D'Ernest Johnson (RB, JAX) - Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 14

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ROSTERED IN: 16% of Leagues

ANALYSIS: Jacksonville Jaguars running back D'Ernest Johnson has been electric in the past three weeks in the passing game with little volume. Despite having just four catches over the last three games, he has 104 receiving yards and is averaging 26 yards per catch.

In recent weeks, Tank Bigsby's hold on the primary backup job became less secure. However, it was hard to know if that was actionable. That's because the Jaguars cruised to an easy 20-point win last week against the Titans and were destroyed by the 49ers the week prior by 31. Was Johnson more involved due to the blowout nature of the games? We couldn't say for sure.

We got our answer last week in a 24-21 win over the Texans in Week 12. Travis Etienne Jr. left the game briefly, which helped answer the question of which Jacksonville running back would be the biggest beneficiary if Etienne were to miss time. Johnson played 30 of the team's 76 snaps. Bigsby played just two. Johnson had seven carries to Bigsby's one. Johnson also was far more involved in the passing game. He ran 17 routes. Bigsby had zero and Etienne had 21.

Based on the utilization from Week 12, fantasy managers should prioritize Johnson over Bigsby. However, I would still anticipate this backfield being somewhat of a committee if Etienne were to go down. At this time, Johnson should be viewed as the 1A and Bigsby the 1B and because of that, he should be the running back fantasy managers look to add behind Etienne. Etienne practiced on a limited basis leading up to their game tonight with a chest/rib injury. He's expected to be active tonight, but one wrong, big hit could lead to an increased role for Johnson.

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