2022 Fantasy Upside
D’Onta Foreman has had a turbulent start to his career, with injuries limiting him to just seven appearances from 2018-2020. But he came back strong in 2021, filling in nicely for an injured Derrick Henry for three starts, and putting up a solid 566 yards and three touchdowns for the Titans. Foreman joins a Panthers team with a lead back who has missed the bulk of the last two seasons with injury, and sophomore Chuba Hubbard looked rather pedestrian in relief duty as a rookie. With three additions to the offensive line, improved quarterback play, and opportunity behind oft-injured Christian McCaffrey, Foreman has high-end handcuff potential with a legitimate shot at fringe-RB1 numbers should CMC miss time.
2022 Fantasy Downside
CMC is healthy right now, and as long as that continues to be the case, it’s hard to imagine Foreman getting enough work to be fantasy viable. There’s also the chance he gets hurt himself or fails to beat out Hubbard, but all indications thus far are that Foreman was brought in to upgrade the backup running back position and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t win the primary handcuff spot.
2022 Bottom Line
With CMC’s injury history and the general durability issues at the running back position, Foreman is worth snatching up at the end of drafts to round out a fantasy stable of backs. He’s likely only useful in the event of an injury, but he’s one of only a few backups in the league who look poised for a full workload if thrust into the starting role.