Finding undervalued players is how you win your fantasy football draft. It allows you to maximize your roster building because it allows you to take another player, knowing you are going to get a player with excellent value later in the draft. These are six running backs that are being undervalued by the fantasy football community.
Aaron Jones, GB ADP 13
Aaron Jones is currently being drafted as the RB9 at 10th overall. Is being drafted in the first round really undervaluing Jones? Yes. After finishing as the RB5 in 2020 and the RB2 in 2019, I’m confused as to why Jones is going all the way at RB9. Sure, he’s going to have split some carries with AJ Dillon but Alvin Kamara has spent years splitting carries with a second running back and we don’t discount him this much.
Jones is a really good player in an offense that is going to score a lot of points. He has a proven track record of success in the offense and gets Aaron Rodgers back for another season. And he’s going after Jonathan Taylor in ADP 😂 . He’s currently being drafted below his floor if he plays 17 healthy games. Let’s get it together. Jones deserves to be in same tier as Ezekial Elliott, Saquon Barkley, and Alvin Kamara.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, KC ADP 24
CEH burned a lot of people last year. I get it. Everything was fine until Le’Veon Bell showed up and ruined things for Edwards-Helaire last season. CEH was averaging 21.3 touches per game before Bell showed up and sank those touches down to 12.7 per game.
Bell is gone and the Chiefs didn’t really replace him. I think it’s tough to envision Edward-Helaire earning 21 touches per game again next season but 17-18 it very reasonable. And I’ll take 17-18 touches per game in the Kansas City offense any day of the week. CEH has league winner potential and should be going in the late teens/early 20s.
Joe Mixon, CIN ADP 21
Joe Mixon had 23.3 touches per game last season with Giovanni Bernard. Now Giovanni Bernard is gone and the Cincinnati offense should take a step forward. The massive workload that Mixon is set to receive combined with year 2 of Joe Burrow should make fantasy owners jump at the opportunity to draft Joe Mixon.
So why aren’t they? Is it the injury risk? Mixon has played more games than Dalvin Cook since they both came in the league in 2017 and Cook is currently going as a top 3 pick. Prior to last season, Mixon put together back to back season with 1,400 scrimmage yards and 8+ touchdowns. He finished as the RB13 in 2019 and the RB10 in 2018. So we’re drafting Mixon, who is in line for the most work in the best offense of his career, at his floor. Mixon is a borderline top 10 RB in fantasy. Draft him as such.
Chris Carson, SEA ADP 36:
Chris Carson finished as an RB1 or better 50% of the time last season. You can currently draft him as the RB20. The injury risk is weighing Carson’s stock down but he only missed 3 games in 2018 and 2019 before missing 4 last season. Outside of a hip fracture in late 2019, Carson hasn’t had any major structural injuries. No tears and no other fractures.
Seattle just gave Carson a new two-year deal. They’re committed to him. He plays in a high scoring offense that made some improvements along the offensive line as well. You want running backs in high scoring offenses and the Seahawks are just that. Buy Carson at his discount as the RB20 right now and enjoy the top 10 play he can give you.
Darrell Henderson, LAR ADP 65
When Cam Akers went down a couple of weeks ago I truly expected Henderson to jump into the top 20 running backs. Sean McVay has made it clear that the Rams aren’t interested in bringing in a veteran running back to compete with Henderson. So Henderson is now the lead back, with little competition, in an offense that has had at least 17 rushing touchdowns every season with Sean McVay as the head coach. Henderson has league winner potential in the middle of the draft. This is a no-brainer.
Chase Edmonds, ARI ADP 66:
Chase Edmonds is the deeper guy on this list after being stuck behind Kenyan Drake for parts of last season. Arizona let Drake walk and replaced him late in free agency with James Conner, who they made a small $2M investment in. Yet, Conner has scared fantasy owners off Edmonds.
Edmonds is definitely takes a bit of projecting. We haven’t seen him put up large fantasy numbers, especially on the ground game. He did however finish as a RB2 or better 43% of the time, despite averaging 9.4 touches per game last season. It sounds like Arizona is going to give Edmonds the first crack at the starting job next season. Double digit touches should be enough to edge Edmonds into RB2 consideration each week. You can draft him now as the RB26. So there’s built in equity there.