Backfield Breakdown: RB Usage Report & Week 8 Waivers Preview

Bijan Robinson's disappearance from the Atlanta offense was the biggest story of the week, until it wasn't. The way the Falcons and Arthur Smith handled it was quite strange, but the rookie should be back in his usual high-usage role Week 8 given that his one-touch Week 7 was attributed to headaches. Robinson said he felt better Sunday than Saturday and should be "good" for Week 8.

Apart from the crisis that wasn't, backfield hotspots this week include Cleveland, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Arizona and Chicago. Now, let's get down to business.

Injury Report 🚑

New Injuries

Saquon Barkley (elbow / day-to-day)

Jerome Ford (high ankle / out multiple weeks)

Keaton Mitchell (hamstring / week-to-week)

It was a light week for injuries, especially compared to the past couple weeks. Barkley played through a hyperextended elbow and should be fine for Week 8 against the Jets.

The same can't be said of Ford, who had a 69-yard TD run early in Sunday's win over Indianapolis but ended up exiting in the third quarter with a high ankle sprain. Kareem Hunt finished the game with two TD, including the game-winner, but he actually played fewer snaps than Pierre Strong after Ford's departure (probably because Hunt entered Sunday as a game-time decision with a thigh injury).

Missed Week 7

David Montgomery (ribs / day-to-day)

Roschon Johnson (concussion / day-to-day)

Khalil Herbert (high ankle / out at least two more games)

Zach Charbonnet (hamstring / week-to-week)

De'Von Achane (knee / out at least two more games)

James Conner (knee / out at least two more games)

Kyren Williams (ankle / out at least three more games)

Ronnie Rivers (knee / out at least three more games)

Everyone on this list is on injured reserve besides Montgomery, Johnson and Charbonnet, none of whom practiced last week. Jahmyr Gibbs and Kenneth Walker dominated snaps/touches in their respective backfields, but D'Onta Foreman was actually the biggest beneficiary in terms of fantasy points, scoring three TDs despite splitting snaps 50/50 with Darrynton Evans.

Stock Report 📊

Trending Up 📈

D'Onta Foreman — 48% snaps / 19 of 34 RB touches / 120 yards + 3 TDs

Emari Demercado — 79% snaps / 62% routes / 17 of 18 RB touches

Darrell Henderson — 58% snaps / 19 of 31 RB touches / TD

Kareem Hunt — two TDs / Ford injury

Pierre Strong — 64% snaps Q4 / Ford injury

Javonte Williams — 53% snaps / 18 of 29 RB touches

Jahmyr Gibbs — 86% snaps / 20 touches for 126 yards + TD

Gus Edwards — 51% snaps / 15 of 21 RB touches / 144 yards + TD

James Cook — 55% snaps / 16 of 22 RB touches / 102 yards + TD

Cam Akers — 39% snaps / 12 of 22 RB touches

 Chris Rodriguez - 13% snaps / seven of 17 RB carries / 31 rush yds

Trending Down 📉

 Alexander Mattison — 10 of 22 RB touches

Jaleel McLaughlin — 18% snaps / six of 29 RB touches

Brian Robinson — 48% snaps / eight of 19 RB touches

Keaontay Ingram — zero snaps 

Zach Evans — zero snaps

Jordan Mason - zero snaps

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.

Messy Backfields

1. Los Angeles Rams
2. Arizona Cardinals
3. Washington Commanders
4. Chicago Bears

• Darrell Henderson got the start, 58% of snaps, 19 of the 31 RB touches and a TD in the Rams' first of at least four games without Kyren Williams. Everything else went to Royce Freeman, whose rotation with Henderson had no clear pattern in terms of down/distance/score. A similar split Week 8 is the most likely outcome, though far from guaranteed. Myles Gaskin was a healthy scratch this past Sunday, with rookie Zach Evans logging four snaps on special teams and nothing else.
• Emari Demercado was a passing-down specialist in Arizona's first game without James Conner and a workhorse in the second game. The rookie handled 79% of snaps and 17 of the 18 RB touches in Sunday's loss at Seattle, with Damien Williams getting the rest of the work and Week 6 carry leader Keaontay Ingram not playing. That's rather frustrating for anyone that picked up Demercado for Week 6 and then dropped him Week 7 after minimal usage. He'll be one of the top waiver adds for a second time in three weeks.
• Brian Robinson scored a short TD for Washington but ended up with just eight of the team's 17 RB carries in a one-score game. Rookie sixth-round pick Chris Rodriguez took seven carries for a team-high 31 yards, including two nice gains on Washington's final drive when the team was trailing by a TD and nearly tied the game. I don't think Robinson will lose the starting job this week, but it could happen at some point in November. At best, this looks like a three-man backfield, which is problematic for fantasy even when the cumulative production is impressive (in this case it isn't).
• D'Onta Foreman and Darrynton Evans have split snaps 50/50 the past two weeks, with the former getting more carries and the latter more routes. Foreman's 120-yard, three-TD performance Sunday didn't entail a dominant share of the workload, but it might change the Bears' thinking about their depth chart once Roschon Johnson (concussion) and/or Khalil Herbert (high ankle) rejoin the lineup. Recall that Foreman was a healthy scratch Weeks 2-5, stuck behind not only Herbert and Johnson but also passing-down back / special teamer Travis Homer (who returned from a hamstring injury Sunday but only got a couple snaps.

