Last week I posted about a Thomas Rawls versus Latavius Murray trade I was mulling. To my mild surprise, most readers favored the Murray side of the trade. It's just one more thing that makes me think Rawls is going to be a nice value in fantasy drafts this year.
Players are often overly optimistic about their own injury timetables, but Rawls sounds pretty certain he'll be ready to go for training camp. "Most definitely," he said in an interview. "Rehab has been going phenomenal this whole offseason."
Much has been made of Seattle drafting three other running backs, but perhaps too much. C.J. Prosise looks like a third-down type. The other backs (fifth-rounder Alex Collins, seventh-rounder Zac Brooks) are late-rounders on a team that only had Rawls and Christine Michael, who was on three different rosters a year ago. Using the 171st and 247th picks on runners (Seattle had 10 picks) doesn't smack of worry at the position.
Rawls averaged 5.6 yards per carry last year, nearly a yard more than Michael (4.9) and way better than Marshawn Lynch (3.8). He won't make an impact as a receiver (that should be Prosise) but figures to be the main runner on a team that likes to run.
If he is in fact out there practicing early in camp, there should be little reason to be down on Rawls. I expect he'll be on several of my fantasy teams this year.
--Andy Richardson