Unfortunately, we received reports this weekend of another young, talented RB suffering a season-ending injury. Earlier in the week, CJ Baxter went down with a knee injury, seemingly moving junior Jaydon Blue into the RB1 role for Texas. This past Saturday, we saw Texas A&M sophomore Rueben Owens go down with a lower leg injury as well. ESPN reporter Max Olson says this is expected to be a season-ending injury, although we don’t have the details of the injury yet.
So, what does this mean for Rueben’s C2C and Devy value, and who is set to take the lead role in this Aggies’ backfield in 2024? Let’s take a look at Rueben’s profile first.
High School
Rueben Owens was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, according to 247Sports. He was a highly sought-after prospect with lofty college expectations, ranked as a top-four RB in the 2023 class across all four recruiting sites.
As a senior for El Campo in Texas, Owens put up some video game numbers. Through 11 games, he posted 1,781 rush yards and 25 touchdowns, averaging a robust 8.4 YPA. Owens also tacked on a modest nine receptions for 123 yards and one receiving touchdown. Throughout his high school career, Owens surpassed 7,000 rushing yards and 100 touchdowns, which is almost unheard of. As a junior, Owens was a finalist for the Mr. Texas award, and he was selected to the Army All-American Bowl and Polynesian Bowl as a senior.
Rueben also competed in track and field, excelling in the long jump and 100m dash. His best personal time was 10.68 seconds.
Freshman Season
Owens was utilized in this Aggies backfield as a true freshman, splitting time with Le’Veon Moss and Amari Daniels. Owens didn’t post efficient rushing numbers, averaging just 3.8 YPA and 2.53 yards after contact per attempt (YCO/A). He finished with 385 rush yards on 101 attempts, finding the endzone on three occasions. Rueben performed nicely in the receiving game, however, totaling 12 receptions on 16 targets for 109 yards.
While his rushing numbers were disappointing from a per-touch basis, most Devy and C2C players were not discouraged, expecting Owens to step into the RB1 role for the Aggies in 2024. His athleticism, skillset, and accolades speak for themselves, and Owens was expected to flourish in Year 2. Unfortunately, it appears this will not come to fruition after the injury news.
Devy and C2C Value
According to our DFF Devy Rankings, Rueben Owens is RB4 in the 2026 NFL Draft class and RB17 amongst all classes. He’s ranked as the 60th-best overall Devy prospect, around other exciting players like Kevin Concepcion and Jurrion Dickey. He’ll have to be pushed down the ranks after this news, but he’s still just a 20-year-old kid, so he has plenty of time to recover, produce at the college level, and prepare for the NFL ranks. Referencing the DFF ranks again, I would probably move Owens down around 75th overall, near RBs like Taylor Tatum and Jamarion Miller. Season-ending injuries are scary, but we can’t forget this was a five-star talent out of high school.
In the C2C league that I’m in, the startup draft was completed this summer, and Rueben Owens went at the 8.09 spot. This was a little lower than where he’s valued in Devy, as he wasn’t necessarily expected to take on a bellcow workload in 2024. Amari Daniels and Le’Veon Moss are both back this season, and while they may have been set to work behind Owens, they still would have received a decent-sized role. I actually don’t hate this value at 8.09, even after the injury news. It’s now more of a gamble, and you’re not getting any points from him this year, but the elite ceiling is still there without question.
Who’s Up Next?
As mentioned, this RB depth chart is essentially down to Daniels and Moss. HC Mike Elko didn’t bring in any freshman RBs in this recruiting class, but he did sign Stanford transfer E.J. Smith. I see Smith as being no more than a depth piece in case of injuries. He’s entering his fifth collegiate season, only compiling 109 carries through four seasons at Stanford.
I expect Le’Veon Moss to be the starter, with Daniels seeing about 35-40% of the work. Moss is the younger prospect coming off a respectable sophomore campaign where he nearly hit 700 scrimmage yards and averaged 5.0 YPA. Moss is ranked as the RB26 and the 85th overall Devy prospect on our DFF rankings. I foresee him staying two more seasons in college, but with an impressive junior season, he could set himself up nicely to be a mid-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. So much can happen between now and then, but as long as his value hasn’t jumped too much following this injury news, Moss could be a nice buy in Devy and C2C. Amari Daniels could be a sneaky good waiver add or target in C2C, but I still wouldn’t consider him in Devy.
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
