He’s short, but his fantasy football impact has been anything but little.
Darren Sproles, the Saints running back whose height is similar to some pre-adolescent teenagers, has made quite a mark since joining the team in 2011. He’s become one of quarterback Drew Brees’ favorite targets, catching 232 passes over the last three season, 37 more than any other running back during that time.
As a result, Sproles finished 5th in fantasy at the running back position in 2011, and 12th in 2012 despite missing three games. This past season, however, Sproles – one of the more consistent backs the fantasy football game has seen over the last couple of seasons – dipped to the 24th-ranked back.
Why? How? Is there an easily defined answer for this drop in production and rank?
Sproles' 2013 Campaign
Anytime there’s a drop in production from one year to the next, you’d expect to see some sort of decline in efficiency. Interestingly enough, that wasn’t exactly the case for Sproles. Take a look at how his 2013 campaign compared to the previous two he had where he was a top-12 running back:
| Year | Rushes | Rushing NEP | Receptions | Reception NEP | PPR Fantasy Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 87 | 24.43 | 86 | 54.51 | 271.3 |
| 2012 | 48 | -0.96 | 75 | 54.52 | 216.1 |
| 2013 | 53 | -0.8 | 71 | 39.65 | 173.4 |
The numbers above reflect numberFire’s Net Expected Points metric, which analyzes how many points – real points – a player is adding for his team over the course of the season. You can read more about the statistic
| Year | Rushes | Rushing TDs | Targets | Receptions | Receiving TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 5 |
| 2013 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 1 |