X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

Biggest Fantasy Busts of 2020 - Running Back

Justin Carter breaks down the biggest fantasy football busts at running back from the 2020 NFL season. Who has seen their draft value decrease heading into 2021?

The 2020 NFL regular season is now in the rear-view mirror, so let's look back on what happened. Today, that means looking back on some busts.

While plenty of good things happened this season, some players didn't live up to expectations. We're going to take a look at some of those players and try to diagnose why 2020 wasn't their year.

Today, we'll be looking at the three biggest running back busts of the season. ADP is from FantasyPros, and the final rankings are through the first 16 weeks because we don't need to pretend to care about Week 17 now that Week 17 is over. We're also not looking at players who dealt with major injuries, like Christian McCaffrey and Saquon Barkley.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

ADP: RB3
Final Ranking: RB11

While Zeke technically finished as an RB1 on the season, things definitely didn't go the way that we all expected when we were drafting him as the overall RB3 on the season.

Elliott got off to a good start, with five rushing touchdowns and three games of 89 or more yards over the first five games. But things really fell off a cliff after that, with Elliott totaling just two touchdowns -- one of which was a Week 17 rushing score -- over the remainder of the season. His receiving production continued to decline as it did in 2019, and that issue was exacerbated by the fact that his rushing production disappeared too. Elliott averaged 65.3 rushing yards per game, a big drop from the earlier parts of his career:

Elliott's yards per game have dropped every season, but until this year, that was something you could live with. But 2020 was not something you could really live with, especially when you definitely drafted Elliott while Alvin Kamara was still on the board.

The big question here is what comes next for Elliott. Obviously, the Cowboys are stuck with him for now, as the dead cap if they moved on this year would be far too much. Financially, the most likely scenario is that we have two more seasons of Zeke in Arlington.

But his years of heavy usage seem to be taking a toll. Elliott ranked 38th in big runs and 58th in big run rate. His true yards per carry ranked 53rd among running backs. Elliott still got plenty of volume but was clearly more ineffective than ever at doing things with that volume.

Going forward, we have to assume the Cowboys look to keep Elliott fresher by giving some of his touches to someone else, whether that be Tony Pollard or a back who is not currently on the roster. Elliott still has the upside to finish as an RB1 again, but it's hard to see him breaking into that elite group again. Maybe I'm wrong -- maybe we'll look back on 2020 as a slight blip and Elliott will still have a few more seasons as an elite fantasy option. But I'm not really willing to use a first-round pick on him next season to find out.

 

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City Chiefs

ADP: RB11
Final Ranking: RB22

It wasn't so much that Edwards-Helaire was bad -- he just didn't live up to the preseason hype that saw him drafted as a low-end RB1 after Damien Williams opted out of the season.

Edwards-Helaire flew out of the gate with 25 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown. But he had just four more touchdowns over the remainder of the season and hit the 100-yard mark just once more. He saw his touches drop as the season went on, with his snap rate dropping midseason after the team acquired Le'Veon Bell.

One of the issues is that Edwards-Helaire struggled to make big plays. He was 24th in big run rate and 26th in juke rate. His true yards per carry of 4.3 ranked 28th among running backs.

I think we expected that Edwards-Helaire getting drafted in the first round was a sign of how the Chiefs would use him. But when he wasn't contributing to the team's success in the ways they expected, the Chiefs smartly added to their backfield. Edwards-Helaire will need to figure out how to evade defenders and improve his burst going forward, but he should enter 2021 as the lead back in Kansas City again. Maybe we shouldn't be out there drafting him like an RB1 this time around, but he can be a solid RB2 option. Just be wary of a preseason hype train.

 

Mark Ingram II, Baltimore Ravens

ADP: RB22
Final Ranking: RB72

Yikes.

Even after the Ravens drafted J.K. Dobbins, Ingram was being drafted as a low-end RB2 because the veteran had had some nice success playing with Lamar Jackson. But by the end of the season, Ingram was missing games as a healthy scratch as the Ravens valued keeping the RB healthy to save future cap space over whatever value he would have brought to the football field.

