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Should I Draft Austin Ekeler or Saquon Barkley? Mike Fanelli analyzes NFL players with similar values, and tells you who to pick once you're on the clock in your fantasy football draft.
The 2023 regular season season is almost here. That means fantasy players have less than 10 days to complete all of their fantasy football drafts.
One of the toughest decisions fantasy players have to make every year is deciding between two similar options. Since fantasy players can’t possibly draft both guys, they must make the hard decision on which player to pick.
Today, we look at whether fantasy players should draft Austin Ekeler or Saquon Barkley.
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Should I Draft Austin Ekeler?
According to the RotoBaller ADP, Ekeler is a mid-first-round pick in 12-team leagues and the second running back off the board. Last year, he was the RB1, averaging 18.8 half-point PPR fantasy points per game.
The superstar running back had 204 rushing attempts for 915 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. Ekeler also contributed 107 receptions on 127 targets for 722 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
Ekeler finished second among running backs in rushing touchdowns and second in receiving scores. The former undrafted free agent scored at least 13.9 fantasy points in over 70% of the games last season.
Should I Draft Saquon Barkley?
According to the RotoBaller ADP, Barkley is an early-second-round pick in 12-team leagues and the fifth running back off the board. Last year, he was the RB6, averaging 16 half-point PPR fantasy points per game.
The former Penn State star had 295 rushing attempts for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Barkley also contributed 57 receptions on 76 targets for 338 receiving yards.
Barkley finished fourth among running backs in rushing yards and sixth in targets. The superstar running back scored at least 13.2 fantasy points in 70% of the games last season.
Who Should I Draft?
While Barkley had more rushing yards last season, Ekeler is the better fantasy running back. Since taking over for Melvin Gordon in 2020, the veteran has been a top-two running back in all but one season. The year he failed to finish top-two, Ekeler missed six games because of a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, Barkley had a top-six finish last season but struggled in the second half. He was the RB4, averaging 18.4 fantasy points per game and 4.7 yards per rushing attempt over the first 10 weeks. Unfortunately, the veteran was the RB11 from Week 11 through Week 17, averaging 12.9 fantasy points per game and four yards per rushing attempt.
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