It’s frustrating. I don’t claim to be smarter than NFL executives or general managers. While that would be a dream job, I’m content right here at my computer giving my opinion. With that being said, I would love to be in the coach’s room while they try to justify leaving running backs on the bench while they are performing better than anyone on the team. Watching these guys be underutilized every single week will drive a fantasy owner nuts. Or maybe your favorite team spent a high draft pick on a running back and just never used them.

This season has been chock full of surprises. Scoring is way up and with that comes the ripple effect of more players being more fantasy viable. The only issue that arises from more fantasy viable players, is the need for your studs to be actual studs. If you have been dealing with injuries or ineffective players, then you may have gotten off to a rough start. If you need to get your team on track, let’s look at some players trending in the right direction that you could buy low on.

This article is all about watching how a backfield is being used for every team. Snap counts are very useful, but I want to know what a player is doing when he has the ball in his hands. Anytime a running back gets a touch, what is being done with that touch? Watching a trend with touches for running backs will not only let us know their usage for any given week or period, but how effective they are with the ball. High volume plus high effectiveness is always the best outcome. High volume with low effectiveness can be great and low volume with high efficiency can be streaky at times. Let’s dive into our Week 6 preview.

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RB Touches and Efficiency Breakdown

Week 5 Report

Can we PLEASE get Aaron Jones more touches?

What in the world is going on in Green Bay? It astonishing that Aaron Jones played so well in the first half against Detroit and just disappeared after that. Since returning this year, Jones has averaged 6.7 yards per touch, including 6.6 yards per touch on 41% of the touches last week.

This is the same argument I make for Kerryon Johnson who is averaging 5.6 yards per touch. These guys should be getting more than 50% of the touches each week. Honestly, they should be between 60% and 70% each week. They are the most dynamic backs on their team and make the offense better when they are on the field. Jamaal Williams had his shot to take the starting job but has only averaged 3.9 yards per touch on 50% of the touches this season. It’s time to play your best players.

Tevin Coleman may get one more chance to earn his job

In Week 1, we saw what appeared to be a time share between Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman before Freeman left the game with an injury. You could have argued that Coleman looked to be favored in the backfield at that time. Since Freeman went out with an injury though, Coleman didn’t do anything to justify keeping the lead back role.

Freeman returned Week 5 to post 43% of the touches in the Falcons backfield and average 4.1 yards per touch. Another underwhelming performance from Coleman saw him only get 39% of the touches and average 3.3 yards per touch. So far on the season, Coleman is only averaging 4.4 yards per touch, well down from his average of 5.06 yards per touch in 2017. Coleman is playing for the majority share the rest of the season and is still auditioning for a new team in 2019. If Freeman will be out this week, we need to see a big performance from Coleman against a Tampa Bay defense giving up 23.60 fantasy points to opposing running backs.

Where will LeSean McCoy be after this week?

It appears that LeSean McCoy still has some left in the tank, but these final gallons need to be used on another team instead of wasted away in Buffalo. The Bills are not good on offense, regardless of their wins or performance against the Vikings. There will continue to be opportunities and volume for McCoy, but let’s add some efficiency to that volume.

Rumors have swirled that the Eagles are interested in bringing McCoy back to Philadelphia after the season ending injury to Jay Ajayi. McCoy is only averaging 4.3 yards per carry compared to his career average of 5.11 and I don’t see it coming close while he is in Buffalo. This past week McCoy had 26 touches, almost the same amount of touches he had coming into Week 5. A better team and a better offense would allow him to improve on these.

T.J. Yeldon is a legit RB1 with Leonard Fournette out

I still see a ton of questions about T.J. Yeldon on a weekly basis. It’s time to answer the question once and for all. Until Leonard Fournette returns and plays an entire game without leaving due to an injury, Yeldon needs to be in your lineup. Yeldon is doing a far better job of earning a contract this off-season than Coleman right now.

Yeldon is currently the RB11 in PPR leagues, but he has been terrific this season. Yeldon is averaging 5.6 yards per touch this season on 81 touches. The only running backs with similar or better numbers? Christian McCaffrey, Melvin Gordon, Alvin Kamara and Saquon Barkley. Yeldon has done enough to earn our respect at this point and be a weekly RB2 play with RB1 upside each week.

Imagine this…………

Your favorite team gutted their defense over the off-season and watched some staples of the team be forced out. It’s draft time and even though you could use help on defense or the offensive line, you use a first round pick on a running back. Now imagine it’s Week 5 and your first-round pick has zero touches compared to 20 touches for a seventh-round pick the year before and a former fourth-round pick.

If you can imagine this, then you know as well as me that the Seahawks have no clue what they are doing. This must be one of the worst draft picks in recent history. Pete Carroll has said that Rashaad Penny will be more involved as the season goes on, but if he is not involved while guys are down with an injury, how am I supposed to believe he will be involved moving forward? A quick thanks to the Seahawks for ruining one of the favorite players in the draft.

Le’Veon who?

This is just a quick weekly update of how well James Conner has played this season. Currently with 83% of the touches in 2018, Conner is still averaging 5.5 yards per touch while shouldering a Le’Veon Bell like workload. If you are targeting Bell in trades right now, trying to buy low, stop. More than likely you won’t be getting him at a low price. There is no guarantee Bell sees a significant, fantasy reliable touch share when he returns. Conner recently received the praise of Ben Roethlisberger and if he keeps playing like this, deserves to be on the field.

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