Malik Davis is a complete afterthought. Ranking from RB68 at dynasty sites to RB86 on Footballguys dynasty rankings shows the market has no interest. But a look at the Cowboys' depth chart shows a different picture.
Tony Pollard stands alone at the top. Pollard is coming off a career-high 232 touches, ranked 21st in 2022. Still, Pollard only represented 44% of the Cowboys' running back touches. To put it in perspective, if Pollard added 100 touches, moving into range of the top five running backs in the league, that still leaves ~190 touches for a backfield comprised of Davis, Deuce Vaughn, Rico Dowdle, and Ronald Jones II. Only one of those players touched the ball for the Cowboys in 2022.
The Value of Replacement Backs
In 2022, 66 running backs recorded PPR RB1 weeks, while 44 recorded multiple RB1 weeks. It does not take a math major to split 66 across a 32-team league. Top 12 running back production is a product of opportunity as much as talent. Consider Samaje Perine and Ken Walker both recorded three RB1 finishes despite Walker gaining over 600 yards more rushing. Meanwhile, Cordarelle Patterson equaled Dalvin Cook and Alvin Kamara in RB1 finishes at four, despite a similar 600-yard spread in total yardage.
You do not need science to explain the impact of replacement running backs.
Dealing with the range of realistic outcomes, Malik Davis ranks anywhere from a weekly flex option seeing some goalline work in a watered-down Ezekiel Elliott role to the leading candidate to take the lion's share of work in case of a Pollard injury.
Why So Low?
If Malik Davis's potential usage seems cut and dry, why is he carrying such a low dynasty valuation? He sits behind players like Sean Tucker, an undrafted free agent, and Isaiah Spiller, a major disappointment from the 2022 rookie class.
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