4 RB Dead Zone Running Backs to Avoid (2024 Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable fantasy football players below.

RB Dead Zone Running Backs to Avoid

Javonte Williams (DEN)

Javonte Williams looked like a shelf of his former self in the first season. Yes, I know this was his first season coming off a devastating knee injury, but it still wasn’t pretty. Volume wasn’t the issue for the RB31 last season, as he rolled up 264 touches, but his efficiency numbers were scary. Among 49 qualifying backs last season, he ranked 41st in missed tackles forced per attempt and 33rd in yards after contact per attempt. Williams also was 55th in fantasy points per opportunity and 53rd in yards per touch. Could he bounce back in 2024 and look more like the eventual stud we saw in 2021 and 2022? Sure, it’s possible. Is it also possible that a back with a 40th percentile speed score and 72nd percentile burst score never regains his former juice? Yep. Williams looks entrenched as Denver’s early down guy, but don’t be surprised if Jaleel McLaughlin eats into his carries more this season and capsizes his pass-game usage. Williams is an RB2/3.
– Derek Brown

Zack Moss (CIN)

Moss parlayed his starting stint last year with the Colts into a possible starting gig with the Bengals. In the seven games he started and played at least 50% of the snaps, he finished with 21.1 touches and 98.5 total yards per game. Moss should handle the early downs in Cincinnati this season after ranking 15th in missed tackles forced per attempt and 18th in yards after contact per attempt last year (per Fantasy Points Data). Chase Brown could eat into his pass game work as Moss was only 41st in yards per route run and 48th in targets per route run. Even if his passing game usage is capped, being the early down back on one of the league’s best offenses still puts him in the RB2/3 conversation.
– Derek Brown