Hidden Stat Line: Week 6 Backfield Breakdown

Week 6 was a poor one for running back production, despite the best efforts of Derrick Henry and D'Andre Swift. Mark Ingram (ankle), Miles Sanders (knee) and Raheem Mostert (ankle) all left their games early with injuries, potentially opening up opportunities for teammates. Anyway, let's get to it...

Week 6 RB Leaderboard

(5+ touches or 25+ percent snap share to qualify. Bold = top 10 in a stat).

Classify Me, Captain

Three-down Role with 80-plus Percent Snap Share

1. Chicago Bears - David Montgomery
2. Carolina Panthers - Mike Davis

Three-down Role, But Subbed Out Semi-Regularly

1. Atlanta Falcons - Todd Gurley
2. Philadelphia Eagles - Miles Sanders (knee), and then Boston Scott
3. Pittsburgh Steelers - James Conner
4. Cleveland Browns - Kareem Hunt
5. Houston Texans - David Johnson
6. Miami Dolphins - Myles Gaskin
7. Green Bay Packers - Aaron Jones

Clear Lead Back, But Usually Off the Field for Obvious Passing Situations

1. Denver Broncos - Phillip Lindsay (with Melvin Gordon out)
2. Cincinnati Bengals - Joe Mixon
3. Indianapolis Colts - Jonathan Taylor
4. Jacksonville Jaguars - James Robinson
5. Minnesota Vikings - Alexander Mattison (with Dalvin Cook) out
6. New York Giants - Devonta Freeman
7. Tennessee Titans - Derrick Henry
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Ronald Jones
9. Los Angeles Rams - Darrell Henderson

Two-Man Split

1. Washington Football Team - Antonio Gibson & J.D. McKissic
2. Baltimore Ravens - Gus Edwards & J.K. Dobbins (in-game injury for Mark Ingram)
3. New York Jets - Frank Gore & La'Mical Perine
4. San Francisco 49ers - Jerick McKinnon & JaMycal Hasty (in-game injury for Raheem Mostert)

Not-So-Pretty Committee

1. New England Patriots - Damien Harris, James White & Rex Burkhead
2. Detroit Lions - Adrian Peterson, D'Andre Swift & Kerryon Johnson

(Italics denote backfields with significant role changes relative to the previous week, i.e., the ones that are most important to analyze in the recaps below)

Game-by-Game Breakdowns

(Snap totals, snap shares, carries and targets come from pro-football-reference.com or NFL.com's game books. Data on dropbacks and routes run comes from Pro Football Focus.)

Denver Broncos (18) at New England Patriots (12)

Broncos

• Melvin Gordon (illness) stayed back in Denver while recovering from strep throat. He was arrested on a DUI charge last week, but he should be back in the lineup as soon as he's healthy. His arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 13, so it is possible (though far from certain) he serves a suspension this season rather than next. The new CBA has a baseline suspension of three games for DUI incidents.
• This was the same as Denver's backfield split from the second half of last season. Lindsay dominated early downs, with Freeman handling most of the obvious passing situations and also subbing in for a few carries.
• Freeman played eight of 12 snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long.
• Lindsay got carries from the 4-yard line and 3-yard line on back-to-back plays in the third quarter. Drew Lock had the only other inside-the-10 carry.

Patriots

• Game script worked in White's favor, with Denver taking a lead within the first two minutes of the game and never once relinquishing it. The Patriots trailed by nine or more points for about 34 minutes of game time.
• Sony Michel (quad, illness) is on the reserve/COVID-19 list , while J.J. Taylor was a healthy scratch for Sunday's loss. Michel could make thing even more complicated in November, but it looks like the Patriots will roll with the White/Harris/Burkhead trio for at least one more game (a Week 7 home contest against San Francisco).
• White is now averaging four carries and 6.7 targets per game, with snap shares of 30, 53 and 54 percent. His workload has gotten some help from the Patriots working in negative game script for two of his three appearances, but it does look awfully similar to last season's (4.5 carries and 6.3 targets per week, with 46 percent snap share).
• One reminder: Harris took 17 carries for 100 yards in his first appearance of the season Week 4 at Kansas City, but even then he played only 23 offensive snaps (31 percent).

