The USFL held their expansion draft last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning/afternoon. The league’s draft format was unique. Each draft round featured a specific position from which each team had to draft. You can see a round-by-round breakdown of what positions were selected at NBC Sports Bay Area. Now, let’s look at each team’s running back room.
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Teams and Running Backs
Tampa Bay Bandits
- B.J. Emmons (Round-Pick: 27-1)
- Juwan Washington (28-8)
I'm surprised B.J. Emmons was the first running back picked in the USFL draft. He was a highly-regarded recruit that began his career at Alabama. However, Emmons played only one year there in 2016, transferring to Hutchinson Community College and finishing his college career with two uninspiring seasons at Florida Atlantic. According to Sports-Reference, he ran for only 353 yards on 88 attempts in nine games at Florida Atlantic, reeling in just five receptions for 18 yards.
Emmons went undrafted in the 2021 NFL Draft. Nevertheless, he latched on with the Raiders for the preseason, posting the ho-hum stats, per Pro Football Focus, on the table above. Emmons also bounced around NFL practice squads for brief stints. Unfortunately, neither his CBS Sports HQ scouting report nor his pro day measurables were impressive. As a result, he isn't sniffing the top tier for USFL's running backs for fantasy football, despite getting popped as the first player at the position in their draft.
Meanwhile, Juwan Washington's efficiency cratered by his senior season at San Diego State. He has return experience and could be deployed in that capacity, depending on the league's kickoff rules. Further, his measurables are more eye-catching than Emmons'. Nonetheless, he's small in stature and was rarely used in the passing game in college. Add in that he was the last running back picked in the USFL draft, and he's not a player to pursue in fantasy football out of the chute.
Philadelphia Stars
- Darnell Holland (Round-Pick: 27-2)
- Matt Colburn II (28-7)
Darnell Holland is my top fantasy running back in the USFL. The explosive small-school back is reunited with Bart Andrus, his coach in The Spring League (TSL). Holland was incredibly productive at FCS Kennesaw State. But of course, it warrants mentioning Kennesaw State ran the triple option.
In addition to destroying the FCS level, he also blew up his pro day, as you can see in the following tweet from the Pro Football Focus account for the New Orleans Saints.
RB/SB Darnell Holland, Kennesaw State
5'10 195- 86.2 overall grade in his 3 games with PFF data in 2018
- 244 career carries for 2431 yards and 26 TDs in 49 games (39 starts)
- 4.38 40, 37.5" vertical, 10' broad jump Pro Day numbers pic.twitter.com/J80wdo63Qb- PFF NO Saints (@PFF_Saints) May 1, 2019
I'm a sucker for explosiveness and traits at running back. So, perhaps, measurables are a blind spot for me when analyzing the running back position. Still, Holland has elite characteristics. So, I'll be all over him in daily fantasy if it's offered for the USFL.
Colburn is an intriguing backup to Holland. He's fast, received a promising scouting report from Joe Marino at The Draft Network before his final season at Wake Forest, and was a rock-solid contributor in college, albeit he wasn't a workhorse. Still, he's a bottom-tier fantasy option.
New Jersey Generals
- Mike Weber (Round-Pick: 27-3)
- Trey Williams (28-6)
The Generals boast my favorite backfield. Unfortunately, the presence of a stellar backup running back threatens Mike Weber's outlook. Still, he's in tier one of the fantasy running backs. Further, Weber has thrived in a shared backfield, balling out at Ohio State with Curtis Samuel during his freshman campaign and with J.K. Dobbins during his sophomore and junior seasons.
Weber can fly, earning the 86th percentile 40-yard dash score, 83rd percentile speed score, and 71st percentile SPARQ-X score, per Player Profiler. Weber's profile was enough to entice the Cowboys to select him in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and he's spent time on NFL practice squads and even on Green Bay's active roster for two games in 2020.
Trey Williams isn't a slouch as an athlete. However, he's not a spring chicken. Williams is 29 years old. He's bounced around the NFL in the offseason, on practice squads, and appeared in regular-season games for the Colts in 2015. He's also played in the AAF and XFL. Williams has enough juice to warrant fantasy consideration if Mike Riley splits up the backfield workload 60/40 or 50/50.
