Darrynton Evans is the 2021 RB handcuff you need to own. In 2021 fantasy football leagues, he has a great chance to become a league winner.
Allow me to convince you.
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Who is Darrynton Evans?
Darrynton Evans is the handcuff for Derrick Henry on the Tennessee Titans. Physically, he profiles as a faster version of Darell Henderson. His 40-yard-dash, burst and overall speed scores are exceptional.
Playing for Appalachian State, he was the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year and named MVP for the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game as well as the 2019 New Orleans Bowl.
At the college level he was unstoppable.
In 2020, Evans was drafted into the NFL by the Titans 93rd overall. The team clearly likes his skillset. Unfortunately, Evans was injured for most of 2020 so we never got to see what he can do in uniform.
But in 2021, the only thing Evans needs to become a fantasy superstar is the opportunity.
Will Evans will get his chance this season?
There is no way Derrick Henry is losing his job. Not to anyone. He was one of the most unstoppable running backs in the league running behind the sixth ranked run-blocking o-line.
But he has a lot of milage on those tires. Over the last two NFL seasons, Henry has rushed the ball 681 times for over 3500 yards.
There is a lot of data on running backs who carry the ball over 300 times in a season, and all of it indicates both injury and regression in the following season.
Derrick Henry has now rushed 300+ two years in a row, 2019 and 2020. It’s certainly not impossible that he does it again; at times he genuinely seems inhuman.
But if there is a lotto ticket I am interested to hold in 2021, it’s Henry’s backup.
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Why he’s worth the risk
He is worth the risk because there is no risk. Evans is currently going undrafted in 10 team leagues. You can pick him up for free.
At the very least, put a star by his name and keep him on your watchlist.
