Similar to yesterday’s exercise in vacated targets from the previous season, finding which teams have unaccounted for carries can help us unearth some potential fantasy goldmines.
Outside of major coaching changes in offensive philosophy, most of these carries stay intact with the team. They’re just simply redistributed to new additions or to the incumbents.
Below is a list of all available carries that are up for grabs from each team. We can use these numbers to more accurately project exactly how much volume a running back may be in for during the 2019 season.
2018 Vacated Targets
| Team | Carries | Carry% |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 274 | 65.8% |
| Chicago Bears | 261 | 55.7% |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 235 | 60.7% |
| Miami Dolphins | 206 | 55.5% |
| Baltimore Ravens | 195 | 35.6% |
| Atlanta Falcons | 179 | 50.9% |
| Detroit Lions | 162 | 40.0% |
| New Orleans Saints | 159 | 33.7% |
| New York Jets | 151 | 36.8% |
| Houston Texans | 151 | 31.9% |
| Buffalo Bills | 148 | 31.6% |
| Minnesota Vikings | 140 | 39.2% |
| Cleveland Browns | 135 | 32.8% |
| Seattle Seahawks | 115 | 21.5% |
| San Francisco 49ers | 111 | 26.2% |
| Oakland Raiders | 101 | 26.0% |
| Washington Redskins | 91 | 21.9% |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 87 | 21.6% |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 77 | 19.7% |
| New England Patriots | 65 | 13.5% |
| Los Angeles Rams | 50 | 10.8% |
| Dallas Cowboys | 44 | 10.0% |
| Carolina Panthers | 35 | 8.4% |
| Arizona Cardinals | 31 | 8.7% |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 30 | 8.6% |
| Denver Broncos | 27 | 6.8% |
| Green Bay Packers | 26 | 7.8% |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 14 | 3.8% |
| New York Giants | 11 | 3.1% |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 11 | 2.7% |
| Indianapolis Colts | 8 | 1.9% |
| Tennessee Titans | 7 | 1.5% |
Jacksonville Jaguars (274 Carries)
After missing the final half of the season last year due to injury, Leonard Fournette should be in line for the majority of these unaccounted for carries. T.J. Yeldon (104) and Carlos Hyde (48) both left this offseason opening the door for Fournette to inherit the bulk of those touches. Fournette had 268 carries his rookie season and was on pace for another 250-plus season before ankle/foot injuries sidelined him the rest of the year. Jacksonville also brought in Alfred Blue, Benny Cunningham, Thomas Rawls and drafted Ryquell Armstead to reload the running back room. Blue looks to be the early contender for RB2 duties, but this could be a valuable backup role to keep eyes on during training camp. Fournette’s detailed injury history could elevate one of these players to a valuable fantasy stash.
Chicago Bears (261 Carries)
The departure of Jordan Howard (250) to Philadelphia makes up the large majority of this workload. It wouldn’t be that surprising if Tarik Cohen’s carries hover around the 100-yard mark (99 last year) and we see the winner between a training camp battle of Mike Davis and David Montgomery contend for Howard’s leftovers. Davis was brought in on a cheap, two-year $6M contract ($3M guaranteed) and Montgomery was selected by the Bears in the early third round. Montgomery should eventually take lead of this backfield but Davis could cut into some early looks while the rookie gets up to speed. Montgomery’s ADP is in the fifth round and climbing. This is another backfield situation to monitor closely during training camp.
Kansas City Chiefs (235 Carries)
Kareem Hunt (181) and Spencer Ware (51) leave behind a sizable portion of Kansas City’s rushing attempts from last year. Incumbent Damien Williams (50) stands to see a significant increase in usage. I’ll be honest. As someone who’s been drafting in bestballs since they opened, I was limiting my exposure to Williams. I didn’t trust a back that came out of seemingly nowhere and produced brilliantly down the stretch. However, following free agency where they added only Carlos Hyde and following the draft where they only spent sixth round capital on Darwin Thompson, it’s time to call a spade a spade. If Andy Reid is comfortable utilizing Williams as his bellcow back entering the 2019 season, than I’m more than comfortable drafting him at current ADP in the third round. In the five games Williams started last season (including playoffs), he scored eight total touchdowns and averaged 29.4 PPR points.
Miami Dolphins (206 Carries)
Unbelievably, Frank Gore (156) refuses to call it quits and signed a deal to join Buffalo this season. His 156 carries from last year opens a significant opportunity for new primary ballcarrier, Kenyan Drake. Drake is currently one of this year’s cheapest feature backs, where he can be bought at RB3 prices for a player with high-end RB2 upside. Drake has flashed big fantasy potential whenever he’s seen at least 10 carries in a game (16.5 PPG) and should continue to be heavily utilized in the passing game (4.6 tgts/game last year).
Baltimore Ravens (195 Carries)
Baltimore lost Alex Collins (114), Javorius Allen (41), and Ty Montgomery (15) this offseason, opening up nearly 200 carries. The Ravens opted to bring in veteran Mark Ingram from the Saints on a three-year, $15M contract ($6.5M guaranteed). Ingram will likely also siphon carries away from incumbent Gus Edwards, who led the Ravens’ running backs in carries last year with 137. Baltimore also spent a fourth-round pick on Oklahoma State’s Justice Hill. Hill should make a name for himself in this offense right off the bat as a change-of-pace back given his 4.40 speed. The combination of Ingram, Edwards, and Hill — in addition to Lamar Jackson being a threat to take off with the ball — could end up with Baltimore leading the league in rushing attempts in 2019.
