Of the quarterbacks likely drafted in your league, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy, Jayden Daniels and J.J. McCarthy will not play this week. That is in addition to Michael Penix Jr., Caleb Williams, Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers being on a bye.

Of the running backs likely drafted in your league, James Conner, Joe Mixon, Najee Harris, Aaron Jones, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Braelon Allen, Chuba Hubbard, Bucky Irving and Austin Ekeler have either yet to play this season, have already been ruled out or are likely to miss this week. That is in addition to Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, D'Andre Swift, Josh Jacobs and Jaylen Warren being on a bye.

I could do the same thing with receivers and tight ends, but I think you get the point. On a typical 18-player roster this week, you could be down to 13 (or fewer) players. Never mind the fact that Saquon Barkley, Ashton Jeanty, Derrick Henry, Alvin Kamara, Chase Brown, TreVeyon Henderson, RJ Harvey, Kaleb Johnson and Jacory Croskey-Merritt have not met expectations yet, for one reason or another.

If you had the misfortune of drafting even one or two disappointing players, you might be down to 11 realistic options to fill a 10-player starting lineup. (I have one team with two players on a bye - including Bijan Robinson - five players on real-life IR and only two IR spots.) When it gets to that point, fantasy football stops becoming fun and starts becoming agonizing work. What makes things worse is when you cannot IR a player in fantasy because his real team can't or won't do it.

If you were the unfortunate soul to draft an "injury-prone" player such as Christian McCaffrey or Puka Nacua, a player who did not report to his team until right before Week 1 (Quinshon Judkins), a player who was dealing with a calf injury the week of his team's opener (De'Von Achane), a good receiver in a bad offensive environment (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) or a player who has burned all of us before (Quentin Johnston), you are probably in great shape.

No single analyst or column is going to be able to fix all of your problems this week if you have one or more teams with even two or three of the players I mentioned earlier. What I can do and what I have chosen to do this week and next is evaluate the running back landscape after four weeks. Perhaps by briefly (and I do mean briefly) analyzing each team's situation, we can gain some sort of appreciation for what each team is offering. This week, we look at the 16 AFC teams.

Before doing that, however, I want to detail the running back rooms for each team and the roles I expect them to occupy for the foreseeable future.

Key:
Early - Early down work
3D - Third down
2M - Two-minute drill
LDD - Long down and distance
GL - Goal line/short yardage
* - My projection given a recent injury

Baltimore Ravens

The roles in Baltimore have been well-established since Derrick Henry joined the team before the start of last season. He handles the overwhelming majority of early-down work and will occasionally get a screen pass thrown his way. Third-downs and most of the passing-down work goes to Justice Hill. The only thing that usually keeps Henry from being a dominant force is negative game script, which is something the Ravens don't find themselves in very often. Then again, one of the reasons they will occasionally fall behind in games is because they don't commit enough to Henry in the first place. Baltimore's current issues have more to do with injuries, however.

I am working under the impression that Lamar Jackson's likely absence for the next game or two will force the Ravens to rely more heavily on Henry and Hill because I am not sure they stand much of a chance if they ask Cooper Rush to carry the offense against the Texans or Rams over the next two games.

Buffalo Bills

Buffalo running backs have accounted for 94 carries and 20 targets through four games. James Cook has handled 80 percent of the rush attempts and 65 percent of the targets.

Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati running backs have amassed 67 rush attempts and earned 17 targets. Chase Brown has accounted for 85 percent of the carries and 82 percent of the targets. If/when this offense starts clicking, Brown will almost certainly be the one accounting for most of the production coming out of the backfield then as well.

Cleveland Browns

Cleveland running backs have totaled 42 carries and 13 targets over the two weeks since Quinshon Judkins assumed the starting role. Judkins has 39 of the carries and six of the targets. Jerome Ford is still getting most of the third-down/passing-game work, but the two backs have the same number of targets over that time.

Denver Broncos

J.K. Dobbins has handled 66 percent of the carries in Denver's backfield so far but is only responsible for seven of the 29 targets to Broncos' running backs (24 percent). The rushing numbers are a bit deceiving, however, since RJ Harvey had not attempted more than six runs in any game before closing out the team's Monday night rout of the Bengals in Week 4 (14). Over the first three games of the year, Dobbins was responsible for 75 percent of the backfield's rush attempts.

Houston Texans

Woody Marks has been a waiver-wire darling in each of the last two weeks. He has already been trumpeted as a potential league-winner and/or this year's Bucky Irving. Slow your roll, people. Is he a fantastic pass-catcher? Yes. Can he run the ball and does he possess big-play ability? Yes. Could he overtake Nick Chubb at some point soon? Yes. Is Chubb going away anytime soon? Unlikely. Will the Texans play the Titans every week? No. Will Houston's offensive line get any better this season? Doubtful. While it is true that Marks has seen an increased role every week to this point and will probably perform well against a beat-up Baltimore defense in Week 5, it seems unlikely that he will have the same success against the Seahawks (Week 7), what should be a healthier San Francisco team (Week 8) and the Broncos (Week 9) following next week's bye. Can he make up for it with his usage in the passing game? Sure. Some of it.

Marks' longest run before Week 4 was eight yards. Chubb's longest run before Tennessee - outside of a somewhat fluky 25-yard TD in Week 2 - was 13 yards. If the passing game continues to operate at the level it has to this point, the Texans might need a prime Earl Campbell to break a long run. (Or at least Chubb in his prime.) Until the offensive environment changes somehow in Houston, it is hard to see how this offense produces more than two flex options at running back.

