Running Back Best-Ball Tiered Rankings and Analysis

We have entered June with rising optimism that a 17-week regular season will eventually unfold. The team at RotoBaller shares your enthusiasm while providing you with non-stop news, and analysis. This is designed to help you prepare for upcoming drafts, and reshape your current rosters. We are also making continual updates to our tiered rankings in […]

The Fantasy Fallacy of Running Back Committees

Some of the scariest words a fantasy owner can hear is that their running back is now part of a committee (RBBC). However, people rarely look beyond this - failing to examine what this truly means, and how it impacts a player’s value. In simple terms, an RBBC is defined as having multiple running backs […]

Derrick Henry Could See Fewer Touches

TennesseeTitans.com's Jim Wyatt thinks that offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will look to spread the ball around more to a number of players in 2020, which is why he thinks it's unrealistic to think that running back Derrick Henry has a chance for 2,000 rushing yards. The team will try to take some of the load […]

Titans Excited About Darrynton Evans

The Tennessee Titans are excited about rookie running back Darrynton Evans, and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said during a conference call this week that how much of a role Evans will have will depend on how much he can handle. The Titans will use Evans to give workhorse Derrick Henry a break, and Evans is […]

Ezekiel Elliott Ranks At Top Of NFC East

Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was ranked ahead of Saquon Barkley, Miles Sanders, and Adrian Peterson in a recent Sports Illustrated poll, a list compiled with the assistance of NFL scouts, ranking the best backs in the NFC East. The former Buckeye had one of his best seasons to date in 2019 by finishing […]

Christian McCaffrey Can Do It All

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey led the NFL in scrimmage yards with 2,392 last year, with the next closest player (Ezekiel Elliott) at 1,777 yards. McCaffrey played 93.4 percent of Carolina's offensive snaps, which was the highest in the league among running backs. His 1,262 scrimmage yards on first down were the most for […]

Derrick Henry Great At Picking Up First Downs, Breaking Tackles

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry earned more rushing first downs on first down (31) than any other running back in the league last season. Henry also had nine rushing touchdowns on first down (second-most in the NFL) and another on a pass. His yards per rush after contact of 4.2 was the best in […]

Brad Seely Announces Retirement

Houston Texans special teams coordinator Brad Seely announced his retirement on Friday after 31 seasons coaching in the NFL. Seely has served as a team's special teams coordinator in every season from 1989 to 2019 and has 41 years of overall coaching experience. He has appeared in nine conference championship games, won three Super Bowls […]

Matt Ryan Impressed With Todd Gurley II

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said he's done field work with running back Todd Gurley II "a handful of times" and came away "really impressed" with his new running back. The two have spent time together in recent weeks in Southern California. The Falcons are hoping Gurley, the 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, […]

Chris Carson Has Tackle-Breaking Explosiveness

Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson used his explosiveness to shed defenders and turn upfield in 2019. He had 50 15-plus mph runs and averaged 4.3 yards gained after a defender closed within one yard of him last season. It helped him gain 1,230 yards on the ground despite not playing a full season because […]

Christian McCaffrey Is A Stud

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey comes in ranked ninth on NFL.com's Nick Shook's top-10 explosive runners of 2019, but he'll still be the No. 1 player selected in the vast majority of 2020 fantasy drafts. He reached 15-plus mph on 96 touches last season, which was the most in the NFL, with 52 of […]

Todd Gurley II Still Has Juice In The Tank

Atlanta Falcons running back Todd Gurley II had a down year by his standards in 2019 with the Rams, but he still placed No. 8 on NFL.com's Nick Shook's top-10 explosive runners of last season. Only one of his 10 fastest touches over the last two years came in 2019, but he still reached or […]

Marlon Mack Was Colts Most Explosive Runner In 2019

Indianapolis Colts running back Marlon Mack was the team's running game in 2019, which is why his broken hand in the second half of the season coincided with their late-season descent. He broke 15 mph on 51 runs (fourth-most among running backs) and had 28 runs of 10-plus yards. While Mack was an underrated explosive […]

Phillip Lindsay Remains An Explosive Back

Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay wasn't as good in his second season as he was in his rookie campaign, but the former undrafted free agent still had 1,011 rushing yards in 2019 despite playing with three different quarterbacks. He had 48 runs of 15-plus mph last year despite defenses keying on him in the […]

Devonta Freeman Too Expensive For Bucs Taste

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been interested in free-agent running back Devonta Freeman, but head coach Bruce Arians said that Freeman is asking for more money than the team is looking to spend given their current salary cap situation. Tampa has just over $6.4 million in cap space entering the 2020 season. Freeman reportedly declined […]

