Our analysts have put together fantasy football outlooks for all fantasy-relevant players. You can find them on our player pages and via our Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR). These will be updated throughout the preseason to help you navigate your fantasy football drafts utilizing our bevy of tools, including our FREE draft simulator and cheat sheet creator. We’ll cover players in different groups to help you identify those to target and others to avoid. Let’s take a look at rookie running backs who are likely to have an impact in redraft fantasy football leagues this season.
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Fantasy Football Impact Rookie Running Backs to Target
Here are 2023 fantasy football outlooks for impact rookie running backs.
Tank Bigsby (JAC)
Cartavious “Tank” Bigsby has been a force for the Auburn Tigers since he first stepped on the school campus. He took over as the team’s starting running back as a freshman in 2020, earning a 20% dominator rating. Bigsby would build off his hot start as a sophomore with a 25% dominator rating followed by a career-high 27% dominator rating his junior year. The 6-foot, 210-pound back finished 6th in yards after contact per attempt (4.16), 11th in forced missed tackles, 11th in PFF rushing grade and 7th in breakaway run rate among his 2023 draft-eligible RB peers.
Although Bigsby is not overly athletic, based on his “meh” testing at the combine. 26th percentile vertical jump, 54th percentile broad jump and a 4.56 40-yard dash (47th percentile). Bigsby did improve on his 40-time at Auburn’s pro day, running a 4.45.
He was drafted by the Jaguars in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft and will compete for the No. 2 job behind Travis Etienne. Head coach Doug Pederson has spoken all offseason about building a deep RB room, so the Bigsby selection was not shocking.
Tyjae Spears (TEN)
Tyjae Spears boosted his draft stock dramatically as a buzzy player at the Senior Bowl, and his atomic rise up the draft boards continued at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Spears weighed in at 5-foot-10 and 201 pounds. He did not run the 40-yard dash but instead nearly jumped out of the building in the explosion drills. His vertical jump of 39? ranked in the 92nd percentile and was second only to Chase Brown. Spears’ broad jump ranked third in the class at 125? which ranked in the 89th percentile.
The Tulane running back will be one of my top rookie running back targets after he posted a 31 percent dominator rating in 2022, finishing 5th in the FBS in rushing yards (1,586), second in rushing TDs (19), and fourth in yards after contact per attempt (4.55). Per Sports Info Solutions’ total points model, Spears finished third in total points per game and total EPA generated per game. He also finished second in the class in pass pro snaps per game (8.1), something NFL coaches will drool over.
Throughout his career, he boasts an impressive 3.00 yards per play (seventh best in the class) – a great indicator of future success at the NFL level.
The Titans selected Spears in the 3rd round of the 2023 NFL Draft despite scary reports regarding Spears’ short shelf life based on previous knee injuries. For 2023 alone, he’s a high-upside handcuff option should anything happen to Derrick Henry.
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