Running Backs to Fade in PPR Fantasy Football Leagues

April 20, 2022

Antonio Losada evaluates running backs that should be prioritized in standard fantasy football leagues while faded in PPR due to their prowess rushing the ball compared to their pass-catching abilities.

For fantasy GMs, draft season is gearing up. Preparing for what is waiting for us in our virtual war rooms is a key part of the process, and the first thing to know is the language our leagues will speak to us in.

The first step is to know if you're going to battle your foes in Standard or PPR (Point-Per-Reception) scoring systems. The difference between those leagues comes down to a simple matter of awarding one extra point to players that catch a pass. Standard scoring was a staple in the early days of fantasy football but PPR has become the most played system lately.

With both Standard and PPR-scoring systems in mind, it's time to discover which players are surefire bets in one system but potential duds in the other. Today, I'm highlighting some running backs who are primed to become studs in Standard leagues but not so much when used in PPR-format ones.

RBs Boosted in Standard but Limited in PPR formats

Today, I'm highlighting some running backs who are primed to become studs in Standard-format leagues but not so much when used in PPR leagues.

Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns

With the additions of QB Deshaun Watson and WR Amari Cooper, both via trade, there was no room for any other player to make headlines or grab even the slightest amount of attention from the football world, let alone a rusher now that the receiving/quarterbacking pairing has been mightily improved. That's alright, and that's true, of course, but that also hides another key piece from this offense the Browns want to truly make things work: the backfield. Comprised of two studs in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, Cleveland has turned both players into a yearly RB1-RB2 committee only negatively impacted by Hunt's eight games played in 2019 and 2021.

When healthy and fully available, both Chubb and Hant can very well be top-16 players at the position. They have posted around 13 (Hunt) and 16 (Chubb) FPPG in PRR leagues averaging their three seasons together in Ohio. That said, Chubb has always been the lead-back in rushing attempts while Hunt has been used on pass-plays more often. Chubb, while able to catch the rock (career 76% catch rate), doesn't get as many looks and passes as a PPR GM would like (has yet to get 50+ targets in a single season) but he's a bonafide top-tier runner when he grabs hold of the ball and rushes it forward.

Just take a quick look at the picture above, and you'll see why Chubb is a legit RB1 in Standard formats (not saying he isn't one in PPR leagues, mind you, but he's a lock to be a top-tier RB in Standard while his PPR upside is cut a bit shorter because of the low targets/receptions/receiving yards-&-TD). Leaving out the rushing numbers and focusing on the impact he has on the passing game, Chubb makes the most of his few chances: he was the no. 3 RB in YAC/Reception and his Evaded Tackles per game ranked second among the 33 qualifiers with 400+ snaps played. Chubb won't help you get free FP thanks to catching massive amounts of passes (even less with Amari and whoever-comes-next around) but he will soften that negative with über efficient production on that front. Again, not to mention with his legs on rushing plays.

Melvin Gordon III/Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos

I'm bundling these two together but Melvin Gordon III is still a free agent with his future up in the air as I'm writing this right at April's midpoint. All things considered, it'd be very reasonable for Denver to bring MG3 back to keep the committee intact next season. Both rushers got a fair amount of opportunities last season and pretty much split those on a 50/50 basis: 241 for Gordon and 256 for Williams. Even the actual touches were super balanced with Williams barely edging Gordon 246 to 231.

None of Gordon or Williams played clearly discerned roles in the Broncos' offense when it came to carrying pass- or rush-heavy roles. Both had the same amount of touches on run-play snaps (203) and while Javonte Williams logged 53 targets to Gordon's 38, the difference wasn't that high. The best of all, though, is you can snatch both of these two with relatively low ADPs this summer and build a very strong committee for your backfield that will most probably end featuring a pair of RB2 rushers.

Among rushers with 400+ snaps played at the RB position (33 of them), Javonte put up the ninth-best YAC/Rec figure last season. Gordon ranked ninth in Evaded Tackles/G with Williams clocking in eighth. Both had opportunity shares of 50.5% and 51.5%, scored multiple runs in both rushing and receiving plays, and weren't bad at catching passes (73.7% catch rate for Gordon, 81.1% for Williams), so they were able to put up solid yards even on low reception numbers.

Damien Harris, New England Patriots

I don't want you to be here losing your time, so let's get straight to Damien Harris' calling card: rushing, rushing, and rushing. Barring his rookie season (two games played, just 12 rushing attempts) in 2019, Harris has logged 339 total rushing attempts while only 28 targets in the last two seasons combined. The rushing yards are all the way up to 1,620, the touchdowns positively regressed from two in 2020 to 15 last season, and the career YPC mark is sitting at a solid 4.8. Not a lot of questions about why Harris is a top-tier rusher for standard-format GMs but not so much for those in PPR leagues.

In fact, peep at the picture above and you'll see it even clearer. All of the things in bright red are the ones we love in standard formats: huge RZ TD Conversion rates, tons of yards per opportunity, and absolutely great rushing yards and touchdowns. Slightly lighter are the likes of YAC/Reception and Yards per Touch: fantastic for standard leagues as Harris makes the most of his chances and while only getting 20 targets over 15 games, he still got 132 receiving yards. That last bit of information is clearly telling you not to rely on Harris if you really are chasing receiving upside from your RB1, but it's not that he murders the opportunities he gets on pass plays.

The Patriots are not quite there yet in terms of their receiving corps but they have boosted the unit in back-to-back years with the additions of TEs Hunter Henry/Jonnu Smith and lately WR DeVante Parker too. The passes are pretty much allocated already and there is another pass-catcher in James White sitting in the backfield. The rushing, though, is all for Damien Harris to eat tons and tons of touches on a weekly basis without much competition at it entering his fourth season as a pro.

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