Cincinnati Bengals (27) at Indianapolis Colts (31)

Bengals

• Mixon left the game with a foot injury in the second quarter, but he returned after halftime and played 11 of 15 snaps in the third quarter.
• Bernard got 12 of 13 snaps in the second quarter while Mixon was out of the game, plus 14 of 23 in the fourth quarter when the Bengals were trailing for the first time all afternoon.
• No. 3 RB Samaje Perine logged three snaps and took one carry for no gain. He's played five snaps on offense this season, compared to 116 on special teams. I always appreciate it when a guy with some hype "washes out" from a fantasy/offense perspective but then enjoys a solid career as a special teams player (e.g. Darrius Heyward-Bey). We're rooting for you, Mr. Perine!

Colts

• The box score wasn't necessarily what Taylor's fantasy managers were expecting or hoping for, but there were a bunch of encouraging signs, starting with his comfortable snap lead in a game where the Colts fell behind 21-0 and didn't take a lead until early in the fourth quarter. Plus, Taylor averaged 5.0 yards per carry and broke his first gains of 20-plus (a 21-yarder, to be exact).
• Hines got 15 of 27 snaps in the third quarter, but Taylor dominated playing time in every other quarter (7-of-8 Q1, 11-of-15 Q3, 9-of-13 Q4).
• Taylor even took six of the nine snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long, including five of six when the Colts needed eight or more yards for the conversion.
• Wilkins took exactly nine carries in each games Weeks 2-4, playing 23, 27 and 17 percent of snaps. This was Wilkins' second straight game with single-digit snap share and only one carry... another great sign for Taylor's fantasy managers.
• Taylor has taken 83 percent of Indy's RB carries over the past two weeks.

Detroit Lions (34) at Jacksonville Jaguars (16)

Lions

• The 14 carries for Swift were more than he had in his first four games combined (12).
• With Swift taking more carries away from Peterson, the Lions gave Johnson a little more work on passing downs (he played seven of the nine snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long). Swift has been more active as a receiving threat, but Johnson has taken 33 of those 49 snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long this year.
• Peterson got the start and took all five carries on the opening drive, including a one-yard touchdown.  Swift then came on for the second drive and immediately ripped off a 54-yard gain. A couple minutes later, Swift punched in a one-yard TD on his third consecutive carry inside the 5-yard line. Naturally, the next drive started with a carry for Johnson, because Matt Patricia hates us.
• After that second drive, the only other inside-the-10 carry was Swift's six-yard TD early in the fourth quarter. The Lions did have one other goal-line sequence, but they approached it with three consecutive passes to T.J. Hockenson from the 1-yard line, finally scoring a TD on fourth down.
• Swift never fully "took over"; he and Peterson got eight carries apiece in the second half, with Johnson adding one.

Jaguars

• This was the third straight game where the Jaguars largely played from behind and Robinson nonetheless held a sizable snap advantage over Thompson. For the season, the rookie has an 85-to-6 advantage in carries and a 26-to-19 edge in targets. The Jags really only use Thompson on snaps where the defense knows there is zero threat whatsoever of a run play.
• Over the past three weeks, Robinson has run 67 routes to Thompson's 52.
• Theoretically, Robinson is capable of finishing an NFL game with single-digit PPR points. But we haven't seen it yet. While he's yet to top 17 carries in a contest, he now has five straight games with four or more targets, giving us that solid floor.
• Robinson is on pace for 227-965-8 rushing (4.3 YPC) and 61-552-3 receiving (8.0 YPT). The YPT may not be sustainable, but there is something to be said for a rookie committing only one drop on 26 targets. Plus, Robinson's 9.0 YAC average places fourth among 21 RBs with 20-plus targets, per PFF, in part because only Mike Davis and Alvin Kamara have forced more missed tackles on receptions than Robinson's eight.

