Backfield Breakdown: Week 7 Recap & Week 8 Sleepers

Week 7 Usage Leaderboard

Week 7

Doesn't include MNF. Looks = Targets + Carries

Week 7 Injury Report

Inactives

Nick Chubb (calf) + Kareem Hunt (IR/calf)

Saquon Barkley (ankle)

Latavius Murray (ankle)

Christian McCaffrey (IR/calf)

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (IR/knee)

David Montgomery (IR/knee)

Chris Carson (IR/neck)

In-Game Injuries

Miles Sanders injured his ankle late in the first quarter and didn't return.

Josh Jacobs injured his chest late in the second quarter and didn't return.

Malcolm Brown suffered a quad injury in the first half and didn't return.

Ty Johnson entered concussion protocol in the fourth quarter.

Week 7 Red-Zone Report

Inside the 5-Yard Line

*Technically includes plays run from the 5-yard line, not just "inside" the 5

• Booker got five snaps inside the 5, and Eliijhaa Penny got four. But that's at least partly because Penny also plays fullback... and he didn't get any touches on the four snaps.
• Kenneth Gainwell, James Conner, Darrell Henderson and Giovani Bernard each played two snaps inside the 5 without getting a carry or target.
• Taylor leads the NFL with 14 looks inside the five this year. Ezekiel Elliott is second with 12, while Henry, (Damien) Harris and Fournette are tied for third with nine apiece.
  • After that, it's a four-way tie for sixth between Gibson, Najee, Conner and Henderson (seven looks apiece).

Red-Zone Looks

Week 8 Waivers & Sleepers

Picking from players rostered in half or less of Yahoo Leagues.

Waivers, Pt. 1 —Top Adds & Streamers

1. Kenneth Gainwell - 22% rostered
2. Boston Scott - 2%
3. Samaje Perine - 7%
4. Demetric Felton - 20%
5. Brandon Bolden - 6%
6. Salvon Ahmed - 1%
7. David Johnson - 22%

Waivers, Pt. 2 — Bench Stashes & Sleepers

1. Latavius Murray - 47%
2. Sony Michel - 42%
3. Ronald Jones - 28%
4. J.J. Taylor - 0%
5. Jeff Wilson - 16%
6. Devonta Freeman - 42%
7. Darrynton Evans - 0%
8. Jaret Patterson - 4%
9. Joshua Kelley - 0%
10. Kalen Ballage - 0%
11. La'Mical Perine - 0%

Week 8 Drops & Benchings

Drop'em

Malcolm Brown

Jeremy McNichols

Damien Williams

Giovani Bernard

Mark Ingram

Trey Sermon

Rhamondre Stevenson

Bench'em

Mike Davis

Jamaal Williams

James Conner

Nyheim Hines

Week 7 Game-by-Game Breakdowns

Broncos (14) at Browns (17) 

• Not much change here, apart from Williams being targeted on seven of 15 routes.
  • He was targeted on 15 of 88 (17.0%) prior to Week 7.
  • Gordon, however, has been targeted at an even lower rate, with three fewer targets than Williams (22 vs. 19) on 39 more routes (103 vs. 142).

• With Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt (IR) both sidelined by calf injuries, Johnson matched Chubb's season high of 22 carries.
• Per PFF, Felton took eight of his 22 snaps in the backfield.
  • Prior to Week 7, he'd taken just two of his 36 snaps in the backfield.
  • The rookie also got his first two carries, though he still took more snaps from the slot (10) than the backfield
• Kelly, the No. 3 back, played sparingly. His two carries came on consecutive plays in the second quarter, right after Johnson had touched the ball on three straight snaps.
• Johnson played five of nine snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long. Felton played just two of two. So, it wouldn't be accurate to say Felton was the third-down back, though he was largely brought on the field for pass plays.
  • In other words, Johnson still got a bunch of snaps in clear passing situations.
• Chubb could be back for Week 8, per coach Kevin Stefanski, while Hunt is likely out until mid-to-late November.

Jets (13) at Patriots (54) 

• Johnson entered concussion protocol midway through the fourth quarter, after playing only four of 18 snaps (22%) in the third quarter. He saw seven targets, but Carter took a slightly larger share than in recent weeks, even before Johnson got injured.
• If we ignore the fourth quarter, Carter played 71% of snaps and Johnson took 35%.
  • With both having four targets, while Carter had a 10-5 advantage in carries.
• La'Mical Perine was the third RB, with Tevin Coleman inactive after a mid-week hamstring injury.
  • In other words, Carter could be busy Week 8 against the Bengals.

