2017 Fantasy Report Card: Kenyan Drake

Picking up an RB1 off the waiver wire is the stuff from which fantasy football legends are made.  They are the albatross of the fantasy football world.  This season that dream became a reality for a select few fantasy football owners.   Once Jay Ajayi was jettisoned in a rare mid-season NFL trade, Kenyan Drake took his place in the limelight.  His opportunity only grew when his running mate Damien Williams went down with an injury.  Let’s take a look at Drake’s performances.

2017: Season Review

The aforementioned trade took place following Week 8 of the NFL season.  Prior to the trade, Drake was barely a rumor posting just 10 carries for 25 rushing yards.  This ensured that Drake was available on the waiver wire in all leagues.  However, his season changed quickly.

Kenyan Drake 2017 Stats

Starting in Week 9, Drake compiled 851 total yards, good for an average of nearly 95 yards per contest which translates to 15 fantasy points per game in PPR formats. To compare,  Carlos Hyde was the RB8 on the season and he averaged 14.6 ppg.  From Week 13 on (when Williams went down), Drake went Super Saiyan.  Over these final 5 games, Drake averaged 88.8 rushing yards per game, translating to a season-long pace of 1,420 yards.  For reference, Kareem Hunt led the NFL in rushing yards this season with 1,327. In this stretch of 5 games, the Dolphins trusted the Alabama product with their backfield and fantasy owners were rewarded with the RB8 in fantasy.  This put Drake just behind Mark Ingram and just ahead of Giovani Bernard and Devonta Freeman over that span.

Final Grade: B

It was very difficult to only give Drake a “B” considering that he was free and helped his owners greatly as they made their playoff pushes.  However, Drake was only on the radar for 9 games and let owners down when they needed him most (2.4 points in Week 16).  Additionally, although the RB8 pace he was on is remarkable considering his cost, he was still lightyears behind the fantasy football elite from 2017: Kareem Hunt, Alvin Kamara, Le’Veon Bell and Todd Gurley.

2018: Outlook

The Dolphins have holes to fill all across their roster.  Kenyan Drake’s 2018 value will be contingent on whether or not he’s convinced the front office that they do not need help at RB.  Despite his play this season, it is very likely that the slightly undersized Drake will find himself with competition for carries next season and not just from the mediocre Damien Williams.