On the Brink

1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Cam Akers finally made an impact for Minnesota on Monday, playing 39 percent of snaps and taking a team-high 10 carries for 31 yards while adding two catches for 30 yards on three targets. Alexander Mattison, meanwhile, took eight carries for 39 yards and two catches for three years on three targets. I still expect Mattison to start and get most of the work Week 8, but he's on notice after Akers' first significant involvement in a Vikings uniform
• Chuba Hubbard has been better than Miles Sanders (shoulder) this year, including Week 6 when the latter was inactive and the former took 20 touches for 90 yards and a TD on 77 percent of snaps. If Sanders is ready after a bye, he'll almost certainly have a considerable role, even if things shift more in Hubbard's favor. The best hope for Week 8 fantasy value is Hubbard in the event of another Sanders absence.
• Zack Moss got 51% of snaps Sunday and had the same number of carries (18) as Jonathan Taylor, who took 21 touches for 120 yards and a TD on 49% of snaps. Maybe this will be the performance that convinces the Colts to give Taylor more work at Moss' expense? A trade also would make sense, given that the Colts are only fringe playoff contenders and Moss is in the final year of his rookie contract.
• Rachaad White is still getting around three-fourths of the snaps and RB touches each week for Tampa Bay. And I'm still thinking that it shouldn't be hard for the Bucs to find an upgrade via trade or free agency. White hasn't done much on the ground, apart from confirming the general notion that he's a better fit as a passing-down back than he is as a lead ballcarrier. His selling point for fantasy is that he rarely leaves the field because Tampa's other options are even worse. Chase Edmonds (ankle) was designated Monday to return from injured reserve, but he's probably no better of a runner than White (and possibly worse at this point in their respective careers). Still, Edmonds could take some snaps once he's cleared, including a chunk of the work in passing situations.

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 half of Yahoo leagues.

Potential Short-Term Starters

Emari Demercado - 14%

Darrell Henderson - 25%

Royce Freeman - 29%

Pierre Strong - 1%

Devin Singletary - 14%

Bench Stashes

Cam Akers - 49%

Tyjae Spears - 42%

Roschon Johnson (head) - 49%

Ezekiel Elliott - 46%

Kenneth Gainwell - 34%

Elijah Mitchell - 37%

 Latavius Murray - 22%

 Joshua Kelley - 21%

Zamir White - 2%

Drop Candidates

Jeff Wilson - 54% (shallow leagues)

Antonio Gibson - 53%

Jordan Mason - 41%

 Dalvin Cook - 40%

 Jerick McKinnon - 38%

 Zach Evans - 36%

Jamaal Williams - 33%

Samaje Perine - 27%

 Keaontay Ingram - 26%

 Kendre Miller - 9%

Keaton Mitchell - 8%

2023 Playing Time & Alignment Stats 🏈

• Run Rate = Percentage of player's snaps that were run plays
• Ru Sn = # of rush attempts player was on the field for
• Pa Sn = # of pass snaps player was on the field for
• 3D Sn = # of snaps played on 3rd Downs with 3+ yards to go
• 3D% = Percentage of team snaps played on 3rd Downs with 3+ yards to go 
• SAT = satellite rate = percentage of player's snaps taken in the slot or out wide

2023 Rushing Stats 🏃‍♀️

• Car Sh = Percentage of team carries taken by the player (in his active games)
• BT = Broken Tackles
• BT/T = Broken Tackles per Touch (FYI: lower number = better)
• YPC = Yards Per Carry
• YBC = Yards Before Contact (per carry)
• YAC = Yards After Contact (per carry)

2023 Receiving Stats 🤲

• RTs = Routes Run 
• TPRR = # Targets / # Routes Run
• Rts/Gm = # Routes Run / # Games Played
• Pa Sn = Snaps played on QB dropbacks (pass attempt or sack)
• RT/PS = Routes per Pass Snap (inverse of pass-blocking rate)
• Tgt Sh = # Targets / # Team Targets

2023 Red-Zone Report 🛬

Inside The 5 (IT5)

• Sn% = Percentage of team snaps that went to the player
• Car Sh = Percentage of team carries that went to the player
• Tgt Sh = Percentage of team targets that went to the player