7 Overvalued Fantasy Football Running Backs for 2022

Aug 11, 2022

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Not every selection you make in a fantasy football draft is going to be a league winner, and not every player you reach for while ignoring value is going to sink your season, either. In spite of that, you don’t want to leave too much value on the table as you head through your draft, and I have picked out some of the running backs who are currently coming off the board too early.

More Overvalued Players: QB | WR | TE

Because of perceived regression, too much competition within their backfield, or a lack of true week-winning upside, these are 2022’s most overvalued running backs.

Javonte Williams, Broncos

Current ADP: 2.10, RB12

4for4 Rank: RB13

This is a steep price to pay for someone who is going to need an injury or extreme shift in backfield touch% to truly reach his ceiling. The addition of quarterback Russell Wilson has no doubt buoyed the entirety of the offense, but that doesn’t mask the fact that Javonte Williams is in a near 50/50 split with Melvin Gordon through training camp, exactly like this backfield operated throughout 2021. En route to finishing as the RB25 (Gordon) and RB26 (Williams) last season, the tandem had the exact same number of carries (203) and the exact same snap% (51). Below is how the two running backs compared to each other, as well as their league ranking in select advanced stats provided by Sports Info Solutions.

Broncos Running Back Stats, 2021
Player	Yards/Att	YAC/Att (Rank)	BT+MT/Att	Stuff%	WAR
Javonte Williams	4.4 (19th)	3.3 (3rd)	21.7% (2nd)	20.2% (43rd)	0.4 (t-10th)
Melvin Gordon	4.5 (17th)	2.7 (13th)	15.3% (14th)	15.3% (15th)	0.4 (t-10th)

We can see that outside of short-yardage situations, the rookie was more efficient, but the veteran had a more than acceptable year. Williams could operate as more of the clear-cut RB1 in his sophomore campaign, but that doesn’t excuse his current second-round draft capital.