I put together the depth charts for the Weekly, and it's trickier than you might expect this time of year. Teams have nearly twice as many players in camp now (90) as they'll have at the start of the season (53), so I have to make the call as to which players to list or not. If I list all 10 running backs or 15 wide receivers a team has on its July roster, I'm not doing anyone any good.
So invariably, I'll be listing some guys who may have almost zero chance of making the team, or leaving off guys who will emerge and maybe even have a significant fantasy role at some point during the season. As recent history shows, sometimes a nobody can become a somebody, especially at running back.
This century, I've added about 30 undrafted runners into our comprehensive rookie file. Not all of them actually did anything in their first seasons, but if they didn't, they came into fantasy value a year or two down the road. C.J. Anderson and Fred Jackson are good examples of that. And then there are the guys who put up usable numbers right away: Dominic Rhodes and LeGarrette Blount, for example.
I've added three players from last year into the file, and all three may -- may -- be significant players in 2018. Matt Breida (pictured) of San Francisco is one of our sleepers, and both Corey Clement in Philadelphia and Austin Ekeler for the Chargers are late-round targets with a chance to either start or at least play a large role in committee backfields.
Names I've seen mentioned in camp reports thus far included Keith Ford in Buffalo, Josh Adams in Philadelphia, Mike Boone in Minnesota and Shaun Wilson in Tampa Bay. Who knows? Maybe one of those guys will need to be added to this list a month from now.
In the table, which shows rookie numbers, players in bold went over 1,000 total yards at some point in their first three seasons. Some guys (Fred Jackson, Earnest Graham) got there eventually; others (Thomas Rawls, Rob Kelley) came close.
| NOTEWORTHY UNDRAFTED RUNNING BACKS, 2000-PRESENT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Run | Rec | Tot | TD |
| 2017 | Matt Breida, S.F. | 465 | 180 | 645 | 3 |
| 2017 | Austin Ekeler, LAC | 260 | 279 | 539 | 5 |
| 2017 | Corey Clement, Phil. | 321 | 123 | 444 | 6 |
| 2016 | Peyton Barber, T.B. | 223 | 28 | 251 | 1 |
| 2016 | Kenneth Farrow, S.D. | 192 | 70 | 262 | 0 |
| 2016 | Jalen Richard, Oak. | 491 | 194 | 685 | 3 |
| 2016 | Rob Kelley, Wash. | 704 | 82 | 786 | 7 |
| 2015 | Thomas Rawls, Sea. | 830 | 76 | 906 | 5 |
| 2015 | Zach Zenner, Det. | 60 | 11 | 71 | 0 |
| 2014 | Damien Williams, Mia. | 122 | 187 | 309 | 1 |
| 2014 | Charcandrick West, K.C. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Isaiah Crowell, Clev. | 607 | 87 | 694 | 8 |
| 2014 | Branden Oliver, S.D. | 582 | 271 | 853 | 4 |
| 2014 | Juwan Thompson, Den. | 272 | 25 | 297 | 3 |
| 2013 | C.J. Anderson, Den. | 38 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| 2013 | Khiry Robinson, N.O. | 224 | 0 | 224 | 1 |
| 2012 | Bobby Rainey, Balt. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | Brandon Bolden, N.E. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | LeGarrette Blount, Tenn. | 1007 | 14 | 1021 | 6 |
| 2010 | Joique Bell, Buff. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | Arian Foster, Hou. | 257 | 93 | 350 | 3 |
| 2008 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis, N.E. | 275 | 37 | 312 | 5 |
| 2007 | Pierre Thomas, N.O. | 252 | 151 | 403 | 2 |
| 2006 | Fred Jackson, Buff. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | Samkon Gado, K.C. | 582 | 77 | 669 | 7 |
| 2005 | Ryan Grant, NYG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | Earnest Graham, T.B. | 73 | 0 | 73 | 0 |
| 2004 | Willie Parker, Pitt. | 186 | 16 | 202 | 0 |
| 2001 | Dominic Rhodes, Ind. | 1104 | 224 | 1328 | 10 |
--Andy Richardson