8 Fantasy Football Winners From the 2016 NFL Draft
Matt Jones, RB, Washington Redskins
The only running back selected by Washington this year was Keith Marshall, who's fast (4.31-second 40-yard dash time) but doesn't profile to be a lead back. That, and the Redskins used a seventh-rounder on the selection, meaning they're not invested whatsoever.
That means Matt Jones will be the lead back entering camp with Chris Thompson playing the lead pass-catching back role.
Jones has issues keeping hold of the ball and finished his rookie year with just a 3.4 yards per carry average. He finished with a 35.42% Success Rate, and on a per rush basis, Jones' -0.19 Rushing NEP per tote ranked dead last among the 44 backs with 100 or more carries last year.
Fortunately, some of this could've been situation-related. Veteran Alfred Morris had just a 3.7 yards per carry average last year, and while his Rushing NEP per rush average was higher, much of that has to do with Jones' fumbling issues, as NEP accounts for that. In truth, Success Rate is a great binary indicator of running back success, and Jones was better than Morris within that metric, which is a plus.
The situation with Jones is pretty similar to what we see with Latavius Murray in that he's shown to be an inefficient rusher and may not catch a ton of passes, but he could see a lot of early-down work. That makes him important to fantasy football, but it's vital to have a more well-rounded back these days, especially in PPR leagues.
