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
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Stats & Leaders
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
24x7 News and Alerts

Fantasy Football Rookie Spotlight: Audric Estimé

We've heard the phrase running backs don't matter before. That's evident in the real-life NFL Draft, with only 12 running backs going in the first round since 2014. That list includes Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Josh Jacobs, Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley, Saquon Barkley, Sony Michel, Leonard Fournette, Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott, Najee Harris, Bijan Robinson, and Jahmyr Gibbs. Four out of the 12 running backs were drafted before 2020.

When we filter by Day 1 and 2 picks, 49 running backs went in the first three rounds compared to 59 wide receivers since 2014. While it doesn't seem like a drastic difference, the NFL replaces running backs at a cheaper cost. That's surprising because five of the top 25 players in fantasy points per game were receivers in their rookie season. Rookie running backs led the list, accounting for 80 percent of the highest PPR/G in Year 1 among backs drafted in the first three rounds.

In 2024, the rookie receivers highlighted the class, with variations among the top running backs beyond Jonathon Brooks and Trey Benson. Several rookie running backs fell beyond their expected draft capital based on mock drafts. We'll examine one of the youngest running backs in the 2024 class that landed in a murky running back room.

 

College Production

The value of the running back position remains low, as one of the more highly touted running backs goes in the fifth round to the Broncos. Audric Estime is one of the youngest running backs in the class, posting a 40 percent Running Back Dominator as a junior with a career average of 36 percent. Estimé lacked the receiving profile with a five percent receiving yardage market share in consecutive seasons. 

Based on Estimé's production profile and draft capital, the top comparisons via the RotoViz Box Score Scout were Israel Abanikanda, Alexander Mattison, Wayne Gallman, and Benny Snell. While that's not inspiring, Estimé falls into the backup running back range with some upside. Estimé went about 50 picks behind his projected draft capital of pick 109, though it's within a round or so of other mock drafts.

He averaged the third-highest yards after contact per attempt (YAC/Att) at 4.27 behind Tyrone Tracy Jr. (4.44) and Jaylen Wright (4.35). Estimé showed average elusiveness and explosiveness, evidenced by his 30.6 percent missed tackles forced per attempt (MTF/Att) and 44.1 percent breakaway rush rate. Though he may not have the high-end straight-line speed, he rocks an Explosion Score in the 88th percentile. That aligns with the breakaway rush rate, ranking 14th in the 2024 running back class.

 

Rookie Year Situation

The Broncos invested heavily in offensive players with Bo Nix at quarterback in the first, Troy Franklin in the fourth, Estimé in the fifth, and Devaughn Vele in the seventh out of their seven total selections. That makes sense with Sean Payton as head coach since we're used to Payton's teams having high-scoring offenses. 

Javonte Williams is under contract through 2024, and an unrestricted free agent in 2025. They also have Samaje Perine through 2025, and the exciting sophomore back in Jaleel McLaughlin through 2026. The Broncos threw to their running backs at the second-highest rate with 8.8 targets per game behind the Jets at 9.1. For context, that's the third-most targets per game to the running back position over the past three seasons.

We'll see if that trend continues into 2024, but it seems likely because the Broncos averaged 8.1 targets per game (2022) to the running backs before Payton took over as head coach. It's unsurprising to see Payton's offenses targeting their running backs at a high rate throughout his coaching career. Nix threw 66.8 percent of his passes in the short areas of the field and behind the line of scrimmage at Oregon. That bodes well for the running backs, though Estimé lacked the receiving profile of Williams and McLaughlin.

 

Fantasy Football Outlook

It's a lukewarm landing spot for Estimé, especially if the running back usage remains the same. Last season, Williams averaged a 50 percent snap share, with a 51 percent rush share and a 12 percent target share. Perine mixed in on 34 percent of the snaps with a 12 percent target share, with McLaughlin mixing in for an 18 percent snap share and eight percent target share. 

