• Three running backs play 90% or more of their teams' offensive snaps: Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, Falcons’ Bijan Robinson and Falcons’ Kyren Williams look to be the NFL’s top workhorse backs in the NFL following Week 1.
• Justice Hill outshines Derrick Henry in Week 1: The Ravens leaned on Justice Hill in Week 1 against the Chiefs.
• J.K. Dobbins is back: Following two devastating injuries that kept him off the field for most of the last three seasons, Dobbins went off in his first game with the Chargers.
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Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes
With Week 1 officially in the books, we know a lot more about how coaches plan to utilize their running backs this season.
Multiple running backs who we expected to get a workhorse role ended up having to share their backfield, and backs we thought would be in a 50/50 split ended up dominating their counterparts in touches and snaps.
Here are the top running back takeaways from Week 1 that could significantly impact fantasy points in Week 2 and beyond.
Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson & Kyren Williams make the 90% club
Taylor's 95.5% snap share led all running backs in Week 1. No other Colts running back even saw a single touch in their season debuts, while Taylor’s backup, Trey Sermon, was on the field for just two snaps. Taylor is primed to be a premier workhorse back in the 2024 season. This week, he has a juicy matchup against a Packers defense that just allowed Saquon Barkley to put up over 100 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Jonathan Taylor’s upcoming matchups: at Packers, vs. Bears, vs. Steelers
Any worries that Blake Corum might steal Kyren Williams' job can be put to rest; Williams played 91% of the Rams' offensive snaps in Week 1, while Corum didn’t even step onto the playing field. It appears Williams is in line for another huge year and should be considered a top-five RB play going forward. He gets a delicious matchup against the Cardinals in Week 2.
Kyren William’s upcoming matchups: at Cardinals, vs. 49ers, at Bears
Bijan Robinson finally got the workload he's deserved under new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. In Week 1, Robinson played a career-high 90.9% of the Falcons' offensive snaps and tied his career-high with 23 touches. Splitting the backfield with Tyler Allgeier seems to be a thing of the past, giving Robinson the upside to finish as the RB1 overall this season.
Bijan Robinson’s upcoming matchups: at Eagles, vs. Chiefs, vs. Saints
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