Michigan Panthers
- Stevie Scott III (Round-Pick: 27-4)
- Reggie Corbin (28-5)
Scott is a big back with a nose for the end zone, scoring 30 rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns in 31 games at Indiana. As a sophomore, he flashed some receiving chops, catching 26 passes for 211 yards in 11 games. Unfortunately, his yards per rush attempt slipped from 5.0 to 4.7 to 3.6 in his junior season, his last in college.
Scott's workhorse build was undoubtedly an appealing factor for Jeff Fisher selecting him. Fisher is a classic, defensive-minded, slow-pace, ground-and-pound style coach. So, Scott is tailor-made for the type of run-first offense Fisher is likely to deploy. He should also have a nose for the end zone. NFL analyst Lance Zierlein lauded his short-yardage ability in his pre-draft scouting report.
Admittedly, Scott's workout metrics at his pro day were gross. Nevertheless, I'm not as bothered by his athletic shortcomings in the USFL. Still, he's in the second tier of fantasy options at running back. I'm banking on the situation, playing for Fisher, boosting his fantasy stock.
Reggie Corbin had underwhelming pro-day measurables. However, he was effective and efficient as a runner in 43 games for Illinois, averaging 6.3 yards per rush attempt on 375 attempts. Still, he doesn't add much through the air, catching only 38 passes for 343 scoreless yards. If the Panthers routinely play with a lead, there might be enough meat on the bone for Corbin to occasionally have fantasy-relevant games as a complement to Scott. Unfortunately, as a non-factor in the passing game, his path to fantasy value is narrow without an injury or ineffectiveness from Scott bumping Corbin up the depth chart.
New Orleans Breakers
- Larry Rose III (Round-Pick: 27-5)
- Jordan Ellis (28-4)
Larry Rose III was undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft. However, Rose was highly productive as a do-it-all back in college at New Mexico State. Impressively, he averaged 5.9 yards per attempt on 770 rush attempts, hauled in 133 receptions for 1,157 yards at 8.7 yards per reception in 44 games, and scored 42 touchdowns in college. In addition, he set new highs for receptions (55) and receiving yards (522) in 12 games in his senior year.
Rose's excellence in college caught the attention of Marc Mathyk at Player Profiler. Unfortunately, Rose's college success hasn't translated to professional football. I'm skeptical that his third crack at a spring football league is the charm. Regardless, his receiving success in college keeps him on my radar, namely in fantasy formats with half-point or full-point point-per-reception (PPR) scoring.
Jordan Ellis is built to carry the workload as a runner, with measurements of 5-foot-10 and 229 pounds. He was lightly used (38 rush attempts) through his first and second year in college before toting the rock precisely 215 times in his junior and senior year, bumping his rushing yards up from 836 to 1,026 in his final collegiate season. Ellis went undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft.
In addition to his stats in the table, according to Pro Football Focus, Ellis ran 70 routes and had 1.14 Yards Per Route Run (Y/RR) in the 2019 preseason. Ellis' preseason receiving production flies in stark contrast to his college work, where he had only 29 receptions for 206 yards in his last 26 games. Since I'm skeptical of Rose turning his professional struggles around, it stands to reason Ellis is a candidate to overtake him on the depth chart. Add in his surprising receiving success in his only preseason in the NFL, and Ellis might have every-down back potential. At worst, his running style and scouting report suggest he's a good fit for goal-line work.
Houston Gamblers
- Dalyn Dawkins (Round-Pick: 27-6)
- Mark Thompson (28-3)
The backfields become murkier as we move closer to the wraparound in the draft picks at running back. Dylan Dawkins was signed as a UDFA from the 2018 NFL Draft by the Titans, bouncing up and down from their practice squad and active roster through 2019. He was also on and off the Lions' practice squad in 2020. Dawkins' time on Tennessee's active roster is interesting. Sadly, that's the most exciting piece of his profile. He's undersized, has ugly workout metrics, and has had less impressive preseason numbers than his backfield mate.
