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Zach analyzes the top fantasy football RB committees, looking for fantasy football RB breakouts heading into Week 4 (2025). Read his key takeaways about five RB committees.
In the modern NFL, many teams are rotating running backs and employing a committee approach to keep their backs fresh throughout the game and utilize their backs' specific skill sets. The committees can be hard to navigate for fantasy football, but they do sometimes offer excellent value if you take the time to dive in and try to figure it out.
This week, we'll examine a few situations where a committee is in place. We'll see how the workload was split up in Week 3, and what that means for the position moving forward into Week 4. Obviously, each week the matchup and game script are a little different, but with three weeks of data, we are starting to get a clearer idea of how teams want to handle their backfields.
What did we learn from Week 3, and how does it change our projections going forward? Below are breakdowns of the backfields in New York, Kansas City, Washington, Jacksonville, and Chicago.
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Giants RB Committee: Cam Skattebo Season for Big Blue
The Giants already had a timeshare tilting toward the rookie, with Cam Skattebo expected to get more work going forward in his timeshare with Tyrone Tracy Jr. An injury to Tracy in Week 3 could mean even more time for Skattebo, who has the chance to step up into a huge role for New York's offense going forward.
Tracy started the season as the clear lead back with 74% of snaps in Week 1, while Skattebo played only eight snaps. In Week 2, Skattebo's snap share rose to 52% compared to Tracy's 42%, and Skattebo had 13.9 fantasy points on 11 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown, along with two catches for 14 yards.
Coming into Week 3 and a Sunday Night Football matchup with the Chiefs, he was expected to have an even larger role. Tracy's injury late in the first quarter thrust him into an almost every-down role, and he finished with 10 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown while adding six catches on eight targets for 61 more yards and a total of 24.1 fantasy points.
Tracy suffered a dislocated shoulder, and it looks like he'll miss about two to four weeks, leaving the backfield in Skattebo's capable hands for the short-term future.
Doctors believe Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. is expected to be sidelined two to four weeks due to the dislocated shoulder injury he suffered Sunday night vs. Kansas City, per sources. With Tracy out, the Giants are expected to lean on rookie RB Cam Skattebo and veteran RB Devin… pic.twitter.com/pRUC4Vif8V
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2025
Skattebo could still mix in with veteran Devin Singletary, who ended up with 16 snaps in Week 3. Singletary had four carries for 11 yards in Week 3 against the Chiefs and was not targeted in the passing game. He's normally an early down option and could maybe steal some short-yardage work, but his role will likely be fairly minimal, since Skattebo is excellent at grinding out those tough yards as well.
The big boost for Skattebo will be in the passing game, and he looks ready to be a top target for Jaxson Dart based on Week 3. Skattebo could also be a great safety valve for his fellow rookie and help take the load off him.
Skattebo is set for a monster workload and has the potential to be a league-winning addition if you can grab him from the waiver wires or via trade. He seems poised to seize the reins for New York and will be an RB2 with RB1 upside in a primary role. The only negative in Skattebo's outlook is that he has a tough Week 4 matchup against the stout Chargers defense.
Chiefs RB Committee: Hunting for Answers
Last year's injury to Isiah Pacheco in Week 2 seems to have totally changed the direction of his career. He broke his leg in that win over the Bengals and has been extremely limited since then. He returned in Week 13 through the end of the season and flashed potential, but never resumed his full-time lead-back work.
That trend has continued into 2025, with a timeshare firmly in place and limited focus on him as both a rusher and receiver. He still has the long-term potential to possibly be that do-everything back with a high ceiling, but for now, he's just not getting the work.
Against the Giants in Week 3, Pacheco played 56% of the team's snaps while veteran Kareem Hunt played 44% and converted receiver Brashard Smith played 11%. Pacheco and Hunt each had the same workload with 10 carries and one target each. Pacheco took his 10 carries for 45 yards and caught his target for three yards, while Hunt had 34 yards and caught his target for 10 yards. Hunt also had the only rushing touchdown in the team's 22-9 victory.
Kareem Hunt powers through the goal line TD
KCvsNYG on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/nrjPazxuWQ— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2025
The fact that Hunt got the call on the goal line is concerning for fantasy football managers with Pacheco, since he could continue to lose short-yardage opportunities.
For now, it seems that Hunt is the primary third-down and short-yardage back, while Pacheco handles most of the early down work as well as the two-minute drill. The fact that they evenly split work even though the team played from ahead against the Giants is a good indication that they'll be in about a 50-50 timeshare going forward.
Hunt is owned in only 32% of Yahoo! leagues after Week 3 and could be a decent pickup if you're desperate at the position. If he's getting goal-line carries, he could be a touchdown-dependent flex play during bye weeks, which start next week.
