Jeremy McNichols

With RB Brian Robinson out with his knee injury, Austin Ekeler operated as Washington's lead back in the Week 6 loss to the Ravens. He played 75% of the offensive snaps and ran a route on 63% of pass plays -- well ahead of Jeremy McNichols (37%, 33%). Ekeler finished with nine carries and five targets to McNichols' two carries and zero targets. Ekeler predictably struggled on the ground against a stout Baltimore run defense, mustering just 21 rushing yards. But he caught four of his five targets for 47 yards, highlighted by a 25-yard catch and run on Washington's first possession.

Interestingly, Ekeler had catches of 24 and 25 yards in this one, but two additional catches for a loss, but his receiving total was below what it could have been. With Brian Robinson out, Ekeler operated as the Commanders RB1, handling nine rush attempts to Jeremy McNichols' two. Ekeler will have high-end RB2 upside in Week 7 against the Panthers if Brian Robinson misses another game.

Robinson faced an uphill battle after injuring his knee just before halftime in Week 5 and will now miss the team's Week 6 showdown with the high-flying Ravens. It remains to be seen if Austin Ekeler will see a significant uptick in snaps and opportunities in his absence, but the team has shown a propensity to trust Jeremy McNichols with early-down work.

Missed practice all week with knee injury Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr., who hadn t practiced this week due to a knee injury, was downgraded to out for Sunday s game at Baltimore. (Adam Schefter on X) FF Today's Take: Robinson didn't practice all week so this move isn't a huge surprise. With Robinson out, expect Washington to turn to Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols at running back against the Ravens. Ekeler is a viable RB2, especially in PPR leagues while McNichols will be a boom-or-bust TD dependent option in deeper formats.

Commanders RB Brian Robinson (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday s game vs. the Ravens. He didn t practice all week after not playing at all in the second half of last week s game but will be a game-time decision, according to HC Dan Quinn. We ll get Washington s inactives around 11:30 am ET on Sunday, but Robinson owners should start lining up an alternative. He ll be a shaky fantasy starter even if he ends up playing. If not, we ll likely see RBs Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols share early-down work, with Ekeler handling passing situations. In the second half of Week 5, McNichols out-carried Ekeler six to four and Ekeler out-targeted McNichols one to 0. That game wasn t competitive, though, so we d project a bit more work for Ekeler if Robinson ends up sitting.