Fantasy Football: 5 Backfields With the Most Available Volume in 2019
Washington
Another one of the great backs of this generation, Adrian Peterson looked completely washed in 2017, but after injuries left the Washington backfield thin heading into the 2018 season, they decided to give Peterson a shot. And it paid off.
AP wasn't quite his old self, but he ran the ball 251 times for 1042 yards, added 20 receptions on 26 targets, and played a full 16 games.
Those 251 carries were the fifth-most in the NFL, and the 60.6% market share they represented was also the sixth-highest. Peterson was one of only seven backs to handle at least 56% of their team's rush attempts last year. Like the departing backs in Oakland, he didn't account for a big share of the passing game, with only a 5.3% target market share.
Peterson was signed to a one-year deal as a stop-gap, and he will become an unrestricted free agent again.
Washington invested heavily in the running back position last year, drafting Derrius Guice toward the end of the second round. It was only after he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the preseason that the team added Peterson.
Assuming Guice gets back up to speed for the 2019 season (not a lock, after he required additional surgeries in December), he will likely step into a huge workload, effectively picking up where Peterson left off.
If Guice does miss significant time, expect Washington to sign another back. Neither Samaje Perine nor Rob Kelley inspired enough confidence to replace Guice last year, so there's little reason to believe they will this season.
That could mean AP comes back, but unless Guice is going to miss the entire season (and even then), the addition of a mid-late round running back (or two) in the draft seems more likely. They may make a larger investment if they suspect Guice could miss another full season (which would really make it an uphill battle for him to ever become a meaningful contributor in the NFL), and in that case you'd want to take a close look at whoever they bring in.
Chris Thompson should pick up some additional ground work, as he only played 10 games last year, but his role is fairly distinct and different from Peterson's, with an 11.2% rush attempt market share and a 10.4% target market share.
A healthy Guice would stand to see a ton of work and offer big fantasy value, but if he misses time, just about any replacement should be able to offer Peterson-esque value with the volume available.
