- Alvin Kamara returns to the top running back spot for the New Orleans Saints:Travis Etienne Jr. landed on injured reserve, moving Kamara to the top of the depth chart.
- Juwan Johnson benefits from Noah Fant’s absence: Johnson caught five passes for 53 yards with Fant inactive, although his playing time could decline when Fant returns.
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Atlanta Falcons @ New Orleans Saints
Alvin Kamaraleads the Saints backfield:Travis Etienne Jr. recently landed on injured reserve with a left hamstring injury.
Etienne played 50.9% of the Saints’ offensive snaps over the first three weeks, a smaller role than most fantasy managers expected heading into the season.
Meanwhile, CJ Donaldson surprisingly emerged as the third back. Kendre Miller served as the backup on early downs in Week 1, when Alvin Kamara wasn’t quite ready for a full workload, before Kamara took over that role in Weeks 2 and 3. Miller began mixing in again last week after Etienne’s injury.
Unsurprisingly, Kamara led the backfield in Week 4, with Miller as the backup and Donaldson handling third downs. In terms of first-half playing time, the gap in playing time between Kamara and Miller was slightly larger than it had been between Etienne and either back, likely in part because Miller lost a fumble early in the game. The Saints also spent much of the game trailing by multiple scores, which favored Kamara as the better receiving back. Despite the difference in playing time, Kamara and Miller finished with similar carry totals.
Kamara briefly exited with a knee injury in the third quarter but returned later in the period. He didn’t play much in the last few minutes of the game, but that likely had more to do with the blowout loss than the injury.
Miller could have nearly as much fantasy value as Kamara in games where the Saints can play from ahead, given his rushing workload. When New Orleans is expected to play from behind, however, Kamara’s receiving role makes him the clear Saints running back to roster.
Saints adjust without Noah Fant: The Saints’ primary backup tight end was inactive with an abdominal injury.
The Saints kept Juwan Johnson as their lead tight end but changed the depth behind him this offseason. They didn’t re-sign Foster Moreau or Taysom Hill and instead signed Fant and drafted Oscar Delp.
In Week 1, Johnson played 84.4% of the offensive snaps while Delp was inactive. Johnson dominated the snaps in 11 personnel, while he and Fant shared the field in 12 personnel. Over the next two weeks, however, the Saints used more of a rotation at tight end. Johnson continued to dominate on third downs, but he and Fant split the early-down snaps in 11 personnel. In 12 personnel, Fant was consistently on the field, with Johnson and Delp rotating alongside him.
Fant was limited in practice all week with an abdominal injury and entered the weekend as questionable before ultimately being ruled inactive. Treyton Welch, who was a healthy inactive last week, was active in his place. Fant’s absence kept Johnson on the field more frequently in 12 personnel, where he and Delp formed the most common pairing. Delp also rotated in for Johnson on early downs in 11 personnel, though not as frequently as Fant had over the previous two weeks.
Johnson took advantage of the increased playing time, catching five passes for 53 yards, with the Saints playing from behind also helping his receiving opportunities. He remains a sell-high candidate, as his playing time should decline once Fant returns. Johnson could also see a significant reduction in snaps in games where the Saints are able to play from ahead, making his current level of production difficult to sustain.
Brian Robinson finds the end zone more often than Bijan Robinson: Bijan Robinson still finished with more fantasy points thanks to his rushing production, but Brian Robinson wasn’t far behind after scoring twice.
The Falcons have taken the unusual approach of rostering only two running backs, with Bijan Robinson serving as the unquestioned starter. He broke off a 59-yard touchdown run early in the game and stayed productive, averaging nearly 5.0 yards per carry on his other attempts while adding another touchdown. His fantasy performance could have been even bigger, though. Brian Robinson rotated in regularly throughout the game and received opportunities near the goal line, leading to three touchdowns.
The split between the two running backs has remained consistent throughout the season, with Bijan Robinson playing roughly 65% of the offensive snaps and Brian Robinson handling the other 35%. That has kept Bijan outside the top 12 running backs in snap rate this season and outside the top 15 in carries per team carry. Those rates have remained relatively stable regardless of game script, even as Atlanta has experienced both lopsided wins and losses.
Bijan Robinson’s talent has allowed him to overcome those workload limitations, and he remains a clear top-three fantasy running back alongside Jahmyr Gibbs and Kenneth Walker. The lighter workload should help keep him fresh over the course of the season, but it could also prevent him from finishing as the overall RB1. This game illustrated that tradeoff perfectly, as Brian Robinson’s role near the goal line potentially cost Bijan three scores.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Falcons quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Jack Strand, and Saints quarterback Zach Wilson were among the healthy inactives.
- New Orleans wide receiver Barion Brown returned after missing last week with a hamstring injury. He is back as one of the two backup wide receivers.
- Chris Olave jogged off the field with less than two minutes remaining and appeared to be experiencing some discomfort in his leg. He didn’t return, though with the Saints trailing by 28 points, there was little reason for him to come back into the game. Ideally, Olave avoids the injury report this week. Brown replaced him for the Saints’ final two offensive plays.
- The Saints signed wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. off their own practice squad on Thursday. He had been a practice squad call-up each of the first three weeks.
- Falcons wide receiver Jahan Dotson saw a slight decrease in his playing time, with Chris Blair as his backup.
- Kyle Pitts Sr. notably didn’t see the field on the first drive and played just one snap on the second. From that point on, his playing time returned to his typical 2026 levels. Still, Pitts has seen a notable decline in playing time compared to last season, which has limited his fantasy value. At this point, dropping him in fantasy leagues is a reasonable consideration.
Table Notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, such as offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats exclude these plays.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy will be from a clearly thrown-away pass where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count toward the total number of carries in the game.