While managed league drafts will undoubtedly look different than best ball drafts, the fact remains wide receivers are being elevated ahead of running backs across the board in fantasy football.
This devaluation of what has historically been fantasy’s most valuable position presents managers with opportunities later in drafts. Here are three of my favorite sleepers at the RB position.
Running Back Fantasy Football Sleepers
The term “sleeper” stems from a time when there were actually players drafted that many fantasy managers hadn’t heard of. In the information era (now), every manager in your league knows who every player is.
Every player listed below is someone you’ve heard of. So, if your first thought is, “he’s not a sleeper,” that may technically be true. Think of these sleepers more as players going lower than I think they should. With that in mind, let’s get to the RB sleepers.
Zack Moss, Cincinnati Bengals (ADP: RB26)
Is Zack Moss technically a sleeper? Probably not. Are fantasy managers sleeping on him? I think so.
We got a glimpse of Moss in a lead-back role last season. He averaged a very respectable 4.7 yards per touch and proved capable of handling significant volume when necessary. In six games with Jonathan Taylor out, Moss averaged 14.0 fantasy points per game. And, that doesn’t include his 33.5-point effort in Taylor’s first game back in Week 5 when Moss was still the primary back.
There appears to be more excitement surrounding Chase Brown, likely because he had a couple of nice splash plays in limited action last season. But Brown barely played. It was still Joe Mixon’s backfield, and it’s not as if Mixon was efficient.
Last season, Mixon averaged 4.0 yards per carry, saw a 10.8% target share, and was outside the top 30-35 in most efficiency metrics. He was pretty much just a guy who ate volume. Efficiency-wise, Moss doesn’t look much different.
I have Moss way ahead of consensus at RB19, and I stand by that. Unless something changes, I plan to have Moss on as many teams as possible this year.
Devin Singletary, New York Giants (ADP: RB33)
Let’s not mistake Devin Singletary for a player with an elite upside. There’s no universe where Singletary becomes an RB1, but this is a starting NFL running back whose only real competition is a fifth-round rookie.
I understand the New York Giants’ offense isn’t overly exciting, but volume is king, especially at the running back position. Why exactly does the fantasy community not think Singletary, a proven producer, can be at least a high RB3?
Last year, Singletary played over 70% of the snaps six times. He did it eight times the year before in Buffalo.
MORE: 6 Fantasy Football Breakouts to Target in 2024
Despite opening the season as a clear backup to Dameon Pierce, Singletary was able to completely take the RB1 job by the second half of the season.
From Week 9 through the end of last season, Singletary averaged 13.4 fantasy points per game — those are rock-solid RB2 numbers. I’ve got Singletary up at RB27, and even that feels low. If Singletary can merely replicate that level of production this season on the Giants, he will be well worth his cost in fantasy drafts.
Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams (ADP: RB35)
This is an interesting one because I’m not actually ahead of consensus in my ranking of Blake Corum, where I have him as my RB36. Nevertheless, fantasy managers should be aggressively trying to draft the Los Angeles Rams’ rookie RB.
Make no mistake about it: Kyren Williams is the RB1 on this team. Even if Corum sees more work than Sean McVay backup running backs typically see, there’s almost no chance he has standalone value. The reason we are drafting Corum is because of the injury-contingent upside.
McVay has never used a committee. Going back to the Todd Gurley era, whoever the Rams use as their lead back plays all three downs. If they’re willing to give guys like C.J. Anderson, Cam Akers, Darrell Henderson, and Sony Michel three-down workloads, the Rams will do it with Corum as well if something happens to Williams. That is why we want Corum on our rosters.
If Williams misses time, not only could we see Corum as a potential RB1, but if he performs well, there’s no guarantee he will lose his job to Williams upon his return. Remember, Williams was once a fifth-round pick. The team has little allegiance to him due to the capital invested. And even if Williams does get his job back, if we get four weeks of an RB2 from Corum, that is well worth his cost in fantasy drafts.