11 Training Camp Position Battles With Fantasy Football Implications

Tennessee Titans' Running Backs

The Tennessee Titans' running backs are not like the Patriots' receivers. If you want 'em, you're gonna have to pay the piper. And that makes this situation even a bit more tricky.

Based on Fantasy Footbal Calculator's data, Derrick Henry is going in the middle of the third round and Dion Lewis is going at the end of the fifth. The only other team with two running backs going that early is the Saints, and as good as Marcus Mariota can be, he's not Drew Brees.

Henry would seemingly be the favorite to handle the early-down work. But even when DeMarco Murray plodded along last year, Henry never carried a full load, and the team made Lewis one of the highest-paid running backs in the league over the offseason. You don't do that if you feel you've got a surefire workhorse already in the stable.

That makes Henry a bit hard to stomach at his ADP unless he starts getting passing-down work in training camp and the preseason. Lewis, though, can be viable at his slot.

Lewis' skills in the passing game allow him to be on the field even if the Titans fall behind in a game, potentially elevating his floor above Henry's. But Lewis is also good enough to steal early-down work, grading out as the second-most elusive rusher in the league last year, according to NFL.com's Next-Gen Stats (Henry ranked third). This is a battle to monitor in camp, but unless we get reason to think otherwise, Lewis seems to be the one guy we should want to target here.