• Rhamondre Stevenson was a healthy scratch, after taking 11 and nine touches the previous two weeks.
• Harris played 58% of snaps before the fourth quarter and took 13 carries, while Bolden and Taylor had just two carries apiece.
  • That said, Bolden did get all seven of his targets before the fourth quarter. He also played very little in the final frame, while J.J. Taylor played 74% of fourth-quarter snaps and scored two goal-line TDs in the process.
  • Taylor finished with a 9-21-2 rushing line, but prior to the fourth quarter he'd seen just six snaps and three touches.

Panthers (3) at Giants (25) 

• Hubbard lost some playing time down the stretch, but he still played eight of 19 snaps (42%) in the fourth quarter. Freeman's role wasn't just in garbage time.
• Prior to the fourth quarter, Hubbard played 65% of first-down snaps, 63% of second-down snaps and 36% of third-down snaps.
• Christian McCaffrey (IR/hamstring) is ineligible for at least one more week, and he's far from a lock to be ready when first eligible (Week 9 vs. NE).

• Booker has played 88%, 72% and 82% of snaps over the past three weeks, averaging 14 carries for 44.7 yards and 3.0 catches for 19.7 yards. Not impressive by any means, but it's a solid workload and it's led him to three TDs in three games.
• Booker played 92% of snaps through three quarters, with 10 carries to Penny's two.
  • Penny played 22% through Q3, then got seven carries on 52% snap share in the final frame.
• Saquon Barkley (ankle) has an "outside chance" to return for Week 8 against the Chiefs, but he should be back for Week 9 against the Giants, per Ian Rapoport.
  • *Don't actually put too much stock in these reports. The line between common-source guesstimating and sourced reporting has intentionally been blurred by those who are especially conscious of pageviews and followers. It's almost like half the time they're just saying what anyone else would guess from looking at injury reports. Almost!

Falcons (30) at Dolphins (28) 

• Davis appeared to leave with a minor injury at one point, but he returned to the game and even played 62% of snaps in the fourth quarter.
  • Patterson played 71% of snaps in Q4, with a 7-2 carry advantage and 1-0 target advantage over Davis.
  • Patterson also played 71% of snaps in the first half. He was active throughout.
• The 73% snap share for Patterson easily topped his previous season high of 59%... which came in the last game (Week 5 in London against the Jets).
  • Maybe this was about Davis' injury, but he's also been pretty lousy this year, while Patterson has obviously been effective even if his YPC (4.2) doesn't impress. To me, this looks like C-Patt definitely taking over as the lead back... something I've been betting against all year. Oh well, good for him, and shame on the us haters
• Per PFF, Patterson took a season-high 17 snaps split out wide, and matched a season high with seven in the slot. His 21 backfield snaps were actually only third most of the year, though he nonetheless matched his season high of 14 carries.
  • If you're looking for optimism on Davis... he did still play far more backfield snaps (32) than Patterson (21). But only had four touches...

• Brown got the start and four early looks, but he left with a quad injury in the first half and never returned.
  • Gaskin finished with season highs for carries and rushing yards (67), also scoring his third receiving TD in the past three weeks (with 20 targets in that stretch). Of course, it was just a week ago that he slipped to 14 total yards and 36 percent snap share.
• Ahmed got seven carries and two targets for a second straight week. He's seen either two or three targets in every game but one this year, while his carries have varied from 0-7. He should see a little more work if Brown misses time.
  • Brown's looks by week: 5, 5, 9, 9, 0, 6, 3... that's 5.3 per game. So not a lot of work Miami needs to replace (and his snap share is only 28% for the season).

Bengals (41) at Ravens (17) 

• Prior to the fourth quarter, Mixon played 60% of snaps and had eight carries to Perine's two.
  • Far from ideal, but not quite as bad as the final split makes it look.
• Perine actually handled an even larger snap share (61%) in his previous game, the Week 5 contest against Green Bay where Mixon played through an ankle injury.
  • Perine then missed Week 9 in the COVID list, while Mixon got 23 touches on 63% snap share.
  • The Bengals really like Perine? Or maybe Mixon's ankle is still a problem? I'm sure twitter has some opinions here.
  • Perine is averaging 4.5 YPC, and Mixon is at 4.4 YPC. The Bengals have themselves a pretty decent run game, though it obviously took a backseat to the Burrow & Chase show in this one.

