If you've drafted yet using our cheat sheets, there's a good chance you have Nyheim Hines on our team. We've been fans for a while of the Colts' passing downs back. And I'm an even bigger fan today, after the Colts released Phillip Lindsay.
Jonathan Taylor is the main runner in Indianapolis, of course, and the top pick in most fantasy leagues. Hines should be busy in passing situations, boosting him in PPR. But in the preseason he was also being used as the clear No. 2 -- as in, the main runner if Taylor wasn't available -- and that looks like it will be the case in the regular season.
The other backs on the Colts' roster were Phillip Lindsay, Deon Jackson and Ty'Son Williams, the latter of whom most will recall was a brief waiver wire darling early in Baltimore last year (before he flopped). Lindsay has a couple of 1,000-yard rushing seasons on his resume, from when he was in Denver. Jackson mostly played special teams last year; he has 13 career carries.
The guess was that if Taylor were to get hurt, it'd be a Lindsay-Hines committee, with Hines playing a little more than if Taylor were healthy, but still ceding a lot of carries to Lindsay.
With Lindsay gone, it's just Hines, Williams and Jackson behind Taylor (for now). Williams quickly became an afterthought in Baltimore, and he didn't look impressive this preseason, either. He carried 11 times for 26 yards, which is 2.4 per attempt. When the starters were on the field, it was all Hines (Taylor didn't play), and I think that's pretty much what we'll see in the regular season, too.
Strictly as a pass catcher, of course, Hines has been pretty great. Twice in four seasons he's caught 63 balls. Just 40 with Carson Wentz last year, but the ideal -- and a better comp for this year's quarterback Matt Ryan -- was the 63 he caught in 2020, with Philip Rivers at quarterback. In any case, Hines has caught 210 passes over the past four seasons. Only five running backs have caught more.
| RUNNING BACK RECEIVING, 2018-2021 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Alvin Kamara | 376 | 292 | 2437 | 8.3 | 15 |
| Christian McCaffrey | 326 | 277 | 2364 | 8.5 | 12 |
| Austin Ekeler | 320 | 255 | 2447 | 9.6 | 21 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 302 | 230 | 1612 | 7.0 | 9 |
| James White | 294 | 220 | 1865 | 8.5 | 13 |
| Nyheim Hines | 272 | 210 | 1537 | 7.3 | 7 |
| Leonard Fournette | 257 | 203 | 1394 | 6.9 | 3 |
| Saquon Barkley | 260 | 190 | 1482 | 7.8 | 8 |
| Aaron Jones | 231 | 174 | 1426 | 8.2 | 12 |
| Dalvin Cook | 215 | 171 | 1409 | 8.2 | 3 |
| James Conner | 191 | 161 | 1338 | 8.3 | 7 |
| Kenyan Drake | 212 | 158 | 1250 | 7.9 | 6 |
| Tarik Cohen | 204 | 156 | 1222 | 7.8 | 8 |
| Melvin Gordon | 203 | 152 | 1157 | 7.6 | 8 |
| David Johnson | 211 | 151 | 1355 | 9.0 | 10 |
| Mike Davis | 178 | 144 | 868 | 6.0 | 4 |
| Joe Mixon | 174 | 141 | 1035 | 7.3 | 8 |
| Giovani Bernard | 179 | 135 | 930 | 6.9 | 6 |
| Jalen Richard | 161 | 135 | 1140 | 8.4 | 0 |
| Chase Edmonds | 164 | 128 | 921 | 7.2 | 5 |
| Kareem Hunt | 157 | 123 | 1141 | 9.3 | 13 |
| Duke Johnson | 164 | 123 | 1129 | 9.2 | 7 |
| Jamaal Williams | 149 | 123 | 856 | 7.0 | 6 |
| David Montgomery | 154 | 121 | 924 | 7.6 | 3 |
| Todd Gurley | 165 | 115 | 951 | 8.3 | 6 |
| D'Andre Swift | 135 | 108 | 809 | 7.5 | 4 |
| Josh Jacobs | 136 | 107 | 752 | 7.0 | 0 |
| Devin Singletary | 141 | 107 | 691 | 6.5 | 3 |
| Anthony Firkser | 140 | 106 | 1107 | 10.4 | 5 |
| Devonta Freeman | 129 | 105 | 681 | 6.5 | 5 |
| Miles Sanders | 149 | 104 | 864 | 8.3 | 3 |
| Dion Lewis | 129 | 103 | 691 | 6.7 | 3 |
| Chris Thompson | 136 | 103 | 792 | 7.7 | 2 |
| Devontae Booker | 126 | 101 | 684 | 6.8 | 1 |
| Chris Carson | 123 | 100 | 745 | 7.5 | 6 |
Data from pro-football-reference.com was used in compiling this table.
Maybe the Colts have their eye on another cut to back up Taylor. Sony Michel was released, and Duke Johnson was too. But right now, it's Hines as the viable alternative to Taylor, and that won't necessarily change.
A running back who can be started in PPR leagues most weeks who's also a potential feature back if the starter gets hurt? Sign me up for some Hines.
--Andy Richardson