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Giddens inactive leaves McGowan alone behind Taylor
Write-up updated Sun, Oct 4, 9:12 AM EDT.
Why this pick · the matrix
Evidence: low. Stash priority: 65/100. Scores are rankings, not probabilities.
Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues when this board was built. Your league may differ; if he is taken, check the rest of the stable for a lower-rostered back.
| Season | Games* | Carries | Rush yds | Targets | Rec | Rec yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | No stats available before this game week | ||||||
Last 3 games with stats for IND: 2 carries and 0.3 targets per game.
*Games with a recorded stat line; not an attendance or injury measure. Stats exclude this game week. Source: nflverse
| Season | Games* | Carries | Rush yds | Targets | Rec | Rec yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 | 66 | 258 | 11 | 9 | 67 | 4 |
| 2025 | 17 | 323 | 1585 | 55 | 46 | 378 | 20 |
Last 3 games with stats for IND: 22 carries and 3.7 targets per game.
*Games with a recorded stat line; not an attendance or injury measure. Stats exclude this game week. Source: nflverse
- Colts do not rule out any players ahead of Week 4 game against Washington Commanders
- Indianapolis Colts Inactives vs. Washington Commanders (Week 4)
Fact: the Colts' Week 4 injury report (colts.com, Oct 2, updated Oct 3) listed no running back with a designation and ruled out no backs, so Jonathan Taylor enters clean after full practice. Fact: today's London inactive list (date-only evidence, Oct 4, re-checked before kickoff) has DJ Giddens inactive, with Taylor and Seth McGowan active, so McGowan is the only other active back. Projection: if Taylor could not go, McGowan inherits early-down carries by default, but with 6 carries in three games expect a committee-and-scheme answer, not a true lead role. McGowan is free almost everywhere; he matters only if Taylor misses real time, and Giddens would contest the job once active again. Giddens stays the better long-term hold here - today is a game-day scratch, not a reported injury timeline.
Backfield news: Jonathan Taylor carries no Week 4 designation and practiced fully; Indianapolis ruled out no running backs on its Oct 2 report. On game day in London, DJ Giddens is inactive, leaving rookie Seth McGowan (6 carries on the season) as the only other active back. Davon Booth sits on the practice squad. Nothing reported suggests Taylor is limited.
Scouting: Seventh-round rookie who holds the No. 2 job ahead of Giddens and kept it through Week 1, but he remains essentially unused behind Taylor's workload. He would be first up if Giddens' knee sits him, though Indianapolis would more likely spread a committee than hand him a lead role.
Starter injury history: 2024: a high ankle sprain (Week 4 vs. PIT) cost him games; he missed at least three games in each season from 2022 through 2024. 2025: played the full 17-game slate above a 70% snap share in all but one game, with 20 total TD. 2026: handled a full Week 1 workload against Baltimore and carries no designation on Indianapolis' Week 2 injury report (dated 9/18).
Rookie Allen leads a split if JCM goes down
Write-up updated Sun, Oct 4, 9:12 AM EDT.
Rest of the stableAustin Ekeler (RB4), Craig Reynolds (RB5)ExpandCollapse
Austin EkelerRB4receiving2% rostered · free long shotRe-signed by Washington on Sept. 29 after Rachaad White's shoulder injury, roughly a year removed from a torn Achilles. He passed a physical and traveled to London, and Quinn said his Week 4 role would be judged off the Thursday and Friday practices - so the role is genuinely undetermined. A 31-year-old passing-game depth piece, not a volume bet; wait for an actual snap count.
Injury history: Tore his Achilles on a non-contact play in Week 2 of 2025 against Green Bay, ending that season and costing him significant time; he has since been cleared. Played 12 games with six starts in 2024. Washington announced the signing on Sept. 29, 2026 after he passed a physical. No setback reported, but he has not yet played a 2026 game.
41score
Craig ReynoldsRB50% rostered · free long shotThirty-year-old journeyman signed in mid-August after a workout, specifically as insurance for Jeremy McNichols' camp quadriceps injury - a second stint in Washington after arriving as a 2019 undrafted free agent out of Kutztown. Reporting framed him as a practice body and practice-squad candidate rather than a depth answer, and he has no published depth rank. Not a fantasy consideration.
Injury history: No injury history reviewed this cycle; the absence of reported injury data does not establish health.
37score
Why this pick · the matrix
Evidence: low. Stash priority: 65/100. Scores are rankings, not probabilities.
Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues when this board was built. Your league may differ; if he is taken, check the rest of the stable for a lower-rostered back.
| Season | Games* | Carries | Rush yds | Targets | Rec | Rec yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | 9 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | No stats available before this game week | ||||||
Last 2 games with stats for WAS: 4.5 carries and 0 targets per game.
*Games with a recorded stat line; not an attendance or injury measure. Stats exclude this game week. Source: nflverse
| Season | Games* | Carries | Rush yds | Targets | Rec | Rec yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 3 | 47 | 142 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 2025 | 17 | 175 | 805 | 13 | 9 | 68 | 8 |
Last 3 games with stats for WAS: 15.7 carries and 1 targets per game.
*Games with a recorded stat line; not an attendance or injury measure. Stats exclude this game week. Source: nflverse
- Commanders vs. Colts Week 4 injury report
- Commanders Inactives: Terry McLaurin Joins Jayden Daniels on Sideline vs. Colts
- Washington Commanders Inactives vs. Indianapolis Colts (Week 4)
Fact: Rachaad White (shoulder) did not practice Wednesday or Thursday of London week (commanders.com, Sept 30) and is inactive today (game-day reporting, Oct 4, re-checked before kickoff; those pages carry only date-level timestamps). Fact: Jeremy McNichols is on IR. Fact: Jacory Croskey-Merritt has no designation and is active, as are Kaytron Allen, Austin Ekeler and Craig Reynolds. Projection: with White out, Allen is the likeliest early-down and short-yardage answer if Croskey-Merritt could not go, but today's reporting describes a Croskey-Merritt/Allen/Ekeler mix with no dated carry split - that unresolved committee caps confidence. Allen is free almost everywhere and needs a Croskey-Merritt absence plus a run-first lean over Ekeler to matter. White remains the better back to own once healthy; return timetable unknown, so hold rather than drop in redraft.
Backfield news: Rachaad White (shoulder) is inactive in London after not practicing all week; Jeremy McNichols remains on IR. Jacory Croskey-Merritt is active with no designation and keeps the lead role. Behind him Washington has rookie Kaytron Allen, Austin Ekeler (re-signed in late September, back in the mix) and Craig Reynolds. Game-day reporting describes a Croskey-Merritt/Allen/Ekeler rotation without a stated carry split. Washington also plays without Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin, which argues for more run-game volume.
Scouting: Physical rookie sharing the No. 3 spot who fits Washington's stated situational approach on early downs and in short yardage; cleared through a minor hip in Week 3 prep. Real ability, but if Croskey-Merritt sat he would split the work with White rather than take the job over.
Starter injury history: 2025 (rookie): played all 17 games - 175 carries, 805 yards (4.6), 8 TD. 2026 has been rockier: missed OTAs with a soft-tissue injury, day-to-day with a groin in camp, a lower-body injury Aug. 20 that cost the last two preseason games, limited before Week 1. Clean since: absent from the Week 3 injury report (Sept. 23), not among the five ruled out Sept. 27.