Good News, Bad News: Justin Fields, Michael Pittman Jr. and Broncos Running Backs

A closer look at recent developments across the league reflecting on Week 8's action.

Kyle Wood | Nov 2, 2022

The NFL trade deadline has passed, and the season is just about halfway through, so more and more data points are available to inform our opinions of players and situations.

It was a shockingly active trade deadline on Tuesday, with quite a few skill position players swapping teams at the 11th hour. In the latest edition of Good News, Bad News, I'm looking at recent developments from Justin Fields's more than passable play to Michael Pittman's situation in Indianapolis to the bleak Broncos running back room.

Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

Chicago is finally playing to Fields's strengths. He has 34 rushes over his last three outings—all top-10 fantasy finishes—almost as many as he had over the first five games. Last week, against a tough Dallas defense, Fields tossed two touchdowns for the second time this year, and he did not record a turnover.

The rushing element gives him a higher floor and raises his ceiling, and there's reason to believe his passing outputs could improve after the team traded for Steelers receiver Chase Claypool at the deadline. There's a lot to like about what Fields and the Bears have done over the past month, and the upcoming schedule is also quarterback-friendly: Miami, Detroit and Atlanta.

He can and should be started with confidence at this point after enough proof of concept. But managers should remember that the rushing touchdowns will not be there every week as they were for the last two, his bye has yet to come, and the early-round fantasy playoff schedule of Philadelphia and Buffalo is a gauntlet. There's not really much bad news for Fields at the moment—this is just a warning of what may come down the line and a cautious reminder of just how low he can go, as we saw earlier in the season.

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Michael Pittman Jr., Colts

Pittman's near-40% target share in his first game with Sam Ehlinger at quarterback is the stuff of legend. Nine of the team's 23 targets came his way, and he hauled in seven (he dropped one). Despite his target monopoly, Pittman didn't necessarily have a big day. He finished with 53 yards, his second-worst total this season, and a 7.6 yards per catch average was his lowest mark.

It was no surprise that Ehlinger's debut saw the Colts pass for their fewest yards. Matt Ryan was airing the ball out about twice as often as Ehlinger did in his first career start, so the pie in Indianapolis is much smaller, even if Pittman is getting a huge chunk of it. His yards before catch average (4.7) was his second-lowest mark. The 6'4" target is better equipped to get open deep, similar to how he was used a season ago with Carson Wentz.

Granted, this is a one-game sample size, and it's still encouraging that the usage was there. Ehlinger will grow more comfortable as he gains more experience, and perhaps he and his No. 1 target can connect on a few passes down the field. After all, he did find Parris Campbell and Alec Pierce for chunk gains.

Broncos Backfield

The running back room in Denver was difficult to decipher before Chase Edmonds was thrown into the mix. And now that the Broncos have another back, acquired from Miami in the Bradley Chubb trade, it’s even harder to figure out what to do with these players.

Melvin Gordon is the team's leading rusher on the year. He's gained 263 yards on 75 carries and has been the most involved running back in the receiving game. Then there's Latavius Murray, who has gained 136 yards on the ground on 37 rushes. They each have two touchdowns, and both scored in last week's win against the Jaguars.

Enter Edmonds, who Miami supposedly signed to be their lead back this offseason before he took a backseat to Raheem Mostert. He was never a high-volume rusher with the Cardinals, and he was having the worst season of his career running the ball with the Dolphins. His specialty as a pass-catcher didn't necessarily come to fruition, either: He has 10 catches and leads the NFL with five drops.

Perhaps Edmonds finds a better role in Denver. Russell Wilson was plenty happy to dump the ball off to Javonte Williams before his lead back was injured. If Edmonds is the third-down back, that will leave the early-down and goal-line work to Gordon and Murray. The more likely outcome is the running back hierarchy becomes even more muddled.

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Published Nov 2, 2022

KYLE WOOD

Kyle is based in Washington, D.C. He writes the Winners Club newsletter and is a fantasy and betting writer for SI. His work has appeared in the Tampa Bay Times, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald and Gainesville Sun.