A Look at Running Back Snaps at the Quarter Pole
After what seemed like a never-ending off-season, the NFL kicked off four short weeks ago, the bye weeks have begun, and “POOF” just like that, a quarter of the NFL season is already behind us. With most fantasy football regular seasons lasting only 13 weeks, we’re actually more than 30% through the fantasy regular season.
Now that my small dose of negativity for the day is out of the way, what can we take away from these past four weeks to help us going forward? Needless to say, being on the field is important. Touches and targets trump snaps, but you can’t get touches or targets if you’re not on the field, right? We’ll take a look at running back snaps division by division, team by team, and see what we can take away from the early season numbers.
New England Patriots
So far, the Patriots have been, well, the Patriots. They spread the ball around and don’t care about your fantasy team. You can’t say you haven’t been warned in the past. Outside of best-ball leagues, this will continue to be a muddy backfield situation.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Patriots | ||||
| White | 47% | 31% | 52% | |
| Burkhead | 46% | 24% | 74% | 18% |
| Michel | 33% | 49% | 22% | 45% |
| Bolden | 1% | 29% | 8% |
Buffalo Bills
With Devin Singletary on the shelf, Frank Gore has been the lead back. Can the 36-year-old Gore hold up during Singletary’s absence? If not, it looks like TJ Yeldon will get the bulk of the receiving down work going forward, with the potential to pick up some slack in the running game if Gore needs some rest. Yeldon may emerge as the sneaky value here as the season continues.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Bills | ||||
| Singletary | 70% | 33% | ||
| Gore | 28% | 59% | 63% | 46% |
| Yeldon | 3% | 7% | 37% | 54% |
New York Jets
This is the Le’Veon Bell show. Ty Montgomery is a must-own handcuff, but Bell is the only show in town as a legit, three-down, bell-cow, workhorse.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Jets | BYE | |||
| Bell | 100% | 90% | 100% | |
| Montgomery | 7% | 35% | 16% | |
| Cannon | 1% | |||
| Powell | 2% |
Miami Dolphins
Kenyan Drake has seen the majority of snaps through this early dumpster fire on South Beach. He hasn’t done much with them, and the rumor mill has been speculating on trades for the fourth-year pro. Kalen Ballage has looked awful and saw himself trailing Mark Walton in the pecking order in week four. With Miami on the bye in week five, it is prime time to make some speculative adds on Walton. He’ll likely be the team’s backup to Drake going forward, and if Drake gets traded, he might even see a starter’s workload on a team looking ahead to 2020 already.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Dolphins | ||||
| Drake | 54% | 55% | 64% | 54% |
| Ballage | 40% | 34% | 35% | 15% |
| Walton | 8% | 16% | 24% | |
| Cox | 4% |
Cleveland Browns
Nick Chubb is impressive, and he’s getting all the work here. However, it will likely be short-lived with Kareem Hunt returning in a few more weeks. With Chubb only four years removed from a catastrophic knee injury in college, and the extra rest will probably benefit him and the Browns long term. Hunt is on a one-year deal, so they can happily run him into the ground to close out the season.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Browns | ||||
| Chubb | 70% | 61% | 97% | 64% |
| Hilliard | 18% | 1% | 36% | |
| D. Johnson | 12% | 39% | 1% |
Baltimore Ravens
Many thought Justice Hill was going to be a rookie breakout candidate, but thus far, it has been all Mark Ingram in Charm City. Even if Ingram were to miss time, it looks like Baltimore favors Gus Edwards in the lead back role, while Hill would remain as a change-of-pace back.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Ravens | ||||
| Edwards | 38% | 20% | 27% | 29% |
| Ingram | 32% | 58% | 60% | 46% |
| Hill | 30% | 20% | 13% | 23% |
Pittsburgh Steelers
Before the season, this was looking like it could be a full-blown running back by committee (RBBC) situation. As the year began, the touches were anything but close, although the snap counts remained similar. Then Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the season, and the team needed to figure out how to move forward with Mason Rudolph under center. Prior to week four, James Conner had out-carried Jaylen Samuels 34 to five and saw 12 targets to Samuels’ three. But in week four, they each saw ten carries and eight targets, with both scoring a touchdown, with many observers thinking the team looked better the more Samuels got involved. In PPR leagues, Samuels is the back I want for the rest of the season.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Steelers | ||||
| Conner | 46% | 54% | 68% | 64% |
| Samuels | 33% | 39% | 26% | 46% |
| Snell | 4% | 6% | 5% |
Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Mixon, Joe Mixon, and more Joe Mixon. Gio Bernard is the back to own if Mixon misses any time and has potential as a bye week fill-in in PPR leagues.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Bengals | ||||
| Bernard | 62% | 40% | 43% | 33% |
| Mixon | 38% | 54% | 57% | 61% |
| Perine | 1% | 6% |
Houston Texans
Remember when everybody thought we were finally going to get to see Duke Johnson unleashed? Nope. After week one, it has been the Carlos Hyde show in Houston. Barring an injury to Hyde, there is no reason to think this won’t continue for the remainder of the season.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Texans | ||||
| D. Johnson | 63% | 39% | 48% | 65% |
| Hyde | 37% | 61% | 52% | 48% |
| Gillaspia | 5% | 7% | 1% |
Indianapolis Colts
Marlon Mack is the lead back for the Colts. When he misses time, Jordan Wilkins is who the team looks to fill his shoes. Nyheim Hines‘ role has been relegated to passing down and as part of the hurry-up offense. These roles should remain solidly in place all year.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Colts | ||||
| Mack | 76% | 68% | 62% | 36% |
| Hines | 27% | 19% | 25% | 45% |
| Wilkins | 15% | 14% | 21% |
Jacksonville Jaguars
Leonard Fournette has been a volume monster. Running, receiving, everything. He looks like the early fantasy pick many had hoped for when he entered the NFL. Rookie Ryquell Armstead might be worth a stash if Fournette breaks down. Another potential target might be Alfred Blue, who is designated to return from injured reserve (IR) later in the year.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Jaguars | ||||
| Fournette | 86% | 97% | 100% | 84% |
| Armstead | 14% | 16% | ||
| Ervin | 3% | 2% |
Tennessee Titans
The snaps show a very split-down-the-middle-RBBC-situation here, but the touches do not, with Derrick Henry out-touching Dion Lewis 83-to-22. Lewis still has some potential as a PPR league bye-week fill-in.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Titans | ||||
| Henry | 59% | 50% | 53% | 75% |
| Lewis | 43% | 50% | 48% | 28% |
Kansas City Chiefs
In a situation that typically produces fantasy RB1s, we’ve had more of a mess than we have been accustomed to seeing under Andy Reid. Damien Willimas entered the season as the team’s top option, only to the Chiefs bring in LeSean McCoy ahead of week one. After Damien Williams sustained an injury, some guy named Darrell Williams emerged as the top back. Going forward, it looks like a Williams will be the teams’ top option, with McCoy as the number two option. Darwin Thompson is (sadly) buried.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Chiefs | ||||
| Dam. Williams | 65% | 51% | ||
| McCoy | 29% | 41% | 38% | 46% |
| Thompson | 3% | 7% | 7% | 4% |
| Dar. Williams | 5% | 54% | 51% |
Oakland Raiders
Rookie Josh Jacobs isn’t getting the volume we were led to believe he might see. He has been dealing with an injury and illness, but it is still a little concerning if you were hoping for a heavy workload in year one. Jalen Richard is still a viable pass-catching option out of the backfield, and DeAndre Washington is the back to own if Jacobs misses any time.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Raiders | ||||
| Jacobs | 74% | 46% | 42% | 54% |
| Richard | 16% | 31% | 49% | 28% |
| Washington | 9% | 23% | 15% | 19% |
Los Angeles Chargers
With Melvin Gordon holding out, it has been all Austin Ekeler all of the time. Even with Gordon’s return, Ekeler is still fantasy viable. He was the PPR RB25 last year, and at that pace, he should register another 100 fantasy points as Gordon’s backup for the rest of the season – and that is assuming Gordon doesn’t get banged up.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Chargers | ||||
| Ekeler | 75% | 73% | 65% | 72% |
| Jackson | 25% | 27% | 21% | |
| Pope | 42% |
Denver Broncos
In the early going, this Broncos squad has employed the definition of RBBC. The snap share has been split equally, with both Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman both leading in snaps in two of four games. Lindsay has a small edge in actual touches, 67 to 56, but they have both gotten 19 targets in the passing game thus far as well. They’re both playable options, with Lindsay as an RB2, and Freeman an RB3.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Broncos | ||||
| Freeman | 47% | 52% | 49% | 62% |
| Lindsay | 53% | 48% | 56% | 45% |
| Booker | 2% |
Dallas Cowboys
No surprise here, even with the holdout, Ezekiel Elliot is true workhorse lead back. Surprisingly, rookie Tony Pollard has seen more touches than many may have thought. In games where Dallas is heavily favored, Pollard has been a sneaky good play, amassing 152 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in Dallas’ contests again the Giants and Dolphins.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Cowboys | ||||
| Elliot | 54% | 76% | 67% | 97% |
| Pollard | 32% | 24% | 32% | 3% |
Philadelphia Eagles
