Blair Andrews looks back at Week 17 and the fantasy playoffs to see what RB performances were true difference makers, and looks ahead to Week 18 with some notes for DFS players.

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 the high-profile 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 for every team. Much of the focus is on how RBs score their points. We emphasize expected points (EP) and fantasy points over expectation (FPOE) to better understand each player’s fantasy volume. Being able to conceptualize the relationship between touches and fantasy points is the most important element of making good RB decisions, whether that’s start/sit or waiver pickups.

This year we’ll also be featuring metrics from the Advanced Stats Explorer, including elements like broken tackles, yards after contact, evasion percentage, stuff rate, and more. We’ll also look at the new Stealing Signals tool for metrics such as high-value touches and green-zone carries, stats that translate directly into high expected point totals and big fantasy days.

We’ll use this space this week to highlight some of the top performances from the fantasy playoffs, especially Week 17, with an eye not only to Week 18 and DFS lineups, but also to 2022.

Check out Shawn Siegele’s companion piece on the AFC.