It could be the Broncos being cautious with Williams returning from his injury last season, or how they prefer to deploy their backfield usage. Estimé is a young running back, with good size to break tackles and longer rushing attempts. He came in as RB9 on my spreadsheet but went off the real-life NFL Draft board as RB12 behind two questionable ones in Isaac Guerendo and Sione Vaki. Estimé is a talented running back worth targeting in the third round of rookie drafts, depending on your dynasty team's needs, and a late-round handcuff back in redraft leagues. 



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 NFL Rookie Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Stats & Leaders
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Adrian Yanez21 mins ago

Falls Short At UFC Tampa
Patrick Mahomes22 mins ago

Picks Up Potential High-Ankle Sprain In Win
Daniel Marcos24 mins ago

Remains Undefeated After UFC Tampa
Vitor Petrino27 mins ago

Gets Finished Again At UFC Tampa
Dustin Jacoby28 mins ago

Pulls Off Stunning Knockout At UFC Tampa
Billy Quarantillo31 mins ago

Gets KO'd At UFC Tampa
Sam LaPorta32 mins ago

Busy In Week 15 Loss
Cub Swanson33 mins ago

Pulls Off Upset At UFC Tampa
Mike Evans34 mins ago

Posts Outstanding Performance In Week 15
Jahmyr Gibbs46 mins ago

Scores Two Touchdowns In Week 15
Bucky Irving52 mins ago

Rushes For Over 100 Yards
Amon-Ra St. Brown54 mins ago

Catches Long TD In Big Outing
Baker Mayfield1 hour ago

Throws Four Touchdowns In Week 15
Jared Goff1 hour ago

Has Huge Fantasy Night In Losing Effort
Jack Flaherty1 hour ago

Viewed As "Fallback" Option For Baltimore
Alec Pierce3 hours ago

Done For The Remainder Of Week 15
Saquon Barkley3 hours ago

Returns On Sunday
Jesper Wallstedt3 hours ago

Starts For Wild Sunday
Saquon Barkley3 hours ago

Remains On The Sidelines Versus Pittsburgh
Davante Adams3 hours ago

Totals 198 Yards With Two Scores On Sunday
Artemi Panarin4 hours ago

Out On Sunday
Aaron Rodgers4 hours ago

Throws Three Scores, Eclipses 300 Total Yards In Victory
Scott Perunovich4 hours ago