Roll the dice here. Much like the Patriots, Doug Pederson employees a full-blown RBBC. They’re all great in best-ball formats, but picking the top back each week setting your lineups is going to be exhausting.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Eagles | ||||
| Sanders | 48% | 43% | 34% | 35% |
| Sproles | 31% | 35% | 36% | 11% |
| Howard | 23% | 22% | 33% | 53% |
| Clement | 4% |
New York Giants
Saquon Barkley is injured, but when healthy, he’s a bonafide, three-down, RB1 at all times. In his absence, Wayne Gallman has filled in admirably, but will not have a role when Barkley returns.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Giants | ||||
| Barkley | 80% | 87% | 37% | |
| Gallman | 20% | 13% | 63% | 60% |
| Penny | 9% | 11% | 5% | 18% |
| Hilliman | 35% |
Washington Redskins
When the Redskins are trailing in games, they employ a heavy dose of Chris Thompson. Fortunately for fantasy owners, the Redskins are terrible and will be trailing early and often, leaving Thompson as the back to own here. In weeks where you think they may have a shot to be competitive, the ageless Adrian Peterson is in play until Derrius Guice is healthy, then you can pivot to Guice. It will be hard to trust Peterson or Guice as long as the ‘Skins are awful.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Redskins | ||||
| Thompson | 64% | 45% | 51% | 53% |
| Guice | 36% | |||
| Peterson | 29% | 47% | 39% | |
| Smallwood | 26% | 3% | 8% |
Green Bay Packers
Mike McCarthy may be gone, but the RBBC madness remains under Matt LaFleur. LaFleur, like McCarthy before him, insists on getting Jamaal Williams a significant amount of touches, making him a decent high-floor option. Luckily, for Aaron Jones, he has consistently shown that he is capable of doing more with less, and even on a limited snap count, he has routinely performed at an RB2 level or better.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Packers | ||||
| Jones | 59% | 57% | 39% | 84% |
| J. Williams | 41% | 47% | 61% | 1% |
| Vitale | 17% | 25% |
Chicago Bears
As the season has progressed, Mike Davis has been vanishing from Bears’ gameplans, and David Montgomery has slowly established himself as a lead back. Tarik Cohen‘s snap numbers are a little misleading, as he plays all over the field and doesn’t necessarily eat into Montgomery’s work. There is no reason Montgomery and Cohen will see tier current usage levels continue for the rest of the year. Davis, however, might be the handcuff to both and can fill in either role if needed.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Bears | ||||
| Cohen | 70% | 38% | 48% | 39% |
| Davis | 56% | 25% | 2% | |
| Montgomery | 38% | 44% | 67% | 69% |
Detroit Lions
Kerryon Johnson has led the Lions in snaps and is eating up all of the touches in the early part of the year. His 81 touches nearly double the 43 touches of all other Detroit running backs combined. I liked Ty Johnson as a sneaky PPR play as the year wears on given Kerryon’s injury concerns, but J.D. McKissic has slowly seen an increase in snaps and is worth monitoring as the Lions come out of the week 5 bye.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Lions | ||||
| K. Johnson | 57% | 54% | 75% | 70% |
| Anderson | 30% | 20% | ||
| Bawden | 25% | 16% | 30% | 13% |
| T. Johnson | 9% | 21% | 20% | 14% |
| McKissic | 7% | 9% | 35% |
Minnesota Vikings
Much like the Lions, the Vikings are keeping their young lead back heavily involved, as Dalvin Cook has seen 86 touches compared to 40 touches for all other backs. Cook has a well-documented injury history going back to college, and it’s hard to believe he’ll be able to hold up all season long. Alexander Mattison has looked good in his limited snaps and is a must-own as the Vikes’ passing game has been awful, and they are committed to being a run-first offense.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Vikings | ||||
| Cook | 68% | 72% | 60% | 79% |
| Ham | 42% | |||
| Mattison | 23% | 12% | 30% | 10% |
| Abdullah | 8% | 11% | 2% | 11% |
| Boone | 4% | 8% |
New Orleans Saints
Apparently, Latavius Murray isn’t Mark Ingram. Murray is looking droppable in shallow leagues at this point, as Alvin Kamara is getting the lion’s share of snaps and touches. That will probably continue until Drew Brees returns from injury, and the team leans on its best player to stay afloat in the meantime.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Saints | ||||
| Kamara | 76% | 65% | 88% | 77% |
| Murray | 27% | 35% | 21% | 25% |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
What a mess. Snaps have been split three ways between Dare Ogunbowale, Ronald Jones, and Peyton Barber, although the touches have only been going to Barber and Jones. Jones has (arguably) looked better, but this is like picking your favorite car accident. Bruce Arians is riding the hot hand game-to-game, so it’s hard to trust anyone here, even though Barber remains the starter in name only.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Buccaneers | ||||
| Ogunbowale | 39% | 25% | 25% | 28% |
