Fantasy Football Draft Advice: How to Approach Josh Jacobs & Jonathan Taylor

Two weeks of the preseason down, one to go. With the heart of fantasy draft season upon us and the regular season coming up quickly, FantasyPros analysts Derek Brown, Andrew Erickson, Pat Fitzmaurice and Mike Maher continue a series of preseason roundtables. Here is the full article, and check out last week’s fantasy football roundtable for even more expert advice. Below we dive deep on one of our weekly topics.

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Fantasy Football Draft Advice

Let’s get a temperature check on two early-round RBs. Josh Jacobs is now expected to rejoin the Raiders before Week 1, but … well, he hasn’t rejoined the Raiders yet. Meanwhile, the Colts have given Jonathan Taylor permission to seek a trade. Where do you currently rank Jacobs and Taylor, and where in a 12-team 0.5-PPR draft would you be willing to take them?

Mike Maher: I have Taylor and Jacobs ranked RB8 and RB9 right now. Both could ultimately be discounts based on how I think the next few weeks will go. I expect Jacobs to report to the team about a week before the start of the season. Maybe he’s somewhat limited Week 1. Maybe he’s ready to roll. But I expect him to show up and play and be fine. He doesn’t really have a choice at this point. The Taylor situation is murkier. It feels like he could actually be traded in the next week or so. If that happens, he’ll be miraculously healed. But unless he lands in Carolina with Frank Reich, he’ll be learning a new offense. We’ve seen running backs incorporated fairly quickly in the past, but Taylor will still have to learn a new playbook on the fly, and his snaps could be impacted in the early part of the season. All that being said, I don’t anticipate having too many shares of either RB. I will probably wait until Round 4 in most drafts to see if they fall, and someone else will snag them. I love that both RBs are in contract years, but I worry about either RB shutting things down in December or January with a surprise “injury” if their respective team is out of contention.

Derek Brown: Currently, I have Taylor ranked RB9, with Jacobs on his heels at RB10. I’m not crossing either off my draft board, but neither player is a priority. If they fall past ADP on whichever site I’m drafting on, I will take a swing, but I won’t aggressively pursue either. I still prefer wide receivers being drafted in the same range over either of these backs. But I’m in if I can get a discount on either player.

Andrew Erickson: I have Taylor ranked as my RB7 and Jacobs as my RB13. I am looking for a major discount on JT and will happily take him at the end of Round 2 or the start of Round 3. Either he plays for the Colts or gets traded to a contender that will feature him in a contract year. So, I like the value at the 2/3 turn for a player of Taylor’s upside. As for Jacobs, I am staying away from him unless he falls outside RB1 territory into Round 4. Leading the NFL in touches is the kiss of death the following year. Since 2013, only two running backs have finished as RB1s the year after leading the NFL in touches.

Pat Fitzmaurice: I’ve got Taylor ranked RB7 and Jacobs RB9. A lot of people say Nick Chubb is the NFL’s best pure runner, but Taylor belongs in the conversation. A trade is an intriguing possibility. On the other hand, it would be fun to see Taylor teaming with Anthony Richardson to make linebackers’ lives miserable on RPOs. Regardless of whether Taylor stays or goes, it’s hard to envision a Le’Veon Bell-type holdout when that strategy turned out so poorly for Le’Veon. Taylor is a value at the 2/3 turn, and to get him beyond 25th overall is stealing. I’m pumping the brakes on Jacobs. I worry about the risk of breakdown for a running back who had 393 touches last season, and I worry about the possibility of the Raiders quitting on Josh McDaniels. I’m not sure if those are rational fears, but I’ll let someone else take Jacobs unless he falls to me in the fourth round (which won’t happen).