{"id":72058,"date":"2019-09-02T09:41:46","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T13:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=72058"},"modified":"2019-09-02T09:41:46","modified_gmt":"2019-09-02T13:41:46","slug":"draft-chris-carson-sony-michel-fantasy-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/09\/02\/draft-chris-carson-sony-michel-fantasy-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Draft Chris Carson Over Sony Michel in Fantasy Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL season is right around the corner, and most fantasy football leagues are wrapping up their drafts. Chris Carson<\/a><\/strong> and Sony Michel<\/a><\/strong> are both going at roughly the same spot in drafts, and both have similar season outlooks. However, when fully breaking down projected outcomes, it\u2019s clear that Chris Carson should be your preferred third-round target instead of Sony Michel.<\/p>\n

Fantasy Football: Draft Chris Carson Over Sony Michel<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Offensive Philosophies<\/h3>\n

The Seattle Seahawks<\/a> want to establish the crap out of the run and power the offense through Chris Carson. Last year, Seattle ran the ball at a ridiculous rate and appear poised to do it again. Even with Rashaad Penny<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s draft status, the Seahawks are going to use Chris Carson as the heart and soul of their offense. Carson proved capable of serving in this role last year, as the former seventh-round pick recorded 1,151 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 247 carries. He could have a similar stat line again, as Brian Schottenheimer<\/strong> is going to once again run the ball more than any other team outside of Baltimore. Carson\u2019s going to be at the forefront of that attack, which means that he probably won\u2019t have many bust weeks.<\/p>\n

The New England Patriots wrongfully earned a reputation as a running team last year. New England finished the season with the third-highest rush ranking in the league, but most of those carries were situationally-based. In close-game situations, New England had the 24th<\/sup>-highest rush ranking. This offense still goes through the right arm of Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong> rather than the legs of Sony Michel. Even in the playoffs, New England won thanks to Brady\u2019s 42 pass attempts and 300+ passing yards per game more than Michel\u2019s short-yardage touchdowns.<\/p>\n

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In the interest of a fuller picture, here's how the other playoff teams looked in 2018:<\/p>\n

Total rush rank vs. rush rate rank on early downs in close-game situations<\/p>\n

Eagles: 20th, 26th
Chargers: 19th, 18th
Seahawks: 2nd, 1st
Ravens: 1st, 3rd<\/p>\n

— Bureau of Human-Bovine Cultural Affairs (@CowboysStats) August 23, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n