Shawn Siegele praises Ronald Jones, laments the frustrating workloads for Darrell Henderson and Antonio Gibson, and plugs five deep options who could boost your squad during the bye weeks. Enjoy the ride as he breaks down the workload for NFC backfields ahead of Week 7.
Our goal with the Zero RB Watch List is to help you locate RB breakouts and waiver adds before they happen, but this column isn’t just for Zero RB owners. We’re just as focused on key changes to the usage profiles for high-end backs. Understanding workloads is key to making tough redraft and dynasty trades.
The RotoViz Screener and NFL Stat Explorer provide a smorgasbord of data as we dive into the advanced stats on a team-by-team basis. Much of the focus is on how RBs score their points. We use expected points (EP) and fantasy points over expectation (FPOE) along with carries, targets, snaps, and red zone touches to better understand each player’s workload.
Atlanta Falcons
Todd Gurley has reasserted his dominance of this backfield over the last couple of weeks, out-carrying Brian Hill by a 2-1 margin and matching the other RBs in targets. Unfortunately, he was a full 7.7 points below expectation in this one – his worst weekly performance since the ill-fated 2016 season under Jeff Fisher.
The lack of efficiency gave him a disappointing fantasy score, but the volume questions are being answered as Atlanta finds its franchise footing. The Player Usage app helps us visualize the opportunity market share for Falcons runners. Gurley is over 30% in consecutive weeks, while Hill consolidates the backup role.
