I’ve gotten quite a few questions the past couple of months about what I will be writing on during the NFL season. My co-host on The FantasyPros Football Podcast, Mike Tagliere, obviously has The Primer and it’s an incredibly valuable asset during the season.
Well, this year, I will be writing an article every week that will give you a breakdown of every fantasy relevant player on every team and my projected stats for them in the upcoming matchup. I’ll be utilizing several resources at my disposal to make these as accurate as possible in hopes of helping you construct the best possible fantasy lineup.
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With that being said, I wanted to spend the next couple of weeks giving you a preview into my season-long projections and how I construct my rankings. Each day, you’ll find a different category highlighting ten players and a brief summary on my thoughts for them in 2020. If you’ve missed the previous two articles in this series, you can the links for those below.
Notable Quarterbacks
Notable Running Backs
Notable Wide Receivers
Notable Tight Ends
Let’s get right to it!
Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
251 | 1153 | 9 | 18 | 157 | 2 | 206.23 |
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Marlon Mack, Indianapolis Colts
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
139 | 585 | 4 | 12 | 85 | 0 | 95.95 |
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There’s been a lot of scuttlebutt this offseason about how Mack will still be the starter in this offense. However, the first time that Taylor sees a carry behind this stout offensive line in Indy, it’s not going to be much of a question. Taylor’s one of the most talented pure runners to come out in the past few years and he should easily overtake Mack. While Mack’s been effective when on the field, Taylor’s a way to supercharge the position. Mack won’t have much standalone relevance this season, but he’s an excellent handcuff to own in the event that something happens to JT. Taylor stats out as the RB14 in my rankings, while Mack lands at the RB54 spot.
D’Andre Swift, Detroit Lions
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
216 | 929 | 5 | 34 | 287 | 1 | 174.48 |
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Kerryon Johnson, Detroit Lions
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
151 | 620 | 4 | 31 | 244 | 1 | 132.1 |
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Johnson has been great while he’s been on the field, but injury concerns caused the Lions to select the well-rounded rookie out of Georgia in the second round. Swift was one of my favorite players in this draft class and he should form a nice one-two punch with Johnson in this backfield. With that being said, I expect Swift to come out of the gates as the lead back and Johnson will be kept in a limited touch role to maximize his efficiency. With these projections, Swift lands as the RB27 in Half PPR and Johnson slides in at RB46.
Joshua Kelley, Los Angeles Chargers
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
154 | 662 | 6 | 17 | 133 | 1 | 129.95 |
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Justin Jackson, Los Angeles Chargers
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
71 | 332 | 1 | 8 | 54 | 0 | 48.56 |
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There were some analysts that were touting Jackson as a candidate to step into the vacated Melvin Gordon role in this offense. However, the drafting of Kelley – who I liked coming out of college – indicates that they feel that they can’t rely on Jackson with his injury history. Jackson will remain in a low-touch, high efficiency role this season and Kelley will assume some of the workload that Gordon had in previous seasons. Austin Ekeler will remain involved out of the backfield as a receiver, but Tyrod Taylor‘s rushing ability limits Kelley’s overall touches in 2020. Kelley lands at RB48 in my rankings, while Jackson is down at RB71.
Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
251 | 1179 | 10 | 22 | 155 | 1 | 210.11 |
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Kareem Hunt, Cleveland Browns
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
146 | 642 | 5 | 53 | 479 | 2 | 180.75 |
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If there’s a backfield that has more intrigue for fantasy purposes heading into the season, I’m not aware of it. Chubb is a phenomenal running back and should put up ridiculous yardage totals behind this improved Browns offensive line. However, the presence of Hunt in this backfield limits Chubb’s overall upside. With Hunt’s proficiencies as a pass-catcher, Chubb is going to see very little work as a receiver this season. Hunt should be on the edge of being a viable weekly FLEX play due to his involvement, while Chubb will need to finish with double-digit touchdowns to work his way into the top-tier of RBs this season. With these stats, Chubb ranks as the RB13. Meanwhile, Hunt finishes as the RB25.
Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
163 | 653 | 5 | 26 | 217 | 1 | 135.84 |
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Ronald Jones, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
RUSH ATT | RUSH YDS | TDs | RECEPTIONS | REC YDS | TDs | FPTS |
205 | 821 | 6 | 32 | 302 | 1 | 170.10 |
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Earlier this offseason, I was in the camp that believed that Vaughn would be the lead back in this backfield right out of the gates. Jones has struggled as a pass-blocker in the past and that was an area that I was impressed by in Vaughn’s tape. However, as more news has come out about this backfield in recent weeks, I believe that Jones is going to be the clear-cut starter to begin the season. There’s certainly a path for Vaughn to take over this backfield as the year progresses, which I am projecting slightly here, but for right now it’s Jones’ job to lose. Jones lands at RB28, while Vaughn plummets to RB45.
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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.