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Fantasy Football Sleeper - Reuben Droughns

Fantasy owners are grabbing Brandon Jacobs, the unproven starting running back for the Giants.  People seem to be forgetting all about Reuben Droughns though, and I think that's a mistake.

The Pro Football Prospectus projects Droughns for 662 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns which are roughly the same totals as the ones Jerious Norwood put up last season.  Jerious Norwood was on a fantasy team in your league last year, and Droughns should be this year.

There are two reasons you should pick up Droughns before the season starts.  The first is that he's the man if something happens to Jacobs.  Anything can happen in football and Droughns is worth something for injury insurance alone.  

The second is that Droughns is going to get a lot of carries.  The PFP projects a 40% / 60% carry split between Droughns and Jacobs and that's assuming Jacobs is the full time starter.  But there are plenty of concerns that he might not be up to the task of being the full time starter.  If Droughns gets 45% or 50% or even 55% of the carries, then he's going to be a significant fantasy starter.

Droughns is a great low risk, high return running back that you should be able to get in the late rounds of your draft.  This veteran is considered to be washed up, but he may not be done just yet.