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 second-year fantasy football running backs below.
- 2024 Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 Fantasy Football Rankings
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Fantasy Football Second-Year Running Backs: Draft Advice
Second-Year Running Backs
The Arthur Smith experiment capsized what could have been an enormous rookie season for Robinson. He ranked ninth in snap share, third in targets, sixth in receptions, and fourth in receiving yards among running backs, but he finished as the RB17 in fantasy points per game. Robinson was the RB12 in expected fantasy points per game, but his opportunity share ranked 31st, and he was also 32nd in red zone touches with Smith’s insistence on utilizing Tyler Allgeier. If Robinson receives the bulk of the high-leverage touches under the new Falcons regime, he should crush in 2024. Last year, he ranked 23rd in explosive run rate, 17th in yards after contact per attempt, and 25th in yards per route run (per Fantasy Points Data). Robinson is a locked-in RB1 for 2024.
– Derek Brown
Every nerd who said the Lions were foolish for selecting Gibbs in the first round has a tiny bit of egg on their face. Gibbs finished the season as the RB8 in fantasy points per game and fantasy points per opportunity. He was a tackle-breaking blur last season, ranking 18th in yards after contact per attempt and 11th in missed tackles forced per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). After David Montgomery returned from injury, Gibbs averaged 14.1 touches and 73.1 total yards per game. Montgomery isn’t going anywhere, but that doesn’t mean Gibbs can’t be a top-shelf RB1 again in 2024.
– Derek Brown
Achane was part of the new wave of explosive young rushers to hit the scene last season. He finished as the RB5 in fantasy points per game. In the eight games he played at least 41% of the snaps, Achane averaged 14.2 touches and 113.8 total yards. Any fantasy gamer who falls in love with efficiency stats will love Achane. He was so damn good last year, ranking first in explosive run rate, third in missed tackles forced per attempt, and second in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). If he can overtake Raheem Mostert (and hold off Jaylen Wright) as the team’s primary goal-line rusher, Achane could finish as a top-three back in 2024.
– Derek Brown
RIP Tyjae Spears RB1 szn. It was fun while it lasted, but Tony Pollard’s arrival has kiboshed that. That doesn’t mean Tyjae Spears can’t be 2021 Tony Pollard to Tony Pollard in Tennessee. Spears operated as discount De’Von Achane last season, ranking fifth in explosive run rate and 14th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). He proved that he can be a three-down explosive play monster as well, ranking seventh in target share, 10th in TPRR, and 17th in YPRR. If the Titans trot out an offense with an above-average neutral rushing rate and Spears can continue his insane efficiency, he will remain a strong RB3 who could finish as a low-end RB2 if this offense surprises people.
– Derek Brown
Zach Charbonnet played a complementary role in Seattle for most of his rookie season. Overall, he finished as the RB48 in fantasy points per game with 141 touches and 671 total yards. In the three games that he played at least 61% of the snaps, he averaged 19.7 touches and 75.3 total yards, with two top-18 running back finishes (RB18, RB13). Charbonnet did prove that he could carry the mail last year and surprised many with his top-20 rankings in explosive run rate (20th) and yards after contact per attempt (11th, per Fantasy Points Data). Charbonnet could eat into Kenneth Walker‘s work more in 2024, but he’s likely best viewed as a high-end handcuff with some stand-alone flex value.
– Derek Brown
Injuries decimated Kendre Miller‘s rookie season. He was limited to only eight games played, and he crossed the 30% snap mark only three times. Miller posted interesting/borderline impressive per-touch numbers when he got opportunities, with a 24% missed tackle rate and 3.07 yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). We’ll see how much work he can siphon off from Alvin Kamara this season, but don’t be surprised if he can eat into his work and carve out a 40-50% snap role weekly. He does have to contend with Jamaal Williams as Kamara’s understudy, so it’s not a clear path to success. Miller is still an intriguing late-round pick/RB4 for 2024.
– Derek Brown
Chase Brown remains a high-end handcuff bet for 2024 that could offer some stand-alone value if he can eat into Zach Moss’s workload. Brown was impressive on a per-touch basis last season, although the sample size is pretty limited (44 carries). Among 77 backs with at least 40 carries, Brown ranked 12th in yards after contact per attempt and 16th in missed tackles forced per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Brown is a player to get exposure with during draft season because the upside is there for him to outkick his ADP.
– Derek Brown
Fully expect me to be above consensus regarding Jaleel McLaughlin this season. Last year, he was electric with every touch he earned. Among all running backs with at least 50 rushing attempts or 20 targets, McLaughlin ranked 14th in explosive run rate, fifth in missed tackles forced per attempt, fourth in yards after contact per attempt, and fourth in yards per route run. Denver made it a point to get him involved in the passing game when he was on the field, as he also ranked first in targets per route run. McLaughlin could easily earn more opportunities this season, as Samaje Perine wasn’t amazing last season, and Javonte Williams looked like a shadow of his former self. At this juncture, I’m not worried about Audric Estime and Blake Watson stealing any of McLaughlin’s work this season. If McLaughlin earns Sean Payton’s trust, he could be an RB3/4 that vaults into steady RB2 production.
– Derek Brown
Roschon Johnson had a consistent role as a committee back in his rookie season, but he was never able to seize the backfield fully. In the three games he played at least 49% of the snaps, he did average 9.7 touches and 53.5 total yards while flashing upside in the passing game. Among 60 qualifying backs last year, he ranked 27th in yards per route run and 17th in targets per route run rate (per Fantasy Points Data). Sadly, though, Johnson’s collegiate tackle-breaking prowess didn’t translate to the NFL in year one as he finished outside the top 40 backs in explosive run rate (46th), missed tackles forced per attempt (49th), and yards after contact per attempt (42nd). Johnson is now buried as the RB3 on Chicago’s depth chart and is only a late-round best-ball target at best.
– Derek Brown
Fantasy Football Draft Rankings
Check out the consensus 2024 fantasy football draft rankings from our experts.
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