Workhorse running backs are few and far between in today’s NFL and in fantasy, and the obvious ones are pretty easy to peg. Najee Harris, Jonathan Taylor and Joe Mixon were the only running backs in the league to top 75 percent of their respective teams’ backfield touches in 2021, with Alvin Kamara (65.4 percent) and David Montgomery (64.6%) each falling right below that mark despite only playing in 13 games each.
Those five backs essentially made up the entire “elite usage” tier of running backs who controlled the backfield throughout the entire season, rewarding fantasy managers who spent the high draft capital required to get them on their squads.