The Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, and the Tampa Buccaneers. What do all these teams have in common? They will be looking to address their RB room, either with a starter or a complementary piece.
Of course some of these teams will address their need through the draft, but there are a few interesting free agent RBs this year.
I will break down the year of the RB, giving you my opinion on their fantasy football upside next year and beyond based on where they could end up and the role they could play.
*All rankings and point totals are based on Half-PPR scoring, unless stated otherwise.
Career Backups
D’Ernest Johnson
We will all remember Weeks 7 (23.8 fantasy football points) and 10 (19.2), but who is D’Ernest Johnson?
He played most of his college career as Marlon Mack’s backup at South Florida. His most productive year came as a Senior, where he split time with Darius Tice. That year he totalled 796 yards on 193 carries and ran in 7 TDs. He turned 7 receptions into 153 yards and another 2 TDs.
He went undrafted and spent a year away from football in 2018. The Saints had brought him in for camp, but he never made the team. He played in eight games in the AAF (Alliance of American Football League) before signing with the Browns at the start of the 2019 season.
Look for Johnson to continue his backup role, or at best, be part of a committee. Johnson will be 26 when the season begins, but doesn’t have the wear and tear on his body of a typical RB his age. He is worth holding in your fantasy football league to see what happens, but I wouldn’t get too excited over two great games leading to a starting job.
Jeff Wilson
Jeff Wilson very likely won a few of you a championship last year. Through Weeks 15-16 he was the fantasy football RB6, averaging 19.5 points per game.
Wilson had three productive years as the starter at North Texas with his most productive year coming as a Senior. That year he scored 16 total TDs in 11 games, to go along with 1393 total yards, 1215 on the ground and 168 receiving. Even with being a productive college player, he went undrafted and signed with the 49ers.
He will turn 27 in November next year, but has dealt with a number of injuries since entering the league in 2018. This year alone he missed the first eight games with a torn meniscus. This past week (Week 15) he got the job done as a starter, putting up 19.40 points.
Due to his injury history and age, it’s not likely a team will heavily invest in him. Look for him to continue in a backup role or a committee approach. Like Johnson, he is worth holding if you have the space, but will find his way to waivers more than likely at some point.
Darrel Williams
Darrel Williams filled in nicely for an injured Clyde Edwards-Helaire this season. Through Weeks 5-10, Williams was the RB8 in fantasy football, averaging 13.8 points per game.
He has been a backup his entire college and NFL career, playing behind Leonard Fournette and Darrius Guice at LSU. Williams has never exceeded 1000 yards, but came close in his Senior year with 820; while only having about a 35% workload behind Guice.
Williams, like the two previous backs, went undrafted and signed with the Chiefs before the 2018 season. He will be 27 when the season begins. The teams looking for a starting RB are not likely looking his way. The Chiefs make perfect sense to sign him back, but teams like the Chargers, Bengals, Titans, and Steelers could be looking for a trusted veteran for depth.
He is worth a roster spot if your fantasy football league has a deep bench. He has proven he can be an upside play if the starter goes down. However, I am not desperately holding him hoping for a starting gig.
Living In The Past
Phillip Lindsay
The little engine that could! Phillip Lindsay surprised the fantasy football world in 2018 as an undrafted free agent. He muscled away the starting job from Royce Freeman and finished the year as RB12, averaging 13.7 points per game. It wasn’t just a one hit wonder either, he followed it up with an RB18 finish in 2019 averaging 11.3 points per game.
Since then, he has dealt with injuries and inconsistent play. He didn’t quite fit the new system of Pat Shurmer’s offense, so the Broncos moved on. Lindsay signed on with a crowded Texans backfield. There was some hope he could be the one to break through. However, after scoring a TD in Week 1, it has been crickets since.
His years of being relevant in fantasy football are behind him, as he turns 28 come July. He will be signed as depth somewhere, but you likely don’t have him on your fantasy team and there is no reason to pick him up.
Marlon Mack
Marlon Mack had two years inside the top-24 for fantasy football. In 2018 he was the RB21, averaging 14.1 points per game. He followed that up by being the RB20 in 2019, averaging 12.5 points per game in 14 games.
The Colts drafted arguably the RB1 overall in the draft, Jonathan Taylor, in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. It was believed that the two would split the backfield, but also lose passing work to Nyheim Hines. However, in Week 1, Mack unfortunately tore his achilles and was out for the year. This opened the door for Taylor to take over and Hines to be PPR-relevant.
We haven’t really been given the chance to see how Mack performs on his freshly healed achilles. He has been given a total of 28 carries and has 2 catches on the year.
There wasn’t much of a market for him last year offseason coming off the injury, which is why he signed back with the Colts. I expect much the same this year. His downfall has nothing to do with his play, but it is likely no team is going to trust a 26-year old running back with a serious injury as their bell-cow.
