Saints place Travis Etienne (hamstring) on IR

Tyler Shough ended up leading the Saints with seven rushing yards. Yikes. Kamara was effective as a receiver out of the backfield, but to say that New Orleans struggled to run the ball is quite the understatement as they finished with 18 yards on 17 attempts. The good news for fantasy managers that used Kamara is that he was effective out of the backfield as a receiver, but it’s a modest day for the 31-year-old. Kamara and the Saints will try and get something going after a bye against the Browns in Week 9.

Donaldson is the third member of the Saints’ backfield committee. While he will get a few touches this week, he is not getting enough work for fantasy relevance.

Kamara was still listed as limited in Friday’s practice, but the Saints feel confident enough in his health to clear him for Week 7. Kamara found the end zone last week on a 31-yard reception, but has largely been inefficient with his touches this season. He seen 14 opportunities to Kendre Miller’s 30 over the last two weeks and will be hard to trust as anything more than a touchdown-dependent RB3 against the Steelers. The only players on the Saints carrying injury designations into the weekend are guard Cesar Ruiz (knee) and DL Nathan Sheperd (illness). Both are listed as questionable.

He’s played through this listing for a few weeks now, and though he’ll sometimes get dinged up in game, appears no worse for the wear. Kendre Miller feels like the more viable back in a normal game script right now, with Kamara playing more on passing downs.

The pass-protecting back looks likely to continue to mix in and limit snaps for the fantasy-valuable members of the backfield in Week 7.

A limited practice to start the week is usually maintenance. Donaldson looked good last week, running for 39 yards on six attempts, though he did commit one fumble. Donaldson is one of three backs seeing work for the Saints, and none of them have made a strong case to get more touches. Donaldson is a weak FLEX option for Week 7.

Kamara has been playing through the back issue for several weeks. He is expected to do so again this week. Kamara is part of a three-back committee, and he isn’t the leader of the trio, but that didn’t stop him from finding the end zone on nine touches last week. With a limited receiving role to go along with his shrinking rushing workload, he’s barely in the RB3 mix for Week 7.

A messy Saints committee backfield had Donaldson get the second-most snaps among New Orleans running backs against the Giants. He and Alvin Kamara were the passing-down backs while Donaldson also had a 17-yard run, the longest run by a Saints running back on the day. His first-career touchdown was called back in the third quarter after he was ruled down just shy of the goal line. The 22-year-old rookie has had a surprisingly high utilization early in the season and will continue to be involved while Travis Etienne is out. Despite this, his fantasy impact will mainly be to dilute Kamara and Kendre Miller’s fantasy values. Donaldson should only be rostered in the deepest of leagues heading into Week 7.

Milles led the Saints backfield in snaps and touches, adding two receptions for zero yards to his 70 scoreless rushing yards. He is the clear lead runner for the Saints and was tackled at the one-yard line on two separate drives, coming up just short of a touchdown to salvage his fantasy day. Miller’s lack of involvement in the passing game caps his fantasy ceiling but rushing volume makes him a low-end RB3 for Week 7 against a solid Steelers defense.

The Saints deployed a committee backfield once again for Week 6. Kamara was the third running back into the game for the Saints, but was the only one to score a touchdown. He briefly went to the medical tent after falling on his hip in the first half but re-entered the game soon after. Kamara caught a swing pass from Tyler Shough and tip-toed away from the sideline to score from 17 yards out in the third quarter. With that catch, he became the sixth player in NFL history with 5,000 yards receiving and 5,000 yards rushing in his career. Despite the touchdown and milestone, Kamara was still third in running back snaps and is a touchdown-dependent FLEX play for Week 7 against the Steelers.