11 Fantasy Football Sleepers to Target This Year

DeAndre Washington, RB, Oakland Raiders

By Joseph Nammour

To be clear, Latavius Murray could be considered a good value this year, but not because he's talented -- he had a -0.07 Rushing NEP per carry in 2015, which was one of the worst rates among high-volume backs. He's just slated to get the lion's share of carries in a decent offense, making him important.

However, Murray was ineffective in the pass game last season -- he had a Reception NEP per target nearly one-third of the league average -- and rookie DeAndre Washington is expected to play at least the third-down role in Oakland. It's conceivable that he can become the third or fourth option in the passing game behind Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree given the team's depth chart, but at the very least, he'll see targets in passing situations.

Meanwhile, the combination of non-Murray backs last year contributed 66 carries, amounting to 20% of the market share of running back carries in Oakland. That's an incredibly high share, meaning if Washington is the second back on the roster, envisioning him with 100-plus carries isn't crazy.

Combine this with his pass-catching ability, and you've got a great value with a lot of upside, especially if Murray were to go down.