As we inch closer to the start of the 2021 Fantasy Football season, it’s becoming imperative to start combing through expert cheat sheets, partake in mock drafts and start narrowing down your favorite picks for your Yahoo, ESPN and CBS leagues. Awesemo’s NFL expert Dave “Loughy” Loughran has gone through all of his 2021 Fantasy Football rankings and found three running backs you should be avoiding — not only in your mock drafts, but for your important leagues this season. Loughy breaks down why JK Dobbins, Cam Akers and Travis Etienne are being overvalued and coming into this season as his Top 3 busts. Use the video below as a cheat sheet when doing your mock drafts and preparing for the 2021 fantasy football regular season.
Fantasy Football Rankings: 2021 Running Back Busts
More 2021 Fantasy Football Rankings
Running Backs: Draft Christian McCaffrey No. 1 Overall?
From a production standpoint, McCaffrey still holds the crown as the NFL’s elite feature back. The Panthers eased McCaffrey in during his 117-carry rookie season in 2017. From there, he eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing and 100 catches in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. McCaffrey’s 2019 was one of the top seasons ever produced by a running back. McCaffrey rushed for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns on 287 carries while adding 116 receptions for another 1,005 yards and four touchdowns. He even spent 11% of his snaps in the slot or out wide in 2019.
McCaffrey played on 91.3% and 93.4% of snaps, respectively, in 2018 and 2019. While he only appeared in three games last year, McCaffrey touched the ball 26, 22 and 28 times in those games. He also played on 97%, 64%, and 71% of snaps despite suffering injuries in the latter two. However, the Panthers did very little to address their running back depth behind McCaffrey this offseason. Mike Davis departed during free agency, and the team only added rookie Chuba Hubbard on Day 3 of the NFL Draft. Without other viable options, McCaffrey looks likely to handle another enormous workload.
Dominate your Fantasy Football draft this year with the best fantasy football rankings, strategy and data, brought to you by the #1 DFS player in the world. The 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Kit brings you the sophisticated tools and proprietary data you need to win your season-long fantasy league in 2021. Awesemo's Fantasy Football Rankings Printable Fantasy Football Cheatsheets The Best Fantasy Sleeper Picks Fantasy Football Player Profiles Awesemo Fantasy Football on YouTube Buy the Awesemo 2021 Fantasy Football Draft Kit Now and get a $35 bonus on Underdog Fantasy AND a $35 credit on FFPC ($10 for existing players)!Digging into the workload specifics, McCaffrey handled 93% of all running back carries and 94% of all running back targets in 2019. This massive workload also included 80.6% of Carolina’s red zone duties. He is already handling a three-down and goal-line role and has shown the ability to dominate all phases of the game.
See Matt Gajewski’s entire 2021 Fantasy Football Rankings article and mock draft cheat sheets.
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