Who Should I Draft?
Le'Veon Bell or David Johnson
Experts' Pick | |||
| Le'Veon Bell RB - PIT  | David Johnson RB - ARI  |  | |
Expert |
75% Recommended by 84 of 112 experts |
25% Recommended by 28 of 112 experts |
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| Most Accurate Experts | |||
| Top ExpertsTop RB ExpertsTop Player Experts |  See who the Most Accurate Experts would draftUpgrade Now | ||
| Rankings | |||
| ECR | # 2 | # 4 | - |
| Best Rank | # 1 | # 1 | - |
| Worst Rank | # 4 | # 11 | - |
| Fantasy Points | |||
| Season Total | 256.6 | 7.1 | - |
| Avg Game | 17.1 | 7.1 | - |
| Avg Projection | 267.0 | 247.9 | - |
| Schedule | |||
| SOS Rank | 21 | 16 | - |
| Misc | |||
| Injury Alert | ‐ | ‐ | - |
| Expert Ranks | |||
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Le'Veon Bell | David Johnson | Add Player |
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| Le'Veon Bell RB - PIT | David Johnson RB - ARI | |
| 2018 Schedule | ||
| Week 1 | at CLE | vs. WAS |
| Week 2 | vs. KC | at LAR |
| Week 3 | at TB | vs. CHI |
| Week 4 | vs. BAL | vs. SEA |
| Week 5 | vs. ATL | at SF |
| Week 6 | at CIN | at MIN |
| Week 7 | BYE WEEK | vs. DEN |
| Week 8 | vs. CLE | vs. SF |
| Week 9 | at BAL | BYE WEEK |
| Week 10 | vs. CAR | at KC |
| Week 11 | at JAC | vs. OAK |
| Week 12 | at DEN | at LAC |
| Week 13 | vs. LAC | at GB |
| Week 14 | at OAK | vs. DET |
| Week 15 | vs. NE | at ATL |
| Week 16 | at NO | vs. LAR |
| Week 17 | vs. CIN | at SEA |
| Le'Veon Bell RB - PIT | David Johnson RB - ARI | |
| Rushing | ||
| Rush Attempts | 305.5 | 278.3 |
| Rush Yards | 1,292.5 | 1,076.7 |
| Rush TDs | 9.5 | 8.7 |
| Receiving | ||
| Receptions | 83.2 | 76.0 |
| Rec Yards | 670.6 | 739.7 |
| Rec TDs | 3.0 | 3.3 |
| Points | ||
| Fantasy Points | 267.0 | 247.9 |
| Le'Veon Bell RB - PIT | David Johnson RB - ARI | |
| 2017 Points | ||
| Week 1 | 4.7 | 7.1 |
| Week 2 | 9.1 | ‐ |
| Week 3 | 15.8 | ‐ |
| Week 4 | 30.6 | ‐ |
| Week 5 | 9.3 | ‐ |
| Week 6 | 25.1 | ‐ |
| Week 7 | 19.2 | ‐ |
| Week 8 | 12.1 | ‐ |
| Week 9 | ‐ | ‐ |
| Week 10 | 11.2 | ‐ |
| Week 11 | 10.3 | ‐ |
| Week 12 | 16.3 | ‐ |
| Week 13 | 24.2 | ‐ |
| Week 14 | 30.5 | ‐ |
| Week 15 | 22.5 | ‐ |
| Week 16 | 15.7 | ‐ |
| Week 17 | ‐ | ‐ |
| Le'Veon Bell RB - PIT | David Johnson RB - ARI | |
| 2017 Targets | ||
| Week 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Week 2 | 4 | ‐ |
| Week 3 | 7 | ‐ |
| Week 4 | 6 | ‐ |
| Week 5 | 10 | ‐ |
| Week 6 | 6 | ‐ |
| Week 7 | 3 | ‐ |
| Week 8 | 3 | ‐ |
| Week 9 | ‐ | ‐ |
| Week 10 | 6 | ‐ |
| Week 11 | 11 | ‐ |
| Week 12 | 14 | ‐ |
| Week 13 | 6 | ‐ |
| Week 14 | 10 | ‐ |
| Week 15 | 6 | ‐ |
| Week 16 | 8 | ‐ |
| Week 17 | ‐ | ‐ |
| Le'Veon Bell RB - PIT | David Johnson RB - ARI | |
| Expert | ||
| Bobby Sylvester FantasyPros | The sentiment for drafting Bell first overall is fair and understandable, but he is substantially more injury prone than Gurley and finished more than 60 points behind him last fantasy season too. With that said, the difference between Bell and the #3 fantasy player may be even larger than the difference between #3 and #10. | Some are clamoring that Johnson should even be the top overall pick. Now, you shouldn't go that far because his touchdown rate from 2016 is entirely unsustainable, but he is without question the workhorse in Arizona and ought to bounce back to a high-end RB1 this season. |
| Brandon Funston The Athletic | Size, speed, vision, hands and, oh boy, that jump cut - 406 touches in '17 was the 3rd-highest mark in the past 11 seasons, just wish more of those touches would come inside 5-yard line (just 14 such carries over past 3 seasons) | Arguably NFL's top receiving weapon from RB position - has 33 TDs in 33 career games - hard to look at ARI offense and think DJ won't vie for lead in touches |