Ingram was okay early in the year, but it became clear when he missed time with an ankle injury that Dobbins was the best running back in Baltimore and that Gus Edwards was the better short-yardage option. Ingram saw his usage drop tremendously from then on, with five carries for five yards in Week 10 and two for two yards in Week 13. After Week 13, Ingram didn't have a touch until Week 17, but Dobbins had 160 yards in that game to Ingram's 39. And that was the end of things for Ingram.

So, what's next? He's been released by the Ravens and will probably find work somewhere in 2021, but it won't be as a lead back. As of now, it's hard to see a reason why I'd draft Ingram in 2021 fantasy drafts.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!

More Fantasy Football Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Joe Milton III43 mins ago

Traded To Cowboys
Anfernee Simons2 hours ago

Could Be Absent Again Thursday
Scoot Henderson2 hours ago

Misses Third Consecutive Game Thursday
Scottie Barnes2 hours ago

Iffy For Thursday
A.J. Puk2 hours ago

Holds On For Second Save Of The Season
Immanuel Quickley2 hours ago

Takes Thursday Off
Luis Matos2 hours ago

Goes Yard In Giants Victory
Jakob Poeltl2 hours ago

Sits Out Thursday's Game
Damian Lillard2 hours ago

May Return To Action Sooner Than Expected
Camilo Doval2 hours ago

Secures Series Sweep For San Francisco
Andrés Muñoz2 hours ago

Andres Munoz Shaky But Earns High-Stress Save
Giannis Antetokounmpo2 hours ago

Likely To Suit Up Thursday
Jeff Hoffman2 hours ago

Closes Sweep With A Save
LeBron James2 hours ago

Probable Thursday
Luke Jackson3 hours ago

Earns Third Save Of The Season
Dylan Cease3 hours ago

Keeps Padres Rolling
Marcelo Mayer3 hours ago

Goes Deep In Second Straight Game
Harrison Bader3 hours ago

Homers To Secure Twins Win
Dom Hamel3 hours ago

Tosses Five Shutout Frames In Season Debut
Michael Helman3 hours ago

Busy In Wednesday's Victory
Matt Shaw3 hours ago

Stays Hot At The Plate
Sean Burke4 hours ago

Stumbles In Second Start
Jacob Wilson4 hours ago

Extends Hitting Streak To Seven Games
Jared McCann4 hours ago

Tallies Three Helpers On Wednesday
Jackson Blake4 hours ago

Scores Twice In Victory
Artemi Panarin4 hours ago

Tallies Three Points In Overtime Victory
Andrei Svechnikov4 hours ago

Exits Early On Wednesday
Jake McCabe4 hours ago

Suffers Injury On Wednesday
Jonathan Drouin4 hours ago

Exits Wednesday's Contest
Trevor Story5 hours ago

Homers In Wednesday's Win
Hunter Goodman5 hours ago

Homers In Loss To Phillies
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.5 hours ago

Hits Two-Run Home Run Wednesday
Anthony Volpe5 hours ago

Hits Three-Run Homer Wednesday
Tommy Edman5 hours ago

Hits Two-Run Homer Wednesday
Logan O'Hoppe5 hours ago

Hits Grand Slam On Wednesday
Byron Buxton5 hours ago

Doubles, Homers, Drives In Two On Wednesday
Los Angeles Chargers12 hours ago

Chargers Sign Tight End Jordan Petaia
13 hours ago

Matthew Golden Making Pre-Draft Visit To Steelers
Cincinnati Bengals13 hours ago

Trey Hendrickson Not Looking For Short-Term Deal
Tutu Atwell14 hours ago

Rams Plan To Give Tutu Atwell A Bigger Role In 2025
Tampa Bay Buccaneers14 hours ago

Bucs Restructure Antoine Winfield's Deal To Free Up Cap Space
Jrue Holiday16 hours ago

