Bijan Robinson ponders if he’s gearing up for an historic campaign, Jeremiyah Love wonders if things are really so bad in the desert, and Braelon Allen looks for a do-over on his first start in place of Breece Hall.
Other positions: Quarterback | Receiver | Tight End/Kickers/Defense
Updated 10/9 at 5:45 PM ET. Removed an uncertain Ashton Jeanty. Removed Kyle Monangai. Added Rachaad White.
Week 5 Running Backs
| 1 | Bijan Robinson | ATL | vs. BAL |
| 2 | Jahmyr Gibbs | DET | at ARI |
| 3 | Christian McCaffrey | SF | at SEA |
| 4 | Jonathan Taylor | IND | at PIT |
| 5 | Kyren Williams | LAR | vs. BUF |
| 6 | James Cook | BUF | at LAR |
| 7 | Chase Brown | CIN | at MIA |
| 8 | Derrick Henry | BAL | at ATL |
| 9 | D’Andre Swift | CHI | at GB |
| 10 | Javonte Williams | DAL | vs. TB |
| 11 | Aaron Jones Sr. | MIN | at NO |
| 12 | Jaylen Warren | PIT | vs. IND |
| 13 | Mike Washington Jr. | LV | at NE |
| 14 | Jeremiyah Love | ARI | vs. DET |
| 15 | Bhayshul Tuten | JAC | vs. PHI |
| 16 | Braelon Allen | NYJ | vs. CLE |
| 17 | Quinshon Judkins | CLE | at NYJ |
| 18 | Emanuel Wilson | SEA | vs. SF |
| 19 | Will Shipley | PHI | at JAC |
| 20 | Cam Skattebo | NYG | at WAS |
| 21 | Bucky Irving | TB | at DAL |
| 22 | Rhamondre Stevenson | NE | vs. LV |
| 23 | Jacory Croskey-Merritt | WAS | vs. NYG |
| 24 | RJ Harvey | DEN | at LAC |
| 25 | TreVeyon Henderson | NE | vs. LV |
| 26 | Ollie Gordon II | MIA | vs. CIN |
| 27 | David Montgomery | HOU | at TEN |
| 28 | Tony Pollard | TEN | vs. HOU |
| 29 | Omarion Hampton | LAC | vs. DEN |
| 30 | Alvin Kamara | NO | vs. MIN |
| 31 | Keaton Mitchell | LAC | vs. DEN |
| 32 | J.K. Dobbins | DEN | at LAC |
| 33 | Brian Robinson Jr. | ATL | vs. BAL |
| 34 | Rico Dowdle | PIT | vs. IND |
| 35 | MarShawn Lloyd | GB | vs. CHI |
| 36 | Chris Rodriguez Jr. | JAC | vs. PHI |
| 37 | Tyler Allgeier | ARI | vs. DET |
| 38 | Blake Corum | LAR | vs. BUF |
| 39 | Woody Marks | HOU | at TEN |
| 40 | George Holani | SEA | vs. SF |
| 41 | Kaleb Johnson | GB | vs. CHI |
| 42 | Kimani Vidal | LAC | vs. DEN |
| 43 | Jaylen Wright | MIA | vs. CIN |
| 44 | Kendre Miller | NO | vs. MIN |
| 45 | Tyjae Spears | TEN | vs. HOU |
| 46 | Kaelon Black | SF | at SEA |
| 47 | Kenneth Gainwell | TB | at DAL |
| 48 | Rachaad White | WAS | vs. NYG |
| 49 | Roschon Johnson | CHI | at GB |
| 50 | Ty Johnson | BUF | at LAR |
| 51 | Raheim Sanders | CLE | at NYJ |
| 52 | Isaiah Davis | NYJ | vs. CLE |
| 53 | Justice Hill | BAL | at ATL |
| 54 | Sean Tucker | TB | at DAL |
| 55 | Najee Harris | NYG | at WAS |
RB Notes: Just like that, Kyren Williams has posted the two highest receiving totals of his career in back-to-back weeks. The increased receiving production comes after Williams’ snap percentage shot up from 59.3 across Weeks 1 and 2 to 77.1 between Weeks 3 and 4. That seems unlikely to remain the case all season, but with the Rams facing more early-season turbulence than expected, it is likely to continue as a near-term trend. … Whatever is going on with Jeremiyah Love (ankle? ego?) will not affect his Week 5 playing time, per coach Mike LaFleur. Love has no shortage of question marks, but his talent is not up for debate. This is a hard game, and he’s in a hard market. If this qualifies as a “down,” we can more than handle it. … Rico Dowdle (toe) has resumed practicing. Jaylen Warren has provided elite compiling and efficiency returns for the Steelers during Dowdle’s two-game absence but nevertheless seems likely to immediately revert to 1A status in a two-man committee. Frustrating, though any usage decrease won’t be enough to knock Warren out of the top 20 at running back. For his part, Dowdle projects as a poor FLEX with only two teams on bye.
