Backfield Breakdown: Week 4 Recap & Week 5 Sleepers

This article is part of our Backfield Breakdown series.

Injuries vaulted Ty'Son Williams from the bottom of Baltimore's depth chart to the top within a span of two weeks, and now just four weeks later he's back where he started. While Williams was a healthy scratch, Miami's Myles Gaskin was active and played, but only as second fiddle behind possible new lead back Malcolm Brown.

It was also a frustrating week for some runners with much better track records, as Dalvin Cook saw one fewer carry than Alexander Mattison (9-10), while Chris Carson got just three more than Alex Collins (13-10). Injuries were/may have been a factor in both cases, but other players don't even have that as an excuse.

Kenneth Gainwell is creeping on a healthy Miles Sanders in Philadelphia, and Darrel Williams is getting valuable touches in Kansas City even as Clyde Edwards-Helaire puts up some nice numbers of his own. In Buffalo, Devin Singletary's fast start to the season apparently didn't mean much, as we've now seen two weeks in a row where he's back in the old 50/50 committee in which Zack Moss gets most of the goal-line work.

Usage Leaderboards

Week 4

Top 10 in Bold. Only shows RBs with more than five touches or 30 percent of snaps. Doesn't include MNF.

GL Looks = Targets + Carries inside the 5-yard line

Full Season (Weeks 1-4)

This shows Weeks 1-4 for most players, but for a few we've narrowed the sample to games that give a better picture of the workload we care about. Here are the players whose stats and shares only include certain weeks:

• Christian McCaffrey only shows Weeks 1 and 2. Chuba Hubbard only shows Weeks 3, 4.
• Trey Sermon and Kyle Juszczyk only show Weeks 3 and 4 (with Mitchell & Hasty out).
• Dalvin Cook and Darrell Henderson only show Weeks 1, 2, 4.
• Zack Moss only shows Weeks 2-4 (he was a healthy-ish scratch for the opener).
• Austin Ekeler and Kenyan Drake only show Weeks 1-3 (MNF in Week 4).

Injury Report

Inactives

Christian McCaffrey (hamstring)

Carlos Hyde (shoulder)

Elijah Mitchell (shoulder) + JaMycal Hasty (IR - ankle)

Giovani Bernard (MCL sprain)

Rashaad Penny (IR - calf)

In-Game Injuries

Joe Mixon (ankle) missed the final few plays of TNF. His injury isn't thought to be serious.

Tony Jones (ankle) was carted off in the second quarter.

David Montgomery (knee) left in the fourth quarter. Early tests suggest a hyperextension.

Route Report

• The Niners used JaMycal Hasty (knee) on third downs earlier this season, but Kyle Jusczyk is the only one they trust right now. That may (or may not) still be the case if/when Elijah Mitchell returns.
• Henderson hasn't looked great as a pass catcher, but his three-down role in that Rams offense should nonetheless yield plenty of targets (for however many games he can stay healthy). Sean McVay does like to use his backs and TEs as pass blockers, but Henderson has stayed in to block on only 14.9 percent of his pass snaps, per PFF.

Red-Zone Report

Inside the 5-Yard Line (Week 4)

• Darrell Henderson played four snaps inside the 5-yard line but didn't get a carry or target. He was the only RB in Week 4 who took multiple snaps inside the five without getting a touch.
• Jonathan Taylor is now 0-for-7 on inside-the-five carries.
  • James Conner is 4-for-5.
• After a busy week, Malcolm Brown has played 10 snaps inside the five this season, second. most among all RBs (Taylor has 11). Interesting that the guys ranked 1-2 in snaps have a combined total of zero goal-line TDs.
• Darrel Williams has played five snaps inside the five, compared to two for Edwards-Helaire.

Red Zone Opportunities (carries + targets)

• Notable players who got playing time but not many touches in the red zone:
  • Darrell Henderson had just one look on 10 red-zone snaps.
  • Chuba Hubbard got one look on six snaps.
  • Damien Harris got none on five.
  • Nyheim Hines got two on nine.

Week 5 Waivers & Sleepers

Only includes players rostered in less than half of Yahoo leagues.

