Backfield Breakdown: Week 13 Recap & Week 14 Sleepers

It was quite a weekend for RB snap shares, with three guys in the 90s, five in the 80s and four in the 70s. Apart from Najee Harris, nearly all the guys above 80 percent took on some degree of extra playing time on account of a teammate injury/illness.

For Alexander Mattison and Sony Michel, it was a matter of filling in for three-down starters, with the bonus of even more work than Cook/Henderson usually get due to the teams lacking faith in their respective No. 3 backs. Then we have James Conner and Javonte Williams, freed from split backfields to handle three-down roles for varying amounts of time (Conner's may soon end… and Williams' as well).

Other top performers from Week 13 include Josh Jacobs (with nine targets after Kenyan Drake's severe injury) and Antonio Gibson (eight targets, no J.D. McKissic this week), in addition to red-hot RB1s Jonathan Taylor and Leonard Fournette.

Usage Leaderboards

Week 13

Doesn't include MNF. GL Looks = Targets + Carries inside the 5-yard line

Full Season

Doesn't include MNF. GL Looks = Targets + Carries inside the 5-yard line

Week 13 Injury Report

Inactives

Darrell Henderson (thigh) - technically active but didn't play.

Dalvin Cook (shoulder)

Alvin Kamara (knee)

D'Andre Swift (shoulder)

David Johnson (illness/thigh)

Melvin Gordon (hip/shoulder)

Jordan Howard (knee)

David Johnson (illness/thigh)

J.D. McKissic (concussion)

Jalen Richard (reserve/COVID-19)

Chase Edmonds (IR/ankle)

Michael Carter (IR/ankle)

In-Game Injuries

Joe Mixon suffered a neck injury but returned to the game.

Miles Sanders re-injured his ankle in the fourth quarter.

Kenyan Drake broke his ankle and will miss the rest of the season.

Ronald Jones left with an illness.

Jeff Wilson left with an unspecified injury.

Week 13 Red-Zone Report

Inside the 5-Yard Line

Red Zone Looks (carries + targets)

Week 14 Waivers & Sleepers

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

Waivers, Pt. 1 —Top Adds & Streamers

1. D'Onta Foreman - 41% rostered
2. Boston Scott - 41%
3.  Tevin Coleman - 41%
4. Dontrell Hilliard - 41%
5. Kenneth Gainwell - 12%
6. Rex Burkhead - 23%
7. Adrian Peterson - 14%
8. Justin Jackson - 1%
9. Matt Breida - 41%

Waivers, Pt. 2 — Bench Stashes & Sleepers

1. Samaje Perine - 7%
2. Khalil Herbert - 14%
3. Jordan Howard - 11%
4. Ronald Jones - 24%
5. Devontae Booker - 28%
6. Carlos Hyde - 12%
7. Jermar Jefferson - 3%
8. Kene Nwangwu - 2%
9. Qadree Ollison - 0%
10. Peyton Barber - 0%
11. Mike Boone - 0%

Week 14 Drops & Benchings

Drop'em

Alex Collins

Ty Johnson

Giovani Bernard

Trey Sermon + Jeff Wilson

DeeJay Dallas

Tony Jones

Bench'em

Latavius Murray

Mark Ingram

Week 13 Game-by-Game Breakdowns

Cowboys (27) at Saints (17) 

• This was Elliott's third straight game with snap share in the 60s and exactly 15 touches.
  • It was also his seventh in a row with less than 100 total yards, and his fourth in a row with less than 70.
• Pollard, meanwhile, finished with snap share between 33-42 percent for a fifth straight game. His carry/target volume has varied more, with touch over the past five weeks being 5, 17, 9, 14, 9.
  • Pollard scored a 58-yard TD on a pitch play in the third quarter Thursday, with some assistance from Saints safety Marcus Williams. Apart from that one huge play , the Dallas backs combined for all of 63 yards on 23 touches.

