There was no wrong approach to the running back position in terms of fantasy football draft strategy last season. Every popular method of roster construction had a path to success.
Here's a quick look at the average draft positions in 2023 of the game's most valuable running backs:
Christian McCaffrey, 2.0
Raheem Mostert, 118.7
Kyren Williams, waiver add in Week 2
Breece Hall, 43.3
Jahmyr Gibbs, 32.0
If you won a fantasy title last year, one (or more) of those players was probably an essential piece of your squad.
Again, any common draft approach could have produced a dominant backfield. We had RB-heavy drafters who demolished their leagues with CMC and Hall. We also had Zero RB zealots who cruised to championships with Mostert and Williams (and/or Zamir White, Devin Singletary and De'Von Achane).
In all likelihood, the season ahead is going to play out a lot like last year with regard to running backs. Whether you draft the position at the top, in the middle or late (or not at all), there are going to be right answers for everyone.
No matter how you choose to build your fantasy backfield, surely you can make room for a mid-to-late-draft sleeper (or three). Let’s review a few prime RB candidates to massively outproduce their ADPs…
Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
If the only thing you knew about Benson was that he’s the understudy to a 29-year-old back who’s never made it through a full season without injury … well, that might be all the information you’d need. Benson clearly landed in a prime situation behind James Conner in Arizona.
Conveniently, he is also a decently skilled runner:
Benson is coming off back-to-back seasons with over 1,100 scrimmage yards at FSU, and he only rarely handled huge workloads, so he has not been ground to dust. He’s a size/speed combo back (6-0, 216, 4.39) with excellent after-contact ability, and he’s competent as a receiver as well.
Conner just delivered a terrific season, we should note, and he was outstanding in the closing weeks, so we’re not trying to force him into retirement. But he’s also missed four games due to injury in each of the past two years, so his primary backup belongs on everyone’s fantasy radar. Benson is certainly talented enough to earn a weekly rotational role, which could give him flex status regardless of Conner’s availability.
Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
We trust you saw plenty of Corum last year during Michigan’s undefeated national title run. Corum ran for 1,245 yards and an outrageous 27 touchdowns. He found the end zone in every game and finished his season with seven straight multi-TD performances, facing several of the country’s best defenses.
The Rams selected Corum in the third round of the draft, which — given the NFL's current relationship with running backs — tells you they absolutely love the player. It's reasonable to think he's going to have a non-trivial backfield role in support of Williams.
One thing we all should have learned last year is that, when Sean McVay's team is telling us they love a player, it's not just meaningless hype.
Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
When healthy last season, Brown was a serious weapon for Cincinnati. He only handled 58 total touches, but those opportunities produced 335 scrimmage yards and a few notable highlights:
Brown was an unstoppable and remarkably consistent collegiate runner at Illinois, somehow both flashy and punishing. As a rookie, he averaged 3.27 yards after contact for the Bengals and he caught 14 of his 15 targets.
Midsummer comments from the coaching staff (which often cannot be trusted) suggest we might just have too great a gap between Zack Moss and Brown in terms of early ADP.
Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks
We’re all drafting Kenneth Walker III as if he remains the unchallenged top rusher in Seattle — and, hey, maybe that’s right.
But let the record show that A) the Seahawks brought in a fresh coaching staff, B) Charbonnet actually had a slightly better rushing success rate than Walker last year and C) he occasionally out-snapped Walker down the stretch, too. We should probably be open to the possibility that Ryan Grubb, Seattle's new OC, might ultimately prefer Charbonnet's versatility and reliability.
If that's how things eventually shake out, please note that Nate Tice tried to warn you well in advance.
Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers
If we’re being completely honest here (and you’d like to think we are), I am something of a power-conference snob. So it does not come naturally for me to get breathlessly excited about a back from the Sun Belt conference. In Vidal’s case, however, there’s a lot to like.
Vidal finished second in the nation in rushing yards last year (1,661) and he led his draft class in yards after contact and missed tackles. That's the sort of thing you like to see from a running back with quality-of-competition concerns. Not surprisingly, his tape is full of impressive plays. He pretty much always made someone miss on every touch:
In fantasy, the most exciting thing about Vidal is, of course, his landing spot. We should have zero doubt that this year’s Jim Harbaugh-Greg Roman collaboration in L.A. is going to produce useful rushing numbers. As a sixth-round pick, Vidal isn’t guaranteed a thing, but it’s not as if the veterans on the depth chart for the Chargers represent an impossible challenge. He simply needs to stand out from a group that includes Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins and Isaiah Spiller.
Audric Estimé, Denver Broncos
Like Vidal, Estimé is a late-draft rookie (fifth round) joining a starless backfield. He should definitely have an opportunity to carve out a role. He's a 220-pound downhill pile-mover who made 18 house calls last season at Notre Dame while averaging 6.4 YPC. Estimé's new head coach has already described him as an appealing early-down option. It's easy to imagine the rookie challenging Javonte Williams, a back with an injury history coming off an inefficient season.
Jaleel McLaughlin is going to be a buzzy name in camp and preseason (deservedly so), but he’s also 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds — not the traditional dimensions of a featured runner. He and Estimé seem like perfectly complementary committee members.
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