Indianapolis Colts

It has been the Jonathan Taylor show all season long. He is responsible for 77 of the 93 carries out of this backfield (83 percent) and 14 of the 16 targets (88 percent). Of the 22 snaps backup DJ Giddens has logged, 16 of them came in Week 1's rout of the Dolphins.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Of the backfields that have been discussed so far, Jacksonville's is probably most similar to Denver's. There is a rookie (Bhayshul Tuten) who has shown he can do some interesting things, but Travis Etienne (like Dobbins) is running far too well to be part of a true committee (6.1 yards per carry). Since Tank Bigsby was traded after the opener, Jacksonville's backfield has accounted for 69 rush attempts and 13 targets. Etienne is responsible for 71 percent of the carries and has earned 54 percent of the targets.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs may be 2-2 now, but their rushing attack has been awful. For whatever reason, the coaching staff can't seem to get over the "power element" that Kareem Hunt brings to the table, even though Isiah Pacheco averages more yards per carry (4.0-3.2), yards after contact (90-73) and yards after contact per attempt (2.81-2.03) on fewer rush attempts (36-32). Reports have surfaced this week that the team intends to try to find more work for rookie Brashard Smith, but the real question is: Why has it taken so long to get to that point? It has to get better at some point, but I am not sure it will happen against the Jaguars this week or the Lions next week.

Los Angeles Chargers

Hassan Haskins saw one snap in each of the first two games, followed by seven and five in Weeks 3 and 4 (the game Najee Harris got hurt and the one after it). He has yet to touch the ball, which means Omarion Hampton has accounted for all 37 of the backfield touches since Harris was injured midway through the second half of Week 3.

Las Vegas Raiders

Ashton Jeanty took advantage of a soft matchup last week against the Bears, but it might be wise to sell him this week if possible. He will have his good weeks - players with his amount of talent can sometimes overcome their circumstances and/or a difficult matchup, but the loss of LT Kolton Miller robs him of the one good run-blocker the Raiders have. Maybe he dominates again in Week 6 against the Titans, but matchups versus the Colts (Week 5) and Chiefs (Week 7) leading into the team's Week 8 bye do not appear promising. If you hold Jeanty, you might be able to take comfort in the fact that he is responsible for 80 percent of the backfield's rush attempts. Unfortunately, only 47 percent of the backfield's targets have gone his way.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins' backfield is only averaging 17 carries per game. De'Von Achane is getting 12.5 of those. Miami is making up for it a bit with 32 backfield targets (third-most in the league), of which Achane has 25 (78 percent). It seems abundantly clear that Miami wants Ollie Gordon II in the pounder/goal-line role, so Achane will have to continue making his living via the 7.7 targets per game he was averaging before last week.

Also, we cannot lose sight of how this offense will likely change following the loss of Tyreek Hill. Under HC Mike McDaniel, this offense was at its best a few years ago when it had a dynamic run game and Raheem Mostert handling most of the early-down work. While it is possible Jaylen Waddle ends up being a one-for-one replacement for Hill (or at least his targets), it may make more sense for the Dolphins to slow the game down and keep their defense off the field as much as possible.

New England Patriots

This backfield has been a shot in the dark every week so far. No back has handled more than 11 carries in any game. TreVeyon Henderson was effectively benched in Week 2 for penalties and some struggles in pass pro. Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson were effectively benched after combining for three fumbles in Week 3. What happened in Week 4? Stevenson finished with 10 touches, Henderson with nine and Gibson with six.

Through four weeks, Stevenson has 42 touches, Henderson has 39 and Gibson has 20. Do with that information what you will. Henderson was supposed to have established himself as the lead back by now (and it will likely still happen at some point), but the stubbornness of this coaching staff to get him more involved is aggravating, to say the least. His touch totals (in order): 11, 5, 14, 9.

New York Jets

New York seems relatively content with Breece Hall handling about 60 percent of the carries, which is something I would expect to continue even after Braelon Allen (knee) landed on IR this week. Hall's carry share in four games - relative to his backfield mates - is as follows: 70, 83, 60, 67. It is a similar story in the target department at 70 percent (19 of 27). At least for Week 5, it would not be shocking if Isaiah Davis ends up absorbing Allen's touches. Who gets Allen's goal-line role is the big question. My guess would be that Davis gets those opportunities.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers made it clear with Jaylen Warren's extension on Sept. 1 that he will remain highly involved, so it seems unlikely Kenneth Gainwell earned much more work in Pittsburgh's backfield despite his career-best performance in Ireland in Week 4. Over the two previous weeks, Warren held carry advantages of 14-5 and 18-4. He also had 10 targets to Gainwell's six. I also have sincere doubts that Gainwell's efficiency from Week 4 sticks. There is little evidence of him running consistently well during his time as a pro and little evidence that this offensive line can consistently block like it did against the Vikings. Even with Gainwell's 99-yard effort on 19 carries in Week 4, the Steelers' backfield is averaging 3.6 yards per carry. The one thing that has kept Pittsburgh's running backs relevant in fantasy is their 29 targets (fourth-most). That is unlikely to change with Aaron Rodgers' average depth of target standing at 4.8 through four games - by far the lowest mark of any regular starting quarterback.

Tennessee Titans

It has been almost all Tony Pollard through four weeks. It makes sense, however, since Tennessee only has two backs on the 53-man roster as of Oct. 2. Pollard has handled 68 of the backfield's 73 rush attempts and nine of its 10 targets. It is a comical use of Pollard's talents, however, as he is very good as a pass-catcher. The eventual return of Tyjae Spears (ankle) figures to change Pollard's workhorse status somewhat, but we were promised similar things last season by the same coaching staff and rarely ever saw Spears until Pollard was injured.