Mike Davis had a Cinderella season in 2020. He was virtually undrafted last year, and for good reason. With Christian Mccaffrey ahead of him, there was no way he was going to even see the field without an injury ahead of him. Luckily for Davis, that is exactly what happened. He took over after McCaffrey’s injury, and it was like McCaffrey never was even out. After the season Davis headed to Atlanta to be its new starter. In his new role, can Davis be a reliable RB2 on fantasy rosters? Let’s look at Davis’ 2020 season and this year’s fantasy football projections to see where he could end up in the overall rankings in 2021.
2021 Fantasy Football Player Previews: Mike Davis
| PPR Finish in 2020 | Half-PPR Finish in 2020 | Standard Finish in 2020 |
| RB #12 | RB #15 | RB #18 |
| PPR PPG Finish in 2020 | Half-PPR PPG Finish in 2020 | Standard PPG Finish in 2020 |
| RB #21 | RB #27 | RB #30 |
Davis’ Production in 2021
McCaffrey is one of the most dominant running backs in the NFL, so there was no real reason for Davis to touch the field in 2020 barring injury. But McCaffrey missed some serious time, so Davis showed what he is capable of as a lead back. When given the opportunity Davis was dominant, rushing for 642 yards (29th) on 165 carries (20th). He also added 59 receptions (fourth among backs) on 70 targets (fifth) for 373 yards (ninth) and eight total touchdowns (19th) in 14 games.
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Obviously, Davis’ splits with and without McCaffrey are night and day. Without McCaffrey Davis averaged 12.58 more carries per game, 51.17 more yards rushing and 0.5 more touchdowns. In the receiving game his numbers across the board were lower, but that does not mean that Davis is not a rock-solid pass catcher.
Davis’ Outlook in 2021
Making the move to the Falcons makes Davis go from a handcuff to a legitimate starting running back. Behind Davis there is Qadree Ollison, Javian Hawkins and Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson may be the No. 2 back here, but there is no worry about anyone stealing touches from Davis. Based upon the opinions of many that Todd Gurley would have a potential top-12 season last year, Davis’ upside should be near that level. He has zero injury concerns like Gurley had. Davis showed enough last season that, if he is in a workhorse role, he could be a top-12 finisher in 2021, especially if he is being fed the dump-offs like Devonta Freeman was in the past with Matt Ryan under center.
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