Baltimore Ravens: Alex Collins a low pick in Fantasy Football?
By Bryce Pinson
Baltimore Ravens’ running back Alex Collins average draft position when it comes to Fantasy Football appears to be pretty low and undeserved.
Baltimore Ravens’ running back Alex Collins only started 12 games last season. He was not even a member of the Ravens until Week 2 when they snatched him from the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad. Yet he still had 973 rushing yards for the year at 4.6 yards a carry. His 937 rushing yards ranked him 11th in the league. Of those ten players ahead of Collins only Mark Ingram, Todd Gurley and Kareem Hunt had more yards per attempt.
Maybe one reason why Collins is getting no love is that he only had 23 receptions last season. Especially in PPR leagues, this is a huge problem. However, it shouldn’t be. When you look at the game log from a season ago you realize Collins was not even game-planned into the passing attack until Week 8. Not only did he not catch a single ball before then, he only had two total targets. All 23 of his receptions came in the last nine games of the season. You can tell Harbaugh wanted to get him more involved in the passing game because Collins caught a pass every single game from Week 8 on.
The Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line was ranked in the in the Top 5 by Matt Harmon of NFL.com. Theoretically, this offensive line should actually improve this season. Take away Marshal Yanda, and the average age of the starters on the line is 25 years old. Offensive lines are so important in fantasy football. A few years ago, people would draft Dallas Cowboys’ running backs not based on the talent of the runner but purely based on the strength of the offensive line. Collins is talented and has a great offensive line.
Heading into this season, Collins has a full training camp with the Ravens and a full preseason. This season, we should see the most productive Collins yet. Not to mention, the Ravens are projected to have the third easiest schedule for running backs this year.
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It says here that Alex Collins should be drafted before Kenyan Drake, Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, Jerick McKinnon, Christian McCaffrey, Devonta Freeman and Saquon Barkley. There’s some food for thought.