NFL
Rashad Jennings Is a Big Fantasy Football Bargain
Rashad Jennings has dealt with his fair share of injuries over his career, but it's making him a value in fantasy football.

It's true the he's 30 years old, playing a position that calls for youth. It's true that he's in what appears to be a crowded backfield. And it's also true that he's failed to play a full 16-game season during his NFL career.

But Carl-Lewis-National-Anthem bad last season. Of the 17 running backs who ran the ball 200 or more times in 2014, according to our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric (read more about NEP in our According to ESPN's Dan Graziano, yes. And what evidence do we have to suggest otherwise? Jennings was a double-digit attempt runner before he went down with an injury last season, and even hit the 34 attempt mark in a Week 3 contest versus Houston. Andre Williams is ineffective, and Shane Vereen has never, ever been a high-volume guy.

Volume matters in fantasy football. We know this. And right now, you're potentially getting a higher-volume running back in fantasy drafts in the sixth round.

The big question mark, as it always is with Jennings, is health. But fortunately, that aspect is sort of baked into his ADP -- that's a key reason he's not a fourth-round selection. And even if he does hit the injury report again in 2015, it's not as though all is lost. Last season, where he was only able to see double-digit carries in nine games, he still finished with six top-24 running back performances in PPR leagues. For comparison, only 22 running backs had more. So even with an injury, Jennings was still plenty valuable.

Our current projections have Jennings ranked 21st among backs, which is a round and a half to two rounds higher than his current average draft position. Our numbers have him at 183 touches, which seems fair considering his injury history and the Giants' overall situation.

And you can get that in the sixth -- sometimes seventh -- round. For teams who don't go with a running back-heavy approach early on in their draft, he's a perfect player to snag.

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