Abu Sama III is not a name likely to be atop your Devy league’s ADP list, but this young man is primed for a record-breaking 2024 season and has the chance to establish himself as one of the top backs in the country. Sama is a 5’11”, 200-pound RB coming off an incredibly efficient freshman year for the Cyclones. He’s done enough to establish himself as the clear RB1 for Iowa State, dominating to the point that two of his backfield teammates entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season. Let’s take a look at some of Sama’s high school and freshman-year stats, advanced metrics, and finish things up with some projections from a Devy and Dynasty perspective.
Southeast Polk High School
Sama was a two-way player in high school, mainly playing RB and CB for Southeast Polk in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. He helped lead his high school team to back-to-back state championships in 2021 and 2022, earning the award of Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022. As a senior, Samu had an incredible 372 rush yards and six touchdowns in the title game, setting state championship records with both marks.
In his final two seasons for Southeast Polk, Sama amassed 2,339 rush yards and 40 touchdowns. As a junior, Abu also tacked on 20 tackles. He also averaged 10.1 yards per attempt in his senior season. Following high school, Sama received offers from Iowa State and Kansas State, choosing to stay in his home state and play for the Cyclones.
Iowa State
Abu Sama made an immediate impact for Iowa State as a true freshman, posting 614 rush yards and six touchdowns, leading the team in both categories. But what was even more impressive was the way he got to these marks. Simply put, Sama was one of the most efficient rushers in the entire country this past season. Here are a few of Sama’s rushing stats from 2023 and where he ranked amongst freshmen backs in the FBS (minimum 25 attempts):
Rush Yards – 614 (5th)
Yards Per Rush – 7.3 (2nd)
Rush TDs – 6 (4th)
Yards After Contact – 550 (2nd)
Yards After Contact Per Attempt – 6.55 (1st)
Missed Tackles Forced – 36 (2nd)
Breakaway Percentage – 76.9% (1st)
Sama was top 5 or higher in the country in every one of these metrics for FBS freshmen, proving he’s an elite-level college talent. What was most eye-opening was Sama’s yards after contact numbers. His 6.55 YCO/A was head and shoulders above his competition, with the second-best freshman rusher finishing at 4.29 YCO/A on the season.
2024 Projections
As I alluded to earlier, two of Iowa State’s top rushers from 2023 have transferred. They likely saw the writing on the wall and realized Sama would be taking on a bell-cow role in 2024. Eli Sanders has signed with New Mexico, and Cartevious Norton has signed with Charlotte. Both are a year older than Sama but were outplayed by their true freshman teammate.
The Cyclones have brought in 5th-year back Jaylon Jackson from Eastern Michigan, but he will be no threat to Sama’s workload. Jackson is 5’6″ and 168 lbs, profiling as a scatback who will probably see 100 or fewer touches. Sama will be the guy out there on all the first and second downs; the question is whether he’ll see the field enough on passing downs.
Weaknesses
To expand on my last comment, Abu didn’t see much work in the passing game as a freshman. He ran just 68 routes all season, posting seven receptions on nine targets. He finished with a 13.2% target rate and 0.75 yards per route run, though this is an extremely limited sample size, so do with that information what you will. It is worth noting that this Cyclone offense rarely got their RBs involved in the passing game at all, with the leading back only posting 11 receptions on the year. So, while Sama was truly impressive on the ground, his fantasy production didn’t fully reflect his level of play.
Devy/Dynasty Value
Abu Sama still has at least two more seasons before he declares for the NFL Draft, which has me extremely excited about what kind of player he can become. While the receiving profile is something to monitor from a fantasy perspective, we do have to keep in mind he was only a freshman. The fact Sama earned such a large role in Year 1 and ultimately forced this entire backfield into transferring tells you everything you need to know about this young man’s skill set. Sama should be in line for 200+ touches as a sophomore. He should see some slight regression from an efficiency standpoint, as his freshman numbers were borderline unsustainable, but I believe he has an opportunity to hit 1200+ yards and 10+ touchdowns in 2024. If he can see the field frequently on third downs and start running more routes, we’ll have the complete package.
Sama is still largely overlooked by the Devy community, so he can likely be obtained late in your supplemental and startup drafts this offseason. The cost of entry is minimal, and the ceiling is quite literally “NFL starter”. These are the type of guys you want to be “in” on early before the price increases, as it’s the cheapest way to improve roster value in the long term.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
