Fantasy football running back sleepers to target in middle, late rounds

Sometimes the best option, even when fighting the good fight, is to give up.No, we’re not going to ease up on our anti-PPR campaign, and of course we still give thunderous backing to SuperFlex formats.But maybe our battle of nomenclature that pits the Madman against the term “sleepers” … maybe we should give that a rest.

Because every time we try to write about “value picks,” we have to take a circuitous route to explain why we’re not just saying “sleeper.”Yes, all our previous points stand (the term is outdated, doesn’t really apply, no one really qualifies anymore, etc.).But it is common, it is universally understood, and it is just so bloody easy.So you win, World.

We give up, and instead of fighting, we will give “sleeper” a loving embrace.But we’re still on the march to bring the word “swell” back to popularity.Now, on with some fantasy football running back sleepers!What few reliable running backs there are get gobbled up quickly in drafts.

The questions start to emerge fairly early.So when looking in the middle to late rounds for usable RBs in Week 1, you’re just not going to find ”reliable.” But what you might find are guys who could realize their upside at some point in the season.Jonathon Brooks is unlikely to begin the year as the Panthers feature RB.

Yet, we saw last season that Chuba Hubbard’s grasp on the role is tenuous — he lost his job to Rico Dowdle by midseason.That could be Brooks this year.Note, he has an injury history.

Like, a “War & Peace” type injury history — he has missed almost all of his first two seasons after two different ACL tears.But there have been other players who suffered early career injuries or had the “fragile” label then went on to have production, even great careers: Keenan Allen, Matthew Stafford, Frank Gore, Thomas Davis, Fred Taylor, et al.Maybe that is what happens with Brooks.

Compared to some of the other RB options around that area of the draft — Aaron Jon...