New England Patriots running back Sony Michel is coming off of a terrific rookie campaign in which he rushed for 931 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
He was then very impressive in the playoffs, totaling 336 yards while racking up six scores on the ground in helping the Patriots win their sixth Super Bowl championship.
But what should Fantasy Football owners expect from Michel in his upcoming second season?
Well, here is the thing with the Patriots: with a very thin receiving corps that is now sans tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receivers Josh Gordon, Cordarrelle Patterson and Chris Hogan, New England may run the ball quite a bit in 2019.
Yes, the Pats still have Julian Edelman and pass-catching running back James White, and rookie wide out N'Keal Harry looks promising, but not having Gronkowski is huge, and the lack of depth at receiver is very concerning.
That means the Patriots may be running the ball more now than they did in 2018, which would mean a lot more touches and a lot more opportunity for Michel.
And I see no reason why Michel won't deliver.
He is a talented back running behind a very good offensive line, and even if opponents are expecting New England to pound the ground more in 2019, the Pats still have Tom Brady under center, so the threat of the aerial attack is always there even if the receivers aren't up to par.
Taking that into consideration, it would not be the least bit surprising if Michel totaled over 1,000 rushing yards in 2019, as he finished just below that mark on 209 carries this past season.
Article Continues BelowThe fact the Patriots relied heavily on Michel to punch the ball into the end zone in the playoffs is also an indication of how much they might depend on him to do so in 2019, especially considering that New England is without a couple of big red zone targets.
Of course, with all running backs, we also need to take into account their ability to catch the football, and Michel was one of the least-productive receiving backs in the NFL in 2018, as he caught just seven passes for 50 yards.
Michel also wasn't a big-time receiving threat at Georgia, totaling 64 catches over four seasons with the Bulldogs.
So, it's probably asking too much to also expect the 24-year-old to be a receiving threat, especially when White is a terrific pass-catcher out of the backfield and basically fills that role in the Patriots' offense.
For that reason, Michel is obviously not an elite option, as guys like Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey have the ability to catch 100 passes while also racking up well over 1,000 yards on the ground.
Think of Michel as a lesser version of Marlon Mack: a guy who can certainly rush for over 1,000 yards and punch in around 10 touchdowns on the year, but won't give you much of anything as far as receiving stats go.
But if you focus on other positions in the early rounds and Michel is available rather late? It would not be a bad decision to pick him up, as he should be a pretty productive rusher in 2019.