It’s that time of year once again! Football Absurdity will bring you a breakdown of every notable fantasy football-relevant player throughout June, July, and August. We continue with the running backs. Today, we take a look at Darrell Henderson, who was good a top-20 running back in PPR points per game last season, and who now faces a one-legged Cam Akers as his touch competition in the backfield. Should we be stashing Darrell Henderson, just in case? Let’s take a look at his 2022 fantasy football prospects.
Darrell Henderson ADP and AAV:
Average Draft Position: RB43, 125 overall
Average Auction Value: $1.1
Darrell Henderson Statistics:
| Year | G | GS | Rush | Ru Yds | Ru TD | Tgt | Rec | Yards | TD | Touches | Opp | Total Yards |
| 2021 | 12 | 10 | 149 | 688 | 5 | 40 | 29 | 176 | 3 | 178 | 189 | 864 |
| 2020 | 15 | 11 | 138 | 624 | 5 | 24 | 16 | 159 | 1 | 154 | 162 | 783 |
| 2019 | 13 | 0 | 39 | 147 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 37 | 0 | 43 | 45 | 184 |
| Year | YPC | Rush/G | Ru Yd/G | Tgt/G | Rec/G | Catch% | Yds/Tgt | Yds/Rec | Touches/G | Opp/G | Yds/G |
| 2021 | 4.62 | 12.4 | 57.3 | 3.33 | 2.42 | 72.5% | 4.40 | 6.07 | 14.83 | 15.75 | 72.0 |
| 2020 | 4.52 | 9.2 | 41.6 | 1.60 | 1.07 | 66.7% | 6.63 | 9.94 | 10.27 | 10.80 | 52.20 |
| 2019 | 3.77 | 3.0 | 11.3 | 0.46 | 0.31 | 66.7% | 6.17 | 9.25 | 3.31 | 3.46 | 14.15 |
| Year | Std Pts | HPPR Pts | PPR Pts | Pts/G | HPPR Pts/G | PPR Pts/G | Pts/Tch | HPPR Pts/Tch | PPR Pts/Tch |
| 2021 | 134.4 | 148.9 | 163.4 | 11.20 | 12.41 | 13.6 | 0.76 | 0.84 | 0.92 |
| 2020 | 114.3 | 122.3 | 130.3 | 7.62 | 8.15 | 8.7 | 0.74 | 0.79 | 0.85 |
| 2019 | 18.4 | 20.4 | 22.4 | 1.42 | 1.57 | 1.72 | 0.43 | 0.47 | 0.52 |
2022 Darrell Henderson Fantasy Football Overview:
Darrell Henderson was the only running back worth his salt on the Rams’ roster for most of the 2021 season. He managed just 12 games but finished averaging 72 yards per game, alongside 2.5 catches per contest. His eight total touchdowns helped turn all of this into the RB19 finish in per-game stats in 2021. That’s pretty darn good, considering that he had just 12.4 carries and 3.3 targets per game in a part-time role.
Let’s start with the notion that when Cam Akers came back, he marginalized Darrell Henderson. He most certainly did not, unless he physically bullied Henderson into staying on IR, where he missed weeks 17 and 18, and the first three rounds of the playoffs. He returned for the Super Bowl (he was activated the Friday before the game), and Cam Akers did out-touch him, 16 to 7. But, Henderson out-gained Akers 35 (2.19 yards per touch) to 50 (7.14 yards per touch) in the Super Bowl. So sure, Akers touched the ball more. But he was also terrible when he touched it.
So, it would stand to reason that Akers, who is recovering from an injury that usually saps production for a couple of seasons, could end up taking a back seat to Darrell Henderson early on in the year. The Darrell Henderson proposition is an easy one. If you think that Cam Akers will struggle to return from his Achilles tear in a useful manner, then you should get Darrell Henderson onto your fantasy football roster. It’s really that simple.
2022 Darrell Henderson Fantasy Football Draft Strategy:
Darrell Henderson Salary Cap Value: $1
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming in early July)
A bet against Cam Akers, which many are making by not taking Akers at or near his top-18 ADP, should be a bet for Darrell Henderson. After all, Kyren Williams, who they took in the draft, is a third-down specialist and is dealing with a broken foot. He is not a threat to their production give-and-take.
So, you could bet on Cam Akers being the guy with your pick at RB18, or you could make for a smart play and instead, you could invest in Darrell Henderson dirt cheap. He’s just RB43 in snake drafts and is $1.2 in salary cap drafts. The joy of Darrell Henderson is that he is coming at a supreme discount because we aren’t sure how the presumptive lead back will look. If Cam Akers looks incredible, you can just cut bait on Darrell Henderson immediately to pick up week one breakout *spins wheel* Byron Pringle? Well, okay, then. Sure.
Best Case Scenario:
Cam Akers struggles and loses the job to Darrell Henderson around week four, and Henderson remains the team’s 1A the rest of the way.
Worst Case Scenario:
Darrell Henderson never regains the job from Cam Akers, and you wasted a pick on a guy that could have been a kicker, instead.
Check out all our 2022 player profiles, here.
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[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com, airyards.com, and ftnfantasy.com]
