Sleepers: Chase Brown - CIN

What is the backfield of the Cincinnati Bengals going to look like this season? Joe Mixon is gone; he's in Houston. Zack Moss is now a part of the Bengals' offense, and all signs are pointing to Moss being the number one guy in the backfield to start the season. But Zack Moss has never ever played a full season in his career, and last year, Chase Brown showed flashes of some serious explosion.

Brown finished top 10 among all running backs in the NFL in touches per evade, tackle breakaway run rate, and yards created per touch. So really, in reality, if this guy can get a little bit more volume, the production is going to be there. Now he isn't the biggest guy; he's 5'9", but he does weigh right around 215 lbs and can handle some volume. It also helps that the guy is a very capable pass catcher out of the backfield. He caught 93% of his targets just last season.

Now, over the last 6 weeks of the season, he also averaged eight touches per game. Even if he stays right there at eight touches per game, over 17 games, that would put him in the neighborhood of 136 touches. Now, the guy averages right around 5.8 yards per touch, at least that's what he did in 2023. So with 136 total touches, he would be just shy of 800 total yards and right in the neighborhood of three to five touchdowns. And that's if his role doesn't increase at all from what we saw last season.

But we have to think about this: what happens if Zack Moss goes down? Because if Chase Brown were to get anywhere around 175 touches, this dude's probably going to be a top 24 running back two in fantasy football. But here is where it is great: you can draft him in the double-digit rounds and just throw him on your bench. After the first few weeks of the season, we're really going to get a feel for what his role is going to be in this offense. If he has an immediate role, you got yourself a draft day steal.

Now, if Zack Moss comes out, starts off hot, and stays healthy, it doesn't really hurt your fantasy football team because you didn't invest highly into Chase Brown. I really compare it to a lottery ticket, right? It's a late-round investment on a running back that may turn into something. He may not, but the investment is so small you'll never even know if it doesn't work out.