Dynasty Fantasy Football Outlook for Chris Rodriguez | Is Rodriguez Taking Advantage of Extended Playing Time or a Long-Term Asset?

The Washington Commanders once fairly promising season has fizzled into another disappointing campaign. Despite losing six straight, there has been a bright spot on offense - rookie running back Chris Rodriguez.

Let’s take a look at the season so far for Rodriguez and then discuss whether he could turn into the future starting running back for Washington.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including predictive waiver analytics to help prioritize waiver pickups, projections, auction values, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy football trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.

Rodriguez’s Rookie Season

Rodriguez was a sixth-round pick of Washington in the 2023 NFL Draft. I think many people view the running back position differently than most other positions, so while he wasn’t a high pick, there was some optimism that he could help the organization out at some point.

Injuries have helped the rookie get on the field quite a bit down the stretch, and he’s starting to look like a player that Washington could build around.

Rodriguez has appeared in 13 games so far this season, getting 247 rushing yards across 51 carries. He’s scored twice on the ground. The rookie only has two receptions for 12 yards on two targets.

Rodriguez didn’t play over 10 snaps until 11, but was averaging 4.4 yards per carry up until that point. With some extra opportunities of late, Rodriguez has bumped his average up to 4.8 yards per carry. 

He’s gotten 10 carries in back-to-back games and had his best game in week 16 against a tough New York Jets’ defense. Rodriguez rushed 10 times for 58 yards and a pair of scores.

It’s a shame that the Commanders are playing from behind so much, because they’d be able to feed Rodriguez a bit more, and we’d be able to see what he’s capable of with 15 or more attempts.

It’s still been an impressive season for the rookie back, and his strong play should keep him at least in a committee as the season winds down. If Antonio Gibson or Brian Robinson miss any more time, Rodriguez will get a few more chances to make a name for himself.

Dynasty Outlook for Rodriguez

Being a sixth-round pick works in Rodriguez’s favor, as his contract will be pretty cheap for the foreseeable future. A lot of NFL teams cut their veteran backs and piece their backfield together with late draft picks or undrafted guys.

Rodriguez is tied to Washington through at least 2026. While he was the third back on the depth chart most of the season, there’s a chance he’s featured more in the upcoming years, and maybe as early as next year.

Gibson is set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, and he had primarily been serving a complementary role to Robinson already, so it wouldn’t shock me if the Commanders move on, which bumps Rodriguez up at least one spot.

Robinson, who is signed through 2025, has had some injury woes himself in his first two seasons, so depending on how the Commanders view Rodriguez, there’s a chance Rodriguez gets a chance to compete for the starting job going into 2024.

Of course, the Commanders could sign another running back, or draft another one. Even if that happens, I still see Rodriguez serving at least a decent role in next year’s offense, unless they bring in a big name back or use a high draft pick on the position, but that seems unlikely given the state of the organization.

Speaking of the team as a whole, the best thing that could happen for Rodriguez is for a quarterback to establish himself as the long-term starter. Sam Howell looked to have that locked up, but recent poor play has raised some concerns. Even a fairly competent passer can do wonders for a running back.

Another thing that would benefit Rodriguez is if the team got better on defense. The Washington defense has been awful this season, and it’s forced the team to pass a ton simply to keep up. Closer games means a more balanced offensive approach and more touches for a guy like Rodriguez.

What Steps Should You Take

With the fantasy football postseason just about wrapped up, my focus is for those fantasy owners in dynasty leagues. 

We’re always trying to pick up the next star running back. I’m not saying that Rodriguez is going to be a star, but given what we’ve seen so far, I think he’s at least worth a roster spot. 

If the Commanders don’t view Rodriguez as highly as I do and decide to bring in another back in free agency or through the draft - which would bump Rodriguez down - then you can simply drop Rodriguez when you need the roster spot.

For now though, I’m willing to stash Rodriguez and hope he becomes the starter for Washington moving forward. There’s really not much risk involved, unless your dynasty league has fairly limited roster spots or your roster is loaded to win now. If you are a rebuilding team, or even a middle-of-the-pack fantasy team, then it’s worth it to take a shot on Rodriguez.