Breakout Running Backs: Tyjae Spears & Zamir White (2024 Fantasy Football)

Hitting big on middle and late-round running backs often drives fantasy success. Who will go from irrelevancy to your Flex spot? Who will go from your Flex spot to stardom? Each year a few players take that next step in their careers. Predicting these hits is a tricky game. Last offseason people thought Cam Akers finally had the starting role for the Rams.

Home runs like Kyren Williams only come around once every few years. The truth is that a lot of it is just taking a swing and getting on base. Below are middle and late-round running backs that have the potential and opportunity to break out in 2024.

Breakout Running Backs

Tyjae Spears (RB – TEN)

Tyjae Spears may only have one ACL, but I’m doubling down on him for the 2024 season. Spears was a productive rookie in an unproductive offense (17.9 points per game). The explosive third-round pick out of Tulane totaled 1,108 yards from scrimmage. That isn’t too far off from Derrick Henry’s 1,381 yards. Spears took advantage of his part-time role, rushing 100 times for 453 yards and two touchdowns. His yards per carry (4.5) was bigger than Henry’s (4.2). Spears also excelled as a receiving back. He finished with the 11th-most receptions for a running back (52), producing 385 yards and one touchdown.

Spears ended his rookie season with his most productive game. The Titans only gave him six touches, but he totaled 66 yards and two touchdowns against the Jaguars. A mix of vision, contact balance and lateral agility make Spears an elusive runner. He forced 26 missed tackles on 100 carries. He also ran for 10+ yards on 13 of his carries.

Spears was promoted to co-starter alongside Tony Pollard. While it’s not a bell-cow role, Spears projects to earn a significantly higher share of rushing attempts than he did last year. The Titans revamped their offense this offseason. Brian Callahan comes in as a respected offensive mind. They signed Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd to take some pressure off the run game. And they invested in their offensive line with seventh overall pick JC Latham and $50,000,000 man Lloyd Cushenberry.

Pollard looked vulnerable in 2023. The leg injury hampered him for most of the season, sapping the explosivity that made him a highly sought-after RB1. Spears has the chance to cement himself as the more athletic, elusive running back in this new-look offense.

Zamir White (RB – LV)

Volume is king. All hale Zeus. The Las Vegas Raiders have appointed Zamir White as their next workhorse running back. He finished the 2023 season with 104 rushes, 451 yards and one touchdown. Eighty-four of these attempts came in the final four games. He averaged a healthy 4.7 yards per attempt (YPA) over this stretch. This dwarfs Josh Jacobs’ measly 3.5 YPA on 233 carries. Antonio Pierce loves White and will comfortably give him around 20 looks per game in 2024. Keep in mind Jacobs was second in the league in attempts per game with 17.92.

White has the size to operate as a bell-cow, standing at six feet and weighing 215 pounds. His running style is decisive and physical. He isn’t the most creative runner, but he hits the hole with conviction and has enough speed (4.40-second 40-yard dash) to break off the occasional big play. He broke eight tackles in 2023, which is only two fewer than Josh Jacobs on 129 fewer carries.

White averaged 14.55 fantasy points per game (PPF) in half-PPR formats over this four-game stretch. That extrapolates to a top-five finish within last year’s rankings. I don’t expect White to finish that high, but he’s certainly in store for a top half year. Dylan Laube, my fellow UNH Wildcat, is the only other interesting running back here. He fits more into the Ameer Abdullah receiving back role and won’t eat into White’s playing time. Draft White without hesitation.