NFL Player News
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Jeff Wilson RB | MIA
49ers' Jeff Wilson: Finishes with 10 TDs in 2020
Wilson received 23 touches for 88 combined yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's season finale, giving the back 733 combined yards from scrimmage and 10 total touchdowns in 12 games this season.
Wilson narrowly made San Francisco's 53-man roster this season as the fourth running back on the depth chart, but he finished the year as the team's workhorse and potentially its best (and healthiest) option going into the 2021 campaign. The third-year man spent time sharing the workload with all three of the team's other veteran options at various parts of the season, but Wilson regularly saw the important fantasy touches around the goal line and in most passing situations. Head coach Kyle Shanahan finally let the 24-year-old take over the starting job in full for the final two contests, and he responded with 294 combined yards and three touchdowns over that span. As for next season, Shanahan has proven to have a preference for two-back rotations, so there is no guarantee that Wilson -- a restricted free agent -- will continue to dominate the backfield touches the way he had been doing to close out the 2020 campaign. That said, if Wilson were to end up in a situation in which he would see north of 20 touches per game, he is beginning to show that he can be a fantasy force with his well-rounded skillset and a nose for the end zone.
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Derrick Henry RB | BAL
Titans' Derrick Henry: Reaches 2,000 yards
Henry carried the ball 34 times for 250 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday's 41-38 win over the Texans.
With yet another massive performance against Houston, Henry became the eighth back in history to run for 2,000 yards in a season, with his 2,027 settling in as the fifth-highest mark ever. He also locked up his second straight rushing title in the process and set a new career high with 17 rushing TDs. Henry will remain the key to the Titans' offense as they prepare to host the Ravens next Sunday in the wild-card round.
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Cordarrelle Patterson RB | PIT
Bears' Cordarrelle Patterson: Limited role in defeat
Patterson rushed four times for 18 yards in the Bears' 35-16 loss to the Packers on Sunday.
Patterson had just six touches over the final three games of the season, and on the year, he rushed 64 times for 232 yards and a touchdown while catching 21 passes for an additional 132 yards. After the Bears complete their playoff run, he's set to hit unrestricted free agency, and he'll likely remain a borderline fantasy option.
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La'Mical Perine RB | PIT
Jets' La'Mical Perine: Fewer than 300 yards as rookie
Perine -- who spent Week 17 on the reserve/COVID-19 list -- finishes his rookie season with 232 yards and two touchdowns on 64 carries and 63 yards on 11 catches.
The fourth-round pick out of Florida battled ankle injuries, which limited him to 10 appearances. Perine averaged just 3.6 yards per carry, but some of that ineffectiveness can be excused by New York's poor offensive line play and overall ineptitude on offense under since-fired head coach Adam Gase. With the team unlikely to bring back Gase favorite Frank Gore, Perine could find himself atop the running back depth chart next season, though the Jets will almost certainly bring in competition at the position via free agency or the draft.
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Cam Akers RB | SEA
Rams' Cam Akers: Garners 25 Week 17 touches
Akers totaled 34 yards on 21 carries while corralling all four of his targets for 52 receiving yards during Sunday's 18-7 win against Arizona. He also lost a fumble.
The second-round rookie had to battle through an ankle injury to suit up against the Cardinals, proving capable of overcoming a questionable tag despite logging just one limited session during the practice week. Though he posted his worst yards-per-carry average of the season, Akers was still provided with 20-plus rush attempts for the third time over his past four outings. Akers' contributions as a pass catcher, meanwhile, left him atop the team's Week 17 leaderboard in receiving yards. As Darrell Henderson (ankle) remains on IR for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs, Akers stands as Los Angeles' clear No. 1 back heading into a wild-card matchup against the Seahawks.
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David Montgomery RB | HOU
Bears' David Montgomery: Over 100 scrimmage yards
Montgomery rushed 22 times for 69 yards and a touchdown while catching nine passes for 63 yards in the Bears' 35-16 loss to the Packers on Sunday.
Although Montgomery was held in check on the ground, he scored Chicago's only touchdown while placing second on the squad with nine targets, resulting in him posting at least 100 yards and a touchdown in six straight games. On the season, he played in 15 games while rushing for 1,070 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 54 receptions for 438 yards and two touchdowns. After the Bears finish their playoff run, he'll be under contract through 2022.
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Kenyan Drake RB | GB
Cardinals' Kenyan Drake: Held in check by Rams' front
Drake registered 36 yards on 10 carries while securing all three of his targets for 15 receiving yards during Sunday's 18-7 loss to the Rams.
Though Chris Streveler had his moments in relief of Kyler Murray (ankle) for roughly three-quarters of the contest, the upside of Arizona's offense was undoubtedly capped without a healthy Murray under center. Drake garnered 77 percent of the Cardinals' RB carries, but that fact doesn't carry as much weight given the pass-first game script Arizona was ushered into. The Cardinals never led in the second half, with the offense making just two trips into the red zone all day (one coming via a Jordan Hicks interception). Drake wraps up his first full season in Arizona with 955 rushing yards and 10 rushing scores over 239 attempts, along with 25 catches for 137 yards. The 26-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent in March, while Chase Edmonds remains under contract with the Cardinals through 2021.
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Nyheim Miller-Hines RB | NO
Colts' Nyheim Hines: Collects 67 total yards in win
Hines rushed twice for 17 yards and secured six of seven targets for 50 yards in the Colts' 28-14 win over the Jaguars on Sunday. He also returned four punts for 40 yards.
Hines was a complete afterthought in the ground game with Jonathan Taylor exploding for a career-high 253 yards and two touchdowns, but he paced the Colts in receptions and receiving yards in a game during which Indianapolis stuck to a conservative passing attack. Hines' carry total was his lowest since Week 9, but his reception total qualified as his second highest of the season. Given Taylor's late-season surge, Hines projects to primarily fill the pass-catching role he carries out so effectively in next weekend's wild-card matchup against the Bills.
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Darwin Thompson RB | LV
Chiefs' Darwin Thompson: Big game in expanded role
Thompson rushed 14 times for 45 yards and a touchdown and caught all seven of his targets for 65 yards and another score in Sunday's 38-21 loss to the Chargers.
Thompson made the most of his opportunity to start with both Clyde Edwards-Helaire (ankle) and Le'Veon Bell (knee) not featuring Sunday. The second-year pro notched his first touchdown of the campaign with a one-yard rush during the second quarter, then hauled in an eight-yard pass to score in the fourth. Overall, Thompson led Kansas City in both rushing and receiving, showing good versatility to perhaps inspire the team's confidence should the Chiefs be short-handed in the backfield at any point during the playoffs.
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Jonathan Taylor RB | IND
Colts' Jonathan Taylor: Explodes for career-best effort
Taylor rushed 30 times for 253 yards and two touchdowns and brought in one of two targets for one yard in the Colts' 28-14 win over the Jaguars on Sunday.
As his final numbers imply, Taylor consistently terrorized the Jaguars defense, ripping off a game-long 56-yard run on his second carry of the day and subsequently notching touchdowns of one and 45 yards in the second and fourth quarter, respectively. The rookie had an uneven first nine games as a pro, but he bounced back to finish with 74 or more rushing yards in each of his last six contests, scoring seven touchdowns over his last four games. Taylor also proved to be a solid receiver with a 35-298-1 line through the air, and he'll now look to carry over the significant momentum of this performance into a wild-card matchup against the Bills on the road next weekend.