What is going on? This week, I hope to reach some solid conclusions as to why such a heralded group of players - especially those drafted in Rounds 1-3 - has not come close to meeting expectations yet and assess the likelihood they will eventually provide the returns fantasy managers expected on draft day.

Ashton Jeanty, Raiders

Production through two games: 30 carries for 81 yards and one touchdown; five catches on six targets for three yards

Fantasy rank: RB27

Analysis: By far, the least attractive part of Jeanty's early profile is something that is largely out of his control. One of the things that generally separates average running backs from great ones is what they do after contact. Generally speaking, an NFL running back's yards after contact are usually not much higher than his actual rushing total, but the difference between the two should always be a positive number. At the very least, the number should increase by at least 10 yards per week. Of the 29 running backs who have at least 20 carries through two games, Jeanty's difference is the only one that is less than zero (-3). He is not the only one struggling in that regard, as Zach Charbonnet (2), Jordan Mason (4) and Chase Brown (5) are among the running backs that reside in the same neighborhood.

Needless to say, it is tough living for any running back when he knows he should expect contact before reaching the line of scrimmage. The thing that makes Jeanty's 84 yards rushing after contact even more amazing is that he is tied for third in the league - along with Jahmyr Gibbs and Alvin Kamara - with eight missed tackles forced. It probably does not help Jeanty's case that the Raiders' first two opponents (Patriots and Chargers) figure to be among the better run defenses this season - although that kind of thing can be hard to say with any degree of confidence after two games.

Of all the rookie running backs I will discuss this week, Jeanty's workload is the only one that fantasy managers can feel good about right now. The true test of whether he has fantasy RB1 upside this year will likely come in Week 4 against the Bears (in Week 3, Las Vegas faces the Commanders, who have been exceptional against the run so far). The first thing that needs to improve is the play of the offensive line, which ranks near the bottom of the league in yards before contact per carry (-0.25, last), stuffed run rate (34.9 percent, 31st) and run block win rate (62 percent, last), per Sam Hoppen of ESPN Bet. This does not mean Jeanty is blameless in all of this, but it means he deserves very little of it.

Verdict: Offensive line play can improve during a season, so expect Jeanty to trend upward as the season progresses. With that said, he may not be more than a high-volume RB2 this season.

Omarion Hampton, Chargers

Production through two games: 23 carries for 72 yards; three catches on four targets for 14 yards

Fantasy rank: RB45

Analysis: A funny thing happened on the way to Hampton being set up for early NFL success: offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who has called plays for 11 years in the NFL and had his offense rank 28th or lower in pass attempts in nine of them, appears to be summoning the spirit of Air Coryell in 2025. (OK, that is a bit of a stretch.) Fantasy managers knew that Najee Harris could (and probably would) be a problem at the start of this season, but what most of Hampton's investors did not think was that a Roman-led offense would rank 15th in rush attempts (51) and 23rd in pass attempts (61).

What has perhaps been the most surprising development is how pass-heavy the Chargers have been early in games. Hampton received one first-quarter carry and one target in the first half of Week 2. In Week 1, he saw four first-quarter carries - two of which resulted in gains of at least eight yards. Three of his seven second-quarter rush attempts have resulted in gains of eight or more yards as well.

It would also be one thing if the majority of the Chargers' 51 rush attempts thus far were going to the running backs, but they are not. Justin Herbert's 16 carries account for over 31 percent of the team's rush attempts, further minimizing the rushing opportunity pie that most expected from this offense after running the ball 463 times last season.

Perhaps we can look to Hoppen's tweet again for a reason why the Chargers have chosen to be more balanced than anyone could have reasonably expected. Los Angeles ranks just ahead of the Raiders in yards before contact per carry (-.05, 31st), last in stuffed run percentage (35.3) and 16th in run-block win rate (71 percent). It is also notable that of the aforementioned 29 running backs with at least 20 carries so far, Hampton ranks just ahead of Jeanty, Charbonnet, Mason and Brown with only seven more actual rushing yards than rushing yards before contact. Conversely, the Chargers are doing well in two key passing categories: 11th in pressure rate allowed (28.8 percent) and 11th in pass-block win rate (69 percent).

