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Tennessee Titans running back Dontrell Hilliard had a surprising Week 1 performance against the New York Giants. The former undrafted free agent scored a career-high 20.4 half-point PPR fantasy points.
Hilliard had only five touches in the game. However, he scored twice and ended Week 1 as the RB7 in half-point PPR scoring. More importantly, the former Tulane running back scored a total of 113.8 fantasy points over the first four years of his career.
Furthermore, Hilliard scored 15.2% of his career fantasy points last week. Thus, he averaged only 2.9 fantasy points per game over the first 40 games of his career. However, should fantasy players add the Tennessee running back after his performance last week?
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Should I Pickup Dontrell Hilliard for Fantasy Football?
While his Week 1 performance resulted in a top-10 finish, fantasy players shouldn’t rush to add Hilliard to their roster. He had only five touches in the game, meaning he averaged 4.1 fantasy points per touch. That number was drastically inflated because he scored two touchdowns on his three receptions.
His 40% touchdown rate from Week 1 can’t be sustained for the entire season. If Hilliard hadn’t scored those two touchdowns, he would have scored only 8.4 fantasy points, making him the RB32 for the week. Meaning his fantasy production from Week 1 would have dropped nearly 60%.
Furthermore, Hilliard played only 12 snaps on offense. He had as many offensive snaps as Tory Carter, who didn’t receive a rushing attempt or target in the game. Hilliard scored a touchdown on 16.7% of snaps last week, a number he can’t maintain. More importantly, Derrick Henry is still the main guy in the Tennessee backfield, playing 68% of the snaps.
Who Should I Target on the Waiver Wire Instead of Dontrell Hilliard?
Fantasy players in deeper PPR leagues should consider adding Hilliard. He will have a limited role as the pass-catching back this season. However, the former undrafted free agent is only a matchup-based flex option in those deeper leagues.
Instead, fantasy players should target Jeff Wilson Jr., Brian Robinson, and Rex Burkhead. All three are currently rostered in under 50% of ESPN leagues.
Of the trio, Wilson is the player to target for immediate help. Elijah Mitchell will reportedly miss the next two months with a knee injury, and Wilson is the next man up in the backfield.
However, the player with the most long-term appeal is Robinson. He was reportedly on track to earn the starting role over Antonio Gibson before getting shot a few weeks ago. Furthermore, Robinson reportedly could be ready to play when he's eligible in Week 5.
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