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Cardinals
If you are an owner of Kenyan Drake you enter Week 5 a bit worried as Drake struggled in what should have been an easy match up against the Panthers and he saw ZERO targets while Chase Edmonds saw his role increase slightly, especially in the team's passing attack where he was targeted six times, catching five of those while playing nearly 40-percent of the snaps. In Week 5 the Cardinals face the Jets which should be a strong option for Drake to have success and I'm certain his owners are hoping he can finally breakout.
Falcons
Gurley did what he was brought to Atlanta to did in Week 4 and that was to score in the red zone. Gurley rushed for two touchdowns in Week 4 and now has four touchdowns on the season. He finds himself on pace for 1,000 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns on the season and while I think ultimately those both end up a little high, I can easily see similar production to what he saw last season from him which is about 900 yards rushing and 10+ touchdowns on the season. Don't be worried about the snap count, this isn't too shocking to see the team limiting Gurley given his knee health.
Ravens
Pull your hair out if you own any of these running backs. The Ravens were up handily in this game against the Washington Football team yet Ingram saw the fewest snaps and Gus Edwards lead the team in carries. I'm throwing my hands up when it comes to this backfield. Avoid starting any of them if you can until there is some sort of defined rotation.
Bills
Another week with Moss out of the lineup showed that Singeltary is more than capable of being the lead back and an everydown back to boot. Moreso, fantasy owners had to rejoice when he found the end zone for the first time this season. Touchdowns tend to be few and far between for Bills running backs due to Josh Allen 's red zone prowess. Zack Moss is expected to return in Week 5 so we should see how the snap shares play out to get a real sense of their fantasy value moving foward.
Panthers
Mike Davis is filling the shoes of Christian McCaffrey better than anyone could have hoped as he continues to be heavily involved in the teams passing attack while finding the end zone for the second straight week. Reggie Bonnafon saw a bigger piece of the pie in Week 4 but this is still Davis' backfield until CMC returns.
Bears
Well, I will say this, I LOVE seeing six targets in Week 4 going Montgomery's way. It's even better to see the 85-percent snap share. The injury to Tarik Cohen isn't great for the Bears but for fantasy owners I think we can at least count on Montgomery to have a high fantasy floor if the involvement in the passing offense continues. Whether or not the Bears are any good with Nick Foles remains to be seen.
Bengals
Well look at that huh? The Bengals had an incredibly soft match up against the Jaguars and Joe Mixon took the game over, scoring three touchdowns while catching the ball six times to go along with his 25 carries. In total, Mixon finished with 181 total yards which is nearly more than he had in the first three games combined. The Bengals have rough match up in Week 5 as they head to Baltimore so I would be surprised to see a repeat performance from Mixon.
Browns
The big news in this game was the injury to Nick Chubb which has landed him on the IR and could keep him out for the next six weeks. In his absence we saw Kareem Hunt lead the team in offensive snaps but it was actually D'Ernest Johnson that lead the team in carries and yards as he rushed for 95 yards on 13 carries. Hunt is still going to be the team's primary back and as a fantasy owner you have to love the increased red zone touches he is going to see but Johnson showed that Cleveland is still going to run a shared backfield.
Cowboys
I know Pollard got more work than usual in this one but let's be real, this is Zekes unquestioned backfield. His fantasy owners have to love seeing his eight targets.
Broncos
Phillip Lindsay is expected to return soon but until then Melvin Gordon continues to hold down the fort in a strong way. Gordon ran all over the Jets for 107 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns. In Week 1, prior to the Lindsay injury, the snap share appeared to be an even split so this will be something to watch when Lindsay does see the field.
Lions
You can safely drop Kerryon Johnson if you haven't done so already. It's clear that Peterson is the early down and red zone back while Swift will be the change of pace and pass catching option. Swift found the end zone this week with a touchdown catch while Peterson was also able to pound home one of his red zone rushes.
Packers
The Packers offense is hurt by injury so naturally they lean on the running backs who did most of the heavy lifting here with Aaron Jones totaling 111 yards and a score while adding five catches. Jamaal Williams also added eight catches for 95 yards as well in the team's win over the Falcons. With Davante Adams expected to return soon it would be a surprise to see the backfield total 14 catches and 15 targets in a game moving forward.
Texans
Duke Johnson returned and saw nearly 40-percent of the snaps in the Texans loss to the Vikings. We then saw head coach Bill O'Brian fired after the team's 0-4 start. Let's hope the new offensive play caller decides to use David Johnson a bit more as the Texans have themselves some easier opponents in their future that should lead to some offensive success.
Colts
Uhhh...why is anyone other than Jonathan Taylor getting red zone touches? Honestly? Jordan Wilkins with four, Nyheim Hines with two and Taylor with three?? Seriously? Give Jonathan Taylor the football as often as you can. Don't be giving 18 total carries to the two guys behind him on the depth chart. Through four weeks, Taylor has 250 yards and two scores while adding 10 catches for 90 yards.
Jaguars
After back-to-back weeks where Chris Thompson was involved in the team's passing attack he went back to putting up goose eggs across the board. It's very clear the undrafted rookie James Robinson is the bell cow of this backfield.
Chiefs
CEH is going to get all the work in this backfield baring injury. He had a tough match up against a strong Patriots defense in Week 4 but I would look for a nice bounceback game from him in Week 5 when the Chiefs play the Raiders.