When we combine that knowledge with having Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston supporting the team's best player (Herbert), maybe what we are seeing is a real-time adjustment by Roman and HC Jim Harbaugh. Observers and fantasy managers also need to realize that 21.7 percent of his carries (five of 23) have taken place in the red zone, where defenses are expecting the run. He has gained a total of one yard on those opportunities, which is not as uncommon as one might think. If we remove those five rush attempts from his ledger, he is averaging exactly four yards per carry. Hampton's biggest issue by far - at least in my mind - is the surprising lack of opportunity, especially for a player whom the team raved about this offseason and someone who fits the Roman and Harbaugh mold so well.

Verdict: While the lack of early-game involvement is concerning, there is nothing in Roman or Harbaugh's track record that suggests either man will lean so heavily into the passing game for an entire season. Perhaps just as importantly, it would make zero sense for the Chargers to overhaul their running back room in the fashion they did this offseason, only to virtually ignore both of their investments. Much as the case is with Jeanty, things should get better as the offensive line begins to block better. Week 3 against the Broncos may not be a great spot for the Chargers' running game, but two of the following three opponents (Giants in Week 4 and Dolphins in Week 6) should tell us everything we need to know about whether Hampton becomes a high-end RB2 or a low-end RB2.

Quinshon Judkins, Browns

Production through one game: 10 carries for 61 yards; three catches on three targets for 10 yards

Fantasy rank: RB47

Analysis: It serves no purpose to go too deep here, especially after Judkins did not participate at all during the summer and just played his first career game against the Ravens' tough run defense. While his 31-yard run in Week 2 looked good, it was largely the product of some horrible tackling fundamentals that can occasionally happen when a team is holding a 31-point lead late in the game.

Verdict: While it was encouraging to see him involved in the passing game considering how little practice time he has had, it is hard to see a path to every-week fantasy relevance in 2025. Either Jerome Ford or Dylan Sampson figures to handle most of the work on passing downs, which significantly lowers Judkins' PPR appeal. Cleveland is also likely to be one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the league, which means the No. 36 overall pick lacks touchdown upside. This means his only real path to regular fantasy production is through volume behind a bottom-half-of-the-league offensive line.

TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots

Production through two games: eight carries for 37 yards; eight catches on eight targets for 54 yards

Fantasy rank: RB32

Analysis: The award for the most confusing usage of a rookie running back through two games has to go to New England. While it is not shocking that Rhamondre Stevenson is playing more snaps than Henderson, I am sure none of the people hyping the rookie this offseason expected the veteran to hold an 85-44 advantage in snaps after two weeks. There is something to be said about the miserable game Henderson had in Week 2 (three holding penalties - two of which were accepted - and one sack allowed), but there is a bigger question that needs to be asked. Why is a player who was drafted to bring an explosive element to an offense that needed it only run 29 routes and asked to block 16 times? Yes, Henderson may be the best pass-blocking running back coming out of college that I can remember studying, but that part of his game is a bonus.

It is a common thing - no matter how proficient a running back was at a certain skill in college - to have some growing pains early in his rookie year, especially in pass pro. The oddest turn of events in Week 2 was how often Antonio Gibson was worked into the mix. During a game in which New England was working from a positive script, Gibson and Henderson essentially split what was largely the latter's role in Week 1. Stevenson's role and snaps changed very little. I counted one fourth-quarter snap for Henderson, which is inexcusable for a player whom New England expects to be a key part of the offense.

Verdict: There is no question that an average of four carries and four targets is not quite what managers signed up for when they spent a third- or fourth-round fantasy draft pick on Henderson this summer. Eleven touches in the opener (five carries, six catches) were more understandable, but it is still on the low end considering the Patriots only held a lead for about half of a quarter. With that said, we don't have to go too far back to find a similar back in Jahmyr Gibbs - a player who Henderson has been compared to - who began his rookie season with less than 12 touches per game (excluding Week 3 of the 2023 season, a game that David Montgomery missed). While starting Henderson in fantasy right now may not be the best thing for your sanity, I would not be any more alarmed with his slow start than I am with Jeanty's or Hampton's. For all we know, this is the coaching staff's plan to keep him fresh for the second half of the season and push back the rookie wall as far as possible.