Atlanta Falcons (40) at Minnesota Vikings (23)

Falcons

• This has been the same idea all year, with Gurley getting 14-to-21 carries and 46-to-64 percent of snaps every week. The Falcons don't sub him out in specific situations, but they do make a concerted effort to limit his snap counts. Gurley is on pace for a 264-1,125-13 rushing line, but with only 29 catches for 155 yards.
• The 10 carries were a season high for Hill, who has logged 20-to-34 percent of snaps each week this year.
• The Falcons ran 79 plays in this game, holding possession for 40:07 of game clock.

Vikings

• Mattison got the start and the first six RB touches, including carries from the Falcons' 2-yard line and 3-yard line on back-to-back plays. But after he failed to punch it in, the Vikings turned to Mike Boone for a 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line (Boone was stuffed for a loss, naturally).
• Abdullah had played four snaps on offense this year before Sunday's game, so his involvement was an adjust to Dalvin Cook (groin) being absent. Abdullah got four snaps on 3rd-and-medium/long, while Mattison took only one. Abdullah also handled the two-minute drill near the end of the first half.
• Minnesota ran eight plays from 02 personnel (3 WRs, 2 TEs, 0 RBs). It was a look they used only six times total over the first five games, i.e., it appears to have been another adjustment to playing without Cook.
• Minnesota has a Week 7 bye, followed by a trip to Green Bay. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero says Cook should be back for the Packers matchup. Pelissero even said a source told him Cook has a "99.999 percent chance" to play, which is obviously an exaggeration but kinda makes a point, I guess.

Washington Football Team (19) at NY Giants (20)

WFTs

• Cal Ripken and Joe DiMaggio, move over. Budding NFL legend Antonio Gibson now has three consecutive games with five targets. A streak to behold.
• On the other hand, Gibson's snap share was his smallest since Week 1, and his carries tied for a season low (matching Weeks 1 and 3). If we throw out the season opener where Barber had a big role, Gibson is averaging 11.0 carries for 41.4 yards and 0.6 TDs, along with 3.4 catches for 27.8 yards on 4.0 targets, i.e., low-end RB2 territory in most leagues, or maybe a solid RB2 in deeper setups.
• Barber's four carries and eight snaps were his most since Week 1, but he didn't get any touches after the 14-minute mark of the second quarter. He took three of his touches on the opening drive, though Gibson got the start and McKissic also mixed in on the drive. While Barber's role may be small — and hasn't included regular short-yardage/goal-line work since Week 1 — it would still be better for Gibson's fantasy managers if the plodding veteran was cut out of the gameplans altogether.
• McKissic got the lone red-zone carry, while Gibson had the only RZ target. Washington had just one goal-to-go snap all game, a five-yard TD pass to Logan Thomas.

Giants

• The Giants ran 46 plays on offense, with only six drives that weren't just kneel-downs at the end of the half/game. Washington had some really long drives end with FG attempts, while the Giants had a three-play, 27-yard TD drive after an interception and a fumble returned for a score.
• Freeman dominated snaps and touches, but Lewis was still the choice for obvious passing situations, handling all eight of the snaps on 3rd-and-medium/longs. This wasn't really a case of roles changing; it was a case of game script/context favoring Freeman over Lewis.
• Gallman averaged 5.5 carries and one target on 15 and 18 percent of snaps over the previous two games, while Sunday's win saw him finish without a touch on 8% of snaps. Maybe that's about the team having more confidence in Freeman, or maybe it's just a product of reduced play volume mostly eliminating the need for a sub on early downs. Week 7 projections should probably seek the middle ground, putting Gallman around ~3 carries.

Ravens (30) at Eagles (28)

Ravens

• Ingram hurt his ankle on the third drive of the game, late in the first quarter. He briefly returned and took one more carry, but he didn't play at all after halftime.
• Edwards got both carries inside the 10-yard line, including a seven-yard TD at the end of the first quarter (after Ingram hurt his ankle, but before he left the game for good).
• Edwards outsnapped Dobbins 21-to-13 in the second half, with the rookie seeing just one carry and two targets after halftime. Dobbins got three carries in the first quarter and five in the second, but Edwards dominated ground work late in the game.

