5 Players You Should Reach for in Fantasy Football Drafts
Rashad Jennings, RB, New York Giants
It might seem odd reaching for a player like Rashad Jennings, a 31-year-old running back who's spent a good portion of his time in the NFL bouncing between teams. But Jennings just isn't as bad as his low ADP indicates he is.
In 2015, he showed why the Giants' four-headed monster approach at the position was foolhardy.
| Rushing NEP per Rush | Rushing Success Rate | Reception NEP per Target | Reception Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.02 | 50.77% | 0.41 | 65.52% |
Jennings' 50.77% Success Rate was highest in the league among backs with at least 125 carries, meaning he was frequently moving the chains for his team. Jennings was also the eighth-most efficient back on the ground in this same group of backs, posting an impressive 0.02 Rushing NEP per rush.
And not to be confused with simply a ground-and-pounder, his 0.41 Reception NEP per target was 12th-best among all running backs with at least 40 targets, many of whom above him were pass catching specialists such as Charles Sims, Theo Riddick, and James White.
Perhaps the Giants' brass put more stock in analytics in the offseason, because the speculation coming out of Giants' beat writers is that Jennings will receive about 15 to 18 carries a game in 2016. That's just absurd value for a player who performed as well as Jennings did in 2015 and who is currently coming off of draft boards in the late seventh round.
And even though Jennings is no spring chicken at 31 years old, remember that his time bouncing between teams and running behind backs like Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden has left him with a lot of gas in the tank, having received only 749 carries in his career.
Don't let Jennings' age and last seasons' committee approach in the Giants' backfield scare you. If you can grab Jennings in the late-sixth or early-seventh round range, do it. He could be big.
