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The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the most powerful offenses in football and everyone seems to be rushing to join Chip Kelly‘s high-powered offense. The most recent addition to the team was RB Darren Sproles and he has drawn some serious buzz in the fantasy football world.
Positives:
Sproles is an amazing receiver out of the backfield. He has averaged 77.3 receptions per years over the last three seasons and the dual-threat back has the potential to thrive under Kelly’s tutelage. An 80-catch season isn’t out of the question for the veteran in this offense.
Sproles can also be elusive in the running game. He is the ideal draw-play back and could have several big games in this high-powered offense. If anyone can figure out how to use Sproles, it is certainly Chip Kelly.
Negatives:
The most obvious deterrent from drafting Sproles is that he is moving to Philadelphia, which is already home to perhaps the most dangerous back in all of fantasy in LeSean McCoy. In for Shady to fully success he requires over 25 touches per game, which honestly doesn’t leave many touches for Sproles.
Sproles has averaged 9.54 touches per game over the last three seasons with the New Orleans Saints. The team was dedicated to getting involved in every game, and as a result, he was a low-end fantasy starter from time to time. Unfortunately, reports coming out right now have Sproles looking at between 6-8 touches per start, which would all but ruin his weekly fantasy value.
Even more concerning, Sproles is now 30 years old. The back was plagued with injuries last year and it will be even tougher for him to stay healthy now that he is 30 years old. Most backs start to hit the wall at this point in their career, and odds are, so will Sproles.
Final Verdict:
The mere fact that Sproles has never been a permanent starter shows that he shouldn’t be considered a handcuff to McCoy. Sproles is looking like he will have limited fantasy value in 2014 and will only be a RB3 in deeper PPR formats. Other than that, he is simply another backup fantasy tailback.
Bye Week: 7
Projected Round: 10
Auction Value: $2
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