| Mike Tagliere FantasyPros | Despite having a less-successful year than his 2016 campaign, Bell still finished No. 2 among fantasy running backs. His contract dispute is not going away any time soon, which moves him down under Todd Gurley due to safety. We fully expect Bell to suit-up when the lights come on in Week 1, but there's always a chance he doesn't. Another added risk is that he'll have a new offensive coordinator in 2018, though Randy Fichtner doesn't appear to be shy running a fast-paced offense. | Some have Johnson as high as No. 1 in our consensus rankings, but I'd urge against drafting him with a top-three pick. Did you know that 73.3 percent (22-of-30) of top-six running backs over the last six years have come from top-12 scoring offenses? I'd argue that the Cardinals would likely be a bottom-10 scoring offense in 2018, and there's been just three running backs who have overcome that to become a top-six running back over the last six years. Johnson scored 20 touchdowns in his magical 2016 season, something that's not repeatable. It's also worth noting that since Week 6 of 2016, he's averaged just 3.63 yards per carry on 191 carries. The offensive line wasn't great to begin with and they just lost their starting center for the season. He's still worth a mid-first-round pick, but I'd take someone in a better offense over him. |
| Staff Rankings QB List | I know a lot of people would put Todd Gurley here and I wouldn't blame them at all. But I tend to be risk-averse in fantasy, and I think some regression is coming for Gurley, which is why I'm more inclined to roll with a high-floor guy like Bell. I'm not worried about Bell sitting out training camp, he did the same thing last year and he was amazing, posting 1,315 yards and a solid 7.9% DVOA along with that. Not only that, but Bell is on the last year of his contract, and I'm betting he doesn't negotiate an extension. As a result, I bet the Steelers run him as hard as they can, and the more times Bell has the ball in his hands, the better for fantasy players. | If you drafted David Johnson with your first-round pick last year, I feel bad for you. After suffering a season-ending injury in Week 1, a lot of Johnson owners were stuck with a crisis right away. The bonus to Johnson suffering the injury in Week 1 is that he's had a lot of time to heal, and he's really healthy and ready to go for the start of this season. There's no doubt about Johnson's talent, but there is doubt about the rest of the Cardinals, who have a new head coach and a new quarterback in Sam Bradford (or, if we're being honest, a mix of Mike Glennon and Josh Rosen because we all know Bradford's probably going to get hurt). The team also has a very questionable offensive line. Mike Iupati and Andre Smith have had success in the past, but they also have injury questions. That being said, the Cardinals offensive line was solid in short-yardage situations and was middle-of-the-pack in keeping their running backs from getting stuffed, but they were dead-last in second-level yards (runs of 5-10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage) and open field yards (runs of more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage) which will likely prove a challenge for Johnson. |
| Chet Gresham WalterFootball | Bell's contract will be a talking point until it isn't, but he will most likely be on the field for Week 1 as a Pittsburgh Steeler, and that's a good spot for him and his fantasy prospects, as his usage numbers are tremendous and his offensive line knows how to block for him. | We know what Johnson can do, and it's pretty amazing, but we don't know who will be the quarterback for his team and if that person can keep the offense moving. If the Cardinals get someone who isn't awful, I expect Johnson's draft stock to push Bell and Gurley. |
| Jody Smith FantasyPros | This is likely to be Bell's last season in Pittsburgh, so expect the Steelers to give him all the touches he can handle, making Bell a candidate for the No. 1 PPR scorer of 2018. | Johnson is 100-percent recovered from his wrist injury and poised to be among the league leaders in yards from scrimmage. |
| Andrew Gould FantasyPros | The league's truest featured back, Bell played a whopping 945 snaps last season. No other rusher recorded 800. He parlayed a gargantuan 406 touches into 1,946 yards and 11 TDs in 15 games. That weighty workload puts him firmly in the No. 1-pick conversation, and he especially should not fall any lower than No. 2 in PPR formats. | Drafters are mostly pretending that Johnson didn't suffer a season-ending wrist injury in Week 1. If you want the back who won 2016 leagues with 2,118 yards and 20 TDs, you're going to have to spend a top-five pick. He should quickly return to a bulky featured role, but Johnson at 100 percent will still struggle to out-earn Todd Gurley and Le'Veon Bell in an Arizona offense led by Sam Bradford or Josh Rosen. |
