Backfield Breakdown: Week 16 Recap & Week 17 Sleepers

"Dance with the one who brought you" has never been less true. Not that we had a say in the matter...

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Week 16

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

Week 16 Injury Report

Inactives

Dalvin Cook (reserve/COVID-19)

Austin Ekeler (reserve/COVID-19)

James Conner (heel)

D'Andre Swift (shoulder)

Elijah Mitchell (knee)

Kareem Hunt (ankle, reserve/COVID-19)

Rhamondre Stevenson (reserve/COVID-19)

David Johnson (quadriceps)

Leonard Fournette (IR/ankle)

Carlos Hyde (IR/concussion)

J.D. McKissic (IR/concussion)

Derrick Henry (IR/foot)

In-Game Injuries

James Robinson tore an Achilles in the first quarter.

Miles Sanders broke a bone in his hand and didn't play after the second quarter.

Jordan Howard suffered a stinger for the second time this year. He didn't return.

Darrell Henderson sprained his knee on his first touch. He didn't return.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire left with a collarbone/shoulder injury. He didn't return.

Week 16 Red-Zone Report

Inside the 5-Yard Line

Red Zone Looks (carries + targets)

Week 17 Waivers & Sleepers

Picking from players rostered in 50% or less of Yahoo Leagues.

1. Boston Scott - 15%
2. Rex Burkhead - 14%
3. Dare Ogunbowale - 1%
4. Ke'Shawn Vaughn - 1%
5. Jordan Howard
6. Derrick Gore - 2%
7. D'Ernest Johnson - 16%
8. Kenneth Gainwell - 11%
9. Devontae Booker - 23%
10. Brandon Bolden - 16%
11. Ameer Abdullah - 17%
12. DeeJay Dallas - 2%
13. Samaje Perine - 13%
14. Tevin Coleman - 18%
15. Jaret Patterson - 7%

• Note: Darrel Williams is 60% rostered. He'd be the No. 1 choice here if he qualified.

Drop'Em / Bench'Em

Saquon Barkley

Dontrell Hilliard + Jeremy McNichols

Chuba Hubbard

Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Week 16 Game-by-Game Breakdowns

49ers (17) at Titans (20) 

• Elijah Mitchell (knee) is out of concussion protocol but missed a third straight game all the same.
• Jeff Wilson didn't quite match his workload from the previous game (23 touches, 88% of snaps) but did put up 14-456-1 and 3-12-0 on three targets, playing nearly three-quarters of snaps.
• Wilson took 86% of first-down snaps and 85% on second down, while he got just one of nine on third down (with Hasty taking five and FB Kyle Jusczyk handling three).

• McNichols played only 21% of snaps in the first half but then got 50% in the third quarter and 58% in the fourth. (Tennessee trailed 10-0 at halftime.)
  • Hilliard, on the other hand, saw only 13% of snaps and three looks in the second half.
• The Titans weren't able to run the ball Thursday night
• Foreman, McNichols and Hilliard all have seen at least 20% of snaps and seven touches in three straight games. Here are the combined numbers from the past three weeks:

Titans RBs Weeks 14-16 Combined

Browns (22) at Packers (24) 

• Kareem Hunt (illness/ankle) missed a second straight game, with coach Kevin Stefanski suggesting last week that the RB's ankle injury would've kept him out even if he hadn't caught COVID-19.
• Johnson had a 30-yard run and finished with 66 yards, but on only five touches, the same number he got the week before with Hunt out.
• Chubb reached 60% snap share for a third straight week, after landing between 47-to-57 percent in each of his first nine games this season.

