As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. We only look at the past three seasons for a player. Kenyan Drake moved from the Dolphins to the Cardinals mid-season last year and immediately became a fantasy football fore down the stretch. What can we expect out of Drake for the 2020 season?
Kenyan Drake ADP and AAV:
Standard Scoring ADP: RB12, 25 overall
PPR Scoring ADP: RB8, 13 overall
Average Auction Value: $44
Kenyan Drake Statistics:
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| G | 14 | 16 | 16 |
| GS | 10 | 7 | 6 |
| Ru Att | 170 | 120 | 133 |
| Ru Yds | 817 | 535 | 644 |
| Ru TD | 8 | 4 | 3 |
| Tgt | 68 | 73 | 48 |
| Rec | 50 | 53 | 32 |
| Yards | 345 | 477 | 239 |
| TD | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Touches | 220 | 173 | 165 |
| Opp | 238 | 193 | 181 |
| Total Yards | 1162 | 1012 | 883 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| YPC | 4.81 | 4.46 | 4.84 |
| Ru Att/G | 12.1 | 7.5 | 8.3 |
| Ru Yd/G | 58.4 | 33.4 | 40.3 |
| Tgt/G | 4.86 | 4.56 | 3.00 |
| Rec/G | 3.57 | 3.31 | 2.00 |
| Catch% | 73.5% | 72.6% | 66.7% |
| Yds/Tgt | 5.07 | 6.53 | 4.98 |
| Yds/Rec | 6.90 | 9.00 | 7.47 |
| Touches/G | 15.71 | 10.81 | 10.31 |
| Opp/G | 17.00 | 12.06 | 11.31 |
| Yds/G | 83.00 | 63.25 | 55.19 |
| Year | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Std Pts | 164.2 | 153.2 | 110.3 |
| HPPR Pts | 189.2 | 179.7 | 126.3 |
| PPR Pts | 214.2 | 206.2 | 142.3 |
| Pts/G | 11.73 | 9.58 | 6.89 |
| HPPR Pts/G | 13.51 | 11.23 | 7.89 |
| PPR Pts/G | 15.3 | 12.89 | 8.89 |
| Pts/Touch | 0.75 | 0.89 | 0.67 |
| Pts/Touch (HPPR) | 0.86 | 1.04 | 0.77 |
| Pts/Touch (PPR) | 0.97 | 1.19 | 0.86 |
Kenyan Drake Overview:
There’s a common refrain in fantasy football Twitter. “Free x,” where x is a player being fundamentally misused or mismanaged by his coaching staff. Generally, even when the universe mercifully frees this player from his captors, he rarely returns on all the hype that led to the call to free him. That was not the case with 2019 Kenyan Drake. Drake spent 2019 split between the woeful Miami Dolphins, where he averaged a subpar 3.7 yards per carry, and Arizona, where that number vaulted up to 5.2 yards per carry.
When all was said and done, Drake averaged 101.75 yards per game with Arizona and 58 with the Dolphins. A lot of this was due to a few big games at the end of the year, but Drake was good more often than he wasn’t as a Cardinal, getting 80+ yards from scrimmage in at least five games, and totaling 413 yards and seven touchdowns in his last three contests with Arizona.
Kenyan Drake Draft Strategy:
Kenyan Drake Auction Value: $51
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming late June)
Like teammate Kyler Murray, a lot of people have high expectations for Kenyan Drake in 2020. According to FantasyPros’ ADP data, the Cardinals’ running back has crept up the draft board from #30 overall to #25 overall. Given how he played with the Cardinals to end 2019, and the step forward the offense is likely to take in 2020, this is still a steal. The Cardinals have so many good feelings going on in their offense and a very top-heavy running back room. Chase Edmonds and Eno Benjamin exist, but they’re mostly there to spell Drake, not spell his doom.
However, Drake is unlikely to continue his torrid 5.2 yards per carry, but he has the backfield essentially to himself in Arizona, so increased volume will offset decreased efficiency. He is currently going just outside the top-two rounds in standard scoring and is the best player in that range to end up going inside the first-round in 2021.
Taking Kenyan Drake at his ADP honestly feels like stealing. He will end the season as a top-ten running back (unless he gets hurt) and getting him in the middle of the third round in a twelve-team league is a no-brainer. If you start WR-WR, he is a great guy to snag in the third round to get as your RB1 in your league.
Best Case Scenario:
He staves of Chase Edmonds and Eno Benjamin and Kenyan Drake continues his torrid season-ending pace (413 yards and seven touchdowns in his last three games, on 19 touches per game) on a high percentage of Arizona’s running back touches in what should be a high-powered offense. He enters 2021 as a backend round one selection in most, if not all, formats.
Worst Case Scenario:
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the NFL mandates teams to combine rosters and coaching staff. The Arizona Cardinals pair with the Jets and Adam Gase once again puts Drake behind Frank Gore for carries.
[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]
