Fantasy Football 2014: Don’t Sleep On Rashad Jennings

Rashad Jennings

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

 

Running back sucks.

Seriously. It’s becoming one of the most replaceable positions in sports, but, from a fantasy football perspective, it’s quite the opposite. Owners tend to struggle to replace running backs because the position is so darn shallow lately. Yet, certain running backs with opportunity (the lottery in fantasy) continue to be drafted far later than they should be.

Enter Rashad Jennings.

To the average football fan, Jennings and the Oakland Raiders were absolutely worthless last year. A 4-12 football club, Oakland was the definition of “bleh” in fantasy. But not Jennings. With Darren McFadden banged up (here’s my shocked face), Jennings stepped in and really produced. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry, ran for 733 yards, six scores and hauled in a healthy 36 balls, too, despite seeing just 56.7 percent of snaps for the season, according to PFF. Those numbers were good enough for him to finish as the 22nd-best back in fantasy, making him, very quietly, an RB2 for the year. And as Pat Thorman of PFF points out, there was a seven-week span where Jennings saw at least 75 percent of total snaps, and during those weeks, only Jamaal Charles had more fantasy points. So, to put it simply, when Jennings got the ball, he was very good.

Now he’s in New York, likely entering the season as the starting tailback for the Giants. And why shouldn’t he? Head coach Tom Coughlin has a young, banged up, poor pass-blocking, fumbling back in David Wilson and an unproven rookie in Andre Williams, otherwise. Jennings is a veteran who is an excellent pass-blocker, so he should get first crack. Via PFF, Jennings was the 13th-best pass-blocking running back in 2013. I like the fit with New York, too. Over the last five seasons, Giant running backs have totaled the second-most rushing touchdowns in the NFL, while during that span, the Giants have ran the ball on 55 percent of their carries from inside the ten-yard line, the seventh-most in the league. That comes from the great Matthew Berry and his 100 facts column. Jennings, meanwhile, is a strong short-yardage runner with a good frame, and he’ll likely see the goal line work in this offense, and as long as he holds onto the football, the job is his to lose. And Wilson has fumbled the football three times over his first two seasons, while Jennings fumbled three times in four seasons.

With how shallow the running back position is in fantasy, it’s kind of surprising to see Jennings being drafted outside the top-20 at the position at the moment. I really don’t see a major threat to his workload, and if he can finish as an RB2 in limited action last year, why can’t he match that finish in 2014?

Adam Pfeifer is a lead fantasy sports writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.


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