Chargers
The second big injury of Week 4 came at the expense of Austin Ekeler who suffered a hamstring injury that will keep him off the field for the coming weeks. In his absence the Chargers rushing attack really struggled against the Buccaneers with neither Joshua Kelley or Justin Jackson being able to do much. Seeing that the snap share was also pretty even between the two doesn't exactly give us that clear of a pitcture of how this backfield is going to play out moving forward. My guess, the rookie, Joshua Kelley gets the first crack at the lead job with Jackson serving as the change of pace option.
Rams
After it was Henderson who dominated the prior two weeks it was Brown who lead the teams offense in Week 4 as he totaled only 56 yards but saw six targets in the passing attack. Henderson struggled, rushing just eight times for 22 yards in a match up against the Giants that should have been one to dominate. It's expected that Cam Akers returns in Week 5 and makes this running back situation even more of a mess.
Raiders
Josh Jacobs seeing 70-percent of the snaps seems about right. It's also a positive note that he saw yet another four targets as he works his way towards his goal of a 60 catch season. There is no real competition here for Jacobs but one thing to watch could be Theo Riddick and Jalen Richard working as the team's pass catching back. Though Riddick did not see a target in his team debut, his pass catching ability is the reason he is in the NFL.
Dolphins
While it was something to see when it came to Breida getting a bit more involved in Week 4, it ultimately means little as Gaskin again lead the team in snaps, carries and targets. He is the clear cut option in Miami. Hold onto Breida if you are in deeper formats. Jordan Howard and be let go in all formats.
Vikings
What a novel idea by the Vikings offense huh? Give the football to Dalvin Cook and good things will happen. Over the last two games Cook has totaled 49 carries for 311 tards and four touchdowns. Over the first two games he saw just 26 carries for 113 yards. Give the ball to Dalvin and get out of the way. Another favorable match up is ahead for Cook as well with the Vikings playing Seattle in Week 5.
Patriots
Damien Harris was the story with his 100 yard performance in his season debut. James White returned from his recent absence following the passing of his father to see eight targets. Both of these things seem about right for the Patriots offense moving forward. Rex Burkhead will play the tweener role of the two backs and therefore have some fantasy value in deep leagues. One thing to watch will of course be the status of Cam Newton as he recovers from Covid-19. If he plays this week against Denver then we should expect a heavy ground game.
Saints
Latavius Murray vulchered two touchdowns from Kamara in Week 4 but he still put up solid fantasy production for his owners. What you need to watch for is the pending return of Mike Thomas and how that impacts Kamara's usage in the team's passing attack. In Week 4 he saw just four targets after being targeted 31 times over the first three weeks.
Giants
We figured this was going to happen sooner or later and it turns out it took just two weeks for Freeman to take over as the lead back. His ability to be involved in the passing attack was also on display with his four catches on four targets. The Giants are about to enter the easy stretch of their schedule with the dreadful Dallas Cowboys on tap that just saw Kareem Hunt and D'Ernest Johnson run all over them. Freeman could be a sneaky option this week.
Jets
Whelp, first thing to note here is that the team cut Kalen Ballage . The reason they cut Kalen Ballage is because Le'Veon Bell may be returning in Week 5. When Bell does return the backfield should be anywhere from 60-70-percent his if Adam Gase wants to keep his job.
Eagles
We love the usage here for Sanders when it comes to snap counts but the Eagles didn't really go to him much in this game against the 49ers as he saw just 13 carries and totaled 15 touches. Though the Eagles did pull off the victory, we should hope to see Sanders more involved in the team's offense moving forward. That said, Week 5 is no cupcake as the team faces off against a Steelers defense that has been solid this year.
Seahawks
Chris Carson continues to be a fantasy machine for this high scoring Seahawks offense. Though dealing with injury concerns, which included getting checked for a concussion in this Week 4 game agaist Miami he still managed to lead the team with 16 carries and four targets while seeing five red zone touches. Carson found the end zone twice here, giving him now five touchdowns through four weeks.
49ers
Raheem Mostert 's return is coming but until then McKinnon is looking like the running back the 49ers thought they were signging a few years ago before his torn ACL put him on the shelf. When Mostert does come back we are very likely lookikng at a shared backfield with McKinnon certainly earning a bigger piece of the pie over the past few weeks. Fantasy owners have been put on notice.
Buccaneers
Leonard Fournette was ruled out and then LeSean McCoy was injured which lead to Ronald Jones seeing 20 carries and rookie Ke'Shawn Vaughn finally getting into the mix. The Buccaneers have already ruled out LeSean McCoy for Week 5 so we should look for the rookie to continue to see a role in the team's passing offense as a change of pace option. Leonard Fournette 's status is still in the air but currentyl doubtful so if you own Jones you should seen another high volume week as long as he holds onto the football.
Washington
New QB in Washington for Week 5 but let's be real here, the team should be focusing on getting Antonio Gibson more involved instead of giving J.D. McKissic eight targets. I know Gibson is a rookie and a raw talent but he is the most explosive player in that backfield and to get the most of out of that player he needs the reps. You gotta love the four red zone touches as it seems that the red zone vulture in Peyton Barber may no longer be an issue.