• With Dillon and Jones both playing three straight games, neither has come close to 100 total yards, though the per-touch efficiency has been pretty good.
• Numbers for the past three weeks

Packers RBs Weeks 14-16 Combined

Colts (22) at Cardinals (16) 

• Apart from a two-minute drill at the end of the first half, Taylor played 89% of snaps (54 of 61).
  • JT got only one of 10 snaps inside the two-minute warning but otherwise handled a three-down role again.
    • Taylor took 79% of snaps on first down, 75% on second down and 80% on third down.
• Taylor's TD streak ends at 11 games, with 19 during that stretch. He did get to 100 yards, but barely (27-108-0) and finished without a catch on two targets.

• James Conner (heel) was inactive, after reports suggested he'd likely play.
  • Edmonds played 92% of snaps, way above his previous season high of 69%, and finished with 16-56-1 and 8-71-0 on nine targets.
• Ward got only one touch on nine snaps, mimicking his role from the stretch when Edmonds was out and Conner was putting up big numbers.

Jaguars (21) at Jets (26) 

• Robinson suffered an Achilles tear early in the game, leaving Ogunbowale in an every-down role for the rest of the contest.
  • No.  2 RB Carlos Hyde (IR/concussion) is already ineligible for the remainder of the year.
• In addition to Ogunbowale and Cottrell, the Jags have Ryquell Armstead on their roster again, having signed him last Wednesday.
  • Armstead was a healthy scratch Sunday.

• Five goal-line looks for the New York Jets' running backs? Must've been facing Jacksonville!
  • Carter returned to his mid-season role with 73% snap share and 18 touches, but now he faces Tampa and Buffalo to close out the season. (And he has Coleman stealing a bunch of carries, including some goal line-work.)

Lions (16) at Falcons (20) 

• D'Andre Swift (shoulder) was a limited practice participant last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but he didn't end up playing after being listed as questionable. He could make it back Week 17/18.
• Williams got 54% of snaps on first down, 46% on second down and 13% on third down.
• Reynolds got 63% of third-down snaps and four targets, but he was still on the field for less than half of Detroit's pass plays.
• The lone "goal-line look" was Reynolds' three-yard loss from the 5-yard line on a 3rd-and-2. The Lions then kicked a FG on 4th-and-5, down by seven with 2:42 remaining.

• Patterson scored a six-yard TD but otherwise continued his slump. He's down to 4.1 YPC. and 41.4 rushing yards per game for the season, and he hasn't topped three catches or 27 receiving yards since Week 9.

Bills (33) at Patriots (21) 

• Moss was resurrected, kind of, with Matt Breida replacing him as the healthy scratch this week.
  • Singletary still dominated carries, though, giving him five straight games with double-digit touches, and three in a row with at least 14.9 PPR points.
• Singletary has played more than three-quarters of snaps in four of the past five games, with the lone exception being the snowy game in Buffalo back in Week 13 against the Pats.
  • Over the past five, he's averaged 12.6 carries for 51.4 yards and 2.6 catches for 18.0 yards, with a pair of TDs.

• Rhamondre Stevenson (COVID-19) didn't play, while Harris returned from a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury.
• Harris put up 18-103-3 without any targets, scoring TDs from 16, 1 and 8 yards out.
  • Bolden stole just two of the 20 RB carries but did get five targets, plus he had a big play wiped out by a penalty.
• Harris got 62% of snaps on first down, 55% on second down and 9% on third down.
  • Bolden played 100% of third-down snaps, compared to 41% on early downs.

Buccaneers (32) at Panthers (6) 

• Jones replaced Leonard Fournette (IR/ankle) as the starter, taking 71% of snaps in the first quarter and 60% of snaps through three quarters.
  • Jones dropped to 29% snap share in the fourth, with Vaughn at 50% and Bell at 21%.
• At the end of the third quarter, Jones had 16 carries to Vaughn's five and three targets to Vaughn's zero.
  • Vaughn had a  55-yard rushing TD in the first half, however, and also played more third-down snaps than Jones (five to two).
• Prior to Q4, Jones took 75% of snaps on first down and 61% on second down.