Eagles

• Sanders injured his knee in the third quarter and didn't return to the game. His final touch of the afternoon was a 74-yard carry that ended with a fumble, recovered by J.J. Arcega-Whiteside for an Eagles touchdown.
• Per PFF's Nathan Jahnke, Scott had a 33-to-7 snap advantage over Clement after Sanders left the game.
• The Eagles play again Thursday night (vs. NYG), so it'll be tricky for Sanders to suit up. He previously sat out Week 1, a 27-17 loss to Washington. In case you don't remember that fascinating game, here's what the backfield workload looked like:

Week 1 PHI RB Workloads

Browns (7) at Steelers (38)

Browns

• The blowout distorted the numbers here. Hunt played 29 of 44 snaps (66 percent) through three quarters, while Hilliard took all seven of his snaps in the fourth quarter.
• At the end of the third quarter, Hunt had a 13-to-3 carry advantage and 2-to-1 target advantage over Johnson.
• Looking back to Week 5 when the Browns played a competitive game, Hunt got 70 percent of snaps, 20 carries and four targets, comfortable ahead of Johnson (30%, 8 carries, 1 target). Hilliard got some work after Chubb suffered an in-game injury Week 4, but he's only been spotted in garbage time since then.

Steelers

• Jaylen Samuels also played five snaps but didn't have any carries or targets.
• Conner scored a three-yard TD on Pittsburgh's only red-zone carry before halftime. Snell later took carries from the 11-yard line and 6-yard line, but only after Conner had toted the rock on four consecutive plays beforehand (i.e. he was removed for a breather, not because Snell was preferred at the goal line). In any case, the sequence ended with Chase Claypool scoring from three yards out on an end-around. Snell later scored a one-yard TD, midway through the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 31 points.
• Conner played 29 of 32 snaps in the first half, and 13 of 17 in the third quarter. It was the first time this season we've seen a repeat of his 2018 role, though the final counts don't really show it because he played only two snaps in the fourth quarter. DFS players will want to remember that Conner has upside for an every-down role if/when the Steelers find themselves in a competitive game, especially if it's against an AFC team competing with them for playoff positioning (e.g. Week 6 at TEN, Week 7 at BAL).
• In summary... the Steelers have been somewhat careful to avoid overworking Conner, but it's abundantly clear they want him on the field for the important snaps, regardless of down/distance/field position.

Texans (36) at Titans (42)

Texans

• Bill O'Brien may be gone, but the effort to justify his memorable trade lives another day. The two targets were a season low for DJ, while the 19 carries were a season high. The workload keeps him in RB2 territory.
• Duke saw more work in his first game back from an ankle injury (Week 4 vs. MIN), but we've now seen David with 78 percent snap share in back-to-back games.

Titans

• With Darrynton Evans (hamstring) on IR, the backup work fell solely to McNichols, who did well with his limited touches. Run JMC played eight of 11 third-down snaps, plus nine of nine snaps on the game-tying drive (a two-minute drill).
• King Henry had a 94-yard TD run in regulation, and a 53-yard reception in OT to set up his game-winning TD on a direct snap from the Houston 5-yard line. Boss.
• The Titans have been a bit more liberal sprinkling McNichols in the past two weeks, dropping Henry to 52 and 60 percent of snaps (compared to 75, 71 and 75 percent the first three games of the season).
• Henry is at 0.36 routes/db the past two weeks, down from 0.50 the first three games of the season. It's nitpicking, of course, but that's kind of the point of HSL, right? We can all agree the more important point is that Henry is great player who gets a ton of carries in a hyper-efficient offense. But the little stuff — like McNichols picking up a few more carries and routes — does still matter for DFS, if nothing else.
• Henry leads the NFL with 123 carries, despite already having his bye week. Maybe the Titans ease up later in the season, but they're full-speed ahead to compete for the AFC's No. 1 seed at the moment, with Week 7 bringing a matchup against the other undefeated team in the conference (Pittsburgh).