As for Pacheco, until he gets a larger role, he's hard to trust as a top-25 running back each week. He has the potential to return to a more involved role, but until he does, he'll remain a borderline starter in most standard-sized leagues.
Commanders Committee: Where did Bill go?
The Commanders drafted Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the seventh round of the NFL Draft and were confident enough in the rookie to trade Brian Robinson Jr. to San Francisco. Especially after the season-ending injury to Austin Ekeler, many fantasy managers thought the rookie known as "Bill" would step in as the every-down back in Week 3 against the Raiders.
The offense was a little different overall, with Marcus Mariota starting in place of Jayden Daniels (knee), but the backfield rotation was even more of a surprise to many fantasy football managers who were ready for the Croskey-Merritt era to get off to a fast start.
After being a healthy scratch in the first two games of the season, Chris Rodriguez Jr. led the team with 11 carries, including the first four plays of the day, which set up a Mariota scramble for a touchdown.
Bill didn't appear until the third Commanders' possession. To be fair, Croskey-Merritt did lead the backfield rotation with 40% of snaps on Sunday while Rodriguez played 38% of snaps. Rodriguez finished with 11 carries for 39 yards, and Croskey-Merritt produced 26 yards on eight carries and saved his day with a touchdown run in the third quarter.
The biggest running back play of the day came from Jeremy McNichols, though, who only needed one carry to lead the team in rushing, although he finished with four carries and played 26% of snaps. His big play was a highlight-reel carry for 60 yards on his first touch of the game in the second quarter.
Jeremy McNichols bounces off tackles for the 60-yard TD!
LVvsWAS on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/x8j0UTgN2I
— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025
It looks like a three-way timeshare is in effect for this backfield going forward, and while Croskey-Merritt may lead the rotation, he won't be a pure featured back. Rodriguez and McNichols both have some value, but of the three, Bill still has the most upside and the greatest chance to work his way into more action. He's not a locked-in RB2, though, until he gets more consistent work.
Jaguars Committee: Crouching Travis Etienne Jr., Hidden Bhayshul Tuten
After the Jaguars shipped Tank Bigsby to the Eagles, the Jaguars' backfield became a timeshare between veteran Travis Etienne Jr. and rookies Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr.
Etienne is clearly the lead back in this triumvirate and has played 54%-66% of the snaps in each game. The first-rounder from Clemson racked up 270 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards in his three games this season, with a touchdown in each of the last two weeks after going off for 143 rushing yards in Week 1.
Etienne didn't catch either of his two targets in Week 3, but he's still an involved part of the passing game. He ran for the game-winning touchdown against the Texans and is still the go-to back.
Etienne gives the Jags the lead!
HOUvsJAX on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/oQj1BqCgpX
— NFL (@NFL) September 21, 2025
Tuten also scored a touchdown for the second straight week and finished with six carries for 21 yards. Allen hasn't found the end zone and is still clearly third in the pecking order for touches.
He didn't have a carry but did haul in a nine-yard reception during his 21 snaps on the field. Tuten is a downhill runner who could earn more work as the season goes on, while Allen is a passing down specialist who is especially strong in pass protection.
Etienne is the primary back and should be an RB2 for the foreseeable future, but Tuten is getting involved as well. He's not quite a flex play yet, but he's worth owning in case he does work his way into more snaps or if Etienne gets dinged up.
Bears Committee: Can Kyle be the Monangai?
The Bears knocked off the Cowboys for their first win of the season in Week 3, and they did it convincingly, 31-14. While Caleb Williams was the star with 298 passing yards and four touchdown passes, the running game was also effective. Rookie Kyle Monangai is mixing in with D'Andre Swift, while Roschon Johnson missed the first game of the season with a foot injury and hasn't been involved since returning.
In Week 2's blowout loss to the Lions, Monangai actually played more snaps (41%) than he did in Week 3 against the Cowboys (29%). He finished with seven carries for 28 yards in Week 2, and he followed that up with six carries for 16 yards in Week 3. He also added a catch in each of those games out of the backfield. His yardage total in Week 3 was impacted by a loss of eight yards on one of his carries.
Monangai could be a threat to Swift's usage as the season goes on. Swift had 17 carries in Week 1, 12 carries in Week 2, and 13 carries in Week 3. He has dominated the work out of the backfield, but hasn't been very productive overall. He only has one touchdown all year, and his most explosive play came on a 41-yard reception in Week 3. However, on the ground, he only managed 33 rushing yards on his 13 carries.
Got our Monangai 😤 pic.twitter.com/PGdSDI2dC4
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 26, 2025
Looking down the road, Monangai could end up being the answer in the Bears' backfield and earn an increasing role going forward. If all the more popular names are already gone from your waiver wire, he's a solid speculative addition to consider in deep leagues.
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