RJ Harvey, Broncos

Production through two games: 11 carries for 78 yards; two catches on three targets for 15 yards

Fantasy rank: RB46

Analysis: Much like Henderson, Harvey appears to have a playing time problem. Also, like Henderson, he is competing with two other backs. J.K. Dobbins was expected to be a roadblock to Harvey. Tyler Badie was not. That is really his biggest issue at the moment. If we could just magically give all of Badie's opportunities through two weeks to Harvey, Harvey would be at 12 carries and 11 targets. How would we feel about that? My guess is much better, if only because that was the role we expected him to play in this offense - the Alvin Kamara role.

Somewhere along the way of Harvey becoming the next PPR monster of HC Sean Payton, Badie became the coach's preferred option on third down and in the two-minute offense. Three of Badie's targets (all of which have resulted in catches) have come at the two-minute mark of a half or later and three of his eight targets (one catch) have come on third down. Compare that to Harvey, who has no targets on third down or during a two-minute drill. Ditto for Dobbins.

For anyone who needs the reassurance, Kamara had eight carries and seven catches through his first two career games (albeit on 13 targets). Why do I mention Kamara? Because he is the last Day 2 investment Payton made at running back and one he had a specific role in mind for when he was drafted. Although Kamara's receiving usage was quite heavy throughout the first month of the season, he only handled 10 carries once in his first seven games and no more than 12 in a game all season long. While Kamara and Harvey are far from carbon copies of each other, the latter was drafted with the idea that he would play a similar role. The Kamara example is a great one in the sense that Payton would probably be happy if his rookie does not see more than 12 carries in any game this season.

Verdict: If Harvey is going to achieve any sense of fantasy relevancy on a weekly basis, he needs Badie out of the picture. Until Harvey overtakes Badie on passing downs, the rookie will be hard-pressed to return even flex value - barring an injury to Dobbins. The one exception to that is Harvey hits a big play, which he did in Week 1 and is more than capable of doing on a regular basis. However, as we know from countless running backs over the years, it is almost impossible to predict when a back will hit a big play or how often they can do it.

Kaleb Johnson, Steelers

Production through two games: two carries for -1 yards

Fantasy rank: RB90

Analysis: Pittsburgh really seems to be bending to Aaron Rodgers' will this season. The relative arrogance it takes for a coaching staff to draft Johnson and talk about his ability to be a "high-volume, capable runner who was the center of his (college) offense … with a lot of NFL, Sunday-like runs (on his college tape)" upon drafting him, only to make him watch Kenneth Gainwell average 3.3 yards per carry and 3.3 yards per reception is not the Steeler Way. Even for all the good that Jaylen Warren is doing, he is averaging 3.4 yards per carry with a long run of nine yards. The reason Johnson was drafted was that he is a gifted runner. Pittsburgh is not running the ball well. The Steelers may need more than Johnson to fix that problem, but I am willing to bet he is part of the solution.

This is a team and a coaching staff that loves big backs, so drafting Johnson in the third round was not adding a back to round out the depth chart. We know why Johnson is not playing, and it is almost entirely based on something anyone who studied him at Iowa or checked out his pre-draft analytical profile already knew: he had 95 pass-block reps over three college seasons. I knew this and Pittsburgh did as well. This entire situation screams Rodgers does not trust Johnson in pass pro (nor should he) and the coaching staff is catering to his wishes in hopes he can rekindle some part of his MVP form as opposed to sticking with the model that has served the organization very well for decades.

Verdict: (I realize this sounds as though I am going off on a tangent, but I have very little Johnson in my portfolio this year.) As weird as it sounds, Johnson probably needs an injury to Rodgers (thus leading to a heavier reliance on the running game) to be relevant in fantasy this season. The kickoff blunder in Week 2 will not help him in that regard, although I would question why a player with 15 kickoff returns in college was being asked to handle those duties in the first place.