A Running Back to Target in Each Round of Your Fantasy Football Draft
Round 4: Dion Lewis, New England Patriots
ADP: 44th overall (4.08)
Note: Given Dion Lewis' injury, this is no long applicable.
Since he didn’t play after Week 9 (ACL), it’s easy to forget how great Dion Lewis was last season.
He took over the Shane Vereen role and did more than Vereen ever did.
Not counting his injury-shortened game in Week 9, Lewis ranked as the RB6 in PPR formats through eight weeks. In that stretch, he put up at least 16.0 PPR points in five of six games (the Patriots had a Week 4 bye, and Lewis missed Week 7 with an injury). He finished in the top six at the position in three of those weeks.
| Week | PPR Points | Weekly RB Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 16.0 | 16th |
| Week 2 | 25.8 | 3rd |
| Week 3 | 17.7 | 15th |
| Week 4 | -- | -- |
| Week 5 | 23.3 | 6th |
| Week 6 | 6.9 | 34th |
| Week 7 | -- | -- |
| Week 8 | 23.2 | 2nd |
While New England has a well-earned reputation for being unpredictable with running backs, that really wasn’t the case when Lewis was healthy. The dude had a steady role. He averaged 12.8 touches per contest in the first eight weeks, and he saw at least 11 touches in five of those six games.
Our metrics loved the guy.
Among backs with at least 40 targets, he ranked second in Reception NEP per target. He dominated as a runner, too, checking in third in Rushing NEP per carry among running backs with at least 40 attempts.
Simply put: Lewis was one of the best backs in the league.
In standard formats, Latavius Murray, who has an ADP as the 38th overall player, is also worth a look in Round 4. He was incredibly inconsistent and inefficient a year ago, but unless DeAndre Washington is the real deal right away, it may not matter as Murray should see heavy volume again in 2016.
But as long as Lewis is healthy, something the Patriots will probably make difficult to figure out, he’s a nice pickup in the fourth round. If he's not ready for the start of the season, his stock will likely fall, which could make him a nice bargain later in the draft, too.