Waivers, Pt. 1 — Potential Week 5 Starters/Streamers

1. Latavius Murray
2. Damien Williams
3. Khalil Herbert
4. J.D. McKissic
5. Kenneth Gainwell
6. Malcolm Brown

    
Waivers, Pt. 2 — Bench Stashes & Sleepers

1. Darrel Williams
2. Jeff Wilson
3. Alex Collins
4. Larry Rountree
5. Le'Veon Bell
6. Marlon Mack
7. Ty Montgomery
8. Salvon Ahmed

Week 5 Drops & Benchings

Drop'em

Devonta Freeman

Phillip Lindsay

Tevin Coleman

Bench'em

Miles Sanders

Myles Gaskin

Devin Singletary

Jamaal Williams

Ty'Son Williams

Sony Michel

Week 5 Game-by-Game Breakdowns

Jaguars (21) at Bengals (24) 

• Carlos Hyde was a surprise scratch due to a shoulder injury, after not being listed on the injury report all week. In response, the Jags gave Robinson a career-high snap share, up from 63%, 73% and 59% over the first three weeks of the season.
• Robinson's receiving averages — 3.3 catches for 22.5 yards on 4.3 targets — are very similar to last year, and his rushing workloads from the past two weeks (15-88-1, 18-78-2) are starting to look more like the breakout rookie campaign. Remember that he took just 16 carries over the first two weeks of the season combined.

• Mixon's snap share was a season low, but only because he missed the end of the game with what's believed to be a minor ankle injury.
  • Prior to the fourth quarter, Mixon played 81% of snaps and Perine took 19%.
• In Week 3, Evans replaced Mixon for five snaps (including three 3rd-and-longs). We noted that it wasn't a huge concern, but might hint at Mixon losing more targets as the year goes on. But Evans didn't play Thursday until the very end after Mixon got banged up.
• For the season, Mixon is averaging 20.7 carries and 2.3 targets on 76.4 percent snap share.
  • Though he hasn't seen many targets, Mixon has been on the field for 80 of Cincinnati's 122 pass snaps (65.6%). And he's been used as a blocker on only 14.6% of those snaps, which is only the 23rd-highest rate out of 35 RBs with double-digit pass-block snaps, per PFF. So, the biggest issue for Mixon's receiving volume is being targeted on a low percentage of his routes, which has been the norm for Zac Taylor's backfields.
    • RBs accounted for 15.0% of Cincy's targets in 2019 (29th), 18.1% in 2020 (18th) and 15.2% in 2021 (26th).

Lions (14) at Bears (24) 

• Williams finished with a season high for carries and a season low for snap share. But really it was a tale of two halves.
  • In the first half, he played 38.9% of snaps and got 12 carries.
  • In the second, he played 20.0% and got two carries.
• Swift played 80.0% of snaps in the second half, but he saw only six opportunities (two carries, four targets) with the Lions going extremely pass-heavy up against a multi-score deficit. This, my friends, was the downside scenario for Detroit's backfield, and something we'll see again this season. I

• Montgomery injured his knee on his first snap of the fourth quarter. Initial reports suggested a hyperextension.
• Prior to the fourth quarter, Montgomery played 79.5% of snaps and took 22 of the 25 RB carries (Williams got the other three).
• Williams suffered a thigh bruise, but it sounds like he should be ready for Week 5 at Vegas.
  • That may explain why Herbert got 42.9% of snaps and three carries in the fourth quarter. Though his three carries were just the final three before Justin Fields took kneel-downs.

Titans (24) at Jets (27) - OT 

• McNichols got four targets on the final two drives of regulation and four more targets in overtime, finishing with 8-74-0. Most of his yardage actually came earlier in the game, with his first three targets yielding gains of 29, 1 and 23.
• The Titans ran 93 plays, with an early lead allowing Henry to get plenty of work, while McNichols benefitted from two-minute drills at the end of both halves, plus two other drives in catch-up/hurry-up mode (one in the fourth quarter, one in OT).
• I think McNichols is an underrated backup, but he saw only nine targets and five carries over the first three weeks of the season, and his role could be threatened if/when Darrynton Evans (knee) returns from IR.
  • I still haven't seen anything on Evans from Tennessee beat writers since he was placed on IR at the beginning of September. But, some quick internet sleuthing reveals he got baptized and engaged within the last month... and didn't have any kind of brace or wrap around his knee for either event.
    • Don't act like you've never scrolled through a third-string RB's twitter feed for clues about a knee injury.
    • Wow, Mike Vrabel ruined my bit at the last second...

