NFL Player News

With Doug Martin returning to practice ahead of Week 4 against the Steelers, the Buccaneers running back picture if a bit more cloudy than it was a week ago at this time. With a promising matchup on the way against the Steelers, can you trust either Martin or backup Bobby Rainey Sunday?

If Martin is able to overcome his knee injury, he is the guy you want in your lineup, obviously. Both Jamey Eisenberg and Dave Richard have him as a top-20 running back option for Week 4, and that might even be underselling his upside a bit. There is risk in relying on Martin, obviously, but the Steelers have provided little resistance against the run this season, allowing opposing running backs to rack up 5.5 yards per carry so far.

If Martin is unable to play unexpectedly, as was the case a week ago, Rainey should slide up the running back ranks. He made up for a pretty disastrous Week 3 performance in garbage time, but was better than his two fumbles might indicate. Rainey racked up over 100 all-purpose yards, coming off his massive 144-yard performance the week before.

At the very least, both Rainey and Martin should be owned ahead of this matchup. If Martin is good to go, he will be worth starting, while Rainey makes for a nice handcuff option if he suffers a setback. 

Ravens running back Bernard Pierce, who sat out Week 3 due to a quadriceps injury, returned to practice Wednesday, according to The Baltimore Sun. The Ravens are preparing to play the Panthers Week 4.

Raiders running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who has missed the last two games due to a hand injury, told NFL Network Wednesday he is ready to return Week 4 against the Dolphins. 

"Yeah, definitely," Jones-Drew said on NFL AM. "It's not up to me, but I feel like I'll be able to play."

Darren McFadden has started the last two games in Jones-Drew's absence.

"Just trying to get on the field and help my man (McFadden) out," Jones-Drew said. "I feel we both do better if we both out there. So obviously he's been taking the brunt of the carries and the brunt of the reps, so I want to get out there and try and give him a blow here and there and let him get his legs back underneath him so he can run."

When perusing ProFootballFocus.com's stats on running backs, I discovered some interesting numbers for the Jets' backfield, and they shouldn't make Chris Johnson owners very happy.

Through the first three games of the season, Chris Ivory leads the league in Yards After Contact, per rushing attempt, at 3.9 yards. That goes a long way in explaining how Ivory ranks among the league leaders in yards per carry overall, at 5.7. Unfortunately, it also makes it hard to forgive Johnson's poor performance this far, as he is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry overall.

Johnson and Ivory have seen a nearly identical workload through three games, but Ivory has looked like the more competent back. Johnson is averaging nearly half as many yards after contact as Ivory, at just 2.1 -- this despite running behind the same line.

Head coach Rex Ryan suggested after Week 3 that Ivory is likely to cut into Johnson's playing time moving forward, noting, "There's not a whole lot of guys who want to tackle him." The duo has split playing time nearly evenly so far, but Ivory looks like the better bet moving forward.

The Jets face a tough run defense in Week 4 with the Lions coming into town, so you might not want to rely on either one this Sunday. Moving forward, however, Ivory looks like the guy to own here. 

The Chargers made several moves Tuesday, adding running back Shaun Draughn and linebackers Kevin Reddick and Cordarro Law to the active roster. The team also placed running back Danny Woodhead on injured reserve and released defensive lineman Lawrence Guy.

The Chargers added three players to the practice squad Tuesday as well: running back D.J. Adams, tight end David Paulson and outside linebacker Colton Underwood. Adrian Phillips was released from the practice squad, while Marcus Cromartie was released from the reserved-injured list.

Running backs Shaun Draughn and D.J. Adams worked out for the Chargers Tuesday, according to ESPN. San Diego is looking for roster depth after placing running back Danny Woodhead (leg) on injured reserve.

With a ton of running backs on bye or dealing with injuries, the field is thin for Week 4. And, the potential replacements available on the waiver-wire aren't exactly standouts, with Jamey Eisenberg tabbing Ravens back Lorenzo Taliaferro and Donald Brown of the Chargers as the top pickups for the week.

See the rest of Jamey's Waiver Wire column here. 

Buccaneers running back Doug Martin, who has missed two straight games with a knee injury, "showed no limitations" during practice Monday, reports the Tampa Bay Times. He appears set to return for Week 4 at Pittsburgh.

The Ravens announced Tuesday they signed wide receiver Deonte Thompson, who was waived Saturday. To clear a roster sport, running back Fitzgerald Toussaint was waived.

Texans running back Jonathan Grimes saw a significant increase in his role in Week 3 with Arian Foster out, but it hardly translated to Fantasy production.

Grimes came off the bench behind Alfred Blue but played 40 percent of the team's snaps in the 30-17 loss to the Giants. Unfortunately, Grimes was used almost exclusively in passing downs and ended up touching the ball just twice. He had one carry for 5 yards and was only targeted once in the passing game as well.

If Foster is forced to miss more time, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Grimes get more of a look than he did Sunday. However, he seems to be viewed as a third-down back in Houston, leaving him on the fringes of Fantasy relevance at this point.