Back For Blues Sunday
Patrick Mahomes4 hours ago

"Week-To-Week"
Brandon Saad4 hours ago

Re-Enters Blues Lineup Sunday
Anthony Stolarz4 hours ago

Placed On Injured Reserve
Rashod Bateman4 hours ago

Scores Twice, Tallies 80 Yards On Sunday
Bo Horvat4 hours ago

Battling A Lower-Body Injury
Lamar Jackson4 hours ago

Scores Five Times, Totals Over 300 Yards In Victory
Chase Brown4 hours ago

Has Another Impressive Showing In Week 15
Patrick Mahomes5 hours ago

Has Sore Ankle, Avoids Fracture
Malik Nabers5 hours ago

Shines In Week 15
Joe Burrow5 hours ago

Has Another Three-Touchdown Game
Terry McLaurin5 hours ago

Catches Seven Passes, Scores Twice In Victory
LeBron James5 hours ago

Might Return On Sunday Night
Deandre Ayton5 hours ago

Won't Play On Sunday Night
Scottie Barnes5 hours ago

Goes Through A "Light Workout" On Sunday
Jared McCain24 hours ago

Out Indefinitely
De'Anthony Melton1 day ago

On The Move To Brooklyn
Dennis Schröder1 day ago

Dennis Schroder Heading To Golden State
Tyler Toffoli1 day ago

In Danger Of Missing Saturday's Game
SJ1 day ago

Will Smith Back In Sharks Lineup Saturday
Dustin Wolf1 day ago

Takes On Prolific Panthers Saturday
Andrei Kuzmenko1 day ago

Will Not Play On Saturday
Jesús Luzardo1 day ago

Cubs Showing Interest In Jesus Luzardo
Kevin Lankinen1 day ago

Unavailable On Saturday
Elias Lindholm1 day ago

Good To Go Saturday
Cam Fowler1 day ago

Blues Pick Up Cam Fowler In Trade With Ducks
Jalen Johnson1 day ago

Will Suit Up For Saturday's Game
Bogdan Bogdanovic1 day ago

Playing Against Milwaukee
Trae Young1 day ago

Available On Saturday
Khris Middleton1 day ago

Active Versus Atlanta
Giannis Antetokounmpo1 day ago

Good To Go Against Atlanta
Kevin Huerter1 day ago

Suffers Another Shoulder Injury
1 day ago

Pistons Waiving Paul Reed
Paolo Banchero1 day ago

Spotted Shooting On Saturday
Nolan Arenado1 day ago

Astros Serious About Trading For Nolan Arenado
Jeffrey Springs1 day ago

A's Acquire Jeffrey Springs From Rays
Samuel Ersson1 day ago

Faces Wild On Saturday
Marc-Andre Fleury1 day ago

In Wild Net For Saturday's Matchup
Linus Ullmark1 day ago

Records 10th Career Shutout
Nick Jensen1 day ago

Continues Prolific Month In Friday's Win
Shane Pinto2 days ago

Ends Dry Spell With Two-Goal Effort
Evan Bouchard2 days ago

A Game-Time Call On Saturday
Donovan Clingan2 days ago

Returning On Friday
Bradley Beal2 days ago

Downgraded To Out
Jamal Murray2 days ago

Upgraded To Available
Christian Braun2 days ago

To Play On Friday
Aaron Gordon2 days ago

Available On Friday
Joel Embiid2 days ago

Won't Return On Friday
Bradley Beal2 days ago

Now Questionable Versus Utah
Christian Walker2 days ago

Seattle Would "Love" To Sign Christian Walker
Carson Kelly2 days ago

Agrees To Two-Year Contract With Cubs
Houston Astros2 days ago

Cam Smith Traded To Houston
Hayden Wesneski2 days ago

Shipped To Houston
Alec Martinez2 days ago

Added To Injured Reserve
Anthony Stolarz2 days ago

Day-To-Day With A Lower-Body Injury
Isaac Paredes2 days ago

Shipped To Houston
Kyle Tucker2 days ago

Cubs Acquire Kyle Tucker From The Astros
Kyle Tucker2 days ago

Cubs Close To Acquiring Kyle Tucker From The Astros
Nestor Cortes2 days ago

Traded To The Brewers
Adrian Yanez2 days ago

An Underdog At UFC Tampa
Daniel Marcos2 days ago

Looks To Remain Undefeated At UFC Tampa
Vitor Petrino2 days ago

Looks To Return To Win Column At UFC Tampa
Dustin Jacoby2 days ago

A Big Underdog At UFC Tampa
Cub Swanson2 days ago

Searching For 30th Career Win At UFC Tampa
Billy Quarantillo2 days ago

Faces A Legend At UFC Tampa
Devin Williams2 days ago

Traded To The Yankees
Joaquin Buckley2 days ago

Looks For His Sixth Win In A Row
Colby Covington2 days ago

Looks To Get Back In The Win Column
Bruno Silva2 days ago

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Manel Kape2 days ago

A Favorite At UFC Tampa
Tuco Tokkos2 days ago

Looks For His First UFC Win
Navajo Stirling2 days ago

Set To Make His UFC Debut
Kyle Bradish3 days ago

Begins Throwing Program
Nolan Arenado3 days ago

Would Approve Of Trade To The Bronx
Francisco Lindor3 days ago

Back Injury In The Rearview Mirror
Rafael Devers3 days ago

Red Sox Prepared To Keep Rafael Devers At Third Base
Cody Bellinger3 days ago

Yankees Targeting Cody Bellinger
Pete Alonso3 days ago

Mets Still Trying To Bring Back Pete Alonso
Corbin Burnes3 days ago

Giants The Favorites To Land Corbin Burnes
Brenton Doyle4 days ago

Rockies Plan To Hit Brenton Doyle At Leadoff

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP