Every season, there is that one running back no one saw coming that either went undrafted or was taken late in fantasy football drafts. Last year, it was Bucky Irving, and he likely won a lot of people a championship last season.
Looking at the crop of running backs this season that fall into the “late-round” category, there are a few guys that stand out, based on their average draft position (ADP), you need to target.
Late-Round Running Back Targets
Jordan Mason (RB – MIN)
Aaron Jones will turn 31 years old in December, and while he had a great 2024 season, the wheels are bound to fall off sooner rather than later — opening the door for Jordan Mason.
Mason was the RB6 through Week 5 last season before getting hurt in Week 6 and never returning to full health for the rest of the season. Jones will start the season as the starter, but Mason will slowly cut into that workload and should eventually take the job from Jones entirely.
Trey Benson (RB – ARI)
Young, exciting backs behind older, oft-injured starters is a solid way to find some diamonds in fantasy. James Connor just played the first full season of his eight-year career, and he is entering his age-30 season.
The chances that Conner plays the entire season and shows no signs of slowing down at his age are slim. Trey Benson’s 4.4 speed, big-play ability and situational opportunity could make him a late-round steal in drafts this August.
Jaylen Wright (RB – MIA)
Jaylen Wright is essentially free with a current ADP of 158. Unlike the above two running backs, Wright has a young fantasy superstar in front of him. However, the Dolphins would prefer to have a two-back system. If you look back just two seasons ago, Raheem Mostert was given 242 opportunities (carries + targets), rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored 21 total touchdowns.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not predicting that Wright is going to step into that type of workload, nor do I expect that he will be any near as efficient as Mostert was in 2023. But, I would expect him to get a decent chunk of backfield opportunities that could make him viable in fantasy. God forbid, De’Von Achane were to go down, Wright could be a league-winner.
Ray Davis (RB – BUF)
My final submission to the late-round running back targets list is the only one that has already shown us he can be a fantasy star if given the opportunity. Ray Davis had three top-15 performances last season while playing behind James Cook, but only twice did he surpass 50% of the snaps all season.
It is a very limited sample size, but one that gives us some hope that the Bills will give Davis a larger workload in 2025. His Week 6 performance as the starter showed us exactly what he is capable of with 23 touches, 152 total yards and an RB13 finish in PPR.
Davis’ path to stardom is a little more murky than the other three on the list, but if given the opportunity, either by injury or a larger workload, Davis can put up huge fantasy numbers.
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