Top-of-the-draft running backs are easy to fall in love with. Players like Todd Gurley, Adrian Peterson, and Le'Veon Bell will all be chosen within the top two rounds of this year’s fantasy football draft. Those are the “gimmies” and the players you already know will most likely be an RB1. As the draft goes on, the picking gets slim and names start to blend together.
Those mid-round running back picks can be the ones that make your team better than the rest. Just ask the person who drafted Devonta Freeman in the ninth round last year. Listed below are names of two running backs certain to be overlooked, but they just might be ready to breakout and help your chances of winning your league.
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Mid-Round Running Backs Targets
Let’s just start right here with this third-year running back on the Oakland Raiders. Murray has that type of talent that’s waiting to bust out. He stands at a tall 6’3’’ and a robust 225 pounds to dish out the punishment. Not only can he take a lick, but he is fast and has that football speed that is hard to quantify. However, the numbers that we can quantify are pretty solid.
Last season Murray ran for 1,066 yards and six touchdowns at 3.85 yards-per-carry. His receiving was also above average with 41 receptions for 232 yards. The lack of depth at running back on the Raiders is a strong selling point for this argument as well. Backup running back Taiwan Jones has only 43 career rushing attempts in five years in the NFL, and the third string running back is Deandre Washington, a fifth round pick from Texas Tech in this year’s draft.
Murray, according to most rankings, is slated to be drafted in the middle of the sixth round. He will get points on the ground or in the passing game. PPR format owners should be salivating over this type of player. He is considered an RB2 to begin with, but if he continues to grow into that dominant third-year back some people are expecting him to be, look for his numbers to shoot way up.
He has potential for 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns with 50-60 receptions and a few receiving touchdowns sprinkled in. This guy has RB1 potential written all over him.
This young running back is less known than Murray. In fact, his potential is quite interesting. Interesting because last season he and Devonta Freeman were ranked at a similar level. What most people don’t remember is that right out of the 2015 gate, Coleman was looking like the better running back of the two.
In his first game as a pro against the Eagles, Coleman was the shining back, rushing 20 times for 80 yards. Some easy math tells us he gained four yards per carry. Freeman only had 10 carries for a lousy 18 yards at 1.8 yards per carry. In his second game against the Giants, Coleman again earned a bulk of the load at the beginning of the game and got off to a fast nine carries for 32 yards and one touchdown. An injury early in that game sidelined Coleman for the next two weeks, which Freeman took drastic advantage of. By the time Coleman came back, his starting job was a far after-thought as Freeman ripped up stat sheets.
When Freeman was sidelined with an injury of his own in Week 12 against the Vikings, Coleman filled in beautifully with an 18-carry, 110-yard effort posting 6.1 yards-per-carry. It’s no doubt that the talent and potential is there. Whenever he was given the chance to excel, Coleman flourished. This year Freeman is ranked as a late first round pick. Coleman is ranked to go somewhere in the 10th or 11th round.
Some might view Freeman as a clear-cut RB1, but he will have Coleman breathing down his neck and potentially stealing a lot of carries. If Freeman were to go down with a slight injury or ailment, look for the second-year running back to step up with some big numbers similar to what Freeman did last year when he was given the chance.
Draft Coleman in the 10th or 11th round of your draft as a fourth or fifth running back and keep him on your bench behind your big guns for now. Watch closely as the beginning of the season unfolds and be patient. It’s breakout potential city… and Tevin Coleman is the mayor.
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