| Kevin Roberts Breaking Football | Contract talks are annoying, so I'm dropping Bell slightly, but he's still a top 5 lock as long as he doesn't sit games out | Everyone seems to have forgotten what a stud DJ can be. He has high goals and elite ability. He's my top RB going into 2018. |
| Kevin Wheeler NFL Mock | to all my Steeler fans, my desire always has been to retire a Steeler...both sides worked extremely hard today to make that happen, but the NFL is a hard business at times...to the fans that had hope, I'm sorry we let youu down but trust me, 2018 will be my best season to date... @LeVeonBell 400+ touches last year, regression in production is most likely scenario. | When he's healthy no one is better. He's coming off a season-long wrist injury so the legs are fresh. The Cards were 8-8 without DJ last year so even with a bottom rung O-line DJ could reach his 1000/1000 season goal. |
| Derek Lofland Fantasy Football Maniax | Bell was given the franchise tag and he averaged 17.4 fantasy points per game last year playing under the tag. He is a duel-threat runner and receiver that can dominate fantasy games. | Johnson was the league-leader among fantasy backs in 2016 with 20.7 fantasy points per game. He missed all but 1 game of 2017 with injury, but should be back and ready to dominate. The big question mark surrounding him is the quarterback situation, QB Sam Bradford is not a very stable option and will allow teams to stack the box with defenders to stop Johnson and the running game. |
| Raju Byfield Win My Fantasy League | Draft day may cause a slide if the Steelers snag an heir apparent | Johnson is a workhorse for now but the Cardinals will likely add some competition for snaps in April |
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| Todd Gurley (LAR) | RB | |
| Le'Veon Bell (PIT) | RB | |
| Ezekiel Elliott (DAL) | RB | |
| David Johnson (ARI) | RB | |
| Antonio Brown (PIT) | WR | |
| DeAndre Hopkins (HOU) | WR | |
| Alvin Kamara (NO) | RB | |
| Saquon Barkley (NYG) | RB | |
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| Melvin Gordon (LAC) | RB | |
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| Keenan Allen (LAC) | WR | |
| A.J. Green (CIN) | WR | |
| Davante Adams (GB) | WR | |
| Devonta Freeman (ATL) | RB | |
| Jordan Howard (CHI) | RB |
| Rob Gronkowski (NE) | TE | |
| Mike Evans (TB) | WR | |
| Christian McCaffrey (CAR) | RB | |
| Joe Mixon (CIN) | RB | |
| T.Y. Hilton (IND) | WR | |
| Jerick McKinnon (SF) | RB | |
| Doug Baldwin (SEA) | WR | |
| Stefon Diggs (MIN) | WR | |
| Travis Kelce (KC) | TE | |
| Adam Thielen (MIN) | WR |
| Mookie Betts (BOS) | CF,RF | |
| Mike Trout (LAA) | CF,DH | |
| Jose Ramirez (CLE) | 2B,3B | |
| Francisco Lindor (CLE) | SS | |
| J.D. Martinez (BOS) | LF,RF | |
| Nolan Arenado (COL) | 3B | |
| Manny Machado (LAD) | 3B,SS | |
| Max Scherzer (WSH) | SP | |
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| Charlie Blackmon (COL) | CF | |
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| Corey Kluber (CLE) | SP | |
| Andrew Benintendi (BOS) | LF,CF | |
| Trea Turner (WSH) | SS | |
| Chris Sale (BOS) | SP | |
| Bryce Harper (WSH) | CF,RF | |
| Clayton Kershaw (LAD) | SP | |
| Jose Altuve (HOU) | 2B | |
| Matt Carpenter (STL) | 1B,2B |
| Jacob deGrom (NYM) | SP | |
| Alex Bregman (HOU) | 3B,SS | |
| Justin Verlander (HOU) | SP | |
| Christian Yelich (MIL) | LF,CF | |
| Javier Baez (CHC) | 2B,3B | |
| Starling Marte (PIT) | LF,CF | |
| A.J. Pollock (ARI) | CF | |
| Aaron Nola (PHI) | SP | |
| Rhys Hoskins (PHI) | 1B,LF | |
| Anthony Rizzo (CHC) | 1B,2B |
| Kevin Durant (GSW) | SF,PF | |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) | SF,PF | |
| James Harden (HOU) | PG,SG | |
| Stephen Curry (GSW) | PG,SG | |
| Russell Westbrook (OKC) | PG | |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | C | |
| Anthony Davis (NOR) | PF,C | |
| Kawhi Leonard (TOR) | SG,SF | |
| LeBron James (LAL) | SF,PF | |
| Nikola Jokic (DEN) | PF,C | |
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| Myles Turner (IND) | PF,C | |
| Paul George (OKC) | SG,SF |
| Kyle Lowry (TOR) | PG | |
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| Kristaps Porzingis (NYK) | PF,C | |
| Kemba Walker (CHA) | PG | |
| CJ McCollum (POR) | PG,SG | |
| Mike Conley (MEM) | PG | |
| Bradley Beal (WAS) | SG | |
| Klay Thompson (GSW) | SG,SF | |
| Marc Gasol (MEM) | C | |
| Gordon Hayward (BOS) | SG,SF |