• This was the same ugly split between Hubbard and Abdullah through three quarters, with Bonnafon then making an appearance in the fourth.
  • Bonnafon took all 14 of his snaps in the fourth quarter, with three touches for 16 yards.
• Abdullah has 4-6 targets in four straight games but has caught only 11 of the 20 passes (for 93 yards and a TD). And he isn't adding much on the ground (12 carries for 28 yards over the past four games).

Ravens (21) at Bengals (41) 

• The snap shares combined fell well short of 100%, as the Ravens ran 11 snaps from 01 personnel (0 RB, 1 TE, 4 WRs).
  • They'd run just 16 snaps from that look all year before Sunday.
• Murray took about half the touches for a second straight week, though Freeman maintained a safe lead in snaps.
• Murray got a carry from the 5-yard line on the opening drive, and Freeman scored a two-yard TD in the second quarter.
• Baltimore RBs have 164 combined rushing yards over the past three games with Lamar Jackson (ankle) injured.

• Mixon put up 18-65-1 and 6-70-1, taking 95% of snaps on first down, 88% on second down and 27% on third down.
  • Perine got six of 11 third-downs snaps, and Evan handled two.
  • Mixon was still in the game on the final drive with the Bengals up by 20, nearly scoring a 58-yard TD (he was stopped at the 6-yard line).

Rams (30) at Vikings (23) 

• Michel got the start again and took all five carries on the opening drive, including a one-yard TD.
• Michel played 92% of snaps (36 of 39) in the first half, with Henderson taking only three.
  • Michel logged at least five carries and. 10snaps in every quarter.
• Henderson was injured on his only touch, which came in the fourth quarter. He's believed to have suffered a knee sprain.

• Dalvin Cook landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list last week, putting Mattison in a heavy-usage role the fourth time this year (Weeks 3, 5, 13, 16).
  • In his four starts, Mattison has played 73% of snaps, averaging 21.5 carries, 5.5 targets and 21.7 PPR points.

Giants (10) at Eagles (34) 

• Barkley took 60% of first-half snaps, with 12 of the 15 RB carries and one of the two targets.
  • Saquon then dipped to 39% snap share in the third quarter and sat out the fourth entirely.
• In the fourth quarter, Booker got 64% of snaps with three carries and three targets.
  • Penny got 36%, with one carry and four targets, rotating with Booker after Barkley was pulled.
  • Barkley likely was pulled due to the blowout, not his own struggles, but there's still risk the same thing happens again Weeks 17 and 18, given how terrible the Giants look.

• Sanders left in the second quarter after breaking a bone in his hand.
  • Howard then left with a stinger, missing Philly's final drive.
  • In the first quarter, Sanders played 14 of 16 snaps (88%) with four carries and three targets, perhaps on his way to a big game before the injury.
  • Howard then got 42% of snaps and eight looks between Q2 and Q3.
• Scott, the infamous 5-foot-6 Giant Slayer, scored a three-yard TD in the third quarter, after getting just four snaps and one touch in the first half.
  • Scott took 53% of second-half snaps, albeit with seven of his 11 carries coming on the final drive deep in garbage time.
    • Scott now has eight of his 12 TDin the NFL against the Giants.
  • Gainwell played just one snap in the second half, even with Sanders and then Howard injured. But the rookie should have a role Week 17 if both Sanders and Howard are out.

Chargers (29) at Texans (41) 

• Noted political commentator Justin Jackson replaced noted fantasy analyst Austin Ekeler, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week and reportedly dealt with some symptoms.
  • Kelley was a distant No. 2, while fellow RBs Darius Bradwell and Larry Rountree strictly played special teams.

• Burkhead got the start and had a 25-yard TD run on the opening drive, though Freeman also got a carry on the series (plus another wiped out by a penalty).
  • Burkhead's season-long run before this past Sunday was a 14-yarder. In this one, he had gains of 36, 25 and 15, finishing with 22-149-2 (plus two catches for no gain).
• David Johnson (quad) was inactive, after logging only 12 snaps (20%) the week before.
  • Burkhead's snap share (62%) was actually down a tick from the week before (64%), though he did get 71% in the first half before sharing a little more with Freeman after the break.
• Burkhead now has six straight games with double-digit looks, though this was the first time in that stretch he's topped 10.6 PPR points.

