8. Dalvin Cook: Dalvin Cook was shaping up to competing with Leonard Fournette’s rookie campaign, but an ACL injury cost him the season. To say what we saw wasn’t impressive, you must be a Green Bay Packers fan.
In a short time, he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and just over eight yards per catch. Cook tallied 354 yards on the ground in four games last season. That’s an average of a little more than 88 yards per game. I’ll take that all day and twice on Sun… da… y; well… yea. Dalvin will be over 1,000 yards this season and over 500 receiving, so don’t hesitate to take a chance on him. You might find some value given the ACL last year too.
Playoff Schedule: @ SEA, vs. MIA, @ DET
7. Leonard Fournette: I am pretty big on Fournette this year. Blake Bortles has proven Leonard is a nice crutch to lean on. While rushing for just over 1,000 yards, Fournette proved to run with a full head of steam consistently.
His 302 receiving yards on 36 receptions were impressive too. The biggest knock on Fournette coming out of college was his hands in the passing game, and he has worked extremely hard on it and showed that he can be a semi-threat catching the ball too.
Fournette averaged 3.9 yards per carry and 8.4 yards per reception last year and should put in a great sophomore campaign. With the Tennessee Titans on the playoff schedule, that looks like the only hurdle he will have to leap.
Playoff Schedule: AT TEN, vs. WSH, @ MIA
6. Alvin Kamara: I wonder what the one thing I love most about fantasy running backs… hmm. PASS CATCHING ABILITY!
Alvin Kamara took the NFL by STORM last year! It was CRAZY! Kamara is a system running back, but it works. The New Orleans Saints throw the ball every chance they can get. While missing some time due to a concussion issue, Kamara averaged a league high 6.1 yards per carry. Disgusting. Not to mention the fact that he had 81 receptions while tallying over 800 yards receiving. I will take all of this all day long.
The Saints found a special player in Kamara, but be careful, while you have to make it there first, that Pittsburgh Steelers game in the championship week really scares me along with Carolina.
Playoff Schedule: @ TB, vs. CAR, vs. PIT