Rex Burkhead 2019 Outlook: Will He or Won't He
6 years agoIn two seasons in New England, Rex Burkhead has played in 18 games. In those games, he has amassed totals of 121 rushes, 450 yards, and five touchdowns. These are not numbers to feel good about if you are thinking about drafting him this season. With Sony Michel being the running downs back, James White the passing downs back, Brandon Bolden being a superb special teams’ player and rookie Damien Harris being drafted in the third round, the time might just be here where Burkhead is no longer a member of the Patriots.
A lot of teams do not carry five active backs for a regular season game, meaning unless there are injuries, Burkhead does not have a role in New England. If he does get released and find a new team his value could go up a little bit. But not to the extent where he needs to be drafted even then.
Burkhead is currently not in consideration for a draft pick in fantasy drafts and this should remain the case unless you are in the deepest of 16-team leagues with seven- or eight-man benches. Otherwise, he is at best a mid-season waiver add, if and only if a drastic change happens in either New England or in his team situation. If you are thinking of taking him as a flier, the only thing you will accomplish is to waste a pick on someone when you could have taken someone with true tangible upside. You should be looking at players like DeSean Jackson or even Justin Jackson over a player like Burkhead. At least they have a clear path to fantasy relevance.