• Yuck. Freeman did start and take both goal-line carries, so he's the best option of a bad bunch if Latavius Murray (ankle) misses another game after Baltimore's Week 8 bye.

Washington Football Team (10) at Packers (24) 

• Gibson continues to play through the shin injury but has seen his two smallest snap shares of the season in his past two games. He also fumbled for a second straight week, though he didn't lose it this time.
• McKissic isn't getting significant work with Gibson also on the field the way he did last season. But JDM does stand to benefit from backfield snaps if Gibson is put on pause or shut down at some point.
• McKissic is averaging six carries and eight targets on 61% and 64% snap share the past two weeks. A lot went into that, including negative game script, but it's still much better than September when he averaged 2.7 carries and 3.0 targets on less than 45% of snaps per week.

• The Packers had 35 pass attempts, 15 rush attempts and three sacks. Between losing the possession battle and leaning on Aaron Rodgers, the Pack barely ran the ball despite holding a lead for most of the day.

Chiefs (3) at Titans (27) 

• Williams was the clear lead back for a second straight week, playing 75% of snaps prior to the fourth quarter.
  • Prior to Q4, he had a 5-0 carry advantage and 2-1 target advantage over McKinnon.
• Gore only played in the fourth quarter, and McKinnon had just one touch before the fourth.
• Clyde Edwards-Helaire (IR/knee) will be ineligible for Week 8 vs. the Giants. He's eligible to return Week 9 against Green Bay, though he won't necessarily be ready.

• Evans mostly got garbage-time work in his first appearances of the year.
  • Prior to the fourth quarter, McNichols played nine snaps to Evans' three.
  • Prior to the fourth quarter, McNichols played five of six snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long, with the sixth being a zero-RB set. So, he was still ahead of Evans for clear passing situations. At least for now.

Eagles (22) at Raiders (33) 

• Sanders finally got the rock and unfortunately broke down immediately. Prior to leaving with an ankle injury, he took seven touches on 12 snaps in the first quarter.
  • The injury didn't look terrible, but Sanders was carted off to the locker room and looked rather upset.
• After the first quarter, Gainwell played 58% of snaps and saw five carries and six targets.
• After the first quarter, Scott played 44% of snaps and saw seven carries and two targets.
• The post-Sanders split leans a little more toward Gainwell if we don't count Q4 of the blowout. For just the second and third quarters, Gainwell had a 60/40 snap advantage, 5:3 carry advantage and 2:0 target advantage.

• Jacobs left with a chest injury late in the second quarter. He initially was deemed questionable to return, and never made it back into the game.
• Jacobs played 63% of snaps before halftime, with 6-29-1 on the ground and 3-39-0 through the air.
  • Drake entered the half at 26%, with 4-22-0 and 2-11-0.
• In the second half, Drake got 57% of snaps, 10 carries and one target.
  • Richard got 43%, four carries and two targets.
• The Raiders have a Week 8 bye, and Jacobs should be fine for Week 9.

Lions (19) at Rams (28) 

• Williams got five carries in the first half and seven in the second. He was involved throughout, but Swift has totally dominated Detroit's backfield targets since Week 1.
  • If we exclude the opener, Swift has a 41-9 advantage in targets.
• Swift is now at four in a row with snap share of 73% or higher and three in a row with double-digit carries.
  • He has at least eight carries and five targets each week this year. Imagine if he could actually get anything going on the ground... (3.4 YPC, ranked 46th out of 50 qualified rushers).
• Williams is 28th of 50 at 4.4 YPC. Per PFF, he's forced 12 missed tackles on 71 carries, while Swift has forced just four on 78.
  • I still think Swift is a talented and promising runner, but he hasn't been effective this year. Interesting, given that he's been so efficient through the air with an 81% catch rate and 7.5 YPT.

• Michel took one snap in the first half, seven in the third quarter, and none in the fourth quarter.
• Henderson has topped 80 percent snap share in four of six appearances. And the other two involved injuries.

Bears (3) at Buccaneers (38) 

• Williams had a minimal role one day after being removed from the COVID list. Hard to say if that was based on conditioning/preparation, or more just a product of Herbert kicking butt.
• Speaking of which... Herbert played really well for a second straight week. And it wasn't just piling up carries against prevent defenses in the second half; he took 13 carries for 91 yards before the break, with gains of 29, 13 and 12.
  • Small sample, of course, but Herbert now has the second-best PFF grade (84.5) among qualified RBs. He's also looked good to the naked eye, while Damien Williams is still just a random guy who happened to play on the right team at the right time for a few months.
  • Of course, as much as I love Hebert... he's still eventually going back to the bench for David Montgomery (IR/knee).
• Montgomery is eligible to return from IR for Week 8.
  • There haven't really been updates or reports on his progress. The initial timeline estimate (3-5 weeks) hinted at some shot to return after a minimum stay of three weeks. However, no news is usually bad news when dealing with prominent players.

