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Factoid

Hunt looks underrated

Where's the love for Kansas City star?

There are a half-dozen top-tier running backs, and in that group, I think Kareem Hunt is the most underrated. He’s good, and he’s tending to be drafted too late, I think.

I can understand Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott being selected before him. But I don’t understand Hunt being selected after Melvin Gordon and Saquon Barkley. In non-PPR, he’s also being selected after Leonard Fournette. Some are taking Dalvin Cook before Hunt, which is crazy to me.

In my eyes, Hunt is right there with the other top-level running backs – LeVeon Bell, David Johnson and Alvin Kamara. Bell and Johnson both come with unresolved contract issues.

Hunt is talented. He’s been durable, and I like the way Kansas City will use him. Andy Reid has been a head coach for 19 years, and he has a strong history of featuring his tailback as not only a runner but also in the passing game. Give Reid a decent-enough running back to work with, and the numbers will be there.

In over half of Reid’s 19 seasons, he’s had a running back put up top-10 numbers. That’s standard scoring, and I’ve got those numbers in bold. In all but three of those 19 seasons, Reid has had a running back finish with at least numbers putting him in the top 21. Only three years that were big misses (and I’ve got them tagged with black dots).

ANDY REID'S RUNNING BACKS
YearPlayerRecRunTotalTDPointsRk
1999Duce Staley2941,2731,5676192.710
2001Duce Staley6266041,2304147.020
2002Duce Staley5411,0291,5708207.015
2003• Correll Buckhalter1335426759121.530
2003Brian Westbrook33261394513172.518
2004Brian Westbrook7038121,5159205.510
2005Brian Westbrook6166171,2337167.318
2006Brian Westbrook6991,2171,91611257.66
2007Brian Westbrook7711,3332,10412282.42
2008Brian Westbrook4029361,33814217.810
2009• LeSean McCoy3086379454120.536
2010LeSean McCoy5921,0801,6729221.28
2011LeSean McCoy3151,3091,62420282.42
2012LeSean McCoy3738401,2135151.321
2013Jamaal Charles6931,2871,98019312.01
2014Jamaal Charles2911,0331,32414216.47
2015• Charcandrick West2146348485114.832
2016Spencer Ware4479211,3685166.816
2017Kareem Hunt4551,3271,78211244.23

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index