Diamonds In The Rough: Late-Round Rookie Running Backs

Who doesn’t love finding those late-round gems in their dynasty rookie drafts? Every year, one of the most fun things about dynasty football leagues is trying to hit on those random late-round rookies. I’ll be digging into some numbers that might help you find those Diamonds In The Rough: Late-Round Rookie Running Backs.

Day 3 running backs (Rounds 4-7) drafted from 2011-2021, have had 21/179 (11.7%) with a single 1k+ scrimmage yard season in their career.

Day 3 Running Backs (Drafted 2011-2021):

• Alfred Morris
• Devonta Freeman
• Jordan Howard
• Aaron Jones
• Chris Carson
• Jay Ajayi
• Lamar Miller
• Spencer Ware
• Latavius Murray
• James White
• Marlon Mack
• Tarik Cohen
• Alex Collins
• Zac Stacy
• Dion Lewis
• Bilal Powell
• Elijah Mitchell
• Tony Pollard
• Andre Ellington
• Roy Helu
• Mike Davis

If we add in undrafted free agent running backs we get 28/390 (7.2%).

UDFA Running Backs (2011-2021):

• Austin Ekeler
• James Robinson
• Phillip Lindsay
• Isaiah Crowell
• CJ Anderson
• Matt Breida
• Darrel Williams

So how do we figure out which late-round running backs to target?

I looked at all the Day 3 and UDFA running back hits and averaged similarities in their analytical and athletic profiles.

The Running Backs Shared the Following Traits:

• 5’10
• 210 lbs+
• 60th+ percentile Speed Score
• 60th+ percentile College Target Share
• 60th+ percentile College Dominator
• Small School

A single running back from the 2022 class hit all criteria:

• Tyler Allgeier

The following running backs were close to hitting the criteria:

• Jerome Ford
• Tyler Badie
• Isiah Pacheco
• D’Vonte Price
• Bryant Koback
• Leddie Brown

Of these backs, I would be targeting Allgeier, Ford, Badie, and Pacheco. Pacheco is one of my favorites from this group as a late-round dart throw. I wrote about Pacheco’s interesting situation in June and the buzz has continued to get louder since then.

Diamonds In The Rough: Late-Round Rookie Wide Receivers

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