Off-Season Reflections: Running Back Fallers

By James Simpson

Sometimes, a player can simply be dealt a bad hand. Whether a veteran returns to oust them, a rookie replacement is drafted or the coaches want to ‘move in a different direction,’ touches are not guaranteed for most running backs in the NFL. The players I am focusing on in this piece experienced an ADP fall in the off-season due to changes around them. Were the changes made because they lacked the talent? Was someone else brought in to challenge them or take over the job? How do the coaches plan to use these players? I took a player’s March ADP rank and compared it to August – these were the running backs who fell the furthest.

Jerick McKinnon, RB MIN
March: 69, August: 100 (-31)

He barely maintained his spot in the top 100 as the season kicked off, but I would not be at all surprised if he continues to fall further throughout the season. It is extremely difficult to make a fantasy impression if you are held out of the end zone all year, so his lack of touchdowns didn’t do an impressive 2014 season justice. Matt Asiata was stealing the touchdowns then and Adrian Peterson is stealing the full workload now. McKinnon’s fall is justified – players who are sitting on the bench should not be worth as much as others who are scoring the points, but I think now is a great opportunity to buy him. He is a forgotten man who could easily be back on owner’s minds with a couple of ‘splash’ plays.

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