Top Fantasy Football Running Back League Winners: Ravens’ Gus Edwards

Top Fantasy Football Running Back League Winners: Ravens’ Gus Edwards
Fact Checked by Pat McLoone

When fantasy team owners were drafting their rosters just before the 2023 NFL season began, it would have been reasonable that they would avoid Baltimore Ravens running backs. After all, the top rusher on the Ravens typically has been quarterback Lamar Jackson.

And Jackson, when healthy, has paid dividends for fantasy owners and Maryland sports betting players.

However, as sound as such thinking might appear, for the 2023 fantasy season, at least so far, it would have been something of a mistake.

Baltimore running back Gus Edwards has stepped up to be a significant factor in the Ravens’ running game and, for the purposes of fantasy owners, a far greater factor in barging in for touchdowns in the red zone. So far in 2023, Edwards has 10 rushing touchdowns to go along with 590 rushing yards.

As fantasy leagues head toward their playoff season, BetMaryland.com – your source for Maryland sportsbook promos - utilized FantasyData.com to compile the current fantasy rankings of running backs after Week 13 of NFL play in a standard points-per-reception (PPR) league and then compared that to the average draft position fantasy rankings for a standard PPR league before the season. In that way, the performances of players during the season can be compared to where they were drafted.

Top Performing Fantasy Running Backs

In fantasy football and sports wagering, information is king. Here are numbers you won’t find on Maryland betting apps.

Rank Player Team *ADP Current Rank Rank Difference *PPG
1 Raheem Mostert Dolphins RB47 RB2 45 spots 17.9
2 Gus Edwards Ravens RB59 RB22 37 spots 12.0
3 Chuba Hubbard Panthers RB58 RB28 30 spots 10.4
4 Brian Robinson Jr. Commanders RB34 RB7 27 spots 14.1
T-5 Isiah Pacheco Chiefs RB30 RB9 21 spots 14.5
T-5 Jaylen Warren Steelers RB45 RB24 21 spots 11.5
*ADP = Average Draft Position *PPG = Points Per Game (fantasy points)

MORE: Lamar Jackson Fantasy Team Names

Edwards Having Strong Season

In the case of Gus Edwards, fantasy owners who picked the bruising back either in an original draft or after the season started, were rewarded. Edwards’ average draft position was fairly deep (59th overall). So far, he ranks 22nd among running backs for fantasy production, an average of 12 points a game. Comparing his draft position to his current rank, that’s a +37 spots elevation from perception to performance. Edwards has been a major force in the Ravens Super Bowl odds.

Among all running backs, that 37-spot elevation is second only to Miami RB Raheem Mostert, whose average draft position was 47th but whose fantasy output of an average of 17.9 points a game has him ranked No. 2, second only to San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey. Mostert’s rank difference from draft position to performance is +45 spots.

Other top five RBs (in point difference) who have outperformed their draft position have been: No. 3, Carolina’s Chuba Hubbard; No. 4, Washington’s Brian Robinson Jr.;  No. 5 (tied), Kansas City’s Isiah Pacheco and Pittsburgh’s Jaylen Warren.

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Author

Bill Ordine

Bill Ordine was a reporter and editor in news and sports for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Baltimore Sun for 25 years, and was a lead reporter on a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News. Bill started reporting on casinos and gaming shortly after Atlantic City’s first gambling halls opened and wrote a syndicated column on travel to casino destinations for 10 years. He covered the World Series of Poker for a decade and his articles on gaming have appeared in many major U.S. newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald and others.

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