Fantasy Football: 10 Sleeper Running Backs to Target in 2017
James Conner, Pittsburgh Steelers
Rookie James Conner is 15 months removed from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and is starting 2017 with a clean bill of health. The Pittsburgh Steelers used a third-round draft pick on Conner, which suggests they'd like him to step in as Le'Veon Bell's backup.
The Steelers' backup running back role has proven generous for fantasy owners in the past. In 2015, DeAngelo Williams scored 11 touchdowns in just 10 starts and rushed for over 100 yards on four separate occasions.
Pittsburgh has shown a willingness to feature their running backs no matter who is lined up in the backfield. In the 2015 playoffs, even third-stringer Fitzgerald Toussaint stepped in and turned 21 touches into 118 total yards as the Steelers beat the Bengals on Wild Card Weekend.
In 2016, the Steelers ran the ball 41.06% of the time, which was the 13th-most in the NFL. In 2017, the they face a favorable schedule for running backs.
With Bell returning on September 1st, he's all systems go, which renders Conner's current value null. But he offers tremendous upside should he ever find himself with a lead opportunity, even if just for a week or two, with his current, dirt-cheap ADP as the 182nd pick in PPR formats. —Mitch Carl
