FANTASY FOOTBALL BOYS DOES FANTASY FOOTBALL ADVICE: Buy These Two Running Backs In Dynasty Leagues And WIN BIG

It's never too early to start wheeling and dealing in your fantasy football league. By now, the NFL Draft is done and the fantasy trade markets should be flowing, here are a few guys to monitor and target the closer we get to camp.

1. Alexander Mattison

I feel like this one's fairly obvious given today's news. Adam Schefter reported today that it's a very real possibility that the Vikings could move on from Dalvin Cook and that his future in Minnesota is "in question". 

Update: "All signs point to" the #Vikings most likely moving on from RB Dalvin Cook, per @diannaESPN pic.twitter.com/UfJcVFH8sv

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 11, 2023

The Vikings could save anywhere from $9-11 million if they cut or trade him after June 1 and it's another case of an organization turtling at a running back's asking price. In 2019 and 2020 he combined for 30 total TD's but he's heading into year 7 with a hefty price tag attached and a little age on him. 

Enter Alexander Mattison, the heir apparent in Minnesota should Cook be dealt or cut. His time may have finally come after years of living in Cook's shadow, relegated to relief touches. He stands to gain a TON of vacated carries (250+) if Cook and the Vikings can't come to some sort of contract agreement. Mattison has been an all-time handcuff since he was drafted by the Vikings in 2019 to back up Cook. He was actually pretty efficient last year with 6 TD's on just 89 total touches in strictly a change-of-pace role. He's only made four career starts, all in 2021, which isn't exactly a reliable sample size. Regardless, he's cashed in on those limited opportunities (26/112/0, 25/113/0, 22/90/1, and 13/41/1) and there's no reason to believe he couldn't shoulder the load. 

If you own Dalvin Cook and don't have Mattison as a safety net, that should be a priority at this point. Go trade for him for the injury mitigation impact alone. At worst, you have an elite handcuff. At best, you find yourself with two separate RB1's on different teams if Cook lands somewhere else. I'm certainly not saying to sell all your Dalvin Cook stock, but the Vikings are clearly weighing their options. Keep a close eye on the situation and it might not be a bad idea to buy low on Mattison while you can. 

2. Tyler Allgeier

Hear me out on this one. Everyone's pouncing on a certain Falcons running back's shaft, and for good reason. After all, the Falcons did just draft Bijan Robinson 8th overall and one simply does not spend that draft capital unless there are concrete plans to use him early and often. But I have a hard time believing that Tyler Allgeier is automatically an obsolete bench piece, it doesn't make sense. 

Arthur Smith was a big proponent of running back by committee last season, and Allgeier showed high level stuff down the stretch. I understand people saying that Robinson is a generational, Christian McCaffrey-esque talent, far more explosive than any of the options from last season. People might also say that if there's a dude like that on your roster, he should be on the field as much as humanly possible to maximize your chances of success. Both of these things could be true, but the Falcons might just be run-heavy enough to be the exception to rule. 

The Falcons are a little bit of an outlier because they ran the ball 559 times last season, the most in the entire league. They have a top-10 offensive line returning and logged 159.9 yards per game in 2022. They love to run the football and I don't see that number dwindling considering their commitment at running back and QB situation. In fact, I could see it going over 600 rushing attempts if Arthur Smith goes whole hog on the run game. If that were to happen, there would be more than enough volume to go around. 

How quickly we forget that Allgeier was in the conversation for Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2022, ahead of Kenneth Walker and Breece Hall - he was that good and in a timeshare, no less. He carried 210 times and averaged 4.9 yards per carry as a rookie in a backfield split with Cordarrelle Patterson. 

Another factor to consider here is load management. I'll be the guy to ask the question: Is it really in the Falcons' best interest to immediately throw their 8th overall pick to the wolves with 350+ carries? I'm not saying you get overly cautious with him, but that's a massive workload. I don't see them getting that high and even if that does, there should theoretically still be plenty of touches left over for Allgeier on the lesser end.

I fully understand why everyone is heavily investing in Bijan Robinson but I don't want to fully lose sight of Allgeier because of the excitement surrounding Robinson. I refuse to believe that Allgeier has no place in this offense and if last year taught us anything, it's that Arthur Smith likes to utilize more than one running back. I'm gonna guess around 250 carries and 1,100 yards next season for Allgeier. Anything less feels like a disservice - he’s a bruiser in his sophomore season that showed he can be a RB1 if needed. The spotlight may not be squarely on Allgeier, but I think he puts together a fine 2024 campaign and stays heavily involved.

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