6. Kimani Vidal - 8%
7. Braelon Allen - 33%
8. Jaylen Warren - 42%
9. Roschon Johnson - 13%
10. Jaylen Wright - 6%
11. Cam Akers - 6% 
12. Sean Tucker - 7%
13. Dameon Pierce - 4% (groin)
14. Kendre Miller - 3% (IR - hamstring) 
15. Audric Estime - 1%
16. Chris Rodriguez - 0%

Drop Candidates

1. Devin Singletary - 65% - shallow leagues
2. Zack Moss - 65% (OUT - neck)
3. Tyjae Spears - 44% (hamstring) - shallow leagues
4. Jerome Ford - 40% - shallow leagues
5. Zamir White - 28% 
6. Ezekiel Elliott - 22%
7. Antonio Gibson - 22%
8. Ty Chandler - 20%
9. Trey Sermon - 10%
10. Dalvin Cook - 8%
11. Emanuel Wilson - 5%