Tony Jones Jr. (RB, NO) - 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Values

BALLER MOVE: Target Around ~170 Overall

CURRENT ADP: ~210

ANALYSIS: We're talking league-winning upside here, so Tony Jones Jr. should be near the top of anybody's list. Despite being an undrafted free agent, Jones was a relatively productive runner at Notre Dame, recording 857 yards on 6.0 yards per carry during his final season, while also catching 15 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. While those may not seem like eye-popping numbers, Jones Jr. was sharing carries with quarterback Ian Book, who ran the ball 112 times during that season.

Despite not having game-breaking speed, Jones Jr. has good feet and strong balance, which helps him to break tackles, and he can finish against contact and displays strong hands, which makes him an asset in the passing game. All of that is important considering the role he figures to play with the Saints. Jones Jr. got more carries than Latavius Murray with the first-team offense during the preseason, and Sean Payton even said in an ESPN interview that he sees Jones Jr. as the number two back behind Alvin Kamara.

That's a great place to be considering the Saints were fifth in the league in rushing attempts last year and Murray received 146 carries or 31.2% of the team's total carries. If Jones has indeed moved into the number two role, he should immediately see a good number of carries each game, plus potential goal-line work and the ability to be an RB2 if anything were to happen to Kamara. If you're looking to take a flier in the later round on a running back, or want to add depth to your roster, consider grabbing Jones.

UPDATE 9/7: Latavius Murray has been officially released by the Saints, so the fantasy stock and potential fantasy value is even higher now for Tony Jones Jr.

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