4 Players to Stash in Fantasy Football From the NFC West

Andre Ellington, RB, Arizona Cardinals

The Player

Perhaps this one is cheating, but the Cardinals boast one of the most exciting and established depth charts, so finding an obscure player who presents value is somewhat difficult. J.J. Nelson was considered, but I consider him more of a situational player who doesn't present the same upside as a widely used Andre Ellington.

What many don't realize about Ellington is that his 2015 disaster of a season was his most efficient from a metrics standpoint, albeit on a significantly reduced workload.

His 0.14 Rushing NEP per rush was by far the best of his career (0.06 in 2013 was his previous high) and put him in comparable territory to Dion Lewis (0.19), Jerick McKinnon (0.17), and Jamaal Charles (0.10). His backfield running mate David Johnson put up a 0.15, although on 80 additional carries.

And as a receiver, his metrics were on par with his efficient rookie year, demonstrating his ability as a runner and a receiver in space.

While a slow 40 time (4.61) and smaller stature dinged him coming out of college, we are still talking about one of the quickest and agile runners in the NFL and a player who profiles similarly to an Ameer Abdullah or Dion Lewis.

The Situation

No one can argue with the amazingly efficient season that David Johnson had, where he was tops in the NFL in Rushing NEP per rush and second in Success Rate for backs with more than 100 carries. His Reception NEP per target was also tops for backs with more than 30 targets.

Similarly, you can't argue with the fact that as Ellington's workload has increased, his efficiency has decreased.

But while the rest of the fantasy community ignores these same concerns when considering the explosive Dion Lewis, Ellington is an afterthought in fantasy drafts. The difference between the two is opportunity.

With the now unimaginative and inefficient Chris Johnson and the exciting David Johnson ahead of him on the depth chart, it's fair to wonder if Ellington's opportunity has come and gone for the Cardinals.

Still, an injury to David Johnson could open the door for a Dion Lewis-style role for an explosive back in one of the most explosive offenses in football. A player who just two seasons ago was being touted as the future in Arizona by the coaching staff is a player worth monitoring.