NFL Player News

Williams rushed nine times for 65 yards and a touchdown in Monday night's 33-27 overtime loss to the Raiders. He also caught three of four targets for 29 yards.

Williams started at tailback in his first career game after the slew of devastating injuries recently endured by the Ravens' backfield. To his credit, the undrafted BYU product got things rolling with a 21-yard catch on Baltimore's second drive, which he capped with a 35-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-one play later on. In doing so, Williams showed nice burst up the middle and finished with a rather commendable stat line overall. However, despite signing mere days ago, veteran Latavius Murray was also immediately incorporated into the offense, and he topped Williams with 10 carries, gaining 28 yards and scoring once himself and seeing much of his action late in the game after Williams whiffed on a couple pass-protection assignments. Although the Ravens will certainly be pleased by the rookie's performance, especially on such short notice, it'll be interesting to see whether they stick with him as their starter in the upcoming weeks or lean more on the veteran options they've brought aboard, namely Murray and current practice-squad members Le'Veon Bell and Devonta Freeman. In the end, it could prove to be a committee approach, which includes star quarterback Lamar Jackson running as well, but Williams at least helped his cause with a mostly solid showing Monday.

Jacobs rushed 10 times for 34 yards and two touchdowns in Monday night's 33-27 overtime win against the Ravens. He also caught one of two targets for six yards.

Jacobs suited up after dealing with a toe injury and illness prior to Week 1. Although he looked a little banged up early, the tailback showed great perseverance to ultimately score twice. His first touchdown came on a two-yard plunge in the first half, then Jacobs tied the game with an impressive 15-yard end-zone trip in the fourth quarter. Despite teammate Kenyan Drake outgaining Jacobs with 70 yards on his 11 touches, neither runner could get much going on the ground against a swarming Ravens defense. Nonetheless, Jacobs provided the necessary scoring punch when required, starting his season on a strong note.

Ahmed recorded three carries for four yards in Sunday's Week 1 win over the Patriots. He also added two receptions for 24 yards.

Ahmed finished the game with only 11 offensive snaps, behind the likes of both Myles Gaskin and Malcolm Brown. However, he provided the longest play amongst the trio when he managed an 18-yard gain on a reception midway through the first quarter. Ahmed is currently on the outside looking in for a meaningful role in the offense, but he will be a name to monitor should either Gaskin or Brown be forced to miss game action at any point this season.

Gainwell recorded nine rushes for 37 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's Week 1 win over Atlanta. He added two receptions on three targets for six yards.

Gainwell worked behind Miles Sanders, but he was the clear backup option and was on the field for 35 percent of the team's offensive snaps. Meanwhile, Boston Scott only played on special teams. Gainwell found the end zone on an eight-yard score -- also his longest rush of the game -- for his first career touchdown, but he also had a four-yard trip to the end zone wiped out by a penalty. He once again should see a decent amount of work in a Week 2 matchup against the 49ers.

Swift was on the field for 63 of the Lions' 92 offensive snaps in Sunday's Week 1 loss to the 49ers.

Swift was listed as the team's second running back on the depth chart behind Jamaal Williams heading into the matchup. However, that's not how things played out on the field, as Swift out-snapped Williams 63-32 and out-touched him 19-17. That said, both backs served a significant role in the offense, though Swift should be set to pace the backfield again in Week 2 against Green Bay.

Rountree carried the ball eight times for 27 yards in Sunday's 20-16 win over Washington.

While the yardage total was nothing to write home about, the fact Rountree outsnapped supposed No. 2 back Justin Jackson by a 28-to-11 margin was certainly consequential, and the rookie ballcarrier even mixed in alongside Austin Ekeler during the many two-back offensive sets Sunday. It appears as if Rountree's excellent training camp has cemented his status as the back to roster should Ekeler go down with an injury.

Pollard carried the ball three times for 14 yards and caught all four of his targets for 29 yards in a Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers.

Coach Mike McCarthy stated in the offseason that the Cowboys would look to reduce Ezekiel Elliott's workload early in the year, and while that came to pass in the team's opener, it didn't result in a big increase in touches for Pollard. Facing one of the toughest front sevens in the NFL likely also played a role in Dallas not utilizing its backfield very much. Both RBs have a more favorable matchup Week 2 against a Chargers defense that just gave up 108 yards from scrimmage to Antonio Gibson, but as long as Elliott is healthy, Pollard's week-to-week fantasy value will be limited.

Jacobs (illness) is active for Monday's game against the Ravens.

Jacobs tended to a toe injury during Week 1 prep, but despite logging limited sessions he was cleared on the Raiders' last practice report Saturday. He proceeded to come down with an illness Sunday, spurring the team to place a questionable tag on the running back. Fortunately for fantasy managers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Monday that Jacobs was in line to suit up in the opener, and he'll do just that. With Kenyan Drake on the roster, however, it remains to be seen how much work Jacobs can expect due to his recent health concerns.

Ty'Son Williams, Murray and Trenton Cannon are in line to handle the Ravens' running back duties Monday night against the Raiders, Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic reports.

Since the Ravens elected not to elevate either Le'Veon Bell or Devonta Freeman from their practice squad, they'll proceed with the trio currently on the team's active roster. It's a context that Zrebiec suggests should result in Williams seeing the bulk of Baltimore's backfield work Monday night, while Murray -- a recent addition to the squad -- is a candidate to mix in, with Cannon on hand to make his mark on special teams.

Sermon is slated to be a part of the 49ers' running back rotation with Raheem Mostert (knee) expected to miss the next eight weeks, David Lombardi of The Athletic reports.

Coach Kyle Shanahan made Sermon a healthy scratch in the team's season opener, leaving Mostert, JaMycal Hasty and rookie sixth-rounder Elijah Mitchell is the available running backs. After Mostert went down with a knee injury in the first half, Mitchell was the player to profit most, taking 19 carries for 104 yards and one touchdown. Hasty himself had just two touches for 18 yards and one TD, so Mitchell seems to be the preferred RB option in San Francisco for the time being. Having said that, the 49ers invested more draft capital in Sermon than Mitchell back in April, so the former will get a chance to climb the depth chart as soon as Sunday at Philadelphia.