Austin Ekeler Week 13 Outlook - Commanders at Steelers

By Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros), Thu, Dec 3rd 2020, 10:40am EST

The return to the lineup was a major success for Ekeler, as he saw a ridiculous 16 targets to go along with his 14 carries. This was one of the biggest weighted opportunity games in the NFL this year. In PPR formats, it was the most in a single game this year. Despite not finding the end zone, Ekeler still managed to rack up 23.9 PPR points, highlighting a floor that's ridiculously high. The Patriots opponents have chosen to run the ball a league-high 48.8 percent of the time, which is fine for Ekeler, as he's averaged 4.6 yards per carry on the year. Despite teams running the ball at a high rate, it hasn't amounted to much success, as they've allowed just five running backs score 11.5-plus PPR points against them, which is the number it took to hit top-24 numbers in 2019. The Saints are the only other team in the league who's allowed fewer than them through 12 weeks. They have allowed the 19th-most fantasy points to running backs, so the production against them has just been spread out. They're also allowing the 10th-most fantasy points per weighted opportunity, so you shouldn't shy away from using Ekeler as a low-end RB1 this week.