Where should you draft Colts RBs Jonathan Taylor Evan Hull Deon Jackson in fantasy football drafts
Where should you draft Colts RBs Jonathan Taylor Evan Hull Deon Jackson in fantasy football drafts
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Over the past couple weeks, we have seen Colts running back Jonathan Taylor go from holdout threat to trade bait. Then, the on Tuesday that he's not going anywhere but the PUP list (for now). Now fantasy managers are left to pick up the pieces, and determine where Taylor, Evan Hull, and Deon Jackson should be drafted between now and the NFL kickoff on Sep. 7.Talk about a saga. Just two seasons ago, Taylor won the NFL rushing title in Indianapolis. Now he's coming off a 4-12-1 season marred by an ankle injury and he and Colts owner Jim Irsay are with one another (to put it mildly). And even if JT plays again in Indy or somewhere else if he gets dealt before the Oct. 31 trade deadline it won't be until after Week 4 when he's eligible to come off the PUP list.So, who the heck do we draft from this Colts' running back stable? Does the fallout of this JT bombshell news drop his ADP significantly and make him a draft-day steal? Or, do Deon Jackson and rookie Evan Hull now become breakout candidates?There's a lot to unpack, but we at Sporting News Fantasy have become very good at unpacking. Here's our take on if and when you should draft each one of the Indianapolis RBs.DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Talk about a drastic 20-month turnaround for Taylor. When the 2021 season concluded, he was the king of the running back world leading the NFL in rushing yards (1,811), rushing TDs (18), ground yards per game (106.5), scrimmage yards (2,171), and all-purpose TDs (20). At the start of the 2023 season, he leads the RB position in preseason question marks.The long and short of JT's i sues: He's recovering from a Grade 3 high-ankle sprain, for which he last had surgery on January 25. He has been engaged in an active contract dispute all offseason, with Jim Irsay basically calling him insignificant and JT ultimately asking to be traded. Indy obliged, but Irsay and GM Jim Ballard were not satisfied with any offer they received and decided to take him off the market.Taylor could still be traded by the deadline on Halloween, but we won't see him on the field until at least Week 5 when he's eligible for activation off the PUP list. That reality check knocked him down from residence in our top 10 to the late 20s, and we now have him at about .Taylor remains one of the most talented running backs in pro football, and he's still only 24. No structural damage was found during his Jan. 25 cleanup procedure, so it's entirely po sible that he will return to elite production Nick Chubb Jersey the moment he gets back onto the field. Hemanaged 4.5 yards per carry last season despite a terrible offensive line and nagging ankle i sues at three different segments of the season. He finished with over 1,000 all-purpose yards despite being sidelined for six games and garnering 10 or fewer carries in three of the 11 games he played. He's a fantasy league-winner if he comes back to full health and balls out in order to get a bag in the offseason.It's also quite probable the Colts will be better than last season, both in terms of offensive line and QB play. The line couldn't get much worse than in 2022, and rookie Anthony Richardson should absolutely be an upgrade over Matt Ryan, Sam Ehlinger, and Nick Foles. We also can't imagine head coach Shane Steichen and OC Jim Bob Cooter could po sibly be worse than Jeff Saturday and Marcus Brady last season.But still, the risks are plentiful. JT is listed on DraftSharks as a "high risk" to get injured this season, and we already know he will be mi sing nearly 25 percent of the regular season (at least). His ankle is worrisome. His relationship with the Colts is concerning. The mystery around when and where he will play in October is nerve-wracking.Ultimately, we will draft Taylorhe falls to the range of 60-80 and we already have significant depth at the skill positions. If we feel comfortable to grab a high-ceiling potential boom at that point in the draft, we'll go for him. If we feel we have immediate holes that need to be addre sed, we will pa s on JT and opt instead for a higher-floor option.2023 PPR RANKINGS: | | | | | Sheldon Richardson Jersey | | | Hull went from fifth-round pick stuck at the bottom of the Colts' RB depth chart to a potential breakout in the making. With JT on PUP and Zack Mo s still rehabbing the arm he broke in late July, Hull should see a legitimate touch share in this startup Indy offense. And with ranking the Colts as a top 10 offensive line again up eight spots from last season that kind of opportunity could translate to big dividends for draft-day investors.Here's what we know about Hull: He's got a compact, muscular build at 5-10, 210 and breaks tackles well. He runs a 4.47 40 and has good hands and route-running ability. He has good open-field speed but not explosive quickne s. A team with a solid o-line like the Colts is the perfect fit for a back of his caliber and composition.We had Hull listed as a deep sleeper earlier in the summer, and now he's just a bona fide sleeper. Whereas the next back we will talk about, Jackson, probably has a higher floor, Hull has a much higher ceiling. We can see him evolving as a third-down, pa sing-down, and goal-line back who quickly threatens to take over the Colts' RB1 role.We're ranking Hull as RB56 in PPR formats as of right now, but we would honestly select him within the first 50 RBs. We'll scoop him up sometime between pick No. 120 and 140 overall in PPRs, and maybe a little later in standard leagues. Upside, upside, upside!2023 STANDARD RANKINGS: | | | | | | | | Whereas we have never seen Hull in an NFL uniform, we have seen plenty of Jackson thanks in large part to Taylor's injuries. What we have seen is a quick, sturdy runner with unspectacular numbers: 3.5 yards per carry, one rushing TD in 68 carries last season, one fumble. He impre sed much more as a pa s-catcher, hauling in 30 of his 34 targets (88.2%) for 209 yards (7.0 yards per reception).2023 STANDARD RANKINGS: | | | | | | | | The fact that Jackson has already been trusted in JT's stead, Indy's line has improved substantially, and the 24-year-old has proven himself as a reliable pa Kareem Hunt Jersey s-catcher all lead us to believe he's a high-floor fantasy option. His touches in Weeks 1-4 alone make him worth a pick by the 11th round.2023 FANTASY SLEEPERS | | | | | However, we're probably not grabbing him in the early 100s, simply because we think Hull will be a better overall running back. Jackson didn't knock anyone's socks off with his rushing ability last year, failing to record a single carry that netted over 17 yards (and only reaching 10+ yards on 8.8 percent of his carries).2023 AUCTION VALUES (Standard & PPR): | | | | | | Still, if the price is right, you can't pa s up on a guy who starts the season as an RB1 with a mobile QB and a borderline top-10 offensive line. Grabbing this guy in the 120-140 range seems like a steal, as he's all but guaranteed to retain a decent touch share for as long as JT is on PUP. His pa s-catching alone tells us that but his sufficient pa s-blocking (a pleasant surprise last season) seals the deal.2023 POSITION TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY: | | | | Our ultimate advice: Grab Taylor if you feel comfortable with your coverage from Weeks 1 through 4 and want a high-upside stash for down the line. If you're a contender without him, imagine what you will be with him once he's healthy and (hopefully) motivated. Consider drafting Hull and Jackson both whether you draft JT or not so you wind up with the high-ceiling guy and the high-floor guy within this offense.As for Mo s, we would probably pa s. He's always been an underwhelming NFL back, and now with injury concerns and multiple youngsters getting an opportunity before he even sees the field, we don't see him threatening to overtake the RB1 role in Indy this season. The way we will target the Colts backs is as follows: Taylor by pick No. 65, Hull by pick No. 120, and Jackson by pick No. 130. And we wouldn't mind having all three, but with all the JT warning signs our priority will be to draft the two backups and hope to hit the jackpot with one of them.
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