Ke'Shawn Vaughn Fantasy Football Outlook Includes Huge Boom-or-Bust Potential in 2020 Rookie Season With Buccaneers

The 2020 NFL Draft was an absolutely loaded one at the skill positions, with quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends making up 24 of the 64 picks in the first two rounds. That means this year's rookie class should also have a big impact in fantasy football.

It's not all those early-round guys, either. The eighth running back off the board, selected in the third round, was Ke'Shawn Vaughn, who should have plenty of opportunity to carve out a role in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers backfield.

Ke'Shawn Vaughn Fantasy Football Value

The primary concern for any running backs' fantasy value is volume and opportunity, and Vaughn will certainly have a shot at a significant workload. Last year the Tampa backfield was formed by a committee of Ronald Jones, Peyton Barber (who left in free agency) and Dare Ogunbowale, and none of them thrived. There's a reason that the team invested a third-round pick at the position.

Vaughn's versatility should also help him see the field. He was terrific in the rushing game at Vanderbilt, carrying the ball 355 times for 2,272 yards (6.4 per carry) over his two seasons with the Commodores, and as a senior he added 270 receiving yards on 28 receptions.

That receiving ability is especially intriguing now with Tom Brady at quarterback. There have been 11 instances of a New England Patriots running back catching 30-plus passes in a season over the last 10 years, including eight with 40-plus and five with 50-plus.

Playing in a high-powered offense should also increase the scoring opportunities for whoever the Bucs' starting running back is, and the team could also get run-heavy if they're playing with a lead often, boosting value even further.

Of course, there's some risk that Vaughn doesn't overtake Jones or even Ogunbowale on the depth chart. There's certainly the risk that he's a total bust, but the upside if he does earn the No. 1 job could be enough to make Vaughn worth rolling the dice on.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.