Adam Zdroik names 6 underrated and overrated running backs.

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It’s still a bit early in the fantasy football season, but since the NFL Draft finished, rankings have started to come out, and the consensus at FantasyPros is available. While these will change throughout the summer, there are some names to keep an eye on that were given questionable early-season ranks. Whether they are too high or low, I’ll take a look at a few of the overrated and underrated running backs going into summer.

Underrated

LeGarrette Blount (NE)
Consensus Rank: #27

What exactly is standing in Blount’s way? Bill Belichick? Sure, the Patriots rarely hone in on one guy out of the backfield, but his competition this year is Brandon Bolden, Jonas Gray and James White. Blount is still only 28 years old and drafting him in the high 20’s just doesn’t seem right. For me, there is no reason to take a running back like T.J. Yeldon or Todd Gurley before Blount. Yeldon may get touches, but we saw what happened with Toby Gerhart last season (not saying their skill level is the same, but the Jaguars aren’t good). Blount can easily be a RB2 for your squad, but if he’s available at a time when you already have two running backs, his upside is a no-brainer as an RB3/Flex.

Joseph Randle (DAL)
Consensus Rank: #37

Randle has had some off-field issues, but the opportunity will be ripe for him to have a good season. The only thing between him being a factor behind one of the best offensive lines in the league is Darren McFadden. DMC may have played in 16 games last year, but averaging 3.4 yards per carry doesn’t show much. Sure, that was with the Raiders, but he has never had much success as it is. The only issue with Randle right now is that the Cowboys could still trade for another running back. As long as that doesn’t happen, Dallas will likely go with a committee, but the advantage goes to Randle. The consensus rankings have DMC ranked above Randle and at this point, you’d be crazy to take him over the younger and fresher running back.

David Johnson (ARI)
Consensus Rank: #46

Andre Ellington is a stud, but he’s not going to be getting every single touch out of the backfield. The Cardinals went with the bigger Johnson in the third round for a reason. They want to try and limit what Ellington does between the tackles in order to preserve him for an entire season. Johnson has the size to be a goal-line back, and while that doesn’t mean much in this offense, drafting RBs like Doug Martin and Andre Williams above him seem like questionable moves. There’s also the possibility that Ellington gets hurt again. Johnson isn’t going to be an every-week starter, there’s no questioning that, but as a guy getting ranked as an RB4/5, he deserves a look.

Overrated

Frank Gore (IND)
Consensus Rank: #18

The Colts envision Gore as an “every-down back” but they also said that about Trent Richardson a couple years ago. Gore is 32 years old and has 2,784 career carries and receptions. The Colts haven’t been a top 15 rushing team since 2004 (when Edgerrin James was still around). As for Gore, he has run behind one of the best offensive lines every year in San Francisco. Indianapolis averaged 3.9 yards per carry as a team last year and didn’t do much in the offseason to help that outside of the addition of Todd Herremans. At this point, if you’re drafting an over-30 running back on the Colts to be your RB2, something must be wrong with your draft strategy. The Colts may not have much behind Gore, but Boom Herron was viable last year and Vick Ballard will be back from injury. In addition, they drafted Josh Robinson, who is of similar stature to Frank Gore. Dropping Gore to an RB3/Flex option is the best idea.

Todd Gurley (STL)
Consensus Rank: #21

Gurley is good, we know this. But he’ll likely miss the first month of the season so that’s at least four games down the drain immediately. And when he does come back, don’t expect him to be getting 20 touches per game coming off a torn ACL. He’ll likely get worked in slowly and split time with Tre Mason. The only reason you’d draft him even close to a top 20 RB is because of the hope that he becomes a top 10 guy by the time the fantasy playoffs roll around. That’s banking a lot on your early-round draft pick though. I’m not willing to draft Gurley as an RB2 when he probably won’t be starter-worthy for half of the season. Good luck to all that do.

Doug Martin (TB)
Consensus Rank: #33

The Bucs didn’t pick up Martin’s fifth-year option, which says all you need to know about a running back that hasn’t surpassed 500 rushing yards in the last two seasons. The only good news for him is that his competition is the same as a year ago with Charles Sims, Bobby Rainey and Mike James. In this ranking position, you usually want a guy that has some upside as your RB3/Flex. Where does Martin’s upside come from? The Bucs haven’t been able to run the ball in two years and it sounds like Sims is going to be the starter out of the gates. In turn, Charles Sims is listed at No. 39 in the rankings. Who would you rather have?

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Adam is a staff writer for RotoExperts. If you like your fantasy advice full of numbers and straight to the point, look no further. Find him @RotoZdroik on Twitter.

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