The wonderful thing about fantasy football is the wildly different league formats you can create. You want to structure your rosters so that you and your league-mates have to start two quarterbacks? Go right ahead. You want to do away with traditional roster spots and just have four different flex positions? Have at it. The possibilities are endless. But if you want a traditional fantasy experience without getting too crazy, you go with Points Per Reception (PPR).
PPR leagues are the old faithful of fantasy football, but they are admittedly trickier to navigate than standard scoring. It's difficult to find running backs who provide consistent value, but Dallas Cowboys rusher Lance Dunbar could be a PPR monster in 2016 if he stays healthy.
"If you played in a PPR league this past season, you're certainly familiar with Dunbar," ESPN's Mike Clay wrote. "Despite playing only three full games before suffering a season-ending injury, Dunbar finished the season ranked 39th among running backs with 21 receptions. Through Week 3, Dunbar led the position in targets (22), receptions (21) and receiving yards (215). Despite carrying the ball twice during the span, Dunbar sat 12th among running backs in PPR fantasy points. He averaged 9.8 yards per target, which trailed only Matt Jones (13.2) and Joique Bell (10.6) among backs who saw at least 20 targets. Darren McFadden had a strong season as the Cowboys' primary back and figures to return in a similar role. That would leave Dunbar with little competition for a major role on passing downs in an offense devoid of quality receivers behind Dez Bryant and 33-year-old Jason Witten."
Extrapolating Dunbar's stats over the course of a full 16-game season would get you: 116.8 targets, 112 receptions and 1,145 receiving yards. Those numbers are unrealistic, but they speak to how involved and effective Dunbar was as the pass-catching back in this offense. While Clay is right to point out McFadden's success as Dallas' No. 1 back this year, he's only appeared in a full 16-game schedule twice in his career. Even if he does stay healthy, Dunbar will get plenty of work on third-downs.
It's a bit early to be talking about the 2016 season, but keep Dunbar on your radar if you're playing in PPR leagues.