Won't Play Against Miami
New York Jets16 hours ago

Xavier Newman-Johnson Re-Signs With New York
Al Horford16 hours ago

Sidelined Versus Heat
Kristaps Porzingis16 hours ago

Ruled Out On Wednesday
Fred VanVleet16 hours ago

Out Versus Utah
Dean Wade16 hours ago

Sidelined On Wednesday
Trae Young17 hours ago

Expected To Suit Up On Wednesday
Joel Embiid17 hours ago

Will Undergo Arthroscopic Surgery On His Left Knee
Evgeni Malkin17 hours ago

Joins Penguins For Road Trip
Filip Chytil17 hours ago

Could Miss Rest Of Season
Declan Chisholm17 hours ago

Back In Action Against Rangers
Keaton Wallace18 hours ago

Sidelined Again On Wednesday
Samuel Girard18 hours ago

Exits Avalanche Lineup Wednesday
Joel Kiviranta18 hours ago

Returning Against Blackhawks
Eeli Tolvanen18 hours ago

Misses First Game Of The Season
Jaden Schwartz18 hours ago

Unavailable Against Canucks
19 hours ago

Kyle McCord Rising Up Draft Boards?
19 hours ago

Ashton Jeanty To Raiders Continues To Gain Steam
20 hours ago

Emeka Egbuka To Fall To Round 2?
Los Angeles Rams20 hours ago

Rob Havenstein Expected To Be Ready For Training Camp
Cleveland Browns21 hours ago

Mike Hall Likely To Miss Offseason Program After Having Knee Surgery
New England Patriots22 hours ago

Christian Barmore Expected To Be Ready For Offseason Workouts
22 hours ago

Saints Expected To Visit With Quinn Ewers
Jake Moody22 hours ago

49ers To Bring In Competition For Jake Moody
Pittsburgh Steelers22 hours ago

Steelers In Play To Draft A Running Back
Green Bay Packers24 hours ago

Packers Not Ruling Out Jaire Alexander Returning
Tennessee Titans1 day ago

No. 1 Overall Pick Might Not Be For Sale
Kenny Pickett1 day ago

Browns Feel Good About QB Situation, Kenny Pickett
Cleveland Browns1 day ago

Browns Unlikely To Trade Up To No. 1 Overall For Cam Ward
Cincinnati Bengals1 day ago

Bengals Still Working On Contract Extension With Trey Hendrickson
Bennedict Mathurin1 day ago

Iffy For Wednesday
Myles Turner1 day ago

May Miss Another Game Wednesday
Al Horford1 day ago

Considered Doubtful Wednesday
Jrue Holiday1 day ago

Questionable For Wednesday's Game
Kristaps Porzingis1 day ago

Listed As Questionable For Wednesday
Evan Bouchard1 day ago

Tallies Two Assists In Victory
Jake Guentzel1 day ago

Tallies Goal, Assist In Victory
Kirill Marchenko1 day ago

Scores Hat Trick On Tuesday
Tage Thompson1 day ago

Stays Hot On The Scoresheet
Lane Hutson1 day ago

Dishes Out Three Helpers In Overtime Victory
Alex Ovechkin1 day ago

Tallies Two Points In Victory
Cameron Young1 day ago

A Player To Avoid At Valero Texas Open
Kurt Kitayama1 day ago

In Search Of Consistency At Valero Texas Open
Si Woo Kim1 day ago

Looking To Bounce Back At Valero Texas Open
Tom Hoge1 day ago

Looking To Build Off Strong Performance At The PLAYERS Championship
Matt Fitzpatrick2 days ago

