Washington Commanders DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

Washington Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. ran for 16 yards and a score on five carries on Sunday evening in their victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Rodriguez also tallied 12 yards on his lone reception. The sophomore running back punched in his score in the fourth quarter on a two-yard carry. While Brian Robinson Jr. saw the vast majority of the attempts, it is promising to see Rodriguez's name called late in the game. In this game, he logged four more attempts than the presumed No.2 option Jeremy McNichols. The Kentucky product has seen a slight uptick in opportunities with Austin Ekeler (concussion) on the injured reserve over the past month. However, with Ekeler nearing a return, fantasy managers should not expect him to have a consistent role in the offense moving forward. For now, he projects to be a desperation flex play in Week 18 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. tallied 60 yards on 13 attempts in their victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday evening. Robinson caught both of his targets for nine yards. While Robinson did see most of the rushing attempts he was unable to find the back of the end zone for the third straight contest. Instead, backup running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. was given the red zone work and was able to punch in a score in the fourth quarter. Over his past three contests, Robinson has only eclipsed 60 rushing yards on one occasion and has only tallied more than 100 yards once over his past six contests. With Austin Ekeler (concussion) nearing a return, fantasy managers could expect Robinson to lose some opportunities especially during the playoffs. He should be viewed as a low-end RB2 heading into a Week 18 tilt against the Dallas Cowboys.

Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels went 24-for-36 with 227 passing yards and three scores en route to clinching a playoff spot by defeating the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday evening. Daniels added an impressive 127 yards on the ground on 16 attempts. Daniels found Olamide Zaccheaus in the opening quarter on a seven yard TD pass to open the scoring. In the third quarter, he found his tight end Zach Ertz on a ten yard TD pass. Then in overtime, Daniels found Ertz for the second time this evening to clinch the victory. Daniels has now led the game-winning drives in each of the past two games to lead Washington to their first playoff appearance since 2020. Over his past five games, Daniels has tallied 15 passing scores, two rushing scores and tallied over 300 scrimmage yards in three of them.

Washington Commanders wide receiver Luke McCaffrey is expected to see an expanded role for the Week 17 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Fellow wideout Dyami Brown (hamstring) has been ruled out for this game, which should push McCaffrey into a bigger role. McCaffrey hasn't done much on the field this season with two receptions or less in every game since Week 5. He figures to be the third passing option behind Terry McLaurin and Olamide Zaccheaus. That being said, McCaffrey could see a few more passes come his way, but he'll remain a shaky fantasy option for Week 17.

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. will line up across from the Detroit Lions in Santa Clara on Monday night. Last week in Miami, Samuel Sr. broke out of a miserable five-game slump by gathering seven of nine targets for 96 yards and a touchdown through the air, with five carries for 25 yards on the ground. Detroit's defense versus opposing fantasy wide receivers has been vulnerable -- they represent the sixth-most generous to the position in half-PPR formats. Samuel Sr.'s floor may be too low for many fantasy managers to stomach in their lineup for championship week as he averaged 3.3 half-PPR points during the aforementioned slump. However, last week's performance showed that he still has a chasable ceiling, especially for fantasy gamers entering Sunday needing a comeback. Samuel Sr. is being ranked as a low-end WR2 in Week 17.