Fantasy Football 2023: Running Backs to Avoid in Drafts

The NFL might be increasingly pass-happy, but running backs can still deliver you a fantasy football title.

So long as you select the right ones, of course.

However, with so much volatility at the position—due to injury issues, role changes and by-committee backfields—the wrong selection can go very wrong.

Consider this a warning, then, to avoid potential problems by putting these running backs on your do-not-draft list.

Breece Hall, New York Jets

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

FLORHAM PARK, NEW JERSEY - JULY 20: Breece Hall #20 of the New York Jets run drills during training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on July 20, 2023 in Florham Park, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

There will points during Breece Hall's career in which he ranks as an elite fantasy option at running back. He was well on his way to achieving that status as a rookie last season, totaling 681 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns in only seven games (two starts).

However, an ACL tear threw that campaign completely off-course, and it could prevent the 22-year-old from ever returning value on his draft investment this time around.

History hasn't been kind to running backs in their first season after serious knee surgery. That alone casts a cloud of uncertainty over Hall, who could miss some time in September as part of the recovery process.

Even worse, the uncertainty stemming from his injury could convince the Jets to sign reinforcements for their backfield. They're an obvious possible landing spot for a veteran free agent like Dalvin Cook or Ezekiel Elliott. And if they sign one, it could be a detriment to Hall's statistical volume throughout the season.

Miles Sanders, Carolina Panthers

John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

SPARTANBURG, SC - JULY 31: Carolina Panthers running back Miles Sanders (6) during the NFL Carolina Panthers training camp on July 31, 2023, at Wofford College campus in Spartanburg, S.C. (Photo by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The stars finally aligned for Miles Sanders last season. He stayed healthy enough to play 17 games and make 15 starts, tallying a host of career highs, including 1,269 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, along the way.

That wasn't enough to convince the Philadelphia Eagles to cover the cost of his free agency, though, so the 26-year-old wound up in Carolina. Just like that, last season's 10th-highest-scoring fantasy back, per FantasyPros, may no longer be a viable starter.

The Eagles had an elite offensive line in front of Sanders; the Panthers' front is shaky. Philly had an MVP candidate at quarterback in Jalen Hurts; Carolina is rolling with rookie signal-caller Bryce Young. While Hurts drew attention away from Sanders, the Panthers will hope the inverse is true of their new running back.

Conditions are less than ideal for Sanders, in other words, and that's before accounting for the likely regression coming to his touchdown total. While he scored 11 times this past season, he had 12 touchdowns combined over his first three years, including none during the entire 2021 campaign.

Kenneth Walker III, Seattle Seahawks

AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III jogs on the field during the NFL football team's training camp Wednesday, July 26, 2023, in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Kenneth Walker III's stock should be soaring now after an impressive rookie effort that featured 1,215 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns.

It's actually trending down, though, and the 22-year-old has his employer to blame.

Despite being seemingly set at running back for the foreseeable future with the addition of Walker, the Seahawks spent this summer's No. 52 pick on another player at this position in Zach Charbonnet.

The incoming back could see the bulk of passes thrown to Seattle's running backs, and the UCLA product brings more ability than simply serving as a pass-catching specialist.

Charbonnet holds legitimate three-down potential, which makes it impossible to tell how Seattle will wind up dividing the opportunities given to its two young running backs.

Tack on the fact that Walker has missed time in training camp with a groin injury—Charbonnet suffered a shoulder injury, but he's back practicing again—and this situation is far too muddled to want any piece of it.