NFL Player News

McCaffrey finished with six rushes for 16 yards and caught six of eight targets for 101 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 31-26 NFC wild-card loss to the Saints.

McCaffrey was kept under wraps until he exploded for a 56-yard, catch-and-run touchdown during the fourth quarter. That play marked the longest gain of McCaffrey's rookie season, giving him a second career 100-yard receiving game in the process. Overall, McCaffrey's biggest impact this term came through the air, where he finished the regular season with an impressive 80 receptions on 113 targets for 651 yards and five scores. In comparison, he managed just 435 yards and two touchdowns on 117 carries. So while last year's eighth overall pick has already emerged as one of the league's best receiving tailbacks, in his second season he'll aim to improve his efficiency on the ground to become even more dynamic. Although quarterback Cam Newton and veteran Jonathan Stewart still figure to consume carries, McCaffrey could take his stock to the next level by making more use of his, which despite any durability concerns linked to his size, should only increase going forward.

Kamara finished with 10 rushes for 23 yards and a touchdown, and caught one of three targets for 10 yards in Sunday's 31-26 NFC wild-card win over the Panthers.

Kamara was bottled up by Carolina's stout defense, accounting for the lowest yardage of any game he completed this season. Although the rookie's playoff debut didn't go according to script, he still managed to make a significant impact via a two-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter. That score ultimately proved to be the difference in Sunday's tilt, allowing the Saints to advance to the divisional round next weekend, when they'll travel to play the Vikings.

McNichols spent two games on the 49ers' active roster but did not see a snap on either offense or special teams this year.

The 49ers snagged McNichols after the Buccaneers surprisingly cut their fifth-round pick following training camp despite having an obvious need for running back depth. Whatever the case may have been, the rookie stayed out of trouble on San Francisco's practice squad and was officially promoted to fill Raheem Mostert's (knee) vacant spot on the depth chart near the end of November. McNichols didn't see the field, not even in a special teams role, at any point this season. The Boise State product posted gaudy totals in college, so there is potential for fantasy utility if he were to ever find himself with a significant role. That role won't surface for the 22-year-old at the beginning of next season with Matt Breida, Joe Williams and Carlos Hyde's potential return all standing in his way.

Henry rushed for a career-high 156 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and caught both of his targets for 35 yards in Saturday's 22-21, wild-card round win over Kansas City.

Henry thought he had a one-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter, but it was called back on a false start. He made up for it with a 35-yard scoring scamper early in the fourth, slashing his team's deficit to five points. After Tennessee finally took the lead later in the frame, the power runner sealed the victory by earning first downs with runs of 12 and 22 yards. He had a close call on that final drive with a near-fumble that was taken to the house by the defense, but review conclusively showed that Henry was down before the ball came out. Henry's outplayed DeMarco Murray (knee) on a per-carry basis all season and will likely be leaned on next week regardless of his veteran teammate's status.

Zenner rushed 14 times for 26 yards and one touchdown over eight games during the 2017 season.

After losing his grip on the short-yardage role in training camp to Dwayne Washington, Zenner re-entered the fold in Week 3 once Washington was lost to a thigh injury. However, even as injuries piled up in the Detroit backfield, Zenner was never given more than three carries in any one game throughout the entire year and ended the season as a healthy scratch in each of the final three outings. His future is now up in the air, as Zenner is set to be a restricted free agent and is no guarantee to be retained as a member of the Lions.

Washington appeared in five games during the 2017 season and rushed 20 times for 44 yards while securing both of his targets for 14 yards. He also logged 31 yards on two kickoff returns.

Washington supplanted Zach Zenner in training camp as the Lions' No. 3 running back behind Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick, but he injured his quadriceps in Week 2 and everything went downhill from there. In fact, he appeared in just three more games thereafter, then missed time with a hip injury, and finished the season as a healthy scratch in each of the Lions' final five games. Washington, who remains under contract with Detroit in 2018, enters the offseason buried on the depth chart and will likely need to show progress as a kick returner in order to keep his hold on a roster spot.

Williams (shoulder) will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the league year but hopes to return to the Dolphins in 2018, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.

The Dolphins are the only team Williams has ever known since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2014 and then re-signing on a one-year contract last offseason. While he was never more than a change-of-pace runner during his first three years, Miami seemingly signaled its faith in Williams' potential when it traded away then-starting running back Jay Ajayi to the Eagles last October. The Oklahoma product fared well in Ajayi's absence, averaging 4.4 yards per carry while splitting the workload with teammate Kenyan Drake. However, his season ended when he dislocated his shoulder in Week 13, which paved the way for Drake to shine as the lead back. Drake -- who averaged 126.1 total yards in the four games he started and finished -- is under contract through the 2019 campaign and now clearly proceeds into the offseason as No. 1 on the depth chart, with Senorise Perry set to return in 2018 as well. To date, there have been no signs on the Dolphins front that indicate Williams will be joining those two, though he would appear to be a low-cost option for the Dolphins who could take on a large workload on special teams.

Ekeler (hand) finished his rookie season with 47 carries for 260 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 27 receptions for 279 yards and three touchdowns.

It would have been interesting to see Ekeler's final numbers if not for a broken ring finger that forced the 22-year-old to essentially miss the final two games of the regular season. Given it took until Week 7 for the undrafted rookie free agent to see more than eight touches in a game, Ekeler's final statistics were pretty remarkable. With a small frame and relatively unheralded pedigree, Ekeler doesn't project to be anything more than a multi-faceted scatback in Los Angeles. But given the success of Danny Woodhead and Darren Sproles in the past, Ekeler could easily develop into a capable asset in points-per-reception leagues, even with Melvin Gordon around to siphon off the majority of the touches from the backfield.

Cunningham caught one pass for six yards in the Week 17's 23-10 loss to the VIkings. He ended the season with nine carries for 29 yards along with 20 receptions (on 26 targets) for 240 yards and two touchdowns.

Cunningham was a core special-teamer who returned 26 kickoffs and also shared passing-down work out of the backfield with Tarik Cohen. WIth his one-year contract having expired, he'll be an unrestricted free agent and should have no trouble latching onto a similar role with another squad if he doesn't re-sign with the Bears. With an average of 40 touches over the last three years, he'll likely continue to be a depth option in fantasy leagues.

Perine, who totaled three yards on two rushing attempts in Week 17's loss to the Giants, finished the season with 603 rushing yards and one touchdown on 175 attempts to go along with 22 receptions for 182 yards and one touchdown.

It was an up-and-down year for the fourth-round selection, who figured to compete for the starting running back role out of the gate to start the 2017 season. However, things did not go exactly to plan, as Perine found himself buried on the depth chart behind Rob Kelley and Chris Thompson for the first 10 weeks of the season. After both Kelley (ankle) and Thompson (lower leg) suffered season-ending injuries, Perine finally got his opportunity, recording over 100 yards rushing in his first two starts. While he cooled off to end the season, Perine will head into the offseason once again contending for the starting role.