Fantasy Football 2020 Rookie Rankings: Top Rookie RBs Part I

The NFL Draft is the official start to draft prep. Now that we know where the rookies have landed, it’s time to sort out which ones will be fantasy relevant, and how relevant they will be. Entering 2020, there should be about 11 relevant RBs, and below you’ll find the first five.

D’Andre Swift, Lions (Rd. 2, No. 35 overall)

Swift was the consensus pick to be the first RB off the board, with many expecting the Chiefs to call his name. Instead, this exciting RB prospect landed in Detroit, which is a little deflating for fantasy owners. While selecting him just three picks after Clyde Edwards-Helaire went off the board signals their belief in him as the future, he still has to contend with Kerryon Johnson, who was a second round pick for fantasy owners just last year. Both will undoubtedly be used, and even if Swift overtakes Johnson right away as the lead back, it’ll take an injury for Swift to emerge as a fantasy RB1.

The good news is that Swift is hyper talented.

He averaged 6.2 yards per carry at Georgia and showed some receiving chops as well, posting a respectable 24 catches for 216 yards. His complete skill set lends himself to becoming a three-down back, and Johnson’s injury history will put him behind Swift even in the early going. Johnson also struggled mightily last year with the job all to himself before getting hurt; he finished the season averaging just 3.6 yards per carry and with three rushing touchdowns through seven games. His role is not as defined as Edwards-Helaire’s will be right out of the gate, but based on Johnson’s injury history and and Swift’s three-down potential, he’s my favorite rookie RB at this point.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs (Rd. 1, No. 32 overall)

Edwards-Helaire was not the RB I expected to write about as the first RB off the board, but he was surprisingly the only RB to be taken in the first round. He’s talented for sure, but situation matters just as much, especially for rookies. While I am not sure Edwards-Helaire is going to be handed the keys to a three-down role in Week 1, he has landed in a superior offense that is tailor-made for his talents.

Edwards-Helaire is walking onto a Chiefs team that has an incredible offense, with Patrick Mahomes commanding every bit of attention a defense has to give. This is an offense that didn’t miss a beat two years ago when they lost Kareem Hunt and replaced him with career backup Damien Williams. Last season they shuttled between Williams, a shot LeSean McCoy, Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson with Mahomes logging the third-most carries (43). Andy Reid leans on the passing game, and the most important thing for a Chiefs RB is that he can catch the rock. Therein lies the optimism for Edwards-Helaire, and why it isn’t surprising they sprung for him with their first pick. He caught 55 passes last season for LSU and notched 453 yards and a touchdown. He’s no specialist though. For the season, he recorded 1,867 yards from scrimmage with 17 total touchdowns in one of the best college offenses in history.

We can’t pencil him in as a first round RB like we have in the past for guys like Saquon Barkley or Ezekiel Elliott, because Damien Williams is still there and because Edwards-Helaire is smallish, which could limit short yardage touchdown opportunities. At worst, though, he should be a dynamic FLEX option who could have a floor as an RB2 in full-PPR formats.

Jonathan Taylor, Colts (Rd. 2, No. 41 overall)

Taylor was the most productive RB in college last season, and the one of the top two prospects on most people’s boards. Like Swift, however, Taylor did not land in an ideal spot for fantasy owners as he’ll have to wrest control of the backfield from Marlon Mack. Taylor is a tremendous talent, running a 4.39 in the 40-yard dash, totaling 2,225 yards from scrimmage as a junior for Wisconsin, and notching a career-high 320 carries for the Badgers. He logged at least 299 attempts in each of his three collegiate campaigns, leaving zero doubt about his ability to be a bell cow. He also proved he was well-rounded, catching 26 passes last season after totaling 16 combined in his previous two. If Taylor has control of the backfield from Week 1, he will give Swift and Edwards-Helaire a run for their money as the best rookie RB.

The biggest roadblock will be his fumbling habit; if he’s careless with the rock early on, it will be very easy for the Colts to go back to Mack, who eclipsed 1,000 yards last season and scored seven touchdowns.

Cam Akers, Rams (Rd. 2, No. 52 overall)

We’ve reached the point where I’d be surprised if we had a No. 1 rookie on our hands. Akers landed in a decent spot for fantasy owners though. The Rams moved on from Todd Gurley this offseason, and Akers’ main competition will be Darrell Henderson, who had a lot of buzz as a rookie last year but did not do much with his opportunities. Henderson logged just 39 carries as a rookie, and he ran behind the most disappointing offensive line in football, but he failed to make an impression at 3.8 yards per carry, zero touchdowns and a long run of 22 yards. More telling, when Gurley missed time, Henderson was a distant second to Malcolm Brown. When you consider that, and then account for the second round price tag, the Rams are excited about Akers, and they’re going to use him.

The first line of his draft profile reads “compact, rocked up build.” For a Rams team that changed philosophy down the stretch last season, and leaned on two-tight end sets and that used C.J. Anderson with success the previous year, Akers is a fit.

He possesses 4.47 speed and caught 30 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns last year. He also topped 1,100 yards behind a bad offensive line at Florida State. If he can pass block, he has a clear path to being the lead back in a Sean McVay offense This can be a Top 5 offense if the offensive line has fixed its issues, meaning Akers may be the best value pick of any rookie RB.

J.K. Dobbins, Ravens (Rd. 2, No. 55 overall)

Dobbins’ production gives him the look of a potential No. 1 rookie, but he will need an injury to get there after landing with the Ravens. Mark Ingram is a clear RB1 for the Ravens, but he’s 30 years old; Dobbins is the clear RB of the future, making him a fantastic dynasty league pick, but a murky option in redraft leagues. An injury to Ingram would vault Dobbins immediately into the high-end RB2 category in this offense, but we can’t count on injuries. All we know for sure is that Dobbins has effectively murdered any value Gus Edwards had, which makes me sad as Edwards is underrated.

Anywho, Dobbins was a workhorse for Ohio State, logging 301 carries for 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns. He is an excellent player, and for sure worth drafting because of his upside in the event of an Ingram injury.

For now though, he’s sort of like Tevin Coleman was a few years ago for Atlanta. He’s tantalizing, but his role is too unclear to be counted on.