NFL
4 Mid-Round Fantasy Football Running Backs With Workhorse Potential
These four running backs have a chance to carve out a large workload in their respective offenses, but they're being drafted later than they should be.

Jay Ajayi, Miami Dolphins

Jay Ajayi ESPN Fantasy Pros My Fantasy League Composite
Average Draft Position 63 60 75 66


Jay Ajayi struggled from an efficiency standpoint in 2015, posting a 34.69 percent Success Rate -- which measures the percentage of positive runs, measured by wants his running backs to play all three downs. The Dolphins used their backs in a similar capacity last season, with Lamar Miller mostly dominating the touches. Right now, it would appear that rookie Kenyan Drake has the upper hand when it comes to passing work, but the potential is there for Ajayi to establish himself as a workhorse if he shows well in the passing game during training camp and the pre-season.

While most think of Coach Gase as a quarterback whisperer after what he did for Peyton Manning and Jay Cutler over the past three seasons, he also produced some solid fantasy seasons for his running backs during that time. Below are his running backs' totals during his time as offensive coordinator.

Team Rushing Attempts (Rank) Rushing Yards (Rank) Rushing TD (Rank)
2013 Broncos 461 (11) 1,873 (15) 16 (7)
2014 Broncos 443 (12) 1,785 (15) 15 (9)
2015 Bears 469 (6) 1,851 (11) 13 (12)


Gase's offenses also fed his running backs in the passing game, as they averaged 105 targets, 76 catches, and 683 yards during those three seasons.

Another factor that has gone in Ajayi's favor this offseason is Miami making it a point to improve their offensive line. They brought in Kraig Urbik, Jermon Bushrod, and Sam Young in free agency, while also having the uber-talented Laremy Tunsil fall to them with the 13th pick.

We've seen so little from Ajayi thus far in his NFL career that it is hard to recommend spending an early pick on him, especially considering how bad Miami's offense was last year. If his ADP remains near where it is right now, though, his upside is impossible to ignore.

Prev Next

Related News

An Introduction to FanDuel Research

Jim Sannes  --  Jul 8th, 2016

The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast, Mailbag 7/21/23

JJ Zachariason  --  Jul 8th, 2016

The Late-Round Fantasy Football Podcast, Approaching Unique Leagues

JJ Zachariason  --  Jul 8th, 2016