Fantasy Football Player Notes

I remember last year when Jacobs was going as a late first-round pick, though I wanted nothing to do with him at that price due to his lack of involvement in the passing game the previous season. Nothing changed except they added more pass catchers. He did get a slight bump in targets (45), though nothing you could rely upon every week. What's changed this offseason? The Raiders decided to pay Kenyan Drake a good chunk of money to come in and share the workload with Jacobs, forcing his fantasy stock to plummet. Drake was essentially the same running back as Jacobs last year, though we've seen him produce in the passing game before. Did the addition of Drake drop Jacobs' price too far, or is this a backfield to simply avoid if possible? I believe he's fallen enough to consider a value as a low-end RB2 who should see be in line for 250-plus touches. The expectations were out of control last year, but if you can get him in the fifth round this year, I'm buying.

The marriage between the Raiders and Drake is an odd one, as Drake was somewhat of a Josh Jacobs doppleganger last year. They both finished between 3.9 and 4.0 yards per carry, both scored double-digit rushing touchdowns, and both were extremely limited in the passing game. The Raiders have continually given guys like DeAndre Washington, Jalen Richard, and Devontae Booker work alongside Jacobs over the last two years, so Drake is going to get mixed in quite heavily, and my guess would be that the passing game is where he gets most of it. You may not remember, but Drake was considered a solid third-down back early in his career with the Dolphins, and has two seasons with 50-plus catches on his NFL resume. It's tough to see him eating into Jacobs' carry totals a whole lot, especially after the way he looked with the Cardinals in 2020, but he should offer low-upside flex value due to his work in the passing game.