Sleeper Alert: CJ Prosise
The fantasy talk of the town in Seattle seems to be that of the running back battle between Eddie Lacy and Thomas Rawls. However, don’t be fooled by all of the hoopla masking the real gem you’ll want to draft, C.J. Prosise.
If you were lucky enough to scoop up Prosise last year when he went nuclear for five or so quarters of play leading into the first half of the Eagles game (where he eventually suffered an injured scapula), then you know that this kid has the potential to serve as a nice RB2/RB3 for your team.
During the five quarters of play between Weeks 10–11 last season, Prosise stepped in as the lead back and went H.A.M., logging 234 total yards with extreme ease. As a former college wide receiver, his expertise is certainly in the passing game out of the backfield, where he’s projected to work most of the 2017–2018 season.
While bigger backs, Lacy and Rawls, jockey for positioning to run the ball on first and second down, Prosise looks like a clear lock to get third-down duties. As a fantasy owner, steady work from an explosive player is just about all you can ask for. Last year, Prosise continuously got to the second level, far beyond what his offensive line gave him.
It’s also not far fetched to think that if Lacy and Rawls don’t perform up to their billing that Prosise could carve out even more work for himself. As with his backfield running mates, health will be a major factor in Prosise living up to, and beyond his sleeper status that we’re giving him.
At this point, it’s hard to put a yardage total on what Prosise can achieve until we see how the other Seattle running backs fare early on. The outcome could very well be similar to that of the Jordan Howard situation last year, where Chicago coaches discovered that they were starting the wrong guys ahead of him. Jordan Howard eventually became the starter.
Don’t be afraid to draft C.J. Prosise — invest in him during a reasonable round because he’ll pay dividends several weeks into the season. Ink him into your draft strategy and don’t look back.
