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RB Sleepers 2024 (Running Backs)

8 RB Sleepers to Boost Your Roster

How much fantasy football help can running back sleepers really offer?

I mean … don’t we know by draft time who’s getting the ball in each backfield? Aren’t the true sleepers really just handcuffs whose starters go down?

Well, let’s check out some RBs who went outside the position’s top 30 in 2023 ADP:

That’s three guys who finished among the top 5 RBs in PPR points per game, another who ranked fifth in receptions, and two more who wound up leading backfields in top-12 offenses. And only Edwards needed an injury ahead of him to provide opportunity.

How to Find RB Sleepers

Of course, we don’t want to downplay the role of injuries here. RB is a tough position, and many starters will get hurt.

Spending a later pick on a talented backup behind a risky starter can pay off big time, and our Injury Guide highlights the riskiest lead backs.

But we’re primarily focused here on players who could pay off even without a teammate injury. We’re looking at upside players in uncertain situations. That uncertainty will often lead fantasy drafters to just let all the RBs involved slide down the board.

The result: You don’t need to know the answers to take advantage of the opportunities.

2024 Sleeper Running Backs

These RBs are all going outside the top 30 at the position in 2024 fantasy football drafts. All have upside paths that make them attractive sleepers.

• Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard
• Chase Brown
• Austin Ekeler
• Ty Chandler
• Bucky Irving
• Tyrone Tracy
• Tank Bigsby

Mid-Round RB Sleepers

These guys all sit outside the top 30 RBs in ADP, just like the aforementioned group. Could they be ready to deliver similar fantasy boosts?

Tennessee Titans RBs

Tyjae Spears occupied this section by himself for most of summer. But Pollard became the better value by our ADP Market Index.

And with both going outside the top 24 RBs in PPR, you don't need to be out on one to like the other.

New Coach Sees Room for Both

Titans HC Brian Callahan has called Pollard and Spears “interchangeable” at multiple points this offseason, while also deeming their skill sets different.

It’s clear that he plans to use both in the new offense. And we saw the Titans have the duo alternating series in the final preseason game.

That setup could lead both to frustrate your weekly lineup setting. But there's also room for both players to open the year as standalone fantasy options for teams that wait on RB.

And if either goes down, the other could carry "boom" potential in PPR formats.

Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals

Brown and backfield mate Zack Moss both showed as negative values by best ball ADP through much of draft season. But both moved into value range as summer wore on.

That came for Brown even though he passed his teammate in those ranks ...

And why wouldn't it? Brown and Moss have both consistently gone outside the top 24 at the position despite being in a good situation.

The two seasons so far in which we got a full run from QB Joe Burrow found Cincinnati RBs ranking 13th (2021) and sixth (2022) in total PPR points.

Joe Mixon finished the past three years ranked 12th, sixth, and sixth in PPR points per game.

Embrace the Uncertainty

No one expects any 2024 Bengals RB to assume Mixon’s role. Frankly, none of us can be sure just how the work will be split.

That kind of role ambiguity will always push a RB down in drafts. And it should make you wary of taking a guy too early. But neither Cincinnati RB is going before Round 9.

Brown Gains Popularity

Brown flashed as a rookie while seeing light work. Even when that picked up late in the year, he remained way behind Mixon.

That Cincinnati added nothing more than Moss while off-loading Mixon looks like a mark in Brown’s favor.

The returnee arrived as just a fifth-round pick. But he finished college with a workhorse fifth season (328 carries, 27 receptions) and then tested very well at the Combine (89th-percentile speed score).

Austin Ekeler, Washington Commanders

Ekeler stunk in 2023 vs. what we’ve come to expect from him. He set career lows in:

• Yards per carry (3.5)
• Yards after contact per attempt (2.64)
• PFF elusive rating (49.4)
• Yards per route (1.25)

Among 33 RBs who carried at least 175 times, Ekeler ranked:

• 29th in success rate
• 33rd in EPA per rush
• 32nd in explosive rush rate

Maybe he’s just done. Or maybe a high-ankle sprain took him down.

Ekeler suffered the injury in Week 1 and remained out until Week 6. That injury often limits player performance even after they return.

And Ekeler came back to a deteriorating offense that had already lost WR Mike Williams for the season and would eventually lose QB Justin Herbert and WR Keenan Allen early.

We can’t know how different Ekeler’s late-season production might have looked in a healthier situation.

Why Bother Now?

Here’s what we know about Ekeler:

• He’s a workout maniac.

• Injuries have probably been less of a problem than you think.

You might view the veteran RB as a constant injury question. But the fact is Ekeler has played 16+ games in three of the past five seasons. And our Injury Predictor has him at a relatively low 36.3% chance of injury this season.

• He’s in a new spot.

• Lynn definitely factored into Ekeler’s landing spot as a free agent.

• It’s Austin Ekeler.

• It sounds like the summer's going well.

Now that’s he’s priced as a RB4, the question is not so much “why draft him” as it is … “why not?”

Ty Chandler, Minnesota Vikings

The Aaron Jones signing obviously didn’t help Chandler. But it didn’t hurt him as much as the market reaction indicates.

Jones has been an effective all-around RB for seven years. He has not, however, been a workhorse.

Jones has averaged 12.1 carries per game for his career, including fewer than 13 per game for each of the past three seasons.

Each of those seasons also saw AJ Dillon average at least 10.9 carries per game.

Chandler More Handcuff-Level Play

If Jones gets similar carry volume in Minnesota, it likely won’t leave as much for his backfield mate.

Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings ranked 18th and 28th in RB carries for his first two seasons at the helm. Green Bay ranked 10th, eighth, and 14th over the past three years.

And Jones should easily lead the receiving. He has ranked among the league’s top receiving backs through most of his career. O’Connell highlighted Chandler’s need to improve in that area even before Jones arrived.

Jones Carries Injury Risk

Minnesota’s not a bad place for a RB to carry contingency value.

Jones’ 87.6% probability of injury this season ranks him seventh-highest among RBs in our Injury Guide.

He has lost multiple games to injury three of the past four years.

Late Round Running Backs

Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

We’ll always love Rachaad White around here for delivering as our 2023 Breakout Player selection. But his strong fantasy production belied poor rushing efficiency.

Among 51 RBs with 90+ carries in 2023, White ranked:

• 44th in PFF rushing grade
• 42nd in yards after contact per carry (PFF)
• 46th in rush yards over expected per carry (NFL Next Gen Stats)

He was even worse in 2022.

Room for Rookie to Siphon Work

Irving, meanwhile, rated near the top of the nation at breaking tackles, forcing missed tackles, and gaining yards after contact over his two years at Oregon.

He ran efficiently. And HC Todd Bowles has already said Irving adds something the team lacked in 2023:

Bowles added to that on the cusp of the regular season, saying that his backfield will "be a game-by-game basis; you normally go with the hot hand."

Both RBs Can Catch

White fared much better as a receiver than he did as a runner last season. But Irving also posted strong receiving numbers in college.

He tallied 87 receptions across two Oregon seasons and averaged 8.3 yards per catch for his college career.

Irving’s not likely to simply overtake White in that area – especially after his pass-blocking grades declined through his college career. But he also doesn’t look like a player the Bucs would take off the field for passing situations.

Irving Says Scheme is Familiar

The rookie says new OC Liam Coen's system holds "similar things" to what he ran at Oregon. And Brianna Dix of the team website says Irving quickly showed out in camp.

"Irving has showcased his prowess on screens with a strong base and downhill charge," she wrote at the end of the first week. "With suddenness and change-of-direction skills, Irving has helped bolster the ground game. He is versatile and has the potential to play all three downs."

(Agreed.)

Tyrone Tracy, New York Giants

The Giants signed RB Devin Singletary for three years in free agency, a deal that gives him the 15th-highest annual average salary at the position. It also reunites him with HC Brian Daboll, who served as Bills OC for Singletary’s first three pro seasons.

The team clearly plans to have Singletary lead its backfield. But last year marked the first time in five seasons that Singletary topped 188 carries. He’s averaging 11.4 rushes per game for his career, with a high of 12.7.

There should be carries available under a coach who has had six of his 10 NFL offenses rank among the top 8 in rushing attempts.

More importantly for Tracy, Singletary has always graded out much weaker in receiving than rushing. Last year’s career-high PFF grade ranked him just 36th among 61 RBs with 30+ targets.

Rookie Brings Receiving Upside

We know Tracy can catch the ball. He spent most of his college career at WR, tallying 113 receptions at 10.6 yards per catch.

Tracy transitioned to RB at Purdue over his final two seasons and averaged 6.6 yards per rush there on 130 carries. His 23.1% explosive-run rate led the class, according to PFF. And he backed that explosiveness up with a 98th-percentile Relative Athletic Score at the Combine.

Tracy worked ahead of second-year RB Eric Gray in the first preseason game, which sure looks like a good signal of his lead in the competition.

The rookie then gave us a scare with an ankle injury in practice that got him removed from the field on a cart with an air cast. But it proved to be minor and he returned to the field just two days later.

Gray contributed an explosive run in the first preseason game as well. But he also garnered just 23 total touches across his rookie season -- for a team that found 72 for Matt Breida (and then let him walk).

Tank Bigsby, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

I touted this guy ahead of last season, too ... and it burned me.

The third-round pick totaled just 50 carries, 1 reception, and 138 scrimmage yards -- despite appearing in all 17 games.

He tied D'Ernest Johnson in total touches and trailed him by a lot in yards per touch (4.9 to 2.2).

So why go back to Bigsby?

Doug Pederson Hasn't Given Up

Despite that poor rookie season, Jacksonville's coach has continued talking Bigsby up.

“We have to get Tank going, bottom line," Pederson said back in March. "He is too good — that’s why we drafted him.”

There has been more positive buzz through offseason workouts and training camp, and Bigsby has improved his performance this preseason.

He's up in Pro Football Focus overall grade, rushing grade, and receiving grade. Bigsby's 4.69 yards after contact per carry through two preseason games nearly doubles his rate from last year (2.96).

Situation Remains a Plus

Bigsby isn't likely to deliver standalone value ... even though Pederson has specifically mentioned working him into goal-line rotation.

But he's a Travis Etienne injury away from a potentially lucrative role.

Etienne finished top-4 across fantasy formats last season, in a Jaguars offense that ranked 13th in total yards and points. And he did so despite weak efficiency.

Etienne tied for just 38th among 49 qualifying RBs in Next Gen Stats' rush yards over expected (-0.29) and tied for 26th in PFF's YAC per carry.

The Draft Price Helps

The final point in Bigsby's favor, you barely have to spend anything on him.

He sits just RB65-66 in ADP right now, which means he's even going undrafted in many leagues. That ADP was pushing RB40 last August.

If he disappoints us again from this year's cost, you're not losing anything.

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Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.