Heading into last season Tyler Allgeier was just another rookie running back trying to make his way onto the playing field and make an impact with his touches. Well, he made the most out of his opportunities on his way to 210 carries for 1,035 rushing yards and three touchdowns while adding 16 receptions for 139 yards and another touchdown. Not bad for a fifth-round draft pick out of BYU. Now it’s a new year and new competition has emerged. Can Allgeier garner enough touches to be fantasy relevant every week?
2023 Fantasy Football Player Profile: Tyler Allgeier
This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us or Is It?
With the eighth pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected Bijan Robinson. Since that moment, the value of Tyler Allgeier plummeted and the fantasy community threw him to the side like dirty laundry. Granted, Robinson is the superior talent and all the hype is deserved. However, that doesn’t mean both players can’t flourish in Arthur Smith’s run-heavy system.
Last season, the Falcons led the league with 559 rush attempts, and of those carries, 454 of them went to the running backs. Leading the way for Atlanta was Allgeier with his 210 attempts and if you subtract that from the 454 running back carries you get 244 remaining. The point is, there is enough of the pie for both Robinson and Allgeier to coexist within this offense and each gets 200+ touches a piece.
Fantasy Handcuff With Standalone Flex Value?
The term ”fantasy handcuff” has revolutionized since back in the day when most teams were sporting a workhorse running back. During those times, a handcuff was strictly the backup to these players and was obtained as insurance in case your stud running back became injured. Fast forward to the current era and now most teams are successfully utilizing multiple backs in different ways. Over the past 10 seasons, there have been 20 instances where a pair of teammates have both finished among the top-24 RBs in PPR scoring. That’s an average of two teams per year dishing out a couple of fantasy assets from their backfield.
Over the last 10 seasons there's been a pair of RB teammates to reach the top24 at the position in #fantasyfootball PPR formats 20 times & at least 1 team to accomplish this feat every year during that span. That's an average of 2 per season.
Don't dismiss the top "handcuffs" pic.twitter.com/ncZAnQ5qRa
— Austin Thomas (@Austin_Thomas18) August 11, 2023
During the 10-season span, there was at least one team every year to accomplish this feat. Of course, there are other contending teams to rival Atlanta in achieving this goal this season, but not many of them will rely as heavily on their running game to secure victories. If you were to only pick one team to reach the objective this year, the Falcons should at least be in consideration. Tyler Allgeier has the potential to be a weekly flex starter for your squad.
All(geier)-In at ADP
According to FantasyPros, Tyler Allgeier is going off the board between the RB44 to RB49 range. That’s a steep drop compared to where he finished a season ago (RB29). Although it’s a small sample size, in the four games Desmond Ridder started to end the season, Allgeier averaged 17.08 PPG compared to the 8.04 PPG with Marcus Mariota in 12 games. Understandably, Tyler Allgeier isn’t going to be the top option in the running game like he was in spurts during the 2022 campaign, but he’ll remain a solid option and be involved in the game plan each week.
It’s been since 2009 when the Carolina Panthers rostered both Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams that a team had two running backs surpass the 1,000-yard rushing threshold. The Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier duo have the potential to be the next pair of teammates. At Allgeier’s current ADP price, he’s a steal with that top-24 RB upside.
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