Fantasy Football: 10 Sleepers to Target Late in Your Draft
Devontae Booker, RB, Denver Broncos
ADP: 12.03 (RB51)
Devontae Booker is being selected as the RB51, and rookie teammate Royce Freeman has an ADP of RB26. So it's pretty obvious who the fantasy community thinks will be the lead back for the Denver Broncos this season.
However, it may not be so cut and dry. There was a report pre-draft that Denver wanted Booker to be the number-one guy, and after the Broncos took Freeman, there was another report that indicated Booker was still atop the depth chart.
All that could be coachspeak, and it's July so this backfield will play itself out in time. Luckily, we should have more information in late August, during peak draft season. At a minimum, though, it seems like this backfield could be more of a timeshare than current ADPs suggest, and any running back who could get good volume is going to be a massive steal at this price.
Per our schedule-adjusted metrics, Denver had the second-worst offense last season, but they were committed to running the ball, logging the 8th-most attempts and 12th-most rushing yards. The run-heavy approach likely stems from trying to win without good quarterback play, something the Broncos are surely hoping they won't have to deal with in 2018 now that Case Keenum is in the fold.
Still, even if Keenum is good and the team doesn't run as much, their running backs could see more scoring opportunities -- they had just eight rushing tuddies last year -- due to an improved offense.
In best-ball drafts this summer, Booker makes a ton of sense as a late-round flier, and unless training camp news and/or preseason play tells us Freeman is the dude, we should be salivating over Booker in the back half of season-long drafts.