• Carter made a second straight start and led the team in carries for a third straight week. The 13 carries were a new high, though only 11 came in regulation (and he ran for just 38 yards).
• Coleman reentered the rotation, kind of, after missing Week 3 at Denver with a health issue.
• Carter and Johnson now have two goal-line looks apiece this year. Both got one Sunday, and Carter scored his first NFL touchdown.
• The best hope for fantasy value here is if the Jets start to trust Carter over Johnson on passing downs. Which isn't exactly a stretch, given that pass-catching was oft-mentioned as Carter's strength coming out of UNC this spring. He does, however, have two drops and just six catches so far.

Browns (14) at Vikings (7) 

• The split here remains the same as ever, with plenty of touches to go around in a game where Cleveland won the possession battle and led throughout the second half. Chubb and Hunt combined for 38 touches.
• Hunt scored a one-yard TD in the second quarter, but only after Chubb had a carry from the 3-yard line on that same drive.
  • For the year, Chubb has a 4-3 advantage in goal-line looks. FB Andy Janovich also has one, which went for a TD in Week 2. And Janovich scored a two-point conversion in Sunday's win. Come on, guy.

• Cook seems to have been limited in his first game back from an ankle injury. Mattison got just four carries and two targets over the first two weeks of the season, but he was closer to a 50/50 split with Cook for this one.
  • Mattison got one more carry, but Cook did have comfortable leads for snaps, targets and routes. So maybe it was 60/40, not 50/50. Either way, not the usual.

Panthers (28) at Cowboys (36) 

• Unlike Mike Davis last year, Hubbard wasn't trusted with obvious passing situations. The rookie saw five targets in Week 3 after Christian McCaffrey left with a hamstring injury, but with 10 days to prepare for their next game, the Panthers used Smith as the third-down back.
  • Smith spelled Davis at times last season, but then was waived at the end of August. The Panthers called him up from the practice squad Saturday, and he ultimately had a larger role than Freeman.
• Over the past two games, Hubbard has averaged 12.0 carries and 3.5 targets on 51% of snaps. That's far from the McCaffrey workload, but it's enough to put the rookie around RB20-25 range for Week 5 against Philadelphia... assuming C-Mac's out again.

• Elliott has landed between 70 and 83 percent snap share each week this season, with 97 or more yards and a TD in each of his last three. Only the Bucs in Week 1 held Zeke below 15 fantasy points.
• Pollard got double-digit carries for a third straight week. This could be the new norm; he plays about 10 snaps and gets the ball on half of them. Zeke gets way more playing time, in part because he's a better blocker, but only sees the ball on about one-third of his snaps.
  • The increased role for Pollard hurts Elliott's weekly floor, though it won't matter as much if the Cowboys are actually a good team this year.
• Despite Pollard getting more work this year, Zeke has a 7-1 advantage in goal-line looks.
• Last year, Elliott averaged 16.3 carries for 65.3 yards (4.0 YPC) per game. This year, he's at 16.0 for 85.5 (5.3 YPC), despite breaking tackles at a modest rate, per usual. PFF charts Zeke with eight missed tackles forced on 64 touches (one per 8.0 carries, compared to one per 5.7 last season). Meanwhile, PFF gives Dallas a league-high 89.9 team grade for run blocking, up from last year's 57.2 (29th). Fans of old-school football have to love that the supposedly high-flying Cowboys are winning with defense and improved O-line play (the former being a surprise, the latter not so much... they just needed slightly better injury luck).

Texans (0) at Bills (40) 

• No change here, just more struggle and thus more snaps/targets for Johnson.

