C.J. Spiller Fantasy Outlook With New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints and free agent running back C.J. Spiller agreed to a four-year contract on Friday, a move that bolstered a backfield which also includes Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson. Spiller, 27, has spent his first five NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills, showing the ability to pile up yards as both a ball carrier and receiver out of the backfield. His best season came in 2012, when he rushed for 1,244 yards and six touchdowns to go with 459 yards and two TDs receiving. He followed that up with 933 yards rushing and 185 yards receiving in 2013, but played in only nine games last season because of a shoulder injury, finishing with 300 yards rushing and 125 yards receiving. Source: FoxSports

Fantasy Knuckleheads Take:

Spiller will assume a third down & hybrid roll with the Saint similar to what we saw with Sproles in the previous years. Let's take a look at Sproles from 2012 and 2013.

	Att	Yds	TD	Tgt	Rec	Yds	TD	PR	Yds	TD	KR	Yds	YD
2012	48	244	1	104	75	667	7	23	178	0	18	477	0
2013	53	220	2	89	71	604	2	29	180	0	12	253	0

Let's get one thing straight, Spiller and Sproles are two different backs. Sproles arguably has better vision and shiftiness while Spiller definitely has more quickness and long speed. Everyone following the Saint off-season moves knows we're looking at a new style Sean Peyton offense, perhaps one similar to the 2009 season where they ran the rock a great deal more, perhaps emulating the 2014 Dallas team that leaned on the run to "save" the defense. But the truth is no one knows for sure except Sean Peyton.

CJ Spiller's Fantasy Outlook

I expect Peyton to utilize Spiller in a manner similar to that of both Sproles and Thomas. He's get all those targets, that means the Thomas screens and Sproles sweeps. Obviously he'll get the targets which makes him a PPR goldmine in PPR fantasy leagues. You'll want to target Spiller in the third round in PPR leagues and 5th or 6th round in standard leagues. Obviously these draft round projects need to be adjusted based on average draft position so it's a little early to know for sure but that's my early estimate. Here's the stats I think you can count on excluding return yardage.