Aaron Jones Succeeds Inside The Tackles

Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones saw most of his success in 2019 between the tackles, as he tied for the league lead with 10 touchdowns on inside runs and averaged 4.1 yards per rush on runs inside the tackles in the red zone, which was the most in the NFL among those with […]

Kenyan Drake Brings Legitimate Speed To Cardinals Backfield

Arizona Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake enjoyed plenty of success in the desert in 2019 after being traded from the Dolphins. He nearly doubled his 15-plus mph rush rate when he came to the Cardinals, going from 14.9 percent of rushes in Miami to 26.8 percent in Arizona. Drake rushed the ball 123 times in […]

12 Personnel Is Buccaneers Base Offense

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said that 12 personnel, featuring two tight ends on the field, is "our base offense" heading into the 2020 season. Arians also likes 13 personnel with a third tight end in the mix. This doesn't come as a surprise at all after Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement […]

Raheem Mostert An Elite Ball-Carrier?

San Francisco 49ers running back Raheem Mostert hit 20-plus mph on four rushes last season, putting him in elite company among ball-carriers, as only seven players reached that benchmark. And Mostert did it with fewer total carries than anyone. He averaged a maximum speed of 13.75 mph on his touches in 2019, which is the […]

Coaches Can Return To Facilities Beginning Friday

A memo sent out to NFL teams on Thursday stated that, "Beginning tomorrow, June 5, coaching staffs may be among the employees returning to your facility." While this is a big step, NFL players still won't be allowed at team facilities, and it remains to be seen if they will be allowed to return at […]

San Francisco 49ers 2020 Fantasy Outlook

The San Francisco 49ers made an incredible turnaround in 2019, going 13-3 after only going 4-12 in 2018. This was sparked by the emergence of a dominant defense that led them all the way to the big game. The Bay Area team was on the brink of a Super Bowl victory before faltering against a […]

Derrick Henry's Workload May Depend On Game Flow

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry led the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns last season and was a key piece of the team's attack down the stretch, but offensive coordinator Arthur Smith says that Henry's 2020 workload will "depend [on] how games go." Smith went on to add that the team wants to […]

Giants, Jets Reopen Team Facilities

The New York Giants and New York Jets resumed operations at their headquarters on Wednesday in a limited capacity amid the coronavirus pandemic. A "small number of employees" returned to the Giants facilities. New York and New Jersey are among the states that have been most affected by COVID-19. New Jersey governor Phil Murphy didn't […]

James Conner Wants Steelers To Run The Ball Better

Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner isn't worried about how many carries he gets heading into the 2020 season. Head coach Mike Tomlin has historically leaned heavily on a single back during his time in Pittsburgh but there have been some questions as to whether he will do so in 2020 considering Conner's injury history. […]

Center Will Be A Position To Watch For Giants During Camp

The New York Giants have fewer concerns on the offensive line than most teams but will enter training camp with one glaring question mark, the man snapping to franchise quarterback Daniel Jones. Experience favors 27-year-old Spencer Pulley, who has started 26 NFL games, including nine with New York in 2018. Other candidates include the 6-foot-6, 318-pound […]

Players Not Expected To Return To Facilities Until Training Camp

NFL players aren't expected to return to their team facilities until training camp, according to sources. Most teams have reopened their facilities on a limited basis for essential employees during the coronavirus pandemic, but healthy players aren't allowed to return yet. Commissioner Roger Goodell informed teams on Tuesday that they must hold training camps at […]

Phillip Lindsay Thinks New Offense Fits His Style Of Play

Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay, who is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons under two different offensive coordinators, thinks new coordinator Pat Shurmur's offense fits him even better. "I just think that it's what fits my style, and I've been able to adapt to every style, but I think that this style right here […]

Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Fantasy Outlook

Ah, Jon Gruden’s team will no longer be known as the Oakland Raiders, but the Las Vegas Raiders. That may take a while to get used to or even say, as I have still heard Oakland being mentioned. No better way to debut in a new NFL city than a Monday nighter against Drew Brees, […]

The Grass IS Greener: Free Agent Moves that Will Increase Value

We've had a couple of months to fully digest what happened with NFL free agency now and to see how the NFL Draft impacted things, so now it's time to reflect on some of the changes around the NFL. No player leaves one team for another and finds himself playing the exact same role. New […]

Jonathan Taylor - Fantasy Football Rookie Spotlight

The Indianapolis Colts shook the fantasy football world in the 2020 NFL Draft when they moved up three spots to 41 overall in the second-round to select three-time All-American Wisconsin Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor. The team gave up picks 44 and 160 to the Cleveland Browns to make the move, which acts as a strong statement […]