| Barber | 36% | 65% | 36% | 26% |
| Jones | 31% | 12% | 30% | 49% |
| Logan | 1% | 1% |
Carolina Panthers
Christian McCaffrey is a beast. He rarely comes off the field and is on pace for all sorts of snaps/touches/receptions/carries records. The team has sprinkled in Alex Armah and Reggie Bonnafon, but there is no way to know who would inherit the workload if CMC were to miss any time. One, or both, might be worth a speculative add if you have space at the bottom of your rosters. You could also take a flier on rookie Jordan Scarlett if you’re feeling bold.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Panthers | ||||
| McCaffrey | 100% | 100% | 92% | 100% |
| Armah | 18% | 9% | ||
| Bonnafon | 8% |
Atlanta Falcons
This team is a mess. Devonta Freeman has returned from last year’s season-ending injury and has carried the load early, getting 66% of the snaps and 64% of the touches. Ito Smith has the teams’ only touchdown among the team’s backs, and he is the handcuff to own for the oft-injured Freeman. Brian Hill has yet to see a snap, but would be a stash in deep leagues.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Falcons | ||||
| Freeman | 50% | 62% | 90% | 62% |
| Smith | 50% | 38% | 5% | 38% |
| Barner | 5% |
San Francisco 49ers
Another RBBC, the 49ers have had a rotating three-man backfield. Fortunately, they’ve all been fantasy relevant in their respective roles. Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert, and Jeff Wilson have all been RB3s this year, with flashes of high-end RB2 upside. Although they vulture each other, none can be a real breakout, they can confidently be used in your flex spot weekly. When Tevin Colman returns, Jeff Wilson is likely the odd man out.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| 49ers | BYE | |||
| Breida | 44% | 29% | 41% | |
| Mostert | 29% | 47% | 30% | |
| Coleman | 26% | |||
| Wilson | 21% | 27% |
Seattle Seahawks
Draft capital be damned; this is Chris Carson‘s job no matter how many times he fumbles. The Rashaad Penny truthers will need to wait for Pete Carroll’s retirement, as Carson has touched the ball 81 times compared to Penny and C.J. Prosise‘s combined touch total of 17. Prosise has sneakily remained on this roster for four seasons despite being injury-plagued and underperforming, so the team clearly likes him. If Carson misses any games, Penny will likely be handed the early-down role, but Prosise may be a decent buy-low option in PPR leagues.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Seahawks | ||||
| Carson | 77% | 54% | 44% | 76% |
| Penny | 26% | 33% | ||
| Prosise | 13% | 55% | 22% | |
| Bellore | 6% |
Los Angeles Rams
Remember Darrell Henderson everybody? He is no longer worthy of a roster spot in redraft leagues and should be relegated to your taxi squad in dynasty leagues. For all the concerns about Todd Gurley‘s health this off-season, the Rams don’t seem to be worried as he has seen a vast majority of snaps and touches this season. Malcolm Brown has emerged as the backup to own in the City of Angels.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Rams | ||||
| Gurley | 70% | 65% | 74% | 76% |
| Brown | 27% | 36% | 26% | 24% |
| Henderson | 3% |
Arizona Cardinals
David Johnson is the lead back in the desert, even if he isn’t getting may actual carries. DJ is getting it done through the air so far; his 21 receptions, 182 receiving yards, and two touchdowns would be good enough to make him the WR35 before you add in any of his groundwork. The receiving work alone has DJ ahead of such notables at receiver as JuJu Smith-Schuster, Adam Thielen, and Calvin Ridley. With only 14 touches compared to Johnson’s 68, Chase Edmonds is a valuable handcuff if Johnson were to sustain an injury.
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
| Cardinals | ||||
| Johnson | 87% | 60% | 87% | 86% |
| Edmonds | 11% | 40% | 12% | 21% |
Conclusion
Outside of the handful of established workhorse running backs, the early season snap counts can give you a look at players who are on the rise in their teams’ respective pecking orders. You can also get a glimpse of who is falling to the wayside too. One of the better ways to use this info is to see who is getting heavy work, and target their backups. Another option is to look at low-owned, bottom of the roster guys who are seeing more work on the field.
Players to possibly target in trades would include T.J. Yeldon, Kareem Hunt, Gus Edwards, Jordan Wilkins, DeAndre Washington, and Mike Davis. There are some deep sleepers that may be available on waivers too. I’m targeting Mark Walton, Alfred Blue, C.J. Prosise, Chase Edmonds, Brian Hill, and whoever you prefer in Carolina; Amarah, Bonnafon, or Scarlett.
I hope to revisit this after weeks eight and 12, to see if the snap trends continue and discover any other players emerging or fading away as the year goes on. I’ll be updating the spreadsheet after each week, feel free to check it out here.
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