Welcome back to another dynasty sleeper segment. Receivers have been a hot target throughout this series due to the sheer volume at the position. This week I will be looking at the scarce position of running back and a veteran, by position standards, Devontae Booker. Booker is currently a backup in the Las Vegas Raiders backfield coming off a nice game in Week 9. As always, this is not necessarily a pickup column but rather we will look at players off the beaten path and that you can keep an eye on or add to the end of your bench.
Past Production
Devontae Booker was drafted by the Broncos in the 4th round in the 2016 Draft. He was the leading rusher in his rookie year as they finished 9-7 on the season. In 2017 he took a back seat to the C.J. Anderson, and in 2018 the Broncos grabbed two promising backs in Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman. Booker quickly found himself on the outside looking in at the running back position.
Booker has always been a reliable receiver, posting over 90 receptions in his first three seasons. Booker has also been someone who hasn’t missed time playing in all sixteen games in 3 of his first 4 seasons. While Booker fell out of favor in Denver, he is already on pace to have the 2nd best season of his career in Vegas.
2020 Season
Booker is currently averaging 6.8 yards per attempt, but a better efficiency stat to look at with him is true yards per carry, which discounts all runs greater than 10 yards. By factoring out the disproportionate impact of long runs, the metric rewards running back consistency. Using this metric, Booker is 6th in the position.
While Booker is having a nice season as a backup on a high volume run offense, his opportunities are still nowhere near what they need to be for him to be dependable for fantasy. That could change as several teams could better utilize Booker’s skills both running and receiving in a committee. Booker has shown that he still has plenty of juice in his legs.
Future Outlook
Booker is the better athlete in the backfield on this team. No, I am not suggesting that he would take over for Josh Jacobs, whom I like. The case for Booker is that Jacobs is not exactly a model of health. Jacobs missed three games in 2019 and was on the injury report five weeks last season. Jacobs came into Week 9 a bit banged up with a knee issue and has also had a hip injury this season. If Jacobs were to lose time, Booker would be in a great situation in Vegas with a coach that loves to pound the rock.
Booker signed a one year deal for just over a million dollars to be the backup and veteran sounding board for Jacobs. He will be an unrestricted free agent coming into 2021.
Booker had this to say about his situation, “Honestly when I was in Denver, I didn’t feel like I did get the touches I needed or even just the playing time. I’ve been doing this even when I wasn’t. I just continue to keep working. (…) The only thing I can do is control what I can control. As of right now, I’m loving the team, loving the opportunity I’m getting.”
Booker looks electric and has that juice you look for in running backs. His comparison on Player Profiler to LeSean McCoy is nice as well. I believe he can have a bigger role either with the Raiders or another team soon. If you need a running back stash that most dynasty teams are not paying attention to, Booker would be a sneaky pickup at the end of your roster.
Previous Dynasty Sleepers of the Week
Thanks for checking out this week’s Dynasty Sleeper of the Week. I look forward to Week 10 action and finding you some more gems throughout the season. You can follow me at @Cmoney52 on Twitter. You can message me or shoot me a tweet if there are players you would like to be featured in this segment.
