NFL Player News

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians described Andre Ellington as a No. 1 back and said he expects Ellington to receive 25-30 touches per game, reports Fox Sports. While those numbers are surely hyperbole, they're an indication Arians believes Ellington can handle a major workload.

Ellington got 157 touches as a rookie, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and 9.5 yards per catch.

Ravens rookie running back Lorenzo Taliaferro, a fourth-round pick, was arrested Saturday and charged with public drunkenness and destruction of property, reports the Baltimore Sun. Both charges are misdemeanors.

The Jets have to figure out who will get the majority of carries this season out of Chris Johnson, Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell, Daryl Richardson, Alex Green and Mike Goodson, reports ESPN.

The report says two of them likely won't make the team, but figuring out the carries could be tough. Johnson averaged 18 rushes per game in his six seasons with the Titans. Ivory averaged 12 per game last season as the Jets' leading rusher. Powell averaged 11 last season. That's a total of 41 rushes for their top three backs.

"Everybody’s goal is to put wins on the board," said Johnson. "We’re not really worried about the carries, who's going to play this down and that down. We’ve all just got one focus and that’s winning."

Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton says they'll be a "score-first team" instead of a run-first or pass-first team. Typical coachspeak, but Hamilton even would admit that as much as he wanted to run the ball last season, passing was far more effective. 

"When you have Andrew Luck, that really gives you an ability to adapt to whatever the circumstances are and have a chance to be successful," Hamilton said per ESPN, who believes the Colts will still aim to run the ball and not have Luck pass over and over again. Indianapolis ran the ball 409 times last year and threw it 582 times. The acquisition of Trent Richardson didn't pay off last season, but it doesn't mean wholesale changes this season. 

"Our mentality has not changed; we have to be physical at the point of attack. We have to try and knock people off the ball and wear them down physically," Hamilton said. "We have to have a sense of balance and still have a physical mentality, make up going into games so we can wear our opponents down how we see fit."

Stevan Ridley led all Patriots running backs in snaps played the last two seasons, but ESPN believes that nothing will be handed to him and he'll have to earn his keep this year. Additionally, ESPN thinks Ridley would not have led the backs in snaps had Shane Vereen stayed healthy for a full season. Vereen played nearly as many snaps as Ridley as it were. 

The belief from ESPN's Mike Reiss is that there will be a tandem situation "if everyone is healthy, with the numbers trending heavier toward Vereen."

Behind Ridley and Vereen are Brandon Bolden and rookie James White. Either one of them could earn decent playing time with a strong training camp and/or turnover issues from Ridley or Vereen. 

The announced Friday they have signed rookie offensive guard Brandon Thomas to a four-year deal.

Thomas was the third of three, third-round draft picks (100th overall) by the 49ers in this year’s draft out of Clemson. 

The subject of trade talks this offseason, running back LaMichael James was in attendance for the 49ers ' offseason workouts this week according to the Sacramento Bee.

James didn't show up for voluntary workouts earlier this spring and forfeited a $50,000 bonus. The team said they don't intend to trade him. He's expected to compete for kick- and punt-return duties this summer. 

New Jets running back Chris Johnson said Thursday that his surgically repaired knee feels good, but he'll probably sit out organized team activities, reports ESPN.

Johnson suffered a meniscus tear in his knee in Week 3 last season with the Titans. He played through the injury and underwent surgery after the season.

The Jaguars signed running back Storm Johnson, a seventh-round pick out of Central Florida, to a four-year deal. He'll compete to back up Toby Gerhart.

When Lovie Smith mentioned to the media that rookie running back Charles Sims "gives us a little more in the passing game than what we've had," it suggested that the rookie is already slotted into a role as the passing downs back for the Bucs. 

This is important to note, Fantasy fans, because Doug Martin has previously displayed that he's a good receiver out of the backfield. He caught 49 passes for 472 yards as a rookie and 12 passes for 66 yards in six games last season. By not having that role as part of his regular workload, Martin could lose anywhere from three to eight touches per week to Sims. 

Naturally, Martin is still going to start and remain the primary rusher for the Bucs so long as he's effective. But we think Sims will be locked into that passing-downs role if he can keep up the good hands through training camp. If Martin were to lose playing time it would not be a lock that Sims would pick up the reps -- this is a team that still has Mike James and Bobby Rainey on it. They can work rushing downs. 

Martin is still a Top 12-ish Fantasy running back. Sims is worth a mid- to late-round pick in all leagues, especially and obviously PPR formats.