Fantasy Football 2018: Expectations for sophomore running backs
By Donnie Druin
Kareem Hunt
Kareem Hunt took first year expectations and shot them to the moon, as the Chiefs third round pick amassed 1,327 yards as a rookie, good enough to earn him the league’s rushing title to go along with a Pro-Bowl nod.
Hunt’s season started with a bang in New England, as he put up 148 yards on a jaw-dropping 8.7 yards per carry to go alongside five catches for 98 yards and a total of three touchdowns on the night. Hunt hit the ground running in 2017, and his dominance carried until mid-October, where Hunt seemingly hit a roadblock in production.
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From Weeks 6-13, Hunt failed to do the following: carry the ball more than 22 times (averaged under 14 touches during that stretch), find the end-zone in either passing or rushing scenarios, and failed to hit 100 yards on the ground or through the air, respectively (Hunt hit over 100 scrimmage yards in both week six/seven). Yet in that eight-week stretch, Hunt still managed to average over 4.0 yards per carry in all but three games.
Hunt managed to put himself together just in time for fantasy football playoff time, finishing 2017 on a high note as he found pay-dirt the last four weeks of the season while averaging just a shade under 100 yards rushing in that time. Hunt has without a doubt cleared his name as the starting running back in Kansas City, and fantasy owners are expecting a similar season out of Hunt in 2018.
Heis a very enticing running back, given his youth and potential ceiling. Despite staying put in the same offense, some aren’t quite sold on consecutive strong seasons by Hunt. The reasoning? Quarterback play. Credit needs to be partly assessed to Alex Smith for Hunt’s spectacular season, as Smith elevated his game to new levels, allowing defenses to soften focus on the run with Smith’s newfound “gunslinger” mentality.
As good as Hunt is, he and the rest of the Chiefs offense will go only as far as second year quarterback Patrick Mahomes will take them. The concern Hunt’s second year is understandable, with a lot of mouths to feed between Sammy Watkins, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill to go along with Hunt.
However, if Mahomes is anything like the player we hold him to be, Hunt should continue to find himself heavily involved in both the passing and rushing attack. Expect Hunt to provide similar overall numbers for his second season.
2018 ADP: No. 9 overall pick
2018 expectations: 1,120 rushing yards, 9 touchdowns, 60 receptions, 3 touchdowns