NFL Player News

Zenner rushed 11 times for 34 yards and caught all six targets for 54 yards during the Lions' 26-6 postseason loss to the Seahawks on Saturday.

Zenner was on the field for 50 of the Lions' 52 offensive snaps Saturday and once again served as the Lions' clear lead tailback in the absence of Theo Riddick (wrist). He flashed in the pass-catching department, too, which came especially handy on a day most of Detroit's pass-catchers struggled. However, with both Riddick and Ameer Abdullah (foot) set to return in 2017, Zenner enters the offseason with little opportunity to seize anything more than No. 3 status on the depth chart.

Murray rushed 12 times for 39 yards and a touchdown while catching one of four targets for 12 yards in Oakland's 27-14 loss to Houston in their AFC wild-card round playoff game Saturday.

The Raiders took advantage of advantageous field position set up by a punt return late in the first quarter when Murray's two-yard TD scamper made it a 10-7 game. But Oakland, led by over-matched rookie quarterback Connor Cook, could not move consistently, fell behind by multiple scores and largely abandoned a running game that never got going against the league's top-ranked defense.

Ellington handled 34 carries for 96 yards, corralled 12 of 19 passes for 85 yards, and averaged 16.3 yards on 10 punt returns during the 2016 season.

When a team's backfield is populated by a dynamo like David Johnson, touches are difficult to mine, especially with Chris Johnson receiving mop-up duty in his stead. Even when the latter was lost for the season following sports hernia surgery in early October, Ellington was merely a change-of-pace option, with the younger Johnson more often than not gobbling up all the carries on a weekly basis. Head coach Bruce Arians extended Ellington an olive branch in the form of kick-return duty, but the RB didn't make his presence felt in that realm after Week 10. The final nail in the coffin for Ellington's time with the Cardinals was likely the emergence of Kerwynn Williams, who averaged 8.7 YPC over the final four games of the campaign. As an unrestricted free agent once March rolls around, Ellington may have packed up his locker in Arizona for the final time.

Williams tallied 18 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns during the 2016 season.

Although he was active in each of the Cardinals' last 10 contests, Williams only received touches over the last four, during which he displayed plenty of explosiveness. Particularly noteworthy was a 49-yard TD dash in Week 15 sans one of his shoes, but he was able to ditch a change-of-pace role in the season finale after David Johnson suffered a nasty knee injury. Acting as the top RB over Andre Ellington for the final three quarters, Williams made sure the Rams respected the ground game with 12 rushes for 60 yards and his other score of the campaign. During his three-year stint in Arizona, Williams has surely impressed in his brief showings, averaging 5.6 YPC and reeling off four runs of 20-plus yards among his 98 carries. Both Ellington and Chris Johnson (groin) enter the offseason as unrestricted free agents, meaning general manager Steve Keim may opt for the cheap and younger option (Williams) as the primary backup to the All-Pro that is David Johnson.

Head coach Pete Carroll said this week that he wants to use Rawls heavily during Saturday's wild-card game against the Lions, Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com reports. "I hope, like I said last week -- I want him to get the ball 20 times this week," Carroll said. "We'll see what happens, we'll see how the game goes."

Game flow will be one of the determining factors for Rawls' workload in the Seahawks' playoff opener, but the game plan may also be engineered to take advantage of one of the Lions' weaknesses. In particular, Detroit's defense ranked 18th against the run this season, a component that includes 4.4 yards allowed per rush. Since Rawls returned from a fractured fibula in Week 11, he's reached the 20-carry threshold just once in seven contests. Granted, a shoulder concern slowed him down in the final two games of the regular season, containing him to eight runs on both occasions. If Carroll has indeed given offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell an ultimatum to focus on the rushing attack, Rawls will at least have plenty of opportunity to hearken back to his breakout rookie campaign.

Martin (suspension) rushed for 421 yards and three touchdowns on 144 carries (2.9 YPC) while also hauling in 14 of 16 targets for 134 yards during the 2016 season. He also lost a fumble.

Just ten months ago, Martin was riding high after re-signing with the Bucs on a five-year, $35.75 million dollar deal mere hours before the start of free agency. Once the lights went on for the 2016 regular season, however, it appeared the fifth-year pro was on a constant downhill slide. A hamstring injury in Week 2 knocked him out for the ensuing six contests, and he struggled upon getting back on the field. The 27-year-old notably averaged less than three yards per carry in five of the six games he played upon returning, with a season-high 87-yard performance against the Seahawks serving as the only exception during that stretch. Although Martin appeared to run decisively for the most part in 2016, there were some rumblings about him exhibiting poor vision and not exploiting available running lanes at times. Backfield mate Jacquizz Rodgers' solid performances behind essentially the same offensive line likely lent further credence to that theory, and with Martin's season ending under the spectre of a PED suspension, his future in Tampa is in doubt until further notice, an inconceivable notion heading into this past season.

Prosch (ankle) was a full participant in Friday's practice and will play in Saturday's playoff game against the Raiders.

Prosch missed the Texans' regular season finale with an ankle injury. Having logged just four rushing attempts all season, he is far off the fantasy radar.

Zenner proved capable of playing all of the Lions' snaps at running back during last Sunday's game against the Packers, the Detroit Free-Press reports.

Zenner was the only Detroit tailback to see the field on offense last Sunday, featuring for 64 of his team's 66 snaps. In doing so, he amassed a career-high 69 yards rushing and contributed 41 receiving yards as well. That followed Zenner's two-touchdown first-half performance in Week 16, when his playing time tailed off during the second half after offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter deemed it unsustainable. Whether Zenner keeps teammate Dwayne Washington out of the mix again Saturday versus the Seahawks remains to be seen, but he proved plenty impactful while doing so last Sunday.

Williams rushed twice for five yards and caught three of four targets for 23 yards during the Dolphins' season finale Sunday versus the Patriots.

Despite checking in as the No. 2 running back on the Dolphins' depth chart, Williams saw less carries than No. 3 option Kenyan Drake in each of the season's last three games. While it isn't clear if Drake is in line to take over Williams' spot, the gap between the two certainly appears to be shrinking. No matter, both players represent risky fantasy options for Sunday's postseason matchup with the Steelers.

Drake carried four times for 10 yards during the Dolphins' season finale Sunday versus the Patriots.

Despite being listed as the No. 3 running back on the depth chart, Drake out-paced No. 2 runner Damien Williams in each of the past three games to close the season. However, it isn't clear whether the rookie is being afforded an opportunity to claim direct backup duties behind workhorse Jay Ajayi, as Williams has still remained involved in the offense, both on the ground and through the air. Nonetheless, both reserve tailbacks merely project as touchdown-reliant fantasy options for this Sunday's playoff game against Pittsburgh.