It’s week 17 and it’s championship week in the fantasy football world. The NFL is conducting games all week long with games on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Our theme today is looking at running backs who are not heavily used to seeing what their game is about and trying to make a determination on what to do with them going forward in dynasty fantasy football.
Kimani Vidal, RB LAC
Kimani Vidal All-22 against the Denver Broncos. 5 carries for 24 yards. pic.twitter.com/l5S0ErHvPr
— Bruce Matson (@MetricScout) December 26, 2024
Gus Edwards is out and will not be able to play in the Chargers’ week 17 game against the New England Patriots. Vidal will get the opportunity to see more touches during the fantasy championships. We’ve been waiting for him to get a larger workload all season long. With 131 yards on the season, we now get the chance to see what Vidal can do in this backfield.
We’ve got a small sample to work from with Vidal over the course of his rookie season. He only has 38 rushing attempts this season. That alone could signal a red flag to you considering the injuries the Chargers have endured at the running back position. There are some qualities to his game that could allow him to develop into a larger role later in his career.
Edwards is a compact running back with thick legs and a low center of gravity. He’s going to naturally fall forward on his run because it’s hard to get lower than him at the point of contact.
There aren’t many carries to get a view of what he can do on the field, but from the play above he demonstrated a good approach to the line and the ability to find a crease to make a play downfield.
In the open field, he shows the ability to manipulate leverage and read the “backside” of defenders. This allows him to extend the play to maximize yardage. This is also a good indicator that if he sees green in front of him he’s going to be able to eat a good chunk of yards when that opportunity arises.
He should be valued as a penny stock going into the dynasty off-season. We have a very deep running back class that could impact this backfield. Nothing from his rookie season and his college career indicates that he should prevent the team from spending more chips on the running back position. He will need to take a step forward in his development for him to carve out a larger role in 2025.
Audric Estime, RB DEN
Audric Estime All-22 vs the Chargers. pic.twitter.com/FX7oWMBn88
— Bruce Matson (@MetricScout) December 26, 2024
Dynasty gamers will need to make a decision with Estime this off-season. The promising running back from Notre Dame fell to the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He has 252 rushing yards and one touchdown this season.
The play above lets you know what Estime is about. He’s a plunger running back who can find the running lane and has the power and short area quickness to push forward for a little bit more.
At the top of the play, we see him take the carry in the red zone. The hole opens up and he follows his lineman to find the touchdown. Taking carries between the tackles and finding the running land while falling forward adds value to the Broncos’ offense.
The problem with Estime is that his skill set isn’t great for fantasy football. He’s not going to get a lot of work in the passing game. He will never be three yards and a cloud of dust. However, he has the size and vision to handle a lot of volume. At 4.58 yards per carry on the season, Estime has demonstrated that he can grind yards between the tackles. The question is will he ever average 15 or more opportunities a game to volume into fantasy relevancy?
Estime is another running back dynasty gamers will be watching closely throughout the off-season. The Broncos don’t have enough sunk cost invested in this backfield to prevent them from spending up for a running back. If anything, quarterback Bo Nix could be the catalyst for the team to add a running back in 2025.
Kenny McIntosh, RB SEA
Kenny McIntosh All-22 vs the Vikings pic.twitter.com/XasXfifJJ3
— Bruce Matson (@MetricScout) December 26, 2024
We haven’t gotten the chance to see much from McIntosh during the course of his NFL career after he was a seventh-round pick in 2023. With Kenneth Walker being injured, we are starting to see him take on a few more carries per game. This is very encouraging for the young running back prospect considering we get to see what he looks like on the field.
The play above is a traditional between-the-tackles run for a few yards. Since he has a small sample of carries we have to look at what we have. In this play, we see a good approach to the line of scrimmage while reading his offensive linemen. He lowers his shoulder through the hole and falls forward for a short bit.
Dynasty gamers will need to pay attention to McIntosh during his final games of the season. He’s starting to receive more touches and that could be the spark that causes some fantasy games to stash him for another off-season.
I’m a financial counselor for a hospital in South Central Ohio. I graduated from Muskingum University with a bachelor’s in business while minoring in Economics and Accounting. I won my first fantasy football title with Jake Plummer as my quarterback.