Bears (25) at Seahawks (24) 

• Montgomery managed only 45 yards from 21 carries, but he scored a one-yard TD in the second quarter and finished with a 7-61-0 receiving line on nine targets.
  • The nine targets tied Darnell Mooney for a team high.
• Monty played more than 70% of snaps in each quarter. He got 88% on first down, 73% on second down and 67% on third down.

• Penny got the start and led the team in carries for a third straight week, putting up 17-135-1 (with no catches on one target).
  • He has 44 carries for 311 yards and three TDs the past three weeks, but with only four targets (and six receiving yards).
• Penny took 71% of snaps on first down and 60% on second down but just 10% on third down.
• Penny took 61% of snaps through three quarters, then only 39% in the fourth.
• Dallas took six of 10 third-down snaps, with Homer getting three and Penny one.
• Alex Collins was a healthy scratch.

Steelers (10) at Chiefs (36) 

• Snell got 14 of his 16 snaps in the fourth quarter.
• Before the fourth quarter, Harris played 96% of snaps and got 21 of the 22 RB looks.

• In the first half, Edwards-Helaire got 46% of snaps with seven carries and one target.
  • Williams got 42% with four carries and three targets, while Gore logged only 12% but with a carry/target on each of his five snaps (which came on five consecutive plays and yielded 66 total yards... impressive stamina).
  • Each of the three saw 5-8 looks in the first half
• Edwards-Helaire then left with a shoulder injury early in the third quarter and missed the rest of the game.
  • Williams got 65% of snaps in the third quarter, with Gore at 24% and CEH at 12% (he was injured on his second snap of the period).
  • In Q4, with the game out of hand, Gore took 91% of snaps and six carries.

Broncos (13) at Raiders (17) 

• Williams scored a one-yard TD after a takeaway, but the Denver backs otherwise were undone by an incompetent overall performance by the Lock-led offense. It was close to a 50/50 split in the backfield again.

• Jacobs didn't have his best day despite taking 27 carries for 129 yards. He had a sloppy lost fumble, and caught only one of three targets for a loss of five yards. And Barber vultured a TD from five yards out.
• Jacobs has played at least 66% of snaps in six straight games, averaging 15.8 carries for 63.5 yards and 0.33 TDs and 4.2 catches for 28.3 yards on 5.5 targets. His share of the backfield is larger post-Drake, but Jacobs also has to contend with the reality of a subpar offense, especially while TE Darren Waller (knee) remains sidelined.

Washington Football Team (14) at Cowboys (56) 

• Gibson played 91% of snaps in the first quarter and 62% in the second, entering halftime with 13.8 PPR points even as Washington was getting obliterated.
  • Gibson then took just two snaps in the second half, while Williams handled 56% and Patterson took 38%.
    • Williams got more playing time, but neither backup RB saw a target in the second half, and Patterson had far more carries (9-3).
• In the first half, with Gibson still in, Williams got five snaps to Patterson's two.
  • Williams was targeted on two of those five snaps, catching one, while Patterson didn't get any looks until after halftime/Gibson's departure.
• Gibson has been dealing with a toe injury (on top of the shin fracture from earlier this year) but his lack of playing time in the second half seemed more a product of the blowout than anything else.

• Through the first three quarters, Elliott took 66% of snaps with nine carries and one target, scoring a five-yard receiving TD and an 11-yard rushing TD.
  • Pollard took 33%, with seven carries and three targets.
• In the fourth quarter, Clement took seven of nine snaps (78%) and Pollard played four. Zeke sat out the fourth.
  • Clement didn't play until Q4.