Bishop Sankey’s rookie season was not a successful one. Shonn Greene was in the mix, even weeks when Sankey was the ‘starter’ produced tepid results at best, and the Titans offense has more questions than answers going forward.
Looking at Bishop Sankey through the projection model post-rookie year offers a some reasons for optimism and skepticism. Sankey’s overall projection model score of 68 is better than a typical day two running back historically (average of 59) and Sankey had above-average marks in the major categories of athleticism, rushing, and receiving coming out of Washington.
Unfortunately, when sifting the model for similar overall projection scores AND year one production in the NFL, the lights dim on Sankey’s outlook. Here are the four prospects that scored within 2 PPR points per game of Bishop Sankey as a rookie with a similar overall profile score:
- Montee Ball
- LaMichael James
- Lamar Gordon
- Thomas Jones
None of this quartet did much to improve from their rookie season in year two. Ball and James are recent prospects, so the finial book has yet to written for them. Lamar Gordon flamed out. Thomas Jones is the interesting late-bloomer that churned out more than 250 career VBD over six fantasy starter seasons. In terms of athleticism score, Sankey is well ahead of the Ball-James-Gordon trio, but a tier behind Jones in that regard. In fact, Sankey’s entire metric profile is eerily similar to Thomas Jones’ with slightly above-average marks in age-weighted rushing and receiving in addition to being very similar builds.
Day two running backs are essentially 50-50 propositions historically to produce VBD in their fantasy careers. The good news? Sankey has a projected job heading into 2015 and is age-insulated as a relatively high draft pick coming off a sagging, but not death-knell rookie season. I stand by my take from checking in on Sankey during the season: He looked better on tape than his stat lines suggested and the Titans were hardly setup for fantasy viable producers this season. Stay the course and see what Sankey brings in 2015. If shopping or fielding offers for Bishop Sankey, A rookie pick in the 1.10-1.12 range is the lowest I would go if looking to wipe your hands from Sankey and reset with another rookie in 2015.
