NFL Player News

With some key players on bye joining a long list of injured starters out of commission for Week 6, the waiver wire for running backs is going to be active this week. In his waiver-wire column, Jamey Eisenberg highlights the key names he thinks Fantasy players should be targeting right now.

The top four running backs on Jamey's priority list are Andre Williams of the Giants (56 percent owned), Branden Oliver of the Chargers (13 percent), Ronnie Hillman of the Broncos (11 percent) and Benny Cunningham of the Rams (15 percent). All four have a chance to start this week, but Williams and Oliver have already proven they can be productive if given the chance in recent weeks, and might not be one-week flash-in-the-pan types.

Thankfully, it looks like Cordarrelle Patterson's hip injury is not going to limit him moving forward. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the Vikings' talented playmaker's future is any clearer now that we have an idea he is going to play in Week 6 against the Lions.

Patterson was always going to live and die by the big play, but that formula has not quite worked out for him so far. He scored once on three carries in Week 1, but has rushed the ball just once since, leaving him with just the passing game. At this point, Patterson is still developing as a receiver, and the team has opted not to lean too heavily on him yet.

Patterson has 15 receptions for 189 yards and no touchdowns through five games, and he expressed concern this week about his lack of touches. Hopefully more consistent play will come from the quarterback position if Teddy Bridgewater can get healthy, though Bridgewater has thrown just seven of his 50 passes to Patterson over seven quarters of play.

The Vikings will likely try to find more innovative ways to get Patterson involved in the offense, but it certainly seems as if he is just further along as a receiver than we thought at this point in his career. He probably still has too much upside to drop in most leagues, but Patterson needs to show something before you consider him a starter. 

Though a healthy Donald Brown is likely to remain the starter for the Chargers with Ryan Mathews sidelined, the emergence of Branden Oliver has been too much to ignore.

If Brown cannot play in Week 6 against the Raiders after suffering a concussion last week, Oliver should be considered a must-add and possibly a must-start option this weekend. However, even if Brown plays, Oliver should see plenty of the field. He looks like the best pass-catcher in the backfield, and is now averaging 4.8 yards per carry, after he gashed a tough Jets' rushing defense.

Oliver's case has been helped by the utter ineffectiveness of Brown, who has rushed for just 126 yards on 59 carries, with 13 receptions in five games. As an undrafted free agent, Oliver is no sure thing, but he certainly looks like someone you want to add on waivers this week. 

For the third straight week, Redskins running back Roy Helu totaled at least 55 receiving yards. Helu caught five of seven targets for 59 yards and rushed twice for minus-1 yard in Monday's loss to the Seahawks.

Helu ranked third on the team in targets and saw the field often with Washington trailing throughout. Helu visits Arizona in Week 6.

The Seahawks declared tight end Zach Miller (ankle), cornerback Tharold Simon (knee), running back Christine Michael, defensive end Greg Scruggs, wideout Kevin Norwood, offensive tackle Alvin Bailey and linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis inactive for Monday's game at Washington.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said he wants to lighten the burden on running back DeMarco Murray, who has rushed 130 times for 670 yards in the first five games, reports ESPN.com. Murray is on pace to tie Larry Johnson's NFL single-season record of 416 carries.

"DeMarco was out there and we think that's probably too many carries in the game, week in and week out," Garrett told the website. "He ended up with 31 [Sunday], so we'd like to get that number lower. We'd really just like to get the other guys an opportunity. I don't see any wear and tear in DeMarco, but having said that, we want to make sure we create a rotation and we'll focus on doing that in the next few weeks."

Backups Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar have combined for 22 carries this year.

Speaking of Murray, Garrett added: "We've got to make sure we take care of him over the course of the season, but we'd do that with any player."

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he plans to keep using all three of his running backs, reports ESPN.com. Baltimore is the only team that has three backs with over 30 carries.

Justin Forsett has run for 297 yards, while Lorenzo Taliaferro has gained 167 yards and Bernard Pierce, 143.

"Let's be good with three different guys," Harbaugh told ESPN.com. "That's what we need to do."

Baltimore is averaging 4.7 yards per carry, which ranks ninth.

"We'll roll those guys in there," Harbaugh said. "I'd like to see Bernard get a few more snaps. I'd like to see Lorenzo get a few more snaps. It would sure help if we get a few more snaps. If we get more snaps, then everybody is going to get more chances. You earn the right to run more plays. We have to earn that right by executing."

Broncos running back Montee Ball will not need surgery to repair a strained groin suffered in Week 5 against Arizona, the Denver Post reports. The injury is expected to keep him sidelined for a "couple of weeks," multiple sources told the paper on Monday.

Ball was averaging 3.1 yards per carry before sustaining the injury on a non-contact play in the third quarter. The team will likely turn to Ronnie Hillman while Ball recovers from his ailment. Juwan Thompson and C.J. Anderson could also see some work Week 6 at N.Y. Jets.

The Patriots running back situation is easy to figure out after the fact, because the team's usage of their two-headed tandem is fairly predictable based on how the game is going. That doesn't mean this is an easy puzzle to solve, however.

For the third time in five games, Stevan Ridley rushed the ball 19-plus times Sunday against the Bengals, as he finished with 113 yards on 27 carries in Week 5. Predictably, that came during a comfortable 43-17 win, one in which the Patriots were basically in control throughout. That mirrors the situations in Week 2 and 3, the Patriots other two wins.

Ridley played 58 percent of the team's snaps, while Shane Vereen was on the field for 40 percent of the team's plays. Vereen was still productive, finishing with 12 touches for 108 all-purpose yards, but he clearly took a backseat as the Patriots opted to rely heavily on the running game. Predictably, Vereen's most productive games have come with the Patriots playing from behind, with the exception of Week 5.

The problem for Fantasy owners is it has been awfully hard to guess just how any given Patriots game will go. They won comfortably, as expected, against the Vikings, but barely squeaked out a win over the Raiders. They followed up a trouncing at the hands of the Chiefs by beating the Bengals soundly Sunday.

As it stands, both halves of this duo are tough to rely on at this point in the season. Both are certainly worth owning, but you are rolling the dice every time you put them into your starting lineup.

Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley told reporters during his Monday press conference that running back Storm Johnson displayed the best instincts of all the team’s running backs, according to ESPN.

The seventh-round rookie was inactive for the team's first three games while recovering from an ankle injury. He was active in Week 4 but did not see the field. Johnson received the first carries of his NFL career Sunday, taking four handoffs for 27 yards in a Week 5 loss to Pittsburgh. He also ripped a 9-yard run, which was wiped out due to a holding penalty.

"I thought he did a good job," Bradley said. "I know he came out with his ankle [slightly hurt] but I think they re-taped it, but we got him some more reps in there [after getting the ankle re-taped]. His objective is we've got to gain trust in him. He had a couple of good weeks of practice. We gave him an opportunity and we'll evaluate it from here on."