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After diving deep into all 32 NFL teams, our fantasy football analysts are ready to answer an important question:
Who is the best fantasy football running back value pick in 2023?
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Best Running Back Value for Fantasy Football: Tony Pollard
I am waiting to see how this implodes on me, but I believe Tony Pollard in the second round is the easiest pick to make in fantasy this season regardless of position.
That’s because I believe he should be a first-round pick.
We finally have everything we have asked for with Pollard and it feels like we are playing things cautiously.
Pollard’s touches and yardage have now gone up from the season prior in all four years of his career. With 232 touches last season, there is still room for that streak to continue with the Cowboys releasing Ezekiel Elliott.
Pollard has just 13 career games reaching an arbitrary 15 touches, but in those games has averaged 19.6 PPR points and 112.6 yards from scrimmage per game with 13 total touchdowns.
In the three games that he has played without Elliott active, Pollard has scored 31.2, 33.7, and 21.8 PPR points.
Even after Elliott returned last season and Pollard shared duties while operating as the lead back, Pollard still averaged 16.3 touches per game. That is a realistic ballpark to anticipate for Pollard this season as a floor even if Dallas does add a back or Malik Davis or Rico Dowdle has a true role. The ceiling can be much greater.
Best Running Back Value for Fantasy Football: Tyjae Spears
Tyjae Spears is my favorite RB and it isn't even close.
His tape was one of my favorites over the last few years as he plays bigger than his size, is incredibly elusive, and is even a danger in the red zone as he scored 19 rushing touchdowns last year.
He is getting dinged because of a knee injury that may limit his life in the league but shouldn't be a factor in 2023.
He is behind one of the great workhorse backs of our time in Derrick Henry, but my expectation is Spears will have a role from day one and be the clear best option to replace Henry should he miss time.
Best Running Back Value for Fantasy Football: Aaron Jones
Aaron Jones is my favorite fantasy football running back option this season. The biggest reason for this is his body of work mixed with value.
In each of the past four seasons, Jones has finished as a top-12 running back. Headed into drafts this summer, Jones is projected as the 16th running back coming off the board.
While last season was the first time in those four seasons that Jones failed to score ten total touchdowns, he averaged more than five yards per rushing attempt.
The yards per rush attempt is far from an outlier as the running back has averaged more than five yards in four of his six seasons.
Rushing isn’t the only dynamic in Jones’ games as the Packers have heavily relied on him in the passing game.
This past season, Jones had a career high in targets, catches, and receiving yards. What is even more impressive is his reliability in the passing game. Over the past two seasons, Jones has caught 80.9% of his targets.
In his first season as the Packers starting quarterback, Jordan Love will need someone to lean on. Jones is that player and this is why he is a tremendous value.
Best Running Back Value for Fantasy Football: James Cook
James Cook only had 110 touches in his rookie season, but he was very efficient averaging 6.2 yards per touch.
The Bills added Damien Harris and Latavius Murray, who are early down grinders. That signals Cook will be used as the third down back.
Last season, only 24 of 125 routes Cook ran were on third down as Devin Singletary tripled his usage on third downs.
With the pass catching role solidified, Cook provides solid value at his current ADP, however, he provides upside if he handles a bulk of the carries in a Bills offense.
His ADP is relatively unchanged from his rookie season while his floor is solidified and his ceiling is much higher.
Best Running Back Value for Fantasy Football: Joe Mixon
Joe Mixon finished 2022 as the RB8 in per-game scoring, rushing for 814 yards and seven touchdowns while adding a 60-441-2 line through the air.
Looking under the hood, though, reveals things were not as great as those numbers make it appear since Mixon’s final numbers were inflated by a five-touchdown game against the Panthers.
If Week 9 were removed from the equation for every player, Mixon would have finished as the RB18 in per-game scoring. It was that large a factor in his yearly output.
That game was the only time he topped 18 half-PPR points all season.
That said, Mixon was a reliable RB2 performer in PPR and half-PPR leagues thanks to his catch totals. The spike weeks just were not there outside of the massive game against Carolina.
Also, those spike weeks were not there because Mixon went way under his expected touchdown total given his usage last season.
Given the Bengals offense once again projects to be good, he could build on his nine total touchdowns from a year ago, raising his ceiling.
Mixon is not being drafted as a high-volume RB1 on a good offense, but with little real competition for carries now that Samaje Perine is in Denver, that is exactly what he is.
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