Most of the fantasy football world has heard the name Tevin Coleman, but unless you follow college athletics closely, you may not know much about him. The reasoning is because other than leaving his mark in the NCAA record books, he hasn’t done much in his short football career.

Tevin Coleman was the 73rd overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2015 NFL draft. He played his college ball at Indiana and in 2014, his junior year, he set the school’s single season rushing record with 2,036 yards. Coleman, Melvin Gordon and Ameer Abdullah were the three finalists in 2014 for the prestigious NCAA Doak Walker Award (top college football running back). Gordon would go on to win the award. All three RB would enter the NFL together, but Coleman’s name would shine much less than theirs in their rookie campaigns.

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A Deeper Dive Into Tevin Coleman

A preseason injury for Devonta Freeman led to Tevin Coleman being named the Week 1 starter for the 2015 season. In Week 1 he would rush for 80 yards on 20 carries; a solid 4 yards per rush in his first game as a professional. Week 2 would be where his football career encountered its first hurdle. During the first quarter, Coleman would suffer a fractured rib and leave the game not long after scoring his first and only touchdown of his rookie season. The next time Coleman would see any significant playing time is when a knee injury holds Freeman out of a week 12 contest against the Minnesota Vikings. Coleman stepped in and reminded people of why he was drafted in the first place by rushing for 110 yards on 18 rush attempts.

After dealing with multiple injuries and ball handling issues, Coleman would finish his rookie year with 392 yards on 87 rushing attempts and one touchdown. After the conclusion of the season, most of the running back talk in Atlanta surrounded Freeman, and rightfully so. Freeman had finished 2015 with 1,056 rushing yards on 265 rushing attempts and 578 receiving yards on 73 receptions. In total, Freeman had 14 touchdowns last season, tied for most in the NFL. In just about every other similar situation in sports, when the backup comes in and excels it becomes less and less likely with each passing week that you would regain your place. The three fumbles that Coleman had in 2015 helped compound that issue. With all that said, Coleman remains a threat in most fantasy league formats.

The fact that Coleman is being talked about in such fantasy relevant terms this off-season is a testament to his natural skill and work ethic. Head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Dan Quinn, sees the value in using a 2 RB system. It’s no secret that Coleman’s success this year could lead to Freeman being used a little less during the regular season and would allow him to be fresh down the stretch and into the playoffs. This is also our most important time, the fantasy football playoffs.

In the previous paragraphs we have discussed where Coleman came from and what he has accomplished in the past, but lets now discuss where his future is headed as a fantasy sleeper. Coleman’s current ADP sits at 126 according to FantasyPros.com. With all things considered, this is right about where he should be sitting with a healthy Freeman on the roster. His true sleeper potential comes as a handcuff option. Still, Coleman will definitely see an increased role in the highly touted passing offense of the Atlanta Falcons. In PPR leagues, Coleman would have equal value to a Theo Riddick or Charles Sims who are being drafted five to ten spots ahead of him currently in mock drafts. The Falcons threw the eighth most pass attempts per game in 2015. With the subtraction of Roddy White and no true receiving TE threat just yet, Coleman could see his fair share of targets in the passing game. Reports out of training camp state that Coleman has been used on several deep routes down the side lines, connecting with Ryan on several occasions.

In conclusion, Tevin Coleman looks to be in line to see a huge bump in total offensive snaps and targets in the passing game this season. He has top notch speed and his 6’1”, 210 pound frame creates a large target from a normally small stature position for Ryan. If Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan creates a package specifically tailored to accentuate his skills, Coleman could find himself in positions where LB and DE would be forced to attempt to cover him. This would be a recipe for success for the Falcons. Assuming Coleman can fix his ball security issues he showed last year, I could see him getting close to 40% of the carries at RB this year for this high-flying offense.

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