• Alvin Kamara (knee) missed another game, while Ingram (knee) came back from a one-week absence and split work with Montgomery, who played a season-high 34 snaps in the backfield, per PFF.
  • Montgomery's previous season high was 25, which happened the week before in a blowout loss to Buffalo where he finished with 13 looks (seven targets) and 45 yards.
  • For Ingram, this was a big difference from Weeks 10-11 when he piled up 30 carries and 15 targets on 85% and 72% of snaps, benefitting from Montgomery's finger injury.
    • Montgomery opened Week 11 in a timeshare with Ingram, only to break his finger in the first quarter and leave Ingram in a three-down role (for the remainder of the game, and the next one).
    •  
• The Saints also played Thursday's game without both starting offensive tackles, in addition to Kamara's absence. (Especially noteworthy given that Terron Armstead (knee) and Ryan Ramczyk (knee) have a strong argument for best tackle duo in the league).

Eagles (33) at Jets (18) 

• Jordan Howard (knee) missed a second straight game, while Scott barely played after an illness kept him out of practice all week.
  • That left Sanders and Gainwell to split work, with the former getting more work on early downs and the latter in passing situations.
  • Until the fourth quarter, when Sanders left with an ankle injury.
    • Sanders had four times as many carries as Gainwell (24-6) prior to his early exit with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

• With Michael Carter (IR/ankle) missing his second of at least three games, Coleman and Johnson continued in their rusher/receiver split, while Walter's role shrunk a little (14% snaps, three touches) after a 9-38-1 rushing line on 24% snap share the week before.
  • It's still not promising for Johnson, who has seven carries and five targets in two games sans Carter, playing 34% and 47% of snaps. In other words, Johnson's role hasn't grown at all, and he's actually seen less of the ball now with Zach Wilson back at QB.
    • Johnson accounted for 18 of Mike White's 131 targets (14%), catching 14.
    • Johnson has 20 of Wilson's 235 targets (9%), catching 10. Yikes.
• Coleman has 27 carries for 125 yards and 5-22-0 on seven targets over the past two weeks, taking over most (but not all) of Carter's role, with 45% and 39% of snaps.
  • Is it just me or does Coleman suddenly look not-washed-up after looking rather washed up the past two years in San Francisco?
    • Might just be my eyes deceiving me...most NFL backs look pretty good when they have a lot of grass in front of them. And the Jets aren't likely to block this well in most games.

Giants (9) at Dolphins (20) 

• Barkley got loose for a 23-yard run, but the Dolphins otherwise shut him down -- 11-55-0 and 6-19-0 on a team-high nine targets.
  • Booker had 54 yards on 10 touches. He subbed in for Barkley a bit more than he had the week before, and the Giants also used some looks with both RBs on the field.

• Phillip Lindsay (ankle) was inactive, after taking 12 carries for 42 yards in a 33-10 win over the Panthers in Week 12, his first game with the Dolphins.
  • Granted, Lindsay played only 15 snaps (20%) in that game, and got five of his 12 carries in the fourth quarter. Gaskin had a 14-7 carry lead through three quarters (quick refresher).
• With Linday out, Gaskin rebounded to 64% snap share, after 50% in Week 12 marked his lowest since Week 6.
  • Gaskin managed only 15-44-0 and 2-5-0, with Ahmed chipping in 8-23-0 and no targets.

Vikings (27) at Lions (29) 

• Mattison took on the full Dalvin Cook (shoulder) role, with the snap share being well ahead of his two previous starts (68% in Week 3, 66% in Week 5).
  • Actually, Mattison's 86% snap share would've been a season high... for Cook.
  • That might be in part because they don't trust Nwangwu on pass plays the way they trusted Ameer Abdullah, who took on a small role when Cook was out earlier this year
    • Abdullah is now with Carolina, where he's playing the Abdullah to Chuba Hubbard's Mattison.

• With D'Andre Swift (shoulder) inactive, Williams finished with season highs for carries and rushing yards (71), but he was targeted just once and didn't see a big boost in snap share.
  • The Lions used Igwebuike for most of the obvious passing situations, which gave him 64% of snaps in the fourth quarter.
    • Williams did play 57% of snaps through three quarters, with 13 of the 19 RB carries.
• Williams got 58% of first-down snaps, 37% of second downs, 36% of third downs.
• Igwebuike got 36% of first-down snaps, 37% of second downs, 55% of third downs.
• Jefferson was an afterthought in terms of playing time but a priority when on the field, seeing six looks on eight snaps.
  • Igwebuike, on the other hand, got four looks on 28 snaps.

