What It Means:

“Philip (Rivers) has an uncanny ability to get the ball to the backs," Reich said while discussing Hines' role in 2020. "Nyheim will be very much integrated into the game plan, on all three downs. … Still enough snaps for him to be very, very productive this year. Very productive." This comes after Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni recently said Hines will "benefit big time" from the addition of Rivers. Second-round rookie Jonathan Taylor and Marlon Mack are expected to duke it out for early-down touches, but Hines seems to be locked-in as the Colts' passing-down back. He has the ninth-most targets (139) and eight-most receptions (107) among all running backs since entering the league in 2018. One of the backs ahead of Hines is Austin Ekeler, who was targeted 108 times by Rivers last season.

numberFire's models project Hines for 186.7 rushing yards, 239.5 receiving yards, 30.4 receptions, and 3.1 touchdowns in 2020. He's the RB59 in our preseason fantasy rankings.