Kenneth Gainwell - 2022 Fantasy Football Draft Sleeper and Undervalued Running Back

There is a ton of hype surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles entering the 2022 season, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Eagles acquired A.J. Brown via trade from the Tennessee Titans in the offseason, leading many to believe that we'll see a breakout season from Jalen Hurts at the quarterback position.

Besides Hurts, Philadelphia has a few young players in their offense that are expected to have decent-sized roles. Those young players would be DeVonta Smith, Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell, and Quez Watkins.

When it comes to fantasy football, everyone tends to compile their list of "sleepers," which are players that people believe are being underrated in the community. Amid the process of choosing your sleepers for a respective season, you typically want to select players that have league-winning upside relative to their ADP (average draft position).

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Among the skill players on the Eagles, Gainwell is a name to keep an eye on during the upcoming campaign as someone that could exceed expectations.

What Makes Kenneth Gainwell a Potential Fantasy Football Sleeper in 2022?

At the moment, Miles Sanders is considered the starting running back for the Eagles. Sanders is entering his fourth season as the projected starter in Philadelphia, but he's failed to prove — at least thus far — that he can be a reliable contributor in the NFL.

In the 2021 season, Sanders finished with a solid 5.6 yards per touch on 163 total touches in 12 games while logging a zero in the touchdown column. Meanwhile, Gainwell was nearly just as efficient with 5.4 yards per touch in 101 total touches in 16 games (only one start) while finding the end zone six times.

Despite Gainwell starting in only one game as a rookie, he still finished with 2.7 more fantasy points in half-PPR (points per reception) leagues than Sanders, who started in all 12 games he appeared in.

Seeing that Sanders hasn't shown he can be a consistent source of production for the Eagles, Gainwell has an opportunity to earn the starting job in due time during training camp or the regular season.

What makes Gainwell a threat to Sanders in Philadelphia's backfield is his ability to be a much better receiving option than Sanders. During his rookie campaign, Gainwell corraled 33 receptions for 253 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Furthermore, Gainwell averaged 1.73 yards per route run (sixth among RBs in 2021) and 7.7 yards per reception (12th among RBs in 2021). Comparatively, Sanders had only 1.05 yards per route run and 6.1 yards per reception a season ago.

For a player to be considered a sleeper, they should be taken in the later rounds of fantasy football drafts. Gainwell currently has an ADP of 136.97, according to RotoBaller's FFPC ADP reports. That means that Gainwell is typically going in the 11th round of standard 12-team leagues.

How Could Gainwell See an Increased Role for the Eagles this Season?

Once again, Gainwell appears to be a superior pass-catcher to Sanders for the Eagles. But playing the running back position — and having success doing it — is more than just producing as a receiver. Even though Gainwell stands at 5-foot-9, he's not undersized to the point where he's unable to handle a larger workload.

Between Sanders and Gainwell, Gainwell was more efficient with his touches in 2021. The first-year running back would conclude last season with 1.05 fantasy points per opportunity (seventh among RBs) while Sanders posted a mere 0.69 fantasy points per opportunity (61st among RBs).

Boston Scott is seen as a threat to steal touches in 2022 after scoring a career-best seven touchdowns last season, but he doesn't appear to be getting reps with the starters in training camp.

Of the team's top three running backs, it was Gainwell that saw the majority of the snaps with the first-team offense to begin training camp.

Earlier this offseason, Sanders made headlines in the fantasy football community when he flat-out said not to select him in fantasy football this season. While some took his comments as a reason to avoid him in fantasy football, Gainwell's apparent heightened role could be a bigger reason why Sanders should be a player to avoid in 2022.

If Gainwell can secure the starting job for the Eagles this season, he could be a massive value given his late-round ADP.

Final Thoughts on Kenneth Gainwell's Fantasy Football Value

All of the running backs being selected in the later rounds of drafts have varying levels of risk attached to them, hence why they aren't going in the earlier rounds.

That being said, being able to find the value at running back in the latter part of drafts can aid in being able to win your league's fantasy football title.

At the running back position, you have to ask yourself a few questions before taking a flier on late-round players. Does he have a path to being a consistent option in fantasy football? What role will the player have during the season, especially if the starter ahead of them suffers an injury?

It's clear that the Eagles want to carve out a larger role for Gainwell in the offense, as evidenced by them deploying him in a variety of ways in the starting offense at the start of training camp.

We've seen quite a few instances where teams talk about utilizing a running back in a multitude of ways, only for them to refrain from doing so during the season, but Gainwell has proven he can be effective in a limited sample size as a rookie.

On top of that, it helps that even with the Eagles acquiring Brown from the Titans, they will likely still have a run-heavy offense. Hurts is at his best when he's able to create with his legs, which could limit the overall ceiling of the running backs in Philadelphia.

However, the Eagles led the NFL with 32.1 run plays per game in 2021, and while that number could decline a bit in 2022, there should still be plenty of touches to go around to the running backs with the team wanting Hurts to develop more as a passer.

Gainwell is presently being taken in the same range as guys like James Robinson (who is coming off a torn Achilles), Tyrion Davis-Price (a rookie RB for the San Francisco 49ers that will need to compete for touches with Elijah Mitchell, Trey Sermon), and Tyler Allgeier (another rookie RB that will need to earn touches for the Atlanta Falcons).

Of the names just mentioned, Gainwell has the clearest path to outperforming his ADP, making him a late-round sleeper that has league-winning upside.

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