Shawn Siegele details Washington’s shockingly prolific 1-2 punch, breaks down D’Andre Swift’s rise to stardom, and laments the depth chart conflagration in L.A. The Zero RB churn continues unabated as backups rise and fall weekly. Shawn keeps you up to date on the deeper stashes as he breaks down the workload for NFC backfields ahead of Week 11.

In last week’s Dynasty Workshop, I examined the RB Dead Zone and found huge advantages for our preferred Zero RB and Single Elite RB constructions. Now that you’re positioned for postseason success, it’s no time to let down. The moves you make to solidify your RB depth chart will resonate in Weeks 15 and 16.

As Blair Andrews and I write the Ultimate Zero RB Watch List, our goal is to help you locate RB breakouts and waiver adds before they happen. But this column isn’t just for Zero RB owners. We also track changes to the usage profiles for high-end backs.

The RotoViz Screener and Weekly 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.

Want to know everything about the WR position instead? Zachary Krueger’s WR deep dive has all of the advanced stats and takes you behind the scenes of the trickiest depth charts.

Arizona Cardinals

Arizona is a good example of the short rope for even elite backups if a starting audition goes poorly. Chase Edmonds has a 23-point edge over Kenyan Drake in FPOE, but had his worst game of the season (-4.4) in his lone start. The Cardinals immediately went back to Drake for 16 empty carries and an ill-timed fumble. Kliff Kingsbury press conferences aren’t going to get easier any time soon. Do you want to give 16 carries to Drake in any situation? Do you want to hand the ball off 24 times when you have Kyler Murray?

DeAndre Hopkins bailed out the coaching staff in Week 10, but more ceiling remains if they can just remember who the stars are.

Chicago Bears

Cordarrelle Patterson offered another highlight to underscore his career as an elite special teams player. His RB performance reminded us that he’s a special teams player only. Of course, getting 11 carries in the Chicago offense and not landing in -4.7 ruFPOE territory can be difficult, as David Montgomery will tell you.^[1]He probably won’t actually tell you, as he seems like a good teammate.

Patterson is also not RB eligible in many formats, making Ryan Nall the desperation play. Nall got Lairded in this one and will likely need another five injuries to get his shot. Artavis Pierce made an appearance and was quickly swarmed at the mesh point.

Detroit Lions

D’Andre Swift broke out with a masterful 27-point game in Week 6, but the Lions tried to mitigate the immediate benefits. He led Adrian Peterson only 42-31 in opportunities over the next three weeks. Detroit lost two of those games in convincing fashion. It may seem like common sense to play Swift, but don’t be surprised if the coaches got a Week 10 memo saying, “Play Swift or don’t come in on Monday.”

With another blistering performance and a 21-5 edge in touches, Swift skyrocketed in my RB Fantasy Playoff Rankings.

Green Bay Packers