Looking For Consistency At Valero Texas Open
Corey Conners2 days ago

Continues Strong Form Ahead Of Valero Texas Open
Patrick Cantlay2 days ago

Eyeing Victory At Valero Texas Open
Gary Woodland2 days ago

Showing Great Form Ahead Of Valero Texas Open
Akshay Bhatia2 days ago

Aiming For Repeat At Valero Texas Open
Alejandro Tosti2 days ago

A Volatile Choice At TPC San Antonio
Jimmy Snuggerud2 days ago

Ready For NHL Debut Tuesday
Jacob Trouba2 days ago

Set To Rejoin Ducks Lineup Tuesday
Jordan Spieth2 days ago

Needs To Find Consistency At TPC San Antonio
Jake Knapp2 days ago

Making First Appearance At Valero Texas Open
Michael Kim2 days ago

Looking To Find The Magic Again In San Antonio
Tommy Fleetwood2 days ago

Is Nearly A Must-Play At Valero Texas Open
Tony Finau2 days ago

Hoping For Better Approach Play In San Antonio
Eric Cole2 days ago

Trending In Right Direction Ahead Of Valero
Sam Stevens3 days ago

Enjoys Nice Result In Houston
PGA3 days ago

J.T. Poston Seeks To Contend At Valero Texas Open
Denny McCarthy3 days ago

Keeps Making Cuts But Needs To Make More Putts
Brian Harman3 days ago

Off To A Subpar 2025 So Far
Ryan Preece3 days ago

Has Three Straight Top-10 Finishes For First Time In His Career
NASCAR3 days ago

Bubba Wallace After Third-Place Finish At Martinsville: "What a Great Day"
Todd Gilliland3 days ago

Has Mistake-Free Day At Martinsville, Grabs Another Top-10 Finish
Brandon Moreno3 days ago

Wins Back-To-Back Fights
Steve Erceg3 days ago

Losses Third Consecutive Fight
Drew Dober3 days ago

Gets Knocked Out At UFC Mexico City
Manuel Torres3 days ago

Gets Back In The Win Column
Harry Hall3 days ago

Bounces Back In Houston Last Week
CJ Vergara3 days ago

Gets Submitted
Édgar Cháirez3 days ago

Edgar Chairez Gets Submission Win At UFC Mexico City
Vince Morales3 days ago

Drops Decision At UFC Mexico City
Raul Rosas Jr.3 days ago

Gets Decision Win At UFC Mexico City
Saimon Oliveira3 days ago

Still Winless In The UFC
David Martinez3 days ago

Wins His UFC Debut
Kevin Borjas3 days ago

Earns His First UFC Win
Ronaldo Rodríguez3 days ago

Ronaldo Rodriguez Suffers His First UFC Loss
Christopher Bell3 days ago

Powers His Way To A Second-Place Finish At Martinsville
Chase Elliott3 days ago

Strong Martinsville Performance Ends With A Top-Five Finish
Kyle Larson3 days ago

Collects A Top-Five Finish At Martinsville
William Byron3 days ago

Places 22nd After Struggles At Martinsville
Joey Logano3 days ago

Claims His First 2025 Top-10 Finish After Up-And-Down Performance
Tyler Reddick3 days ago

Fails To Place In The Top 10 At Martinsville
Denny Hamlin3 days ago

Silences Doubters After Crew-Chief Change
Ty Gibbs3 days ago

Earns Best 2025 Finish At Martinsville Despite Failing Cool Suit
Ross Chastain3 days ago

Has A Great Day At Martinsville
Chase Briscoe3 days ago

Has Solid Run At Martinsville
Erik Jones3 days ago

Disqualified At Martinsville For Weight Violation
Josh Berry4 days ago

Has Top-10 Upside At Martinsville
Joey Logano4 days ago

Don't Overlook Joey Logano This Weekend
Ryan Preece4 days ago

Could Get First Three-Race Top-10 Streak Of His Career
Chase Elliott4 days ago

Looking To Continue Great Runs At Martinsville
Christopher Bell4 days ago

Wins Pole At Martinsville, But Can He Stay Up There?
Ryan Blaney4 days ago

Fast In Practice But Skeptical About Car
Denny Hamlin4 days ago

New Crew Chief Has Terrible Martinsville Record
Steve Erceg6 days ago

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Brandon Moreno6 days ago

A Favorite At UFC Mexico City
Manuel Torres6 days ago

Set For Co-Main Event
Drew Dober6 days ago

An Underdog At UFC Mexico City
Joe Pyfer6 days ago

Looks To Win Back-To-Back Fights
Kelvin Gastelum6 days ago

Set For Middleweight Matchup
Vince Morales6 days ago

In Dire Need Of Victory
Raul Rosas Jr.6 days ago

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Saimon Oliveira6 days ago

Looks For His First UFC Win
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF