Outlook: Clement made a lasting impression on Eagles fans last season, capping off his rookie campaign with 108 yards and a receiving touchdown in Philly's 41-33 win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Although the former Wisconsin Badger never received more than 15 total touches in a game in 2017, Clement scored six total touchdowns and averaged 5.7 fantasy points per game in a backfield that split nearly 400 carries between six running backs last year.

With LeGarrette Blount now a member of the Detroit Lions, Clement looks primed to be the second running back and change of pace behind Jay Ajayi. Considering Ajayi's well-documented knee issues and Clement's increased role in the Super Bowl, Clement is an attractive draft and stash value as a late-round pick.

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Outlook: As a rookie, there's no proven NFL track record for Jones, but as a prospect, Jones draws an interesting comparison. Jones admits that he models his game after Jamaal Charles and his college production is somewhat similar.

The noticeable difference in their careers is the usage in the passing game. Charles was a much more established receiver coming out of school, but neither was used a significant amount and both averaged just over 1 reception per game during their final season. The biggest disappointment, if it can even be considered one, is Jones's slight drop in rushing efficiency under 6.0 yards per carry when his rushing attempts finally eclipsed 200 attempts.

Jones currently has an ADP of RB27 in the 5th round and it appears that he's in line for 15 to 20 touches per game, according to camp reports. Tampa Bay had an average offensive line for run blocking, according to Football Outsiders. They had a 20% stuffed rate which ranked in the middle of the pack. Luckily, it appears Jones won't be stuck behind a poor offensive line, but he's not jumping into a situation similar to Ezekiel Elliott either. At his current draft price, he's among the safest bets to have consistent volume which makes him a good bet to exceed his draft position.

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Outlook: With the exit of Jonathan Stewart in the off-season, there was a void at the RB position in Carolina, particularly in the early downs and Anderson was quickly added to the roster once he was made available. Anderson has been considered as disappointment to fantasy owners ever since his breakout campaign of 2014, but he's coming off of a 1,000-yard season with a 4.1 yards per carry average.

Anderson appears to be a value at the RB position with his new team. Although he lacks some of the upside, he'd poised to inherit a sizeable portion of Stewart's 200 carries. Stewart finished as the RB33 in standard scoring leagues despite rushing for just 3.4 yards per carry and only handling 15 targets. Anderson is currently being drafted as the RB40, according to Fantasy Football Calculator, and if he can maintain an average near 4 yards per carry, he should be positioned well to outperform his draft position. Anderson should be a target for drafters who start WR heavy in standard scoring leagues.

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Outlook: Seattle shocked many when they made Rashaad Penny the second running back taken off the board in April's NFL Draft, ahead of the likes of Darrius Guice, Sony Michel, Nick Chubb and others. While he didn't grade as highly as those backs on some expert boards, it's worth considering that Seattle made a strong investment in him with a first round pick, which almost certainly guarantees that he'll be given every opportunity to succeed in this offense.

Penny dominated in his senior season at San Diego State as the leading rusher in all of college football, rushing for a whopping 2,248 yards with a 7.8 yards per carry average. He finished his college career averaging 7.5 yards per game, albeit in a weak Mountain West Conference. Penny shows upper-percentile straight line speed and has also shown that he can make an impact catching the ball, although that is something he'll need to improve on to be an elite fantasy back in the NFL.

Seattle's offensive line issues continue to be a major concern. They did finally make a move during the season in 2017 to acquire left tackle Duane Brown, who quickly became their best offensive lineman, but the team really did not address the other positions across the line this offseason. That could be a problem for a player like Penny who, while explosive when given a crease, can struggle when holes don't open up quickly in front of him.

Another area that is a bit of a concern is that Penny does lack experience and technique in pass protection. This can often be a reason why rookie running backs are kept off the field, even when they are producing counting stats when given the ball. This could lead to more of a split backfield than many want to believe.

Still, Penny has first-round draft capital which is often enough to warrant a decent enough workload for him to be a valuable fantasy asset this season, particularly in dynasty formats where a case could easily be made for him to be the No. 2 overall player off the board.

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Outlook: Young backs Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington have both been relatively productive when given opportunities but the new coaching staff in Oakland has no allegiance to them and seemingly didn't believe they were a good enough tandem behind starter Marshawn Lynch. To fill that void, the Raiders opted to bring in another veteran back, Doug Martin, who had spent the previous six seasons in Tampa Bay.