Braelon Allen’s Week 4 went according to plan in that he played 93.8 percent of the snaps and handled 100 percent of the running back touches. Then again, nothing went according to plan for the Jets in a “contest” where they possessed the ball for all of 17:15 and ran 32 total plays. With Breece Hall (quad) looking unlikely to return, Allen deserves an RB2 do-over for what should be a more competitive affair with the Browns. … Opposing Allen will be Quinshon Judkins, who finally had a useful fantasy day against the Steelers. Judkins’ 21.6 PPR points represented the first time all season he cleared 10.0. Judkins’ outburst had been foretold by his “expected fantasy points.” He could maintain in the RB16-20 range if Deshaun Watson continues to look like the 18th or 19th best quarterback in football instead of the 32nd. … Although George Holani stayed in the snaps mix, Emanuel Wilson dominated the Seahawks’ Week 4 touches. There is no reason to expect that to change vs. the 49ers, though the game environment will. Whereas the Seahawks spent most of last week up multiple scores, that’s probably not going to happen against San Francisco. Wilson has a touches-based RB2 floor without a particularly high ceiling.
Bears coach Ben Johnson Swears To God he didn’t bench D’Andre Swift for his third quarter fumble last Sunday. He just, uhh, didn’t play him afterward. Johnson also swears Kyle Monangai’s thumb and toe issues are not a concern coming out of his career day vs. the Jets. It would seem Johnson says a lot of things, though we have yet to receive Week 5 comment on Swift’s hip and knee issues. My take: I have Monangai everywhere and think he’s great, but it’s going to take a lot more than just one fumble for the Bears to actually bench the recently-extended Swift. Provided he’s healthy, Swift gets a one-week grace period. Both backs are solid RB2s. … With Saquon Barkley (hamstring) injured and Tank Bigsby (groin) on I.R., there are some weeks where we would be calling Will Shipley a plug-and-play RB1. This is not one of those weeks. By some measures the very worst offense in football, the Eagles are now missing future Hall-of-Fame RT Lane Johnson following his shock retirement. It’s all a lot to process for this foundering team as it sails across the Atlantic to take on the white-hot Jaguars. Shipley should see enough handles to push for low-end RB2 status, but he is not the answer to all your prayers at running back.
Sprawling the backfield committee is the last refuge of a desperate head coach. So it is for the Baker Mayfield-less Bucs, who re-involved Sean Tucker in Week 4. Predictably, it did not lead to increased offensive production or efficiency. Also predictably, it was bad news for Bucky Irving, who is once again looking like a shaky RB2. Losing high-value snaps to Kenneth Gainwell and now fighting Tucker for goal-line carries, it could be another long year for our erstwhile fantasy star. … Rhamondre Stevenson (knee) is banged up again. Even with Drake Maye’s play finally stabilizing a bit, Stevenson’s constant injury and ball security issues have removed him from the top-20 mix. The same is true of TreVeyon Henderson’s floor, but his ceiling remains much higher. … Ollie Gordon handled just nine Week 4 carries, but they included the Dolphins’ three longest totes of the season. He was a more productive and explosive player than Jaylen Wright as Wright returned from his foot issue. It would be foolish to view this as a “set in stone” situation — bad, desperate teams tend to experiment and change up rotations — but Gordon has earned FLEX status while Wright is a 12-team league long shot.
RJ Harvey is playing more of the Broncos’ snaps than J.K. Dobbins and seeing more high-value touches despite Dobbins’ goal-line role. Neither back is a “clean” start. Harvey is certainly a more fun one. … As feared, Omarion Hampton’s situation further deteriorated in the Chargers’ comeback game script vs. the Seahawks. He played just 35.2 percent of the Bolts’ snaps as Keaton Mitchell handled 36.6 percent. Kimani Vidal even mixed in for 35.2. It was probably the result of a rotten game environment, but those are going to be a fixture for this team. I suppose Hampton still has the highest floor of the trio, but Mitchell might have the most upside at this point. … Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller are absorbing touches for the Saints for the simple fact there’s no one else available. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, it was franchise icon Kamara getting the benefit of the doubt on the big-money downs. Kamara is an ugly FLEX but a legitimate one. … Limited to five touches or fewer in 3-of-4 contests, Tyjae Spears does not seem to have won his new coaching staff’s admiration.
