Though their report on the sector might not mirror this in 2022, the Jacksonville Jaguars ought to have a number of fantasy-relevant gamers you’ll discover in beginning lineups. Jacksonville’s backfield consists of intriguing choices corresponding to Travis Etienne, James Robinson, and Snoop Conner, however which Jaguars RB do you have to draft in fantasy football this season?
Travis Etienne is a fantasy breakout candidate in 2022
Discuss to just about each fantasy analyst on the market, they usually’ll say Etienne is a breakout candidate in 2022. Are you aware what? I feel they’re on to one thing.
Etienne is a shifty rusher who has home-run pace. If he sees a crease, you’ll not catch him within the open subject. Although everybody is aware of about his breakaway skill, Etienne persistently destroys defenders’ angles as DBs don’t notice how briskly he’s (sub-4.5) till it’s too late.
He was additionally dominant in faculty, which was the final time we noticed Etienne on the sector. In 2020, he performed 12 video games for the Clemson Tigers, speeding 168 occasions for 956 yards and 14 touchdowns. His growth within the passing sport is what stood out. Etienne caught 48 passes for 588 yards and two touchdowns throughout his senior season and ended his profession with 102 receptions.
As well as, Etienne can be the NCAA FBS report holder for many profession video games with a landing (46 of his 55 profession video games). He’s one in every of solely 12 gamers in FBS historical past with 4,000 profession speeding yards and 1,000 profession receiving yards.
Etienne made his title was explosive performs. Whereas at Clemson, he led the NCAA with 55 runs of 20+ yards throughout his 4 years (2017-2020). On these explosive performs, he scored 21 TDs and rushed for two,053 yards, averaging 37.3 yards per carry. Etienne additionally had six receptions of 30 or extra yards, giving him 61 explosive performs. Since 2020, the Jaguars have simply 31 explosive performs of 20 yards or extra (final within the NFL).
Now a full 12 months faraway from the foot harm that value him his rookie season, Etienne is predicted to be one of many NFL’s busiest backs within the passing sport. That’s a top quality fantasy managers desperately seek for in PPR codecs, as a goal is price roughly 3 times the worth of a run on a per-touch foundation.
Is James Robinson probably the greatest draft day reductions you could find?
Over the past two seasons, there haven’t been many higher tales than Robinson. A 2020 UDFA from Illinois State, Robinson grew to become the fourth undrafted participant in NFL historical past to hurry for over 1,000 yards (1,070) of their rookie season. Regardless of catching 60 passes and ending because the RB7, Robinson got here into 2021 going through new competitors as a result of, effectively, City Meyer.
With Etienne out for the 12 months, Robinson had a transparent path to repeat his glorious 2020 manufacturing. Nonetheless, that by no means occurred as Meyer couldn’t work out how he wished to make use of Robinson. Regardless of the RB24 end, Robinson noticed his touches range from two to 21 relying on the week and temper of Meyer.
Nonetheless, when he did obtain touches, Robinson was environment friendly, ending eleventh in yards after contact per try (3.3) and tied for ninth in red-zone touchdowns (eight). Within the 10 video games the place Robinson noticed double-digit touches, he averaged 15.3 carries, 75.7 yards, 0.88 TDs, 3.7 targets, 2.9 receptions, 18.3 yards, and 17.4 PPR/sport. That’s a 17-game tempo of 309 touches, 1,599 yards, and 15 touchdowns.
After struggling a torn Achilles in December, Robinson faces an uphill battle. Nonetheless, whereas there aren’t any ensures, Robinson appears to be like good in coaching camp and seems to have his burst again after lacking OTAs. I do count on the Jaguars to ease Robinson again into the stream of issues, however beneath Doug Pederson, Robinson may have a task on this committee strategy.
There’s a excellent likelihood Robinson is being undervalued for the time being, and at value (RB42), he’s the Jaguars operating again fantasy managers ought to goal.
Will Snoop Conner be the rookie RB to draft in 2022?
Pederson has proven us he prefers to make use of a committee within the backfield. Return to his time with the Eagles, and he all the time appeared to make use of a rotation of gamers who specialised in sure roles. He’d have a primary and second-down rusher who can break one. Then an RB who can catch the ball out of the backfield. Lastly, somebody who can punch the ball in on goal-to-go carries or transfer the chains on third-and-short.
He has that in Jacksonville. Robinson on early downs (assuming well being), Etienne the receiving specialist, and Conner because the battering ram. At 5’10” and 222 kilos, Conner can convey some thump between the tackles, however he has sufficient pace to hit the second stage (4.59 40-yard sprint). Conner had a nostril for the top zone in faculty, scoring 26 touchdowns in his three years at Ole Miss. He additionally picked up 1,580 yards on 304 speeding makes an attempt and averaged 5.2 yards per carry inside a committee with Jerrion Ealy, Henry Parrish Jr., and QB Matt Corral.
As a one-cut runner, Conner will play a task in Jacksonville much like what he did in faculty as a short-area again. That’s a big job in most offenses and one which fantasy managers ought to goal. The extra high-leverage carries you could find, the extra probabilities for blow-up fantasy weeks. The priority for Conner is these carries might be few and much between in an offense that would battle for goal-line probabilities. But when this offense is healthier than anticipated in Trevor Lawrence’s second 12 months, Conner carries sneaky nice worth as the one RB on the roster not carrying a crimson harm flag into the season.
Ought to I draft James Robinson, Travis Etienne, or Snoop Conner in fantasy?
As coaching camps proceed to push nearer to the beginning of the preseason, common draft place (ADP) tendencies are getting nearer to what you’ll seemingly see on draft day in your league. At the moment, Etienne leads the Jaguars’ RBs with an ADP of 45.7 (RB21), adopted by Robinson at 119.7 (RB42) and Conner at 291.5 (RB81).
For upcoming drafts, I’d solely be focusing on Etienne or Robinson. Whereas Conner ought to have a task, he’s too depending on red-zone carries to search out worth, and there’s no assure the Jaguars gained’t use Etienne or Robinson on this similar position. In spite of everything, Robinson does have 15 touchdowns on his résumé, with 13 approaching carries contained in the 10-yard line and 10 contained in the 5. If Conner does certainly have this position — or Robinson/Etienne suffers a setback — he can be price including. Simply don’t use a roster spot on draft day.
With regards to whether or not fantasy managers ought to draft Etienne or Robinson, we’ve got to have a look at worth and the way excessive Etienne’s ADP rises. With hype and expectations come overvalued draft picks as managers attempt to outfox others of their league. Because the RB21, Etienne remains to be an excellent worth as a low-end RB2. But when he will get into the RB17+ vary, then I could be cautious on Etienne, as he should be nearly as good as we hope to repay this ADP.
Robinson is prone to be one of the best worth of all. Because the RB42, Robinson can solely go up. He’s going in the identical vary as Alexander Mattison, Tyler Boyd, Michael Gallup, Cole Kmet, and Albert Okwuegbunam. In distinction, Etienne is being chosen round DK Metcalf, DJ Moore, Lamar Jackson, Courtland Sutton, Michael Pittman Jr., and Jaylen Waddle. The chance value is considerably greater for Etienne, however Robinson does have the next threat resulting from his harm.
I’m often focusing on vast receivers within the vary the place Etienne comes off the board, so it’s troublesome for me to pick out him. Nonetheless, in case you imagine in Etienne’s pending breakout, he’s nonetheless an honest worth and price a shot in PPR codecs. Simply notice Robinson is probably going the higher worth when contemplating expertise, position, and the gamers round him in fantasy drafts.
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