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 a running back who took about as far of a back seat as you could take last season, as Jonathan Taylor ate his lunch and the vast majority of his snaps. Is there a path for a bounce back from Nyheim Hines, or if you are looking for a pass-catching running back, are you better off looking elsewhere?
Nyheim Hines ADP and AAV:
Average Draft Position: RB44, 129 overall
Average Auction Value: $1.5
Nyheim Hines Statistics:
| Year | G | GS | Rush | Ru Yds | Ru TD | Tgt | Rec | Yards | TD | Touches | Opp | Total Yards |
| 2021 | 17 | 4 | 56 | 276 | 2 | 57 | 40 | 310 | 1 | 96 | 113 | 586 |
| 2020 | 16 | 2 | 89 | 380 | 3 | 76 | 63 | 482 | 4 | 152 | 165 | 862 |
| 2019 | 16 | 2 | 52 | 199 | 2 | 58 | 44 | 320 | 0 | 96 | 110 | 519 |
| Year | YPC | Rush/G | Ru Yd/G | Tgt/G | Rec/G | Catch% | Yds/Tgt | Yds/Rec | Touches/G | Opp/G | Yds/G |
| 2021 | 4.93 | 3.3 | 16.2 | 3.35 | 2.35 | 70.2% | 5.44 | 7.75 | 5.65 | 6.65 | 34.5 |
| 2020 | 4.27 | 5.6 | 23.8 | 4.75 | 3.94 | 82.9% | 6.34 | 7.65 | 9.50 | 10.31 | 53.88 |
| 2019 | 3.83 | 3.3 | 12.4 | 3.63 | 2.75 | 75.9% | 5.52 | 7.27 | 6.00 | 6.88 | 32.44 |
| Year | Std Pts | HPPR Pts | PPR Pts | Pts/G | HPPR Pts/G | PPR Pts/G | Pts/Tch | HPPR Pts/Tch | PPR Pts/Tch |
| 2021 | 72.6 | 92.6 | 112.6 | 4.27 | 5.45 | 6.6 | 0.76 | 0.96 | 1.17 |
| 2020 | 130.2 | 161.7 | 193.2 | 8.14 | 10.11 | 12.1 | 0.86 | 1.06 | 1.27 |
| 2019 | 73.9 | 95.9 | 117.9 | 4.62 | 5.99 | 7.37 | 0.77 | 1.00 | 1.23 |
2022 Nyheim Hines Fantasy Football Overview:
I really liked Nyheim Hines going into 2021, I figured he would play a complementary role to Jonathan Taylor, subbing in on passing downs roles and getting back to his rookie season, where he had 80 rush attempts and 80 targets per game. After all, he had over 160 combined opportunities in Taylor’s rookie season. Instead, we saw Nyheim Hines’ snaps completely dry up in the second half of the year, and his production went with it.
From weeks one through nine, Hines played at least 30% of snaps in seven-of-nine games. He averaged 42 total yards on 5 carries and 3 catches per game. Not a lot to write home about, there. Just sort of a change-of-pace back who got some decent opportunities at times (he had 108 yards in week nine against the Jets, for example). After that point, he topped 30% of snaps just twice in eight games, and instead averaged 26 yards per game on 2 catches and 2 rush attempts. And that’s it. Fewer than 5 points per game in PPR. That’s because the Colts turned their game plan entirely over to Jonathan Taylor and got him the football as much as humanly possible. So, obviously, that hurt Nyheim Hines. And considering that Jonathan Taylor is the first non-QB off the board in all formats, I don’t expect that to change in 2022.
2022 Nyheim Hines Fantasy Football Draft Strategy:
Nyheim Hines Salary Cap Value: $2
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming in early July)
Nyheim Hines is RB44 off the board, before J.D. McKissic, and costs $1.5 in salary cap drafts, the same as J.D. McKissic. I’m begging you to, instead, just draft J.D. McKissic. The reason that pass-catching running backs work is two-fold. First, the RB1 comes off the field on passing downs. Well, Jonathan Taylor doesn’t seem poised to do that, considering he didn’t really do that last year. Second, the pass-catching running back actually gets targets. While Hines ranked twelfth in the NFL last year with 57 running back targets, he had just 22 of these in the last eight games of the season or a paltry 2.75 targets per game. Third, the pass-catching running back usually chips in some rushing yards to help buoy his fantasy points, and the Colts gave him fewer than 2 rush attempts per game when they prioritized Jonathan Taylor.
If you want to get Nyheim Hines, just go get J.D. McKissic, instead. Antonio Gibson isn’t the type of back that will keep J.D.M. off the field, and Jonathan Taylor might just be the best running back in the entire NFL. Don’t get the guy getting the scraps after the best running back in the entire NFL gets his fill.
Best Case Scenario:
Nyheim Hines returns to his rookie year with 80 target, and 80 rush attempt figures, and finishes as a weekly flex play during the bye weeks in PPR leagues.
Worst Case Scenario:
Jonathan Taylor literally eats his lunch every single day. Hines loses 30 pounds and gets bounced from the NFL when he gets snapped in half by a defensive lineman.
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[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com, airyards.com, and ftnfantasy.com]