• Blowout wins allowed both backs to see carries, perhaps obscuring how Moss has devoured a chunk of Singletary's role from Weeks 1 and 2 (when Devin the Dude logged 75% and 66% of snaps, with 24 carries and eight targets). The past two weeks, Singletary dropped to 43% and 44% of snaps, losing targets but not carries. Here's the breakdown from just the past two games:

Weeks 3-4 Only

Giants (27) at Saints (21) - OT 

• Booker was back in the No. 2 role, following a healthy scratch the week before. Gary Brightwell was demoted from No. 2 to No. 3, strictly playing special teams (15 snaps). It would seem the backup role on gameday doesn't necessarily equate to the lead role in future weeks if Barkley were to get injured, especially in Brightwell's case.
• Barkley has run for 26, 57, 51 and 52 yards in his four games this year, but with 11 catches for 117 yards and a TD over the past two weeks, he shouldn't have many bad games this year. Daniel Jones being decent helps a lot, even if the Giants are more inclined to throw early in games.
• The Giants are 20th in PFF's team run-blocking grades, and while their interior line remains bad, 2020 first-round pick Andrew Thomas looks like a hit at left tackle. Barkley should run for more yards as the year progresses, rather than relying on receiving stats and TDs every week. The hope is that he can combine all three.

• Jones had a larger role than usual early in the game, seeing three carries and three targets before he was carted off with an ankle injury early in the second quarter.
  • Washington is mostly a special teams player, and the Saints largely just rode Kamara once Jones was out of the game.
  • Ty Montgomery also got two carries, but he took just two of his 34 snaps in the backfield, per PFF. However, he could get a look in the backfield, considering Kamara, Jones and Washington are the only RBs the Saints have on either their active roster or practice squad.
• Zero targets on 21 pass snaps for Alvin Kamara isn't something you'll see many times, if ever again. Of course, he did get 26 carries, and now is averaging 19.5 for 74.3 yards per game (3.8 YPC). The Saints' slow, cautious style of play this season is giving Kamara a ton of ground volume, but it's also costing him a ton of higher-value opportunities (targets, red-zone touches). It's been a net loss so far, especially after Taysom Hill scored a pair of eight-yard rushing TDs on Sunday.
  • I'll call Kamara a mid-range RB1 for the rest of the season (ROS); he was drafted as a high-end RB1 and has produced as a borderline RB1/2 so far, so let's split the difference. Maybe Sean Payton would continue to sit on the football all year if it was actually working, but it isn't. The Saints are 2-2 against a not-that-hard early schedule, and they're averaging 4.0 YPC.

Chiefs (42) at Eagles (30) 

• Edwards-Helaire's best two games of the year have been the past two, but those have also been the two where Williams stole the most work (in Week 3 he got seven carries and three targets on 34% of snaps).
• Williams has three of the four goal-line looks this season, including a two-yard rushing TD in Week 2 and a one-yard rushing TD in Sunday's win.
• WIlliams and Edwards-Helaire both got clock-killing work in the fourth quarter, though Tyreek Hill ended up with nearly all of the fantasy points on the last few drives. CEH took seven of the 10 fourth-quarter carries, playing 52.6% of snaps.
• Williams got three of the five snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long. He's not stealing all the third downs or all the goal-line work from Edwards-Helaire, but it's probably enough to keep the second-year pro as more of an RB2 than RB1, even after back-to-back games with 100 rushing yards and a receiving TD.
  • CEH should run for over 1,000 yards this year, but he's averaging only 2.0 targets per game, and is lucky to have two TDs (both receiving) given that he isn't getting most of the goal-line work. Funny that CEH is getting it done the hard way with rushing yards, given that his fantasy hype was largely driven by expectations about receiving production and touchdowns after the Chiefs drafted him last spring. Anyway, he can still add that stuff down the line, but it's dicey right now, in part because he lost fumbles in KC's back-to-back losses Weeks 2 and 3. It's not like Darrel Williams is someone who needs to see touches; the Chiefs could still phase him out if Edwards-Helaire actually plays up to his draft slot.
• McKinnon's eight snaps were a season high. He has one touch on 19 snaps through four games.

