{"id":19925,"date":"2020-05-19T10:44:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T14:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/?p=19925"},"modified":"2020-06-10T15:19:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-10T19:19:35","slug":"dynasty-buy-sell-or-hold-austin-ekeler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/fantasy\/dynasty-buy-sell-or-hold-austin-ekeler\/","title":{"rendered":"Dynasty Buy, Sell, Or Hold: Austin Ekeler"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that free agency, the NFL Draft, and the schedule release have all passed, we have our initial layout in place in team depth charts and strength of schedule. With that, we want to take a look at some players across the fantasy landscape that are either polarizing, over or undervalued, or just interesting topics of discussion and walk through some of the pros and cons of where those players are regarded in fantasy circles. Yesterday, <\/span>we started off with <\/span>Kenyan Drake<\/b><\/a>. Today, we are taking a look at <\/span>Austin Ekeler<\/b>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Week 1 Age<\/b>: 25.3
\n<\/span>Contract: <\/b>Signed through 2023 (potential out year after 2021)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Using the <\/span>Dynasty ADP tool<\/span><\/a> available at <\/span>Dynasty League Football<\/span><\/a>, Ekeler has done nothing but climb in terms of draft cost. For good reason, as he has done nothing but massively outproduce his draft value for all three seasons of his career while now having a new contract and potentially even more opportunity with <\/span>Melvin Gordon<\/b> leaving the Chargers via free agency this offseason to join the Denver Broncos<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As an undrafted free agent out of Western State in 2017, Ekeler has been the RB24 in PPR points per game since entering the league on the strength of his receiving acumen. Since entering the league, Ekeler\u2019s 158 receptions rank sixth among all running backs while his 1,676 receiving yards have only been bested by <\/span>Christian McCaffrey<\/b> (2,523), <\/span>Alvin Kamara<\/b> (2,068), and <\/span>James White<\/b> (1,825) over that span.<\/span><\/p>\n

A hyper-efficient target, Ekeler has averaged over 10.0 yards per catch in each of his first three NFL seasons. He is the first running back to do that on over 20 receptions per year since Kelvin Bryant over the 1986-1988 seasons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ekeler has contributed and outproduced his cost all while sharing a backfield and largely playing as a complementary player, but his opportunities have done nothing but rise. Ekeler\u2019s touches have gone up from 74 to 145 to 224 over his three seasons in the league. Now with Gordon out of the picture, his splits with Gordon out of the lineup the past two seasons have added scintillation.<\/span><\/p>\n