Insider Albert Breer calls Raiders RB Ameer Abdullah a "camp revelation" and believes he's set to play the James White role in HC Josh McDaniels' offense. Abdullah quietly caught 35 balls in 11 games for the Panthers last year and tested as an 87th percentile athlete prior to getting drafted in 2015. Vegas' backfield is murky right now, but if Abdullah is truly pegged for the "James White role," it'd be bad news for RB Josh Jacobs and would leave RB Kenyan Drake undraftable.
We saw some funky usage in the Raiders backfield in Thursday night's Hall of Fame game. QB Derek Carr, WR Davante Adams and TE Darren Waller got the night off, but RB Josh Jacobs played the first 2 series, tallying 5 carries and 2 targets. "I always think it's good for (running) backs to carry the ball in the preseason," HC Josh McDaniels said afterward. “There’s a lot of things that happen when you’re getting tackled and hit that you can’t simulate in practice." Ameer Abdullah and Zamir White were the next 2 RBs in the game for the Raiders -- then came Kenyan Drake. We're not going to read too much into any of this just yet, but we're definitely keeping a closer eye on this backfield going forward.
The Raiders signed RB Ameer Abdullah to a 1-year deal. They've now added Abdullah and Brandon Bolden to the backfield alongside Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake. Neither of the new guys is likely to be a fantasy factor, but the moves suggest that new HC Josh McDaniels might be planning on Patriots-style committee backfield.
The Panthers have placed Christian McCaffrey on IR for the 2nd time this season, following his left-ankle injury in Sunday's loss to the Dolphins. That automatically knocks him out for the rest of the year, since it's his 2nd IR stint. It's a surprising development after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported earlier Monday that the injury "doesn't seem major." We'll see about the specifics of the injury, but that won't really matter until we're evaluating McCaffrey for 2022 fantasy football drafts. For now, it's Chuba Hubbard back to the lead at the position in Carolina. He averaged 17.8 carries, 65.8 yards and 0.4 TDs per game rushing in 5 fill-in starts earlier this season, with another 2.6 receptions and 17.6 receiving yards per contest. The Panthers have since added RB Ameer Abdullah, who figures to steal some passing-down snaps from Hubbard the rest of the way. Abdullah has seen 4+ targets in 4 of the past 5 games, averaging 2.6 catches and 22.4 receiving yards per game over those 5 contests.
Vikings RB Dalvin Cook (ankle) is officially inactive for today’s game vs. the Seahawks. That leaves Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah as Minnesota’s only active RBs. Mattison should handle the majority of the rushing work, but Abdullah figures to mix in on passing downs. Check out our Week 3 projections for the Vikings backfield.
Lions RB Ameer Abullah is inactive for tonight's opener against the Jets. After a preseason that found him in the 1st-team mix, this indicates that Abdullah's depth-chart standing has not improved despite a new coaching staff. With no special-teams role, we're left wondering why Detroit bothers keeping the now-veteran back on the 53-man roster. His deactivation can only help rookie Kerryon Johnson's touch count.
Undrafted free agent RB Zach Zenner latched on with the Lions. Zenner hails from South Dakota St. but gained a cult following in the pre-draft process thanks to an impressive combination of production and measurables. He posted 3 straight 2,000-yard rushing seasons with 58 TDs over that span. He also caught 77 balls during that 3-year stretch. Then Zenner checked into the Combine at 6'0, 223 pounds and ran a 4.60-second 40-yard dash with a 41-inch vertical and 121-inch broad. That gave him the 2nd highest SPARQ score in this year's RB class -- behind new teammate Ameer Abdullah. Detroit's backfield is currently a bit crowded with the 2 rookies, Joique Bell and Theo Riddick. But Bell turns 29 in August and Riddick only looks like a pass-catcher. Zenner is capable of emerging as a "big back" complement to Abdullah down the road.
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