Fantasy Football Preview 2013: Top Sleeper Running Backs

7. Ronnie Hillman – Denver Broncos

Now that Shane Vereen’s ADP is skyrocketing, the challenge is to find a similar player who’s quite a bit cheaper. Hillman may be that guy. Most are dismissing Hillman after the selection of Montee Ball, but Hillman worked as the starter in offseason workouts. While I like Ball a lot, his athletic profile is decidedly mediocre. Rookies who lack special traits rarely emerge on schedule, and John Fox has historically demonstrated a reluctance to even deploy his electric first year talents.

I doubt Hillman could hold onto more than a 50/50 split of the rushing attempts, but that would be plenty to create low end RB2 value, especially if he dominates touches in the passing game. Although they are very dissimilar backs in many ways, the release of Willis McGahee is better news for Hillman than Ball. The Broncos completed 64 passes to halfbacks last year, 26 of which were hauled in by McGahee. Almost all of those should shift to Hillman.