Sports

Going into the 2025 NFL season, there were plenty of question marks concerning backfield splits and what it might mean for fantasy football. For some teams, we weren't exactly sure how running backs would be deployed, instead throwing some darts in drafts and hoping that player emerged at the end of the day. It's only Week 1 and there's plenty of football still to be played, but we can gather some useful fantasy football info based on touches for some RB committees.

Below we'll break down touches and how to approach these players moving forward. 

Washington Commanders

Going into Week 1, we were all wondering how the Commanders' backfield would shake out. The team decided to move on from Brian Robinson Jr. before the start of the season and we figured it would be a 3-headed monster of Austin Ekeler, Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Chris Rodriguez Jr. Instead, Rodriguez was a healthy scratch for Week 1 versus the Giants. So Ekeler and JCM split most of the work at RB, with QB Jayden Daniels of course getting his rushes as well — a team-high 11, in fact. Washington also got WR Deebo Samuel Sr. involved with a 19-yard rushing TD. Jeremy McNichols got a brief appearance as well and got some garbage-time work with four carries for 25 yards. 

It's unclear if C-Rod will get into action in Week 2. For now, it appears to be a backfield split between Ekeler and Croskey-Merritt — the veteran getting passing-game work (3 catches for 31 yards) and the rookie seeing goal-line work. Croskey-Merritt was clearly the most talented back, finishing with 10 carries for 82 yards (a long rush of 42 yards). Daniels will also get his, so it doesn't appear any RB will get big volume in this offense, especially if we see more Deebo rushes. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Jets and Steelers played in arguably the most exciting offensive display on Sunday. The Pittsburgh backfield offered a few options for fantasy going into 2025, mainly Jaylen Warren and rookie Kaleb Johnson. Warren was the clear lead back with 13 total touches but it wasn't the rookie Johnson behind him. Instead, Kenneth Gainwell was almost in a 50-50 split in terms of touches with Warren. Johnson finished the game with just one carry, which is bad news for managers who were hoping he'd have a prominent role in the run game for the Steelers. Gainwell will be worth a look as a waiver-wire add in deeper formats this week. 

Cleveland Browns

The Browns' backfield is going to look different in Week 2 if Quinshon Judkins can get back on the field. But for now, it appears there's a clear lead in the backfield for Cleveland. That's fellow rookie Dylan Sampson, who paced the Browns with a team-high 20 touches in their crushing loss to the Bengals in Week 1. With Sampson leading the way, Jerome Ford was relegated to change-of-pace duty and was very ineffective with six carries for just eight yards. Raheim Sanders also saw three carries and scored. 

We could see Ford get phased out once Judkins is back and up to speed. Sampson was heavily used in the passing game with eight catches for 64 yards. It's unclear if Sanders would continue to see goal-line work once Judkins is back. The Browns' backfield could morph into a two-headed dragon featuring both rookies.

Arizona Cardinals

Are we finally going to see someone overtake James Conner in a backfield? Conner is always viewed as the non-sexy veteran pick in drafts, a reliable back who will get the job done as your RB2. But in Week 1, we saw what Conner was alluding to during training camp, that Trey Benson might be ready to be an RB1. While Conner out-touched Benson 16-9 in their Week 1 win over the Saints, it was the second-year back who was more productive. Benson had an impressive 8.6 yards per carry on eight carries for 69 yards. He also added one catch, while Conner had four catches for just five yards, though he did score through the air. Most of Benson's production was on a 52-yard scamper, but that type of explosiveness is something Conner lacks at this point in his career.

As a result, we could see Benson slowly overtake Conner in this backfield over the course of the season — for now, it seems like the Arizona backfield could become more of a true split.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Many pointed to the demise of Travis Etienne Jr. after last season's bust. It appears we were wrong to think Etienne was cooked. In Week 1 and new head coach Liam Coen's debut, it was Etienne leading the backfield for Jacksonville by a wide margin. Some were predicting some type of three-headed monster that would feature Etienne, Tank Bigsby and rookie Bhayshul Tuten. Instead, Etienne led the way with 16 carries (19 touches), totaling 156 yards. Bigsby didn't have a touch until the second half (5 carries for 12 yards) while Tuten was also pretty quiet (3 carries for 11 yards). Rookie seventh-round pick LeQuint Allen Jr. also saw a few touches. 

The Jaguars were up big most of the game but Tuten and Allen got some work in the first half. If you drafted Bigsby and Tuten with hopes they'd turn into viable starts, that isn't looking great through the first game. Etienne could return to top fantasy RB form; he had come close to back-to-back seasons of at least 1,500 scrimmage yards in 2022 and 2023 before last year's dud. After Week 1, it does look like Etienne's backfield. 

The San Francisco 49ers have ruled out George Kittle with a hamstring injury, early in Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Kittle went to the blue medical tent in the second quarter of the game. He emerged and was seen on the sideline in a baseball cap, signaling the end of his day.

The team announced the news shortly before halftime, confirming that Kittle would not return to the game. It is unclear whether the team believes that the injury will keep Kittle out longer-term.

Prior to getting injured, Kittle went four-for-four on catches for 25 total yards, including a five-yard touchdown catch that gave the 49ers a 7-0 lead.

Seattle went on to score a touchdown of its own on the next drive to tie the game at 7-7.

This story will be updated.