Bears (23) at Panthers (16)

Bears

• I have no clue how to divide blame between Montgomery, the offensive line, poor QB play and the coaching staff. Whatever the case, he's now had 22 games as the lead runner, including three in a row in a three-down role. After a promising start to the year — at least from an efficiency standpoint — Montgomery is now down to 3.7 YPC, the same mark he had last season. He has two 100-yard games in 22 appearances, and only one of his 324 carries has spanned more than 25 yards. Maybe he's decent and the circumstances are holding him back, but it's at least seems fair to say Montgomery isn't anything special.
• Regardless, Monty warrants a spot in nearly any fantasy lineup, averaging 13.0 carries and 6.3 targets in three games since Tarik Cohen suffered an ACL tear. The increase in receiving work has allowed for fantasy survival even with terrible rushing efficiency.
• Patterson again served as the backup RB, taking nine snaps in the backfield and only three out wide, per PFF.

Panthers

• The Panthers could've used Christian McCaffrey (ankle) in this one, as Davis lost a fumble and averaged only 2.8 yards per touch. But he did reach 20 touches for a fourth straight game, and the snap share was actually a season high. Plus, he's scored a TD in each game McCaffrey has missed. A Week 7 trip to New Orleans should tilt Davis back toward more targets and fewer carries, as the Saints are continuing their multi-year trend of defending the run much better than the pass.

Jets (0) at Dolphins (24)

Jets

• The touches went solidly in Gore's favor, while the snap share was comfortably in Perine's favor. The snap advantage for the rookie wasn't just a product of negative game script.... Perine played 21 of 34 snaps in the first half and actually had the advantage over Gore in terms of carries (6-5) and targets (2-1). But Perine saw only one carry and one target on his 20 snaps post-halftime.
• Johnson didn't get any playing time in the first half, but his 34-yard scamper could help him see more work in future weeks.

Dolphins

• Jordan Howard was a healthy scratch again, but this time it didn't lead to any touchdowns for Gaskin. Ryan Fitzpatrick had three short TD passes, accounting for all of Miami's scoring. Gaskin handled the lone carry inside the 5-yard line, and three of the four red-zone carries.
• Gaskin played 25 of 31 snaps (81 percent) in the first half, with Breida getting six and Laird two. Gaskin then dropped to 56 percent snap share after halftime, as the Dolphins had a comfortable lead and found a bit more work for both Breida (40 percent) and Laird (16 percent). It was a similar story — albeit to a lesser extent — the previous week in a blowout win over San Francisco, with Gaskin getting 69 percent of snaps in the first half but only 55 percent in the second. He should be up around 70-to-80 percent snap share if/when the Dolphins play a close game with Howard inactive.

Packers (10) at Buccaneers (38)

Packers

• The five carries tied a career/season high for Dillon, but all of them came in the fourth quarter with the Packers trailing by four touchdowns. He did get two snaps in the first half, when he had a seven-yard carry wiped out by a penalty. (Jones re-entered the game after the penalty and scored a one-yard TD a couple minutes later.)

Bucs

• Leonard Fournette (ankle) was inactive, while McCoy returned from his ankle injury after a one-week absence.
• Jones played 21 of 29 snaps (72 percent) in the first half, handling 12 of the 13 carries and two of the three RB targets.
• Vaughn didn't play at all until the fourth quarter, picking up a bunch of work in garbage time.
• Ignoring the final quarter, McCoy played nine of the nine snaps on third downs, while Jones got 31 of 37 on first and second downs.

Los Angeles Rams (16) at San Francisco 49ers (24)

Rams

• Akers was a complete non-factor, despite taking nine carries for 61 yards the previous week (largely getting his work in the fourth quarter of a blowout win over Washington). Sean McVay said Akers would see more touches Week 6, but the rookie instead was limited to a single snap.
• Henderson led the team in carries for a fourth time in the past five games, but Brown still had the advantage in routes, targets and passing-down snaps.
• Henderson played 15 of 22 snaps (68 percent) in the first half, compared to 17 of 38 (45 percent) after halftime. However, he did take eight carries for 49 yards in the second half, so the Rams were able to keep him involved in the offense even while shifting to a pass-first approach in catch-up mode.
• Look how dumb I am...