• Fournette played 63% of first-half snaps, with a 6-4 carry advantage over RoJo, and tied 3-3 with Gio in targets.
• Fournette then dropped to 47% snap share in the third quarter, but took seven carries for 47 yards on his nine snaps.
• In Q4, Fournette got four more snaps, then Vaughn finished it out with five carries and eight snaps.

Texans (5) at Cardinals (31) 

• Johnson is probably the one who is closest to startable now that they've stopped overfeeding Ingram. But there's still just a complete lack of upside, and they all have goose-egg floors still.

• Edmonds played 71% of snaps in the first half and 93% in the third quarter.
  • Even in the fourth quarter, Edmonds got more snaps (44%) than Conner (28%).
  •  
• Conner finished with 10-64-1 on the ground, but his snap share was a season low, he didn't see any targets and Edmonds got the only goal-line look among 'Zona RBs.
  • It does kind of seem like a one-week thing, or maybe Conner dealing with a minor injury. The split they've been using all year has worked pretty well, and it's not like Edmonds is an especially talented runner. That said, Conner's fantasy managers should be at least a tiny bit nervous.

Colts (30) at 49ers (18) 

• Taylor scored from five yards out in the third quarter, but only after failed attempts from the 2-yard line and 1-yard line in the first half.
  • His 12 carries inside the 5-yard line are four more than second-place Derrick Henry, but Taylor somehow has scored just two TDs on those plays.
• Taylor had his first two fumbles of the season, including one that he lost on Indy's first defensive snap of the game. He took the first of the next drive, and never seemed to lose playing time because of the fumbles.
  • In fact, Taylor finished with season highs for carries (18) and snap share (69%).
• Taylor and Mack played six snaps apiece (out of 13) on 3rd-and-medium/long.
  • This has been true for a few weeks now; the Colts find Hines his touches, but he doesn't automatically work ahead of Taylor in obvious passing situations.
• Monday Evening Update:

• On the opening drive, Mitchell took five carries for 57 yards and a TD, with gains of 4, 5, 20, 14 and 14.
  • After that, he took 13 carries for 50 yards and no score, with no targets.
• Kyle Juszczyk played 47% of snaps and didn't see any carries or targets. With Hasty out the previous three games, Jusczyk had served as the third-down back in addition to his usual role as the fullback.
• Trey Sermon only played special teams.
• Mitchell played 23 of 27 first-down snaps (85.2%) and 14 of 17 second-down snaps (82.4%), while Hasty took 11 of 11 on third down.
  • Third-down plays accounted for 11 of Hasty's 18 snaps, four of his six targets and one of his three carries.
• Mitchell has played 64%, 61%, 68% and 66% of snaps in his four games, averaging 15.8 carries for 74.0 yards and 0.5 TDs, but with just one catch for 7.5 yards per game (on four total targets).

Saints (13) at Seahawks (10) 

• Kamara might lose a little work if/when Tony Jones (IR/ankle) comes back from IR, but for now AK is on the McCaffrey Not-So-Diet.
  • Jones is eligible to return Week 9 against Atlanta, after Alvin and the Saints host Brady's Bucs in the Superdome this upcoming weekend.

• I'm writing this early Tuesday morning and don't yet have snap data from MNF beyond basic snap shares. However, we'll do what we can to break down this mess..
• Collins started and took three straight carries for nine yards (followed by a punt) on the opening drive. He then took a carry on the first snap of the seconded drive, which ended the very next play with an 84-yard TD to DK Metcalf.
  • After that, Penny seemed to get most of the work for the rest of the first half, though Collins and Travis Homer still got snaps as well.
  • At halftime, Collins had five carries and Penny four, with neither drawing a target.
  • Then, in the second half, Penny got the first two carries.... but no more the rest of the night. Homer took the next carry, and then Collins took each of the team's final 11 RB carries on the night.
    • Not sure if it was intentional, but the Seahawks basically used Collins as as starter and finisher, while Penny mostly got work from the end of the first quarter to the middle of the third.