Fantasy Upside
With Roy Helu headed to the IR, rookie DeAndre Washington finds himself as Latavius Murray’s primary competition. What Washington has going for him is that he excels where Murray is least useful. Murray finished fourth in snaps at the position, but just 19th in targets, averaging just 5.7 yards per catch and committing several memorable drops in 2015. I believe this fact alone could push this past the “just hype” category surrounding Washington as he has a storied history of pass catching going back to his college days. GM Reggie McKenzie has already said they see Washington as more than a third-down back.
Fantasy Downside
The competition was historically inefficient last season but Murray did finish as a top-10 running back on mostly volume alone. There is a chance Murray gets first crack at this backfield and performs well behind one of the leagues best offensive lines. The schedule is extremely soft to start the year which favors Murray since he will most likely start the year as the clear lead back.
2016 Bottom Line
Washington is fully capable of a three-down role if called upon. We’ve seen time and time again that teams have no problem going with the better receiver in close competitions but in this case we know that Murray is going to get the first shot. If Washington hopes to get on the field he is going to have to vastly improve in pass protection. I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of the season Washinton has carved out a Giovani Bernard-type role in this offense.
