Little Competition For Carries

Now this separates Barkley from Alvin Kamara, the back right next to him on the ADP list.

For those who don’t know, here’s a little insight on every fantasy owner’s nightmare: teams that deploy a running-back-by-committee (RBBC) approach. With 14 of the best backs gone by round two, almost half of the backfields are gone, and the rest aren’t all solo acts.

Once again, the next three on the ADP list outside those 14 are Jordan Howard, Joe Mixon, and Kenyan Drake. Of those three, Howard and Drake face competition from Tarik Cohen and Frank Gore, respectively. Even the next three, Derrius Guice (42), who is out for the season with a torn ACL, Royce Freeman (43), and Derrick Henry (47) all face timeshares with Samaje Perine/Chris Thompson, Devontae Booker, and Dion Lewis (in that order).

As an even scarier proposition, some of the “elite 14,” as I call them, split carries. Alvin Kamara, who has the seventh highest ADP, which is immediately behind Barkley, loses carries to a 1,000-yard rusher in Mark Ingram. Dalvin Cook (13), Devonta Freeman (19), and Jerick McKinnon (26) will all lose carries to Latavius Murray, Tevin Coleman, and Matt Breida, at a minimum.

Barkley has an aging Jonathan Stewart who averaged just 3.4 yards a carry in Carolina last year and has little left in the way of explosiveness. Wayne Gallman is nothing to write home about either. Barkley should handle about 75 percent of the workload, only ceding work to Stewart or Gallman when he needs a breather.

That’s rarified air to be in as a fantasy prospect, leaving Barkley as a potential top-five pick that is certain to be gone in the first round in any league, even by the eighth pick.