Mid-Round RB's

[Hawk-Lock]

A lot of talk as usual about the top-tier guys at each position. Would like to get a little insight on the mid-round RB's (RB's taken aprox. rounds 4-7).I can't figure them out. I'm most intrigued by these guys in particular:

Jeremy Hill (ADP 48)
DeMarco Murray (ADP 48)
Latavius Murray (ADP 49)
Jeremy Langford (ADP 61)
Ryan Mathews (ADP 64)
Frank Gore (ADP 74)
Matt Jones (ADP 76)

All of them are intriguing because they all have something going in favor of them, but they all have flaws too:

Bengals are rumored to revert back to their 2014 offense, power-running game (lost a lot of weapons on offense). Can Hill revert back to his rookie form. As bad as he was last year, he still scored 12 total TD's.

DeMarco has looked good in preseason, but so has Henry. Not really sure what to expect with him tbh. Tenn wants to run, so even with a rbbc DeMarco could still see 15+ touches?

I don't think Latavius is very talented, but as of now he is abellcow behind a pretty good OLine. Seems like the two guys behind him might be more talented.

Jeremy Langord really leaves me scratching my head. He looks like one of the few true 3-down backs in the NFL this year. He handled almost all the snaps with the 1's in their 3rd preseason game. Only problem is their Bears are doo-doo.

Doug Pederson's RB's always shine. But can he stay healthy. Last year he was one of the best RB's in terms of ypc.

Gore seems like a safe bet for 15+ carries per game. Ceiling may not be very high though. Do the wheels finally fall off?

Ketih Marshall was put in season-ending IR. It makes Matt Jones a lot more interesting. With little to no depth in the Skins backfield, he should get a lot of work. But their running game isn't very good, and Matt Jones seems like an average talent.

Feel free to discuss other guys I haven't brought up. I'm starting to get some interest in Melvin Gordon, but not sure I can trust him with Woodhead there.

 

[Bryce84]

Well, there's a reason these guys aren't going in the first round, haha. So it's natural for all these guys to have major question marks. You've already commented on a lot of guys and I share a lot of the same sentiments. I do have a couple thoughts though.

Jeremy Hill is the clear standout of this group to me. As you noted, even when he was awful last year, he was still playable in fantasy.

Langford is someone I think you're overlooking a lot. He's gotten most of the first-team offense snaps. What is deflating his value (among other Bears as well) is the fact that Chicago has played 3 very strong defenses in their 3 preseason games (DEN, NE, KC). I don't think they're going to be quite as bad as most seem to think.

My personal ranking of these guys is (in Auction value):

$28 Hill
$24 L. Murray
$22 M. Gordon (I want to believe... for some reason)
$21 D. Murray
$20 R. Mathews
$19 Langford
$18 Gore


$11 M. Jones (Yeah I don't like him, he's injured and I see a nasty committee there again)

 

[Hawk-Lock]

I'm actually really warming up to Langford. He has to be of a few true 3-down backs left in the league. I think he gets a ton of volume, it just comes down to how good (or bad) the Bears are. You might be right about their struggles being exaggerated by their schedule.

Last night the other two no-name RB's on Washington ran wild, so even with Keith Marshall being shelved for the year, Matt Jones still may end up in a committee.

And after watching the Colts preseason game against Philly, I don't really want any part of the Colts running game. Offensive line looks awful again. On a side note, I won't touch Luck, I would much rather wait and take Brees or Ben. The pocket was literally collapsing once the ball was snapped.

So I'm warming to Hill, Mathews and Langford. Kind of cooling on Gore, Jones and Latavius. Not sure what to make of DeMarco.

 

[Sac]

Latavius Murray is going to have a big year. Oakland's line might be better than the one in Dallas this year, and say what you want about Murray, but he has talent. The Raiders are going to win a lot of games this year, and that means they're going to run a lot.

I won't be the least bit surprised if LM is a top 3-5 fantasy back this year.

 

[Hawk-Lock]

Latavius Murray is going to have a big year. Oakland's line might be better than the one in Dallas this year, and say what you want about Murray, but he has talent. The Raiders are going to win a lot of games this year, and that means they're going to run a lot.

I won't be the least bit surprised if LM is a top 3-5 fantasy back this year.

The more I looked into Latavius, the more I cooled on him. But I did draft him in one of my leagues. I had to choose between him, Ryan Mathews and Langford. I figured the Bears and Eagles would have pathetic offenses, so went with the guy in the most efficient offense.

I think he is an average talent. But I still expect him to get a majority of the snaps in Oakland. I know DeAndre Washington is behind him, but all the reports coming out of Oakland are saying Latavius will have a similar workload to last year.