One of the league's least consistent producers, Martin has posted sub-3.0 yards per carry numbers in back-to-back seasons heading into 2018, but also had a monster 2015 where he went off for 1,402 rushing yards at nearly 5.0 yards per carry. There are times when Martin looks like a top-10 back in the league and other times when he looks like he should probably be hanging up the cleats. While he won't likely battle Lynch for starter snaps, Martin does figure to be involved in the offense this season - the question is where and when. Martin does have a 49-catch season on his resume and a does average 8.4 yards per reception over the course of his career, which is a great number for a running back. He's actually been over nine yards per reception in each of his past two seasons, but the sample size is low as he's caught just 23 total passes over that two-year span. Still, the per-touch numbers look good in the passing game and that could allow him to be the primary receiving back on the team as backups Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington have failed to do much in that role and Lynch himself has never been much of a pass catcher.

Martin is a low-cost option that does have upside as a potential bell-cow back if Lynch gets hurt, especially given coach Gruden's adoration for him. However, after a four-game suspension to start the 2017 season due to a PED violation, Martin does bring fantasy owners additional risk of a long suspension if he failed another test, but it seems likely that he was using those PEDs to recover from injury during rather than that he has a serious problem.

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Outlook: Back to playing in 16 games last season after an injury riddled 2016, Riddick did his thing, catching 53 passes and being the Lions pseudo running game with his short route running. The 53 grabs were a far cry from his last healthy season in 2015 when he caught 80. Entering his 6th season in Detroit, Riddick will be called on far more infrequently as he's been in the past. With the additions of Blount and Johnson, and the current existence of Abdullah, Zenner and Washington, Riddick can settle back into his 3rd down/hurry up role on the offense as a reliable outlet for Stafford. He holds very little value in standard leagues and end of the roster depth in PPR leagues.

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Outlook: An explosive playmaker out of the backfield, Austin Ekeler surprised many when he burst onto the scene in 2017 and took some playing time from Melvin Gordon, particularly on obvious passing downs. It was on a limited sample size, but Ekeler's 7.3 yards per touch were among the best in the league for any running back and it's not as if that production came out of nowhere. Ekeler was a big-time producer in college where he rushed for over 1,000 yards in all four seasons in addition to making plays as a pass catcher and scoring a total of 73 career offensive touchdowns.

Ekeler would presumably be in for at least a slight uptick in touches this season if the Chargers hadn't selected Justin Jackson in the NFL Draft this past April. Jackson himself rushed for 1,000 yards in all four seasons in college and would almost certainly split backfield duties with Ekeler if Gordon were to go down. As it stands, neither Ekeler nor Gordon is likely to have much standalone value unless you're playing in very deep PPR formats where Ekeler might be worth a late-round flier selection. He could see 40 to 50 receptions this season which would make him a viable option for those in need at the running back position.

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Outlook: Grant is entering his fourth season in the NFL and only has 68 career carries, but he made an impact with three receptions in the playoffs and some reports from off-season activities indicate that he may see a larger workload in 2018. Jaguars' offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett stated Grant is "a guy we've got to get out there". He posted an impressive 8.3 yards per carry on only 30 attempts and consistently made big plays when given the opportunity. However, it's unlikely that Grant holds much value in 2018, but he's a free agent worth keeping an eye on if Fournette gets injured.

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Outlook: Of all the 1st or 2nd round runners selected in this year's draft, Chubb has the hardest value to determine. An ultra-talented battering ram type runner, Chubb offers great touchdown upside, but his extremely limited passing game chops (13 receptions in his final three years at Georgia) mean he'll need a significant injury to Carlos Hyde to see enough volume to make a real fantasy impact. While Hyde might have the leg up in versatility, Chubb possesses superior power, vision, and speed, and will undoubtedly push Hyde for carries inside the redzone. I do think this coaching regime is very interesting in leaning on the veterans to get this season off to a positive start, so Chubb is best viewed for his late season potential. As we know, players who float under the radar for most of the season before getting a chance to shine can sometimes be league winners, so don't be afraid to take a late round flyer on Chubb and hope he returns value sooner than later. Remember, Carlos Hyde hasn't been the picture of health, and Chubb is an injury away from being a force on this team.

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