Colts (31) at Texans (0) 

• Hines is officially non-officially just a backup/handcuff, and one who likely would share snaps with Marlon Mack (healthy scratch) if Taylor were to miss time.
  • Jackson has been active as the No. 3 back for a few weeks now, as he offers value on special teams and is just as good as Mack for taking meaningless carries in garbage time.
    • Jackson got all six of his carries in the fourth quarter in this one.
• Taylor played 86% of snaps through three quarters, including 13 of 19 pass snaps. He also had 26 of the team's 30 carries, with Carson Wentz having three and Hines just one.
• JT TD watch: +2
  • 18 through 13 games.
  • Also 18 in his past 10 games.

• With David Johnson (illness/thigh) inactive, Burkhead took 58% of snaps and seven of the 12 RB carries through three quarters, before Freeman got more playing time in the fourth (56%).
  • Burkhead got just 19% of snaps in the fourth quarter.

Chargers (41) at Bengals (22) 

• Larry Rountree was a healthy scratch for a second straight game, while Kelley barely played (two snaps) after filling the No. 2 role the week before with four looks and 23% snap share.
  • It was Jackson's turn in the No. 2 role, playing double-digit snaps for the first time since Week 4.
    • But he didn't do much, with 21 yards on eight touches. It's anyone's guess who will be up next week to spell Ekeler.
• Ekeler came out of the game with "bumps and bruises" but is expected to practice (some) this week.

• Mixon briefly left the game with a neck injury but still took more than half the snap in each quarter.
  • It was his fifth game in a row with snap share in the 63-76% range, with at least 18 touches and one TD in each game.
• Perine got a little more work with Mixon leaving briefly and fellow backup Chris Evans (ankle) inactive.

Buccaneers (30) at Falcons (17) 

• Bernard barely played for a second straight week, even with Jones exiting early due to an illness.
• That's back-to-back weeks with snap share over 80 percent and a receiving TD for Fournette, who's seen 30 carries and 16 targets over the past two games.
  • I knew he'd be a matchup-proof RB1 some day! All it took to get there was a trade to a team with the best QB in NFL history and no other decent running backs.
    • Sure, RoJo can run. But not well enough to make up for how poorly he blocks and catches. Fournette's progression with those skills is what left Jones in the dust.

• Ollison was called up from the practice squad for a second time in the past three weeks (he missed the game in between with an illness).
  • Accordingly, Wayne Gallman was a healthy scratch.
• Davis put up a season-high 16.9 PPR points, going for 4-32-1 rushing and 4-37-0 on four targets.
  • It was his third straight game with exactly four targets, but also his fourth in a row with a handful of carries or fewer. Maybe playing better leads to a little more work going forward, but Davis was still a distant second in this one, getting less than half as many looks as Patterson despite playing about the same number of snaps*.
    • *That's been the case for much of the year. Patterson comes in for plays that are designed for the RB, while Davis handles blocking and dump offs.

Cardinals (33) at Bears (22) 

• Conner played more than three-quarters of snaps for a fourth straight game and scored his sixth TD in that stretch. He's averaged 18.0 carries and 4.3 targets with Chase Edmonds (IR/ankle) out for the past 3.95 games.
• Over his first eight games, while splitting work with Edmonds, Conner averaged 11.8 carries for 44.8 yards and 1.0 TD, but with less than a target per game (five total). TBD if Conner's impressive play gives him a larger share of the workload down the stretch (or at least for the first week or two after Edmonds returns).
  • Kliff Kingsbury said last Wednesday that he expects Edmonds back for Week 14 against the Rams (on MNF).

• Montgomery played 84% of snaps through three quarters, with 19 of the 22 RB carries and all seven of the targets.
  • Herbert then got 56% of snaps in the fourth quarter, but even then, Montgomery had four looks to the rookie's two.
  • Monty finished with 21-90-1 and 8-51-0 on nine targets.
  • Prior to Sunday, Montgomery had played at least 85% of snaps in three straight games. And he might've done it again if the Bears had kept things closer.

Washington Football Team (17) at Raiders (15) 

• Smallwood was called up from the practice squad to replace J.D. McKissic, who missed his first game of the year after suffering a scary-looking concussion Week 12.
  • Smallwood didn't play much, even on passing downs. Gibson got 57% of the third-down snaps, compared to only 20% in Weeks 1-12.
• Gibson has four straight games with 19 or more carries since a Week 9 bye, and now two in a row with at least six targets.