• Gainwell had season highs for snap share (39.2%), targets (eight), and total yards (99), also scoring a seven-yard rushing TD (his second score on 32 touches this year).
• Sanders topped 60% snap share for a fourth time in as many weeks, but this was his second straight game with single-digit carries; he's now averaging 9.3 for 42.3 rushing yards per game, plus 2.8 catches for 26.3 yards.
• Sanders did get the lone inside-the-five carry, but he lost three yards. He has two of those this season, and Gainwell has none, yet the rookie has a 2-0 advantage in TDs. (Jalen Hurts has the other two carries inside the five, including a TD).
• Jalen Hurts has sent 23.4% of targets to RBs — sixth most among qualified passers — breaking with conventional wisdom about dual-threat QBs. That's a huge change from last year, when he sent only 13.5% of targets to RBs.
  • Gainwell is a big part of that, drawing targets on 18 of his 44 routes (40.9%, second to only Cordarrelle Patterson). The rate isn't sustainable, but his route share improved a lot the last two weeks. Granted, the Eagles were playing from behind, and Sanders could still see more of the work when that isn't the case. Looking at the upcoming schedule, I think Gainwell will squeeze out a few more productive games, even if his strong performance doesn't lead to stealing more early down work from Sanders (which is also a possibility).
• Sanders and Gainwell have 56 combined carries through four weeks; there are nine individual players with more, including Derrick Henry with twice as many. The Eagles are getting them targets, but there's only so much to go around when Hurts is averaging 36.3 pass attempts and 8.5 rushes.

Colts (27) at Dolphins (17) 

• Taylor got the start, per usual, and took four straight touches to start the game. He also played most of the second drive, before giving way to Mack for the start of the third series.... which of course ended with a 23-yard Taylor touchdown.
  • Indy's fourth drive was a two-minute drill, which naturally went to Hines.
• Taylor then kicked off the second half with a 38-yard gain on the first snap, but he split work with Mack throughout the second half while Indy sat on a mutli-score lead. The Colts also used some dual-back sets:
  • Mack played 34.9% of snaps after halftime, with eight carries and one target.
  • Taylor played 53.5% after halftime, with 11 carries and no targets.
  • Hines played 30.2%, with two carries and no targets.
• It was surprising to see Mack so involved just one week after he was a healthy scratch amidst trade rumors. Maybe the Colts are having trouble finding a buyer and thought Mack could establish some value Sunday? I'd still be a tiny bit worried if I was counting on Taylor.
• Mack picked up only 22 yards on 10 carries, not exactly helping his value.

• Brown got his second straight start and played more snaps than Gaskin for the first time. It didn't lead to points, but Brown did get a pair of carries inside the 5-yard line.
  • As noted above in our goal-line section, Brown has been busy but ineffective inside the five this year, with zero TDs on four carries and 10 snaps.
• Ahmed barely played but got the ball on all five of his snaps. A Brown-Gaskin split would be ugly enough without a third guy stealing some work.

Washington Football Team (34) at Falcons (30) 

• McKissic has three goal-line looks to Gibson's two this year, but that's largely because Washington hasn't done much on offense outside of hurry-up/two-minute/desperation stuff. It's not like they're intentionally subbing out Gibson inside the 5-yard line.

• Regression, regression, regression!
• Am I the lamest person in the world If I'd take Davis over Patterson r-o-s?

Seahawks (28) at 49ers (21) 

• Collins averaged 4.4 YPC on his 10 carries and scored a TD from 14 yards out, getting more work than Carson in the second half.
• Carson played 60.9% of snaps in the first half and took seven carries for 12 yards.
  • He played 33.3% in the second half, with six carries for 18 yards and one target.
• Methinks Carson isn't healthy. This is two weeks in a row below 50 percent snap share, following 78% in Week 1 and 63% in Week 2. He does take a lot of bumps and bruises, in addition to doling them out.

• It was the same deal as last week, with Sermon getting the carries and Juszczyk the targets.
• Patrick took carries for eight and four yards on back-to-back plays in the second quarter. Those were his only touches.
• Sermon didn't score or draw a target, but he also didn't fumble, and gained 89 yards on 19 carries. He could have a role even if Elijah Mitchell (shoulder) makes it back for Week 5 at San Francisco, though Kyle Shanahan was pretty clear a few weeks ago about his preference for the sixth-rounder over the third-rounder.

Cardinals (37) at Rams (20) 

• More or less the same here, with Edmonds surviving on a well-rounded diet while Conner relies on gobbling up short touchdowns. Kyler Murray also has three rushing scores, and we saw last year that Kliff Kingsbury's offense can provide enough ground TDs for both the QB and one of his runners. It still feels a little dicey, though. Edmonds has the higher floor and ceiling.

