Five Sleeper Running Backs That Could Be This Year’s James Robinson
The 2021 fantasy football season had its fair share of surprises. One of those being James Robinson. Robinson was an UDFA who became a star for the Jaguars. He was just as equally disrespected in fantasy drafts, as he went undrafted in most if not all rookie drafts. Could this year’s running back class hold another hidden gem? I’ll give you a list of five names to keep and eye out for on draft day.
CJ Marable Coastal Carolina 5-10″ 200 pounds 24 y/o
Marable is a great pass catching back that had back to back 30 reception season at Coastal Carolina. His Junior and Senior year he produced 523 yards receiving on 69 receptions. He is no slouch in the run game either, in his three years at Coastal Carolina he produced 2691 yards on 491 attempts. In 2020 he lead the sunbelt in touchdowns rushing(12), touchdowns(19) and touchdowns from scrimmage(19).
As we can see he had a nose for the end-zone as well, this is further shown by his career total of 41. He posted a college dominator rating of 29.9%(67th percentile) and a college target share percentage of 14.6%(93rd percentile). Both fairly impressive numbers. He has the ability to make defenders miss in multiple ways though power and shiftiness, efficiently uses his body movements. He also shows decent speed and vision, he can explode into the second level in the blink of an eye. Marable has all the abilities to possible develop into a lead back in the NFL so his ceiling could be very high, with a floor like JD Mckissic or Philip Lindsey. Currently Marable is going undrafted in rookie drafts and should be a guy to target after the draft off waivers or with a late round pick if you are in need of running back help.
Greg McCrae- UCF 5-10″ 175 pounds 23 y/o
McCrae is all about that speed! At UCF he produced 2617 yards on 405 attempts rushing, while adding 291 yards on 33 receptions. In 2020 he ranked 3rd in the American with 758 yards rushing and 5th with 10 touchdowns. Although being slightly undersized he carved out a nice role in the offense, He has very good vision and agility to his game. He makes it a point to get out in space and use his speed to his advantage. His burst through the first two levels allows him to out run many players at the college level, this may not work at the NFL level however.
He has a capped ceiling for fantasy due to fact he will most likely never become a lead back in the NFL. However a Nyheim Hines or Chase Edmonds type role could help him be a vibale plug in from time to time. He currently is going undrafted in rookie drafts and could be someone you may want to target off the wavier wire post draft!
Chris Evans – Michigan 5-11″ 219 pounds 23 y/o
First of all no this is not Captain America, but he could save your fantasy team! At Michigan Evans did not produce at high level, only totaling 1795 yards on 320 attempts, while adding 479 yards receiving on 49 receptions. If you turn on the tape though you can see he has an it factor to his game. He has a very good upper body shimmy that freezes defenders. To go along with this he has some nice burst and long speed. His power is no slouch ether as he has enough to run over and trough defenders. Evans has little to no extra movement in his running style and is very decisive in picking run lanes. Add this to his ability to be effective in the passing game and he starts sounding like a serious sleeper candidate. His style reminds me a little bit of a Joe Mixon style back, highly unlikely that he reaches that ceiling but he has the tools to become a feature back in the NFL. He is again being undrafted and is worth a shot after the draft in the first round of waivers.
Stevie Scott – Indiana 6-2″ 231 pounds 20 y/o
While at Indiana he has produced 2543 yards on 562 carries. In 2020 he was second in the BigTen in touchdowns from scrimmage(10), plays from scrimmage(169), rushing touchdowns(10) and rush attempts(156). Scott is a bruiser he is big strong and can handle a full work load. He has some receiving ability however hw will most likely not get used on downs like that in the NFL.
He has decent speed for his size, he may struggle to break away at the next level. On film he shows a good burst though, he can use this to pick up an easy 5 yards on almost every play. He makes one cut and gets north and south quickly with this burst. I would not want to be the player he’s barreling down on. He has a fairly low floor as he could be nothing more then power back who gets hardly used, however he could have RB2-3 type numbers if he finds himself in a committee that he is the lead back of. This could be a nice wavier add post rookie draft.
Deon Jackson- Duke 6-0″ 215 pounds 22 y/o
Jackson was able to produce 2267 yards on 526 attempts in his four years at Duke, while adding 534 yards on 61 receptions. He is a very versatile back who can find a role in a committee style back field in the NFL. He has good speed and burst through the first and second level, that paired with his decisiveness allows him to produce some nice chunk plays. Jackson displays good hands and receiving ability, paired with his kick returning skills he is a nightmare in space. His ceiling at the NFL level is Nyheim Hines or Giovani Bernard, a good receiving back who can set in from time to time to handle a large rushing load.
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