Fantasy Index

header banner img
OUR FANTASY BASEBALL MAGAZINE IS BACK! PRE-ORDER NOW
Win here.

Around the NFL

Kareem Hunt

Free agent back drawing interest

Couple of Kareem Hunt stories making the rounds lately. The first was that a signing with New Orleans was imminent. The second was that he was talking with the Colts. Both of those teams may have a major need at running back (or there might be some agent shenanigans going on).

The New Orleans story seems a little odd. They're committed to Jamaal Williams for $5 million for this season. Alvin Kamara's suspension is officially three games -- they'll have him back in Week 4. And they drafted Kendre Miller in the third round. I've seen reports linking their interest in Hunt to Eno Benjamin (Achilles) being out for the year, which is patently ridiculous. Benjamin is a fourth-year seventh-rounder who was on three teams a year ago, he was a roster longshot.

The Colts story makes a little more sense -- but still not much. Jonathan Taylor is hurt/disgruntled and Zack Moss has a broken arm, but they already signed Kenyan Drake, giving them a modest veteran option to go with their various youngsters, including fifth-rounder Evan Hull. Is this a roster that really wants to carry a pair of 28- to 29-year-old veteran running backs best known for their pass catching in Drake and Hunt? Seems odd.

The reality is that Hunt, who just turned 28 years old, may have seemed like one of the better No. 2 running backs in Cleveland for a couple of years -- but he's never approached the kind of performance he had at the start of his career in Kansas City. Back then, he was a difference maker. With Cleveland, the production has been ordinary.

In 2017-2018, Hunt with Kansas City was one of the league's very best running backs. Among all backs who played in at least half the games those two seasons, only five averaged more points per game (PPR) than Hunt did.

RUNNING BACKS PER GAME, 2017-2018
PlayerGRun/GRec/GTDPts/G
Todd Gurley2988.147.24026.1
Saquon Barkley1681.745.11524.1
Alvin Kamara3152.049.53221.8
Ezekiel Elliott2596.733.41821.3
Melvin Gordon2871.134.52620.1
Kareem Hunt2779.730.92519.5
Christian McCaffrey3247.947.42019.2
Leonard Fournette2170.423.21616.7
David Johnson1756.630.21015.3
Mark Ingram2863.220.91915.0
Joe Mixon2864.120.81313.7
James White3019.939.31513.7
Chris Carson1875.512.31013.4
Devonta Freeman1658.321.3813.4
LeSean McCoy3055.122.91113.0
Lamar Miller3062.016.31212.2
Nick Chubb1662.39.31012.2
Chris Thompson2023.638.9712.2
Tarik Cohen3225.433.71212.0
Jordan Howard3264.38.41811.9
Tevin Coleman3146.118.51711.7
Marshawn Lynch2160.311.21011.6
Dion Lewis3244.219.21211.4
Alex Collins2555.411.71411.2
Jerick McKinnon1635.626.3511.1
Carlos Hyde3050.312.81311.1
James Conner2741.418.41310.9
Kenyan Drake3236.822.41310.9
Duke Johnson3217.235.11010.9
T.J. Yeldon2427.829.6710.9
Marlon Mack2648.712.61410.8
Derrick Henry3256.37.31810.5
Aaron Jones2449.09.51310.5
Adrian Peterson2660.410.71010.3
Nyheim Hines1619.626.6410.1

Over the last four years in Cleveland, Hunt on a roster with Nick Chubb was a nice No. 2, but there's nothing to get really excited about. He averaged about half as many points per game, and showed up outside the top 20 in PPR leagues on a per-game basis. We can say he'd have been better as a starter, and that's true. But he's four years removed from putting up elite numbers and just turned 28. Maybe there's a reason no one has shown a ton of interest in adding him to their backfield.

RUNNING BACKS PER GAME, 2019-2022
PlayerGRun/GRec/GTDPts/G
Christian McCaffrey4374.352.04024.3
Derrick Henry55109.915.95820.4
Austin Ekeler5949.446.95220.2
Alvin Kamara5761.838.94018.8
Dalvin Cook5886.624.14618.5
Jonathan Taylor4389.318.73618.0
Aaron Jones6266.326.04717.0
Joe Mixon5268.922.73716.4
Josh Jacobs6079.019.24016.3
Nick Chubb5990.614.34216.3
Saquon Barkley4466.925.02215.7
Ezekiel Elliott6366.918.04615.5
Najee Harris3465.720.52015.4
James Conner5153.322.43915.1
Leonard Fournette5851.729.92515.1
D'Andre Swift4042.030.02514.8
David Montgomery6060.220.73013.5
Antonio Gibson4552.819.92613.3
James Robinson3958.015.82313.2
Miles Sanders5765.116.52312.7
Melvin Gordon5353.516.83112.5
Clyde Edwards-Helaire3349.217.51711.9
Kenyan Drake5347.316.32611.6
Kareem Hunt4938.219.92311.4
Devin Singletary6151.715.92010.9
Devonta Freeman3540.118.81310.9
Jamaal Williams5845.412.42910.7
Raheem Mostert4153.813.11810.6
Damien Harris3855.17.42010.4

Data from the search tools at pro-football-reference.com was used in assembling these tables.

Eventually Hunt will sign somewhere, but I'm not sure we need to care that much. It won't be as a starter, and he won't necessarily be putting up big numbers anywhere this season. I'd be a lot more interested to see what the rookie Miller, or a healthy Zack Moss, can do. I hope those teams agree.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index