Filling your flex position can get rough throughout the fantasy football season, especially in deeper leagues. Fantasy managers either jump to the waiver wire, or rotate players in and out of their bench to try and find a player competent enough to leave in their flex spot.
Nyheim Hines is the perfect option to start at flex in 12+ team PPR leagues. Hines has an important role in the Colts offense as a pass-catching back, and will continue to thrive this season.
Reliable
Nyheim Hines is an extremely reliable option for the Indianapolis Colts each week. Durability is never a question when it comes to Hines. He’s never missed a game in his career (three seasons). It’s always great knowing you don’t have to worry about a player on your roster getting injured.
Extension
Whenever an NFL player gets a contract extension from their team, they always have something to prove. Most players want to prove they’re worth the money. Hines received a three year contract worth $18.6 million, making him one of the top-10 highest-paid RBs in the NFL.
Career Year
In 2020 Hines outplayed expectations, having the best year of his young career. He totaled 380 rushing yards, averaging 4.3 YPC, while catching 63 passes for 482 yards. He also had seven total touchdowns.
All of those were either tied for career highs, or new career highs set by Nyheim Hines. This allowed him to finish as the RB15 in PPR formats last season.
Consistency
Throughout his career, Hines has been undoubtedly consistent. Outside of 2019, when the entire Colts’ offense played poorly, Hines has put up incredibly consistent numbers.
In 2018 he put up near identical numbers compared to his 2020 career season – and actually had more targets in that year, compared to 2020 (81 to 76). He finished as the RB27 in 2018 solely due to lack of touchdowns.
Beneficial Schedule
The Indianapolis Colts’ schedule favors Hines tremendously. They have an easy road ahead of them, and rank 23rd in strength of schedule in 2021.
Here’s a rundown of the Colts’ remaining 2021 matchups and how they’ve fared against running backs:
- Week 3 – @TEN, 2020: 25th Vs. RBs – 2021(Currently): 20th
- Week 4 – @MIA, 2020: 12th Vs. RBs – 2021: 25th
- Week 5 – @BAL, 2020: 11th Vs. RBs – 2021: 21st
- Week 6 – HOU, 2020: 31st Vs. RBs – 2021: 29th
- Week 7 – @SF, 2020: 7th Vs. RBs – 2021: 23rd
- Week 8 – TEN, 2020: 25th Vs. RBs – 2021: 20th
- Week 9 – NYJ, 2020: 16th Vs. RBs – 2021: 24th
- Week 10 – JAX, 2020: 30th Vs. RBs – 2021: 27th
- Week 11 – @BUF, 2020: 20th Vs. RBs – 2021: 3rd
- Week 12 – TB, 2020: 2nd Vs. RBs – 2021: 17th
- Week 13 – @HOU, 2020: 31st Vs. RBs – 2021: 29th
- Week 14 – BYE
- Week 15 – NE, 2020: 21st Vs. RBs – 2021: 9th
- Week 16 – @ARI, 2020: 18th Vs. RBs – 2021: 12th
- Week 17 – LV, 2020: 29th Vs. RBs – 2021: 22nd
- Week 18 – @JAX, 2020: 20th Vs. RBs – 2021: 27th
As you can see, the Colts’ running backs have an easy path ahead of them. They have eight straight matchups against teams ranking in the bottom half of the league in points given up to RBs. 2020 results were also posted as a comparison to the first two weeks of the 2021 season. Even if all teams listed above played at their 2020 performance, Colts’ RBs would still be in a great position.
Outlook
Through the first two games of the 2021 NFL season, Hines has gotten off to an average start. In week one he finished with 14.2 fantasy points on 34 rushing yards and 6 catches for 48 receiving yards. Week two was a different story. He wasn’t given many touches and only scored 3.2 points for fantasy football.
There’s no doubt Hines will pick up the pace. The Colts’ schedule favors their running backs greatly, and with Wentz unable to stay completely healthy, the Colts will likely lean on their running backs more.
Coming off a year where Nyheim Hines finished as the RB15 in PPR formats, I’m not quite sure he finishes that high again this season. Hines can still finish as a top-30 RB in PPR formats, and that’s plenty of production to fill your flex position this season.
You’re most likely able to grab Hines in fantasy football leagues for cheap, as he’s only being started in 14% of leagues according to Sleeper. If you can, trade for him! Nyheim Hines remains a valuable option in fantasy football. He’s consistent enough to fill your flex role, and gets enough volume to do so. Avoid him in standard formats, but he’ll produce at a top-30 level in PPR.