• While a second-quarter fumble didn't help his cause, Michel also played just three of 19 snaps (15.8 percent) in the first quarter. He wasn't benched for a fumble; this was just Sean McVay making it clear for about the fifth time that he thinks Henderson is way better than Michel. Even in his first week back from a painful rib injury, Henderson was tasked with a three-down role.
• Henderson has played 94% and 90% of snaps in his two full healthy games, averaging 15.0 carries and 3.5 targets for 103 total yards and 0.5 TDs. He looks like a low-end RB1, at least, for however long he can manage to stay healthy this time.

Steelers (17) at Packers (27) 

• Harris actually was allowed off the field, after playing 100%, 95% and 95% of snaps in his first three games. No worries with the workload, however, even in another ugly performance for the Green Bay offense.
  • He even averaged 4.31 YPC, cracking 4.0 for the first time.

• Jones played 81.1% of snaps in the first half, with nine carries and three targets accounting for 40.8% of team touches.
  • Jones dropped to 42.9% in the second half, with six carries and one target.
• Dillon got 11 of his 15 carries and 20 of his 29 snaps in the second half.
• Jones lost a fumble late in the third quarter with Green Bay up by 17 points. Dillon then got the next five carries over the span of two drives, before rotating with Jones on what ended up being the Packers' final drive. The fumble may have been a factor in Dillon getting more carries in the fourth quarter, but the score (27-10) was probably a bigger factor.

Ravens (23) at Broncos (7) 

• Ty'Son Williams was a healthy scratch. There were rumors of it beforehand, though most reports only said he wouldn't be the starter.
• Murray got his first start of the year, and operated as the closest thing Baltimore has had to a true lead back so far this season. Still, he didn't see any targets, and 3.3 YPC (18-59-1) while playing alongside Lamar Jackson is unimpressive. On the other hand, Murray scored for a third time in four weeks.
• Bell was promoted from the practice squad but didn't do much. He did show a nice move to dodge a tackle in the backfield, if you're reaching for positives.

• Surprising to see Williams play more than Gordon in the first game where Denver played from behind. Gordon had been getting more of the passing snaps prior to Week 4, but it was a near-even split Sunday. Best to view this as a true 50/50 going forward; I might even rank them directly next to each other for Week 5.

Buccaneers (19) at Patriots (17)

• Giovani Bernard (MCL sprain) didn't play, freeing up Fournette for a three-down role while Jones merely subbed in for a few carries (but did score a TD).

• This was the first game since James White suffered a likely season-ending hip injury. You have to think he would've played more than Bolden's 32.2% of snaps if he'd been available, considering Tampa's run defense is fierce and New England barely tried to run in this game.
• Harris was used as a pass blocker on 11 of his 28 pass snaps, and drew just two targets on 17 routes. Still, the snap share is a hint that White's absence could help Harris a little moving forward.
• Taylor lost a fumble. There goes his shot to take some of White's old snaps.

Raiders (14) at Chargers (28) 

• Josh Jacobs (toe) returned from a two-game absence to make the start, and he finished with 18 touches for 57 yards on 36 snaps (63%).
• Peyton Barber hurt his foot early in the game — seemingly after a kickoff return — and was deemed questionable to return. He did return, but played just one snap on offense, taking a carry for no gain late in the third quarter.
• Drake had at least 43% snap share and five targets in each of the Raiders' first three games. He still got most of the snaps in obvious passing situations, but the Raiders did lean more toward Jacobs.

• Ekeler didn't have any goal-line touches, but both his scores came in the red zone.
  • However, Jackson and Rountree took carries from the Vegas 7-yard line on back-to-back plays on the game's opening drive.
• Jackson had a role for most of the night, but Rountree and Ekeler split carries with the Chargers nursing a lead in the fourth quarter.
• Rountree got seven of his 11 carries in the fourth quarter, including the final two carries of the game. He finished with 11 totes for only 31 yards, forcing one missed tackle compared to Ekeler's six, per PFF.
• This is only the third time Ekeler has scored a rushing and receiving TD in the same game. And it's only his fourth multi-TD game overall. But, he now has four scores plus a two-point conversion through four games this year.
  • He also had 11 TDs (eight receiving) in his last healthy season, 2019. And he now has 16 TDs in 30 games over the past three years, which is the time when he's been playing more than half of offensive snaps.