• Third-down back Jalen Richard (reserve/COVID-19) missed the game, and Drake then suffered a season-ending broken ankle in the second quarter.
• In the second half, Jacobs got 87% of snaps to Barber's 13%, with all nine of the rush attempts and two of the three RB targets (after six targets in the first half).
  • The nine targets and nine catches were career highs, topping previous marks of just seven and five, respectively.
    • Jacobs' previous highs came from the Week 11 blowout loss to Cincinnati.

Jaguars (7) at Rams (37) 

• Robinson, playing through the heel injury again, was benched after an early fumble.
  • Robinson had a 4-1 edge over Hyde in targets, despite playing only 23% of snaps on third down.
• Hyde ended up with 66% of snaps in the first half, then 33% in the second.
  • Robinson went from 28% in the first to 60% in the second.

• Darrell Henderson (thigh) was active but didn't play, and the Rams kept Michel in the game deep into garbage time.
  • Michel finished with 24-121-1 and 3-8-0 on four targets.
  • In his previous start, Week 3 vs. Tampa, Michel put up 20-67-0 and 3-12-0 on four targets, albeit with somewhat lower snap share (74%).
    • Sargent, the new No. 3 back, has only been with the Rams for a month now. Earlier this year, Michel was backed up by rookie Jake Funk, who'd been with the team since the draft. (Funk is now on IR with a hamstring injury, expected to miss the rest of the season.)

Ravens (19) at Steelers (20) 

• Freeman was the bright spot on a subpar day for Baltimore's offense, asserting himself as the lead back ahead of Murray with season highs for snap share, targets and PPR points.
  • Freeman finished with 14-52-1 and 5-45-0 on eight targets.
• Murray tumbled to 19% snap share and four looks, after getting 20 looks on 37% and 44% of snaps in his first two games back from IR.
• McCrary was activated as the No. 3 back ahead of healthy scratch Ty'Son Williams.

• Harris only came off when he absolutely needed a breather. The Steelers had eased up on him a tiny, tiny bit in recent weeks, but not Sunday with their season arguably on the line against a rival.

49ers (23) at Seahawks (30) 

• Mitchell's snap share was a season high, in part because the Niners only ran 10 snaps on third down.
  • Mitchell got four of those, but two were carries. He was on the field for just two of San Francisco's eight pass snaps on third down, with FB Kyle Jusczyk still getting most of the backfield snaps in obvious passing situations.
• Of course, Mitchell did completely dominate early downs, per usual. He took 96% of the snaps on first and second down, amassing 20 carries and three targets on those plays.

• Alex Collins (groin) was inactive, after playing through the same injury for the past couple months.
• Peterson got the start and formed a three-headed backfield with Penny and Homer.
  • Peterson finished with 11-16-1, punching in a one-yard TD.
  • Penny had 10-35-0 and 1-27-0
  • Homer had 3-80-1 (the fake punt for a 73-yard TD) and 4-10-0 on five targets.
    • It was just his third career game with five or more targets, though he's handled the passing-down role on and off for a few years now.
• Penny barely played in the second quarter (5%) but then dominated the third (78%). Other than that, usage was pretty split out, with all three backs seeing some snaps/touches throughout the game.

Broncos (9) at Chiefs (22) 

• Williams was unleashed sans Melvin Gordon, who missed the game with hip/shoulder injuries after being listed as doubtful.
• This was the first time all year a Denver back has seen more than 60% of snaps or 23 looks in a game.
• Williams finished with 23-102-0 and 6-76-1 on nine targets. He also played 85% of snaps before the fourth quarter, with Boone then getting more playing time after KC's pick-six put the game all but out of reach in the fourth. However, Williams did still play after the INT, including a 13-yard receiving TD on fourth down with about five minutes remaining.
• Gordon is expected to practice this week.

• This was similar to the split from KC's previous game, Week 11, which was also CEH's first game back from a knee injury.
  • Williams had a 53/47 snap advantage and 3-2 target edge in the previous game, but with only 5-15-0 on the ground while Edwards-Helaire put up 12-63-1.
  • No doubt Edwards-Helaire is still the lead runner, but this does show some decline from his pre-injury role.
    • Weeks 1-4, he played 72%, 65%, 62% and 52% of snaps (admittedly a downward trend), with 13-17 carries and 0-3 targets.
      • So, not too much difference in touch totals, so far. But Williams has been getting more snaps than early this year, leaving CEH as a meh RB2.