He will sign with a team and be at best a committee back, but his days inside the top-24 and trusted in your fantasy football lineup are in the past.
Upside Play
Ronald Jones
Leonard Fournette has taken over the Buccaneers backfield. Ronald Jones isn’t the strongest pass protector and has had some fumble issues, but age is on his side. He will only be 25 when the next football season begins. Another bonus because of “Playoff” Lenny; he has one less year of wear and tear on his body.
I wrote about Ronald Jones in my buy low article last month, so I won’t go into great detail. I do see him as starting running back in the league next year. Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, or the Seattle Seahawks make the most sense.
Personally, I think the Dolphins are the best fit. Like I mentioned about Gordon in last week’s article, Jones could play the early down role and get the red zone carries. This would allow Gaskin to dominate in the passing game, where he has excelled.
Jones is a great offseason buy low in fantasy football. See if you can get him before he lands on a team.
Chase Edmonds
Chase Edmonds will be 26 when the next football season starts. He is not an every-down back, but proved earlier in the year he can get the job done in a support role. Although not eye popping numbers, he was averaging 10.4 points per game as the RB20 in fantasy football through Weeks 1-8.
It’s impressive that he stayed inside the top-24 despite limited opportunities in the red zone. With just 16 red zone opportunities in Weeks 1-8, his only TD on the year came in Week 8.
Last year in 16 games he averaged 8.8 fantasy points per game and finished as the RB28. He only had 1 rushing TD, with another 4 receiving TDs.
It’s hard to pinpoint a perfect spot for him, but the Patriots could use a receiving threat out of the backfield with James White likely aging out. I had Mckissic as an option in last week’s article, but Edmonds could fill in nicely.
Another option would be the Titans. Derrick Henry proved to be human and ran into a season ending injury. With him turning 28 in January, it would be smart for the Titans to invest in another player to help take some of the load off his back.
Edmonds is worth holding in half and full point PPR fantasy football leagues. PPR guys like Hines, Cohen and White have flashed good RB2 seasons in recent years. Edmonds will not get a lead role, but he has PPR upside wherever he ends up. He is still young enough to have a few productive fantasy years.
Rashaad Penny
I know, how can I put Mack in the living in the past category, but have Rashaad Penny in the upside category. The answer is a bit of recency bias, but given Penny and Mack are very close in age, the “what if” of Penny is intriguing. I think we have seen Mack at his peak, but we don’t know what Penny could do if he could stay healthy.
The closest thing to a full season that we have seen from Penny is his rookie year back in 2018. However, after being selected in the first round Penny couldn’t beat out sophomore Chris Carson.
Penny is an explosive player. His yards per carry average for his career is 5.1, with 9.8 yards per reception. In the six games he has had more than 10 carries, he averages 17.8 fantasy football points. That’s counting Week 2 of his rookie year where he had 10 carries for 30 yards. Take that game out and it moves up to 21.36 fantasy points. Most of that work was done on the ground, as he only had 5 receptions in those six games for a total of 35 yards.
Pete Carroll drafted him. I have a feeling they could sign him back depending on how he finishes the year. Chris Carson’s neck injury could be career-ending, leaving the starting job up for grabs.
The Houston Texans may also look to sign Penny. Instead of spending high draft capital on a back, they can use that to fill other holes in their lineup.
If he can stay healthy, I expect Penny to be relevant in fantasy football over the next few years. His buy low window may close as he finishes out the year as the starting running back. He is someone you want to hold and maybe look to acquire if the price isn’t too steep.
Sleepers
Salvon Ahmed
I only put him here because of his age. He is the youngest free agent running back and will only be 23 when next season starts.
Ahmed was undrafted and initially signed with the 49ers, before finding a home with the Miami Dolphins. Late last year he flashed when given a chance. In two games with a full workload he put up 15.5 and 21.2 fantasy points.
It was looking promising coming into the year with the Dolphins only bringing in Malcom Brown, but for whatever reason, Ahmed has not made it onto the field much.
I doubt he gets a chance somewhere, but monitor his status over the offseason and be ready to add him if he finds a home in a murky backfield.
D’Onta Foreman
Foreman has shown well over the last three games. He has two games with over 100 yards rushing. Then, another game with 13.20 fantasy points.
He was drafted in the third round by the Texans in 2017. However, he tore his achilles in Week 11 of his rookie year. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster for him since, bouncing around different practice squads.
It’s likely if he can continue running well to end the year, he will have himself a backup job going into 2022. Maybe the Titans will bring him back to take some pressure off Henry.
Sheldon Hand
Sheldon Hand is an elementary school teacher. He started writing in 2019, and started working with The League Winners in 2021. He has been playing fantasy football for fifteen years, got into dynasty seven years ago and have become a bit obsessed.