NFL Player News

For the first time all season, Chris Johnson averaged more yards per carry than Chris Ivory for the Jets in Week 4 against the Lions Sunday. Still, Ivory dominated the playing time, as he continues to look like the best option in the Jets' backfield.

Johnson led the team with 7.3 yards per carry, though that number is skewed by the way his day went. Johnson had just 9 yards on five carries until his 35-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, his first play of more than 12 yards on the season. By comparison, Ivory's 84 yards on 17 carries still looks pretty solid, especially for Fantasy owners looking forward.

The snap count numbers aren't much better for Johnson, who saw the field for just 28 percent of the team's plays; that was down from 36 the previous week. Ivory, on the other hand, jumped up from 34 percent to 58 percent in Week 4.

Johnson isn't going to disappear, especially not if he can show more examples of the big-play ability that made him so dangerous in the past. However, Fantasy owners should absolutely consider Ivory the top option in the Jets' backfield until further notice. 

Though he picked up only 62 yards on an absurd 31 carries Week 3 at Buffalo, some Fantasy owners held out hope that Chargers running back Donald Brown could deliver more as Ryan Mathews' replacement Week 4 vs. Jacksonville. After all, he was going against the league's 32nd-ranked run defense.

He couldn't. On a per-carry basis, the performance was much like the one he had at Buffalo, only the Chargers didn't let it go on for 31 carries this time, sprinkling in rookie Branden Oliver for much of their last few possessions.

Quarterback Philip Rivers carried the offense in this one, completing 29 of 39 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns, and judging by Brown's performance through two starts, that figures to be the case until Mathews returns.

Especially now that Oliver has gotten involved, Brown is no more than a desperation option in Fantasy.

It was a strange afternoon for the Vikings' Matt Asiata Week 4 against Atlanta. While on the one hand, he had a career-best performance, scoring three times on runs of 1, 3 and 6 yards, he was only the Vikings second-leading rusher on the day, outperformed by rookie Jerick McKinnon.

Granted, Asiata's rushing was a drastic improvement from his previous two games, when he averaged 2.8 yards per carry. The Vikings saw fit to give him 20 carries, and he gained 78 yards with them. But while Asiata's longest run was 12 yards, McKinnon broke free for 55 yards early in the second quarter en route to 135.  He nearly had a touchdown of his own just before halftime, but it was overturned by an official review.

McKinnon was clearly the more explosive of the two backs and probably earned a larger share of the workload as a result. And if Asiata goes back to doing what he had been doing against defenses better equipped to stop him, I could see McKinnon overtaking him outright.

For now, Asiata remains the better choice for Week 5 at Green Bay, but you'll want to handcuff him in Fantasy.

Vikings wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson didn't do much Week 4.

Patterson caught just two passes for 38 yards during the contest. He had a nice game returning kicks, picking up 86 yards on two returns, but that was it. After a strong Week 1 running the ball, Patterson did not have a carry during the game. 

Patterson will look for more Week 5 against the Packers. 

Vikings running back Matt Asiata made a couple trips to the end zone Week 4.

Asiata led the team with 20 carries, though he was overshadowed in yardage by rookie Jerick McKinnon. Asiata made his carries count, though, plunging in three scores during the contest. Asiata was truly a short-yardage battering ram, scoring from 1, 3 and 6 yards. He also hauled in three passes for 22 yards. 

Asiata will take on the Packers Week 5. 

Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon showed off his skills Week 4 against the Falcons.

McKinnon led the way on the ground for Minnesota. He gained 135 yards on 18 carries. McKinnon showed off his big play ability on his first carry. He started on his own 8 yard line, and took the ball 55 yards before he was caught. Though McKinnon had an impressive game, Matt Asiata managed to score three touchdowns. He also had one reception for 17 yards.

McKinnon will take on the Packers Week 5.

The Falcons backup running backs did little Week 4 against the Vikings.

Devonta Freeman ran the ball twice for just 8 yards. Freeman also hauled in two passes for 12 yards. Jacquizz Rodgers had one carry, picking up 2 yards. Rodgers caught four passes for 35 yards. 

Both players will take on the Giants Week 5. 

In his return from a knee injury Week 4 at Pittsburgh, Buccaneers running back Doug Martin led the way with 14 carries. The second-most went to the player who thrived in his absence, Bobby Rainey. He got only four.

That's mostly good news in Fantasy, but for the Rainey owners, perhaps it isn't. Certainly, you'd rather see one of the two backs carry the load rather than another timeshare, but maybe Martin isn't the one to do it. He scored a touchdown, sure, but he gained only 40 yards on those 14 carries, giving him 2.1 yards per carry on the year.

Rainey, by comparison, is averaging 4.9 yards per carry. True, he owes much of that to the 144 yards he had on 22 carries against the Rams in Week 2, but despite the two early fumbles Week 3 at Atlanta, he still finished with 105 total yards in that game, 64 on the receiving end.

Ideally, if you own Martin, you own Rainey and vice versa. Whichever gets the carries looks like he'll get the vast majority of them. But I still have some doubts as to which running back will emerge in the long run.

The Chargers running backs did nothing Week 4 against the Jaguars.

Branden Oliver actually led the way in yardage, picking up 23 yards on nine carries. Donald Brown received 10 carries, but only gained 19 yards. Oliver had the longest run of the game, coming in at 7 yards. Both players played a bigger role in the passing game. Brown hauled in four passes for 25 yards. Oliver also caught four balls, picking up 33 yards. 

Both players will look for more Week 5 against the Jets. 

The Dolphins received minor contributions from several role players in a convincing Week 4 win over the Raiders at Wembley Stadium.

Charles Clay and Rishard Matthews were each limited to two grabs. Clay caught passes for 15 and 17 yards in the first half and was held without a grab in the second half, finishing with 32 yards on four targets. Matthews finished with 27 yards.

Meanwhile, with the game well in hand, the Dolphins turned to Damien Williams and Orleans Darkwa in the rushing attack. Williams took six carries for 23 yards, while Darkwa had two yards on four carries.