Mark Thompson has spent time on practice squads in the NFL after going undrafted in 2018. Thompson's most glaring red flag was his lackluster usage at Florida. He carried the ball only 126 times and had 16 receptions in 19 games for the Gators. However, he makes up for what he lacks with college production with a workhorse build and better workout numbers than Dawkins. Moreover, his profile has been intriguing enough to get looks from NFL teams. For instance, the Colts and Panthers have brought him in for a pre-draft visit and workout, respectively. Even though he went after Dawkins, I'm more interested in Thompson. The latter's build gives him a higher ceiling as a potential bell-cow back that is unlikely out of reach for Dawkins.
Birmingham Stallions
- Tony Brooks-James (Round-Pick: 27-7)
- C.J. Marable (28-2)
This is the first backfield I'm 100% convinced will be a full-blown committee. Tony Brooks-James was the first back of the duo selected. Yet, he's not built to and has never served as more than a complementary back. In his four years at Oregon, Brooks-James was never better than second fiddle in the backfield, sharing it with Royce Freeman, Kani Benoit, CJ Verdell, and Travis Dye. Alarmingly, Brooks-James' best season was his sophomore year, in which he totaled 926 scrimmage yards before sliding to 642 scrimmage yards and 379 scrimmage yards.
Regardless, Brooks-James was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Falcons after the 2019 NFL Draft. He has bounced around practice squads and was on the Falcons' active roster in Week 12 in 2020. Ben Solak gushed about Brooks-James' speed in a scouting report for The Draft Network, and he ran a hand-timed 4.45-second 40-yard dash at his pro day, speaking to his speed. Still, per Player Profiler, after docking him for the hand-time 40-yard dash, he had a 67th percentile 40-yard dash time.
I'd have an easier time getting excited about what Brooks-James can do if his profile included more receiving production. It hasn't been there, though. He had only 40 receptions in 42 games for Oregon and didn't do much in that capacity in the preseason.
Thankfully, C.J. Marable can pick the slack up in the passing game. He reeled in 69 receptions for 523 yards and 10 touchdowns in his final 24 games for Coastal Carolina. Marable, like Brooks-James, was undrafted and undersized. Marable measured only 5-foot-6 and 195 pounds at his pro day, running a ho-hm 4.53-second and 4.59-second 40-yard dash, per Myrtle Beach Online. After going undrafted in last year's NFL Draft, Marable latched onto the Bears for the preseason, getting little work. Frankly, I'm unexcited by Brooks-James and Marable. As a result, I rank both outside the top-six running backs in a logjam of similarly flawed backs. Picking between the two, I lean toward Brooks-James explosiveness and better draft capital than Marable's receiving chops by a razor-thin margin.
Pittsburgh Maulers
- Garrett Groshek (Round-Pick: 27-8)
- De'Veon Smith (28-1)
Finally, you're looking at another backfield I expect to be a committee. Garrett Groshek spent most of his career at Wisconsin as Jonathan Taylor's backup, playing moderately well in 2020 without Taylor in the fold. In addition, he has some passing-game ability, hauling in 75 receptions in his last 33 games in college.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that first-time head coach Kirby Wilson, a 24-year running back coach, selected Groshek. Zierlein explicitly noted running back coaches liking Groshek's makeup in his pre-draft scouting report. Additionally, Zierlein speculated with a bit of added weight, Groshek could "handle occasional lead blocking for outside zone and third down pocket protection duties if needed." Curiously, The Draft Network listed him as a fullback for a January 2021 scouting report penned by Kyle Crabbs. Reading the scouting reports, I can't help but think Groshek could be the USFL version of Kyle Juszczyk, serving as a lead blocker, pass protector, and occasional ball-carrier and pass-catcher. If Groshek's deployed in that fashion, he could enhance De'Veon Smith's fantasy value.
Smith was signed as a UDFA after the 2017 NFL Draft by the Dolphins. As you can see in the table, Smith has played in the NFL, AAF, and XFL. He's a big-bodied back on the slow side. However, he had a penchant for racking up broken tackles in the AAF and XFL. I'm encouraged by his success in previous spring football leagues. In addition, he's not a total non-factor in the passing game, even if he leaves much to be desired. Smith's lackluster receiving work plants him at the top of the second tier of running backs with Scott and Emmons. If your gut feeling isn't aligned with mine about Groshek playing a utility role as a regular lead blocker, then drop Smith into the third tier of fantasy running backs.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