49ers

• Jeff Wilson was inactive due to a calf injury, and Mostert suffered an ankle injury that limited him to one snap in the second half
• Mostert played 34 of 44 snaps (77 percent) in the first half, with McKinnon taking the other 10.
• McKinnon played nine of 10 snaps in the third quarter, but Hasty then got 15 of 19 in the final frame.
• McKinnon handled a three-down role when Mostert missed a couple games earlier this season, but Sunday night's usage hints at potential for a committee if Mostert isn't back for Week 7 at New England. Hasty looked pretty good, picking up 37 yards on his nine carries.

Chiefs (26) at Bills (17)

Chiefs

• Edwards-Helaire established new highs for carries and rushing yards while landing in his usual snap share range (60-to-73 percent every week so far). He's now averaging 4.7 yards per carry and 8.4 per catch, but the workload isn't secure now that Le'Veon Bell is in town.
• Williams scored from 14 yards out on a 4th-and-1 where the Chiefs used a pistol formation with Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill joining Williams and Patrick Mahomes in the backfield. Andy Reid, for the win!
• Williams also got a couple red-zone carries in the fourth quarter, but only after CEH touched the ball on five consecutive plays, i.e., it may have been a matter of fatigue rather than the Chiefs actually preferring Williams on those plays. In any case, Williams was stuffed on 2nd-and-1 and then again on 3rd-and-1, forcing a field-goal attempt to keep Buffalo in the game. Maybe the short-yardage/goal-line running struggles haven't solely been CEH's fault?

Bills

• The Chiefs dominated possession, limiting Buffalo to 40 plays on offense.
• Moss returned from a three-game absence, but his role was smaller than what he'd handled Weeks 1-2 (45 and 45 percent of snaps, 8.5 carries and 2.0 targets per game). Theoretically, that's a good sign for Singletary, but we just saw him struggle for RB2 value with Moss entirely out of the picture for three games. The Bills haven't had much lucking running the ball, and Josh Allen dominates the TD scoring.

Cardinals (38) at Cowboys (10)

Cardinals - Coming Tuesday

• This was supposed to be the week where Edmonds took over, but instead it was the week where Drake finally broke out, albeit with the help of a pathetic Cowboys defense.
• Drake had six carries for 18 yards through the first 19 minutes of the game, but he scored a one-yard TD in the second quarter and later ripped off gains of 20 and 22 on Arizona's first drive after halftime. He topped it off with a 69-yard score in garbage time, for some reason still taking carries with the team up by 21 points and two minutes remaining in the game (fantasy managers won't complain!).
• Drake's 2020 game log has serious Marlon Mack vibes; he still hasn't seen more than two targets in a contest.

Cowboys - Coming Tuesday

• Elliott lost two fumbles in the first half, prompting the Cowboys to give Pollard a bit more work than usual. They also gave No. 3 RB Rico Dowdle three carries on the final drive, his first action of the season on offense.
• Despite finishing with two lost fumbles and no touchdown, Elliott scored 14.0 PPR points, solid RB2 production in most formats. His previous low this year was 17.8, while his other four games all landed in the 20s. He's on pace for 269 carries and 115 targets.
• Elliott now has four lost fumbles this year, accounting for 44 percent of his career total.

RB Waiver Targets

This list is limited to players on less than 50 percent of Yahoo rosters as of Monday evening. Rankings are intended for a typical fantasy team, not one that's absolutely desperate for a Week 5 starter. With that in mind, we'll include some backups who make sense to stash on benches even if they didn't have any teammate injuries or role changes impacting their value this past weekend.

To be frank, I think most of the guys on this list will be grenades. Boston Scott did nothing when Miles Sanders (knee) missed a game earlier this year. Gus Edwards has a bye in Week 7, and could have Mark Ingram (ankle) back in the lineup Week 8. JaMycal Hasty might only be the No. 3 back in San Francisco, even with Raheem Mostert (ankle) missing extended time. 

Anyway, there is an upside scenario for all of them, but there's also a lot of bust potential. Scott is the best choice if you're simply in need of a Week 7 play, as we at least know he'll be on the field a lot Thursday night (Sanders is expected to miss one or two games).

1. Boston Scott
2. Gus Edwards
3. JaMycal Hasty
4. La'Mical Perine
5. J.D. McKissic