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Field Pass: What to expect from Etienne, McCaffrey, Pittman in Week 8

Travis Etienne Jr. has averaged more than 7 yards per carry in each of the past three weeks. Might he see greater volume now that James Robinson has been traded away? Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images

Each week during the 2022 NFL season, Field Yates will help fantasy football managers by providing the precise intel needed on the most important, fantasy-relevant storylines. Field's Rolodex is vast; he'll dial up whomever he needs. This is the Field Pass.

By the time you're reading this, the NFL trade deadline will be within mere days, as any potential deals must be consummated by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

The NFL doesn't usually rival the NBA, MLB or NHL in terms of trade deadline activity, but since the last edition of Field Pass was published, two fantasy-relevant deals were swung, as Christian McCaffrey is now a 49er and James Robinson is now a Jet.

Let's dive into the various tentacles connected to these trades, noting that while McCaffrey's is the biggest domino to fall, we'll treat it last given the fact that it happened a week ago and we've dug into it pretty substantially elsewhere.


Jets act fast to replace Hall

Sunday was a really tough injury day around the NFL, which included the awful news that Jets rookie sensation Breece Hall is out for the season because of a torn ACL. Hall was smashing in fantasy this season, scoring at least 10 points in every game and at least 15 in the four games prior to Week 7 (despite just four carries, he still managed 13.8 points in Week 7). He looked like a flat-out star.

Within hours of the final diagnosis of Hall's injury, the team had acquired James Robinson in a deal that sent Jacksonville a late-round draft pick. Robinson is a rock-solid player whose role had quickly -- and I mean quickly -- diminished in Jacksonville (more on that in a moment). He provides New York with a lead back once fully acclimated to the offense. Robinson joins Michael Carter, who opened the season as the starter, as the new one-two punch.

While Robinson's upside isn't nearly that of what Hall was showing (Hall is a special player), volume should be on his side and he has been a fantasy standout before. Robinson's role might not be to serve as the feature back right away in this offense, but I suspect an opportunity at around 15 carries per game with some passing game utilization, good enough to make him roughly a top-20 option.

Carter is my preferred option for Week 8 given that Robinson's role will be uncertain. Carter is an excellent pass-catching back and could well lead the team in rushing attempts this week. He is a top-20 RB play for me in Week 8, and while I think for the rest of the season his value grows relative to what it has been since Hall emerged on the scene (essentially a deep-league flex option), the trade for Robinson pushes Carter out of must-start territory. I'd stack Robinson over Carter for the rest of the season, but both are at least flex considerations weekly.

Meanwhile in Jacksonville ...