If you leave the first round of your draft with a wide receiver, a popular fantasy football strategy is to take a running back in the second round to even things out instead of loading up on one position.
Here, I’ll check out two go-to second-round running backs, Derrick Henry and Travis Etienne Jr.. Both players are on teams that give both players plenty of upside. Etienne is still with the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Henry has joined the Baltimore Ravens.
Henry is going as RB8 and No. 17 overall, while Etienne is RB9 and No. 18 overall, making them great options if you take someone like A.J. Brown or Justin Jefferson in the middle of the first round.
Below, I’ll examine the value of these players and pick which player you should draft.
2024 Fantasy Outlook for Derrick Henry
Henry will turn 31 toward the end of the 2024 season and joins the Ravens after eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
As a 29-year-old who turned 30 during the 2023 season, Henry played all 17 games.
According to TruMedia, Henry had 280 carries for 1,167 yards (4.2 yards per carry) and 12 rushing touchdowns.
He also caught 28 passes for 214 yards and has had some pass-catching upside the past two seasons after never having more than 19 receptions in a single season prior.
It’s worth noting that Henry has 629 total carries over the past two seasons. He’s averaged 4.4 yards per carry or less in each of the past three years after having three seasons before that at 4.9 yards per carry or better.
In his last two campaigns, Henry was RB10 (2023) and RB4 (2022).
Despite the drop in efficiency, he’s gotten plenty of rushing attempts, and the pass-catching has helped a bit.
Behind Henry on the depth chart are Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell (on the PUP list), and some rookies like Rasheen Ali.
There’s no threat to Henry here regarding carries. In fact, the biggest threat is quarterback Lamar Jackson, who had 821 yards on the ground in 2023, his highest total over the past three seasons.
The good news is that the Ravens run the ball a lot. They averaged 156.4 rushing yards and 31.5 rush attempts per game, both of which led the league last season.
The Ravens have a Week 14 bye week.
2024 Fantasy Outlook for Travis Etienne Jr.
Etienne enters the 2024 season once again as the top running back on the Jaguars depth chart. That said, Tank Bigsby does have another season under his belt, so he could log more carries than the 50 he had last season.
Etienne averaged 3.8 yards per carry last season, getting 267 carries for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He brings a lot of value to the pass-catching game, catching 58 passes for 476 yards and a TD. Thanks to his scoring and receiving abilities, Etienne was RB2 last season.
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Bigsby averaged fewer than three yards per carry, but so far this preseason, he has 13 carries for 65 yards. This was mostly against second-team defenses, but there’s some progress.
The Jaguars let Calvin Ridley walk, drafted Brian Thomas Jr., and signed Gabe Davis.
Who Should I Draft in 2024?
While Ridley moved on, opening up 136 targets, the team brought in Thomas and Davis. Davis had 81 targets with the Bills last season, and I certainly expect Thomas to get his fair share of looks as a first-round pick.
I still predict Etienne to lead the team in carries and get his targets. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has been consistent in distributing passes.
At worst, we could see Etienne regress with the new weapons, and perhaps Bigsby will have a few more carries.
Bigsby was RB2 last season, but 47% of his games came with 10.4 points or less.
I’m going with Henry over Etienne because of the higher floor. The Ravens lost Odell Beckham Jr., and with Henry, they’ll want to continue running the ball.
Henry will be better on a per-game basis. It’s important to have reliability during the fantasy playoffs, and I’d rely on Henry over Etienne in that circumstance.