In every fantasy football format, running backs who catch passes are desirable assets. While it’s more pronounced in PPR, a target is worth more than a carry even in non-PPR. We’ve gone through every NFC West team to pinpoint the best pass-catching RB on each of them.
Which Running Backs Are the Best Pass-Catching Options on Each NFC West Team in 2024
Arizona Cardinals: James Conner
The Cardinals don’t really have a clear receiving back. The past two seasons, they’ve used James Conner in a three-down role. Although Conner’s target share was only 8% last season, it was 11.6% in 2022, which was 14th in the league.
The main addition the Cardinals made to their backfield was adding Trey Benson in the third round of the NFL Draft. However, he projects more as a pure runner, as his highest target share in a college season was just 6.5%. If Benson shines as a receiver, it would be quite a surprise.
Los Angeles Rams: Kyren Williams
In reality, Kyren Williams is not a great receiver. He averaged 0.77 yards per route run last season, 37th in the league. His 32 receptions in 12 games were a product of volume. Yet, he’s still the best receiving back on the Rams.
How can this be? It’s the way Sean McVay utilizes his running backs.
Williams led all running backs in opportunity share at 83.9%. The Rams like to have one back who plays on all three downs. Even though Williams was incredibly inefficient with his targets, when Matthew Stafford checked it down, the ball went to Williams since he was almost always on the field. That is how he managed an 11.5% target share.
Williams will open this season in the same role he had last year. It’s possible he gets hurt or proves to be a fluke, resulting in Blake Corum overtaking him, but I’m not willing to predict that.
San Francisco 49ers: Christian McCaffrey
If there is one team in the league where there is absolutely no doubt as to who the receiving back is, it’s the 49ers. Christian McCaffrey is arguably the greatest pass-catching back in NFL history.
Since entering the NFL, excluding the two years he was injured (2020 and 2021), McCaffrey has led all running backs in target share every year of his career. The 49ers may try and reduce McCaffrey’s workload to keep him fresh coming off a 400+ touch season, but absolutely no one is a threat to his role as the receiving back.
Seattle Seahawks: Zach Charbonnet
The Seahawks’ situation is not as straightforward as it may seem. Zach Charbonnet is the clear passing-down back. However, he and Kenneth Walker III saw near identical target shares last season (7.7% and 7.6%).
This year, we have a new coaching staff that drafted neither of these backs. The roles will likely be determined purely by performance; a true meritocracy.
Based on the skill sets of both backs, I give the edge to Charbonnet. The sophomore RB has a much stronger history of receiving, most notably an 11.2% target share his final season at UCLA. Walker had fewer than 20 receptions in all three of his collegiate seasons. The role likely belongs to Charbonnet.
