X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Join the Best Live Fantasy Chat Community!

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

Stop That Hype Train! Kenyan Drake

The Miami Dolphins traded Kenyan Drake to the Arizona Cardinals during the midway point of the 2019 season. From there, he took the bull by the horns, rushing for 643 yards and eight touchdowns while also catching 28 passes for 171 yards. He finished in the top-25 in PPR scoring at his position in six of the eight games that he played for the Cardinals. On top of that, he managed to score in the top-five three times last year.

The Cardinals have an up and coming offense. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury has implanted an innovative offense by adapting his version of the air raid to the team’s offensive game plan. The franchise was able to add DeAndre Hopkins who is one of the best wide receivers in the league. Kyler Murray is entering his second season as the team’s franchise quarterback and is expecting to take a leap forward in his development this year.

Drake is a receiving back who is very electric in space. He has an 85th percentile size-adjusted speed score. The marriage between him and the Cardinals’ offense is a match made in heaven. As long as he’s on the field, he has the potential to churn out big numbers in the box score. All signs point to Drake being an elite fantasy option in 2020 and his rising draft position reflects that optimism. He should easily finish as an RB1 in fantasy but this may not be a picture-perfect situation. Just because he blew up during the last few weeks of last season, doesn’t mean he will be able to replicate those results during a full 16-game season.

 

Red Flags

One of the major issues that stand out is the lack of production throughout his career which stems back all the way to his days at Alabama. During his collegiate career, he could only muster 1,495 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground with just two 100-yard performances during his four-year tenure with the Crimson Tide.

During his time at Miami, Drake was unable to breakout. He rushed for just 1,532 yards and nine touchdowns during his three and a half years with the Dolphins. As we all know, the team is one of the worst franchises in the league and the team’s inability to put together a roster with functional talent is one of the reasons why Drake was unable to excel with his previous team.

Injuries have plagued him throughout his career. He started the 2019 season with a foot injury. Drake also endured shoulder and abdomen injuries during the previous season. He was primarily healthy in 2017, and even with Jay Ajayi and Damien Williams lobbying for touches, Drake still finished as the team’s leading rusher with 644 yards. Ajayi prevented him from breaking out during his rookie season in 2016 by boasting the fourth-most rushing yards in the league.

We haven’t seen him hold it down as the alpha for any of his teams. Can he play a full 16-game season without seeing any setbacks? Will he be able to maintain his efficiency and keep the rest of the running backs on the team at bay?

These are questions we don’t have the answer for and unfortunately, we have to pay a 16.3 ADP, a late second-round price tag to find out if the sauce is worth the squeeze. This is a very high price to pay for a player that has a huge question mark which could derail his fantasy outlook.

If Drake falls off mid-way through the year, then his fantasy owners are going to suffer. It’s costly to lose one of your top options early in the season. Not only to injury but not performing to expectations could be a death knell to his fantasy prowess. We can argue against it until we are blue in the face, but we only have a nine-week period where he was a supreme fantasy producer. The sample size of him not being productive is much larger compared to him being a fantasy-relevant asset.

 

Advertising

Cost Analysis

ADP data courtesy of RotoBaller

The opportunity cost of being able to draft a known commodity that can be just as productive in your lineup is always the better option. George Kittle and Travis Kelce are the top tight ends in the league and deliver consistent production while playing the most malleable position in football. Kenny Golladay led all wide receivers with 36 targets of 20 yards or more and 11 touchdowns. Mike Evans is one of the best wide receivers in the league and will get the opportunity to play with Tom Brady.

Let’s compare him to the running backs who are being drafted behind him. Josh Jacobs has first-round draft capital and the Raiders want to get him more involved in the offensive game plan. Even though Nick Chubb shares the backfield with Kareem Hunt, he has been a productive fantasy asset throughout his fantasy career and was a top-shelf devy asset during his days in Georgia. Aaron Jones is a very talented running back who is tethered to Aaron Rodgers and is on an offense that will continuously move the ball downfield.

Drafting quarterback early might not always be the best strategy, but Lamar Jackson is one of the most polarizing players in fantasy. His rushing production provides some extra leverage for his fantasy owners.

There’s no reason to take on the added risk when there are other options available that are projected to score just as much and have been much more stable throughout their careers. Taking risks is cool, but being risk-averse during the early rounds is the best practice.

Drake is a very polarizing player. He has RB1 potential, but the drop off to his floor is rather steep. Just take into account there’s a lot of risk involved in when it comes to drafting him in fantasy this year.



Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App

Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!




Win Big With RotoBaller

Be sure to also check out all of our other daily fantasy football articles and analysis to help you set those winning lineups, including this new RotoBaller YouTube video:


More Fantasy Football Analysis




LINEUP RESOURCES

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

WIN MORE IN 2024

Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Weekly Rankings
Compare Any Players
Starts and Sit
Daily Fantasy
Who To Pickup
Fantasy Updates
24x7 News and Alerts

ROTOBALLER PLAYER NEWS

RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

MORE RECENT ARTICLES

 
Alexis Diaz fantasy baseball closers rankings draft sleepers waiver wire pickups

MLB Closers and Saves: Fantasy Baseball Depth Charts

Saves are an important component for many fantasy baseball leagues. Closers are one of the most volatile positions in fantasy baseball, and one of the highest turnover positions in MLB. Each year, closers drop like flies and many MLB teams make in-season changes due to injuries or poor performance. In addition to closers and saves, relief... Read More


Do These Prospects Matter for Fantasy Baseball?

The 2023 fantasy baseball season has been highlighted by the promotion of nearly two-dozen top prospects to the major leagues to impact fantasy rosters. This week's edition features one player who was called up as the piece was being written. Will these strong performers join the ranks of those who have moved to the majors... Read More


clayton kershaw fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

articles report test

this is a test


Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome back! It's Week 24 of our fantasy baseball Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Pickups series! There are just two precious weeks left, and every start is becoming more and more important as most of the fantasy baseball world is in playoff matchups. If you've made it this far, there's a good chance you don't really... Read More


Aaron Nola - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, DFS Lineup Picks

Starts & Sits for MLB Week 23 - All Starting Pitcher Matchups for Fantasy Baseball

Welcome back RotoBallers! Big week in fantasy leagues as we approach the end of the season and playoffs! As always, we are here with our starting pitcher starts and sits series to help you set those winning lineups for the week ahead! For those who are not familiar, RotoBaller puts out a weekly grid of... Read More


Gunnar Henderson - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Prospects, Draft Sleepers

Points League Hitters: Waiver Wire Pickups for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Welcome to Week 24 and our fantasy baseball waiver wire hitters. We'll be doing this roundup of points leagues every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform,... Read More


Brayan Bello - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, Waiver Wire Pickups

Two-Start Pitcher Streamers for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. There are just two weeks left of streaming pitchers, so let's make it count! This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week,... Read More


Fantasy Baseball Week 24 Injury News and Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Ozzie Albies, Starling Marte, Anthony Rizzo, Zack Wheeler

September is now more than half over. The baseball season is slowly coming to a close. At this point, fantasy players are pushing for their league titles or just playing for pride. Major League Baseball teams continue to do the same and injuries continue to happen, now with the dreaded term "done for the season"... Read More


Joe Musgrove - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/17/22)

Happy Saturday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/17/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Today's MLB slates are split up as is the norm for September baseball. Half the guys I think will play will not, so you have to be as flexible as Gumby to play MLB DFS in September, but that also means that there is a lot of money out there should you dare to dive... Read More


Max Fried - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Draft Sleepers, MLB Injury News

Free MLB Betting Picks - Today's Best Bets, Expert Predictions, Odds (9/15/22)

Happy Friday, RotoBallers, we're back for another weekend of MLB betting picks! Make sure you're following my Twitter, as I can't guarantee that I'll always be able to get the added plays written here in the article, but I will typically add whatever else I'm playing throughout the day. The entire RotoBaller team has been... Read More


Robbie Ray - Fantasy Baseball Rankings, MLB Injury News, Draft Sleepers

DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks (9/16/22): Today's Top MLB DFS Lineups

Fridays are big MLB DFS days and offer a nice respite from the NFL, who command our attention on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays. This slate, like most Friday slates, is a big one as all MLB teams are in action today and 28 of those teams are on tonight's 14-game DFS slate. This was a... Read More


kyle farmer fantasy baseball rankings draft sleepers MLB injury news

Top Hitter Streamers and Starts for Fantasy Baseball - Week 24

There are only two weeks left of fantasy baseball! It's going to be very sad when the season comes to an end, but the impending end of the season means that these are the most important, and therefore most fun weeks of the year – for those of you still competing, at least. I have... Read More


TODAY’S MOST VIEWED PLAYERS

rotating JS ad test

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF