Running Backs to Prioritize in PPR Leagues

Antonio Losada evaluates running backs that should be prioritized in PPR fantasy football leagues while faded in Standard due to their prowess catching the ball at the RB position compared to their rushing abilities.

For fantasy football 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.

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RBs Boosted in PPR but Limited in Standard

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

Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers

It's been four seasons for Aaron Jones playing football in the Frozen Tundra, and not after his rookie season has he finished second in opportunities while in the Packers' backfield. There were close calls in 2018 and last season, but Jones has been the perennial RB1 of the team for the last four seasons and that is not changing any time soon. Also, Green Bay has sucked so bad at building their receiving corps outside of getting legendary WR Davante Adams in town, which has allowed Jones to turn into a hyper boosted pass-catching running back of late.

It's been three seasons in a row for Jones getting 63+ targets, 47+ receptions, and 355+ receiving yards. He's also scored at least one receiving touchdown in each of the past four seasons and 2+ in the last three. And while his target diet has remained steady, Jones has never stopped improving on the margins catching improving his catch rate from 72.1% to 74.6% and lastly to 80% in each of the past three seasons. Volume + Efficiency = PPR Goodies.

Jones finished 2021 the RB10 in PPR leagues but he would have ranked "only" RB14 in standard ones. I mean, that's not a huge bump down, but it's still a downgrade. And it's predicated on Jones' below-average rushing TD-scoring prowess (just four TDs on the ground, tied for the 32nd-most among rushers) but phenomenal pass-catching traits: among RBs with at least two total TDs, Jones is the only one to score two more TDs receiving than rushing (four to six). Another golden nugget: Jones racked up 32.9% of his total yards on pass plays, the sixth-highest mark among RBs with 150+ carries over the year.

Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders

It must be about Oakland/Las Vegas or just the fact that the Raiders wear bland black and white uniforms. I don't really know. But every single soul on Earth keeps overlooking QB Derek Carr and RB Josh Jacobs and how magnificent they have been for fantasy GMs ever since they hit the NFL running (no pun intended). Leaving Carr aside (shout-out DC for that extension!) and focusing on Jacobs, it's been three years in the league for him, and in all of those, he ranked as a top-21 PPR rusher (yes, even as a 13-games-played rookie).

Jacobs' RB21, RB8, and RB12 finishes make all of the sense considering he's been a bonafide pass-catching back since he got drafted by the late Oakland Raiders in 2019. He's gone from 27 targets to 45 and lastly 64 in 2021 of which he's caught 74.1%, 73.3%, and a career-high 84.4% of them for 166, 238, and 348 receiving yards. Incredibly though, Jacobs still has to score a receiving touchdown in the NFL, which is precisely what hits him a bit when it comes to his standard-format upside (with no free FP per reception touchdowns are fundamental in such leagues).

The rushing side of Jacobs' game doesn't even need any sort of deep diving: 217+ carries in each of the past three years and 872+ yards with 7+ TDs at least are already enough to have Jacobs as a perennial RB2 at the very least, and that is without factoring any of his pass-catching numbers into the equation. Just 29 RBs have amassed 400+ PPR points in the 2019-2021 span with Jacobs ranking ninth-best (652.9) while just getting 27.9% (fourth-worst) of those in pass plays because of the lack of touchdowns. Again, fantastic PPR player because of the volume/receptions but not one to target in standard leagues as that combination isn't worth that much without the TDs.

Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers

If you are part of a PPR league and/or if you are part of a standard league, whatever the case is, please draft Najee Harris as early as you can. I'm not here to tell you otherwise, because that'd make literal zero sense. Harris is just entering his second season as a pro and he's already a lock to make the RB1 realm for the next five to six seasons easily. Only two other rookies went on to finish inside the top-12 realm in all of their first years in the league (Alvin Kamara and Ezekiel Elliott) looking at the past 10 years of NFL play, but Harris looks as solid or more than those two already.

Harris was phenomenal all across the board, ranking inside the 88th percentile (RBs with min. 400 snaps) in the carries, rushing yards, targets, receptions, and receiving yards leaderboards. That's absolutely insane, even more considering he also added the scoring production you want (and need) from a legit stud-rusher. The problem for Harris in standard leagues, or more than the problem the lack of bonus-mojo, is the fact that you would not be taking advantage of the ridiculous 74 free FP he handed his GMs in PPR leagues via pass receptions.

The 94 targets and 74 receptions weren't just good for him as a rusher, they were an actual outlier even among wide receivers and tight ends too. Just 69 rushers have gotten 90+ targets in a single season through the past 21 years of NFL football, and only five of them did so in their rookie seasons (Harris, Saquon, Kamara, CMC, and Reggie Bush). And getting back to the WR/TE thing, only 43 of them topped Harris' 94 targets in 2021. I mean, we're not talking about the top-three RB in PPR leagues, but also somehow a borderline WR3 in terms of volume and a top-65 receiving-PPR scorer without regard for position.

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