MAJOR VALUE ALERT:

Not gonna lie, I am baffled at the complete disrespect for Chris Thompson right now. I saw this morning that he is currently going as the RB74 in PPR formats (WHAT?!), per @FantasyPros. That's WAY too low.

And here's why... (A THREAD)

Many people are scared off of Thompson completely due to his injury history, which is by no means insignificant. The 29-year-old has suffered a litany of injuries to his knees, legs, ribs, back, and ankles ever since his time in college. He's missed 17 games over the past 3 szns.

When he has played, however, he has still been a top-50 PPR running back due to his elite pass-catching ability. Over the past two seasons, Thompson has averaged over 8.5 PPR points per game, which included 9.2 per contest in 2018.

Yes, that was during his time in Washington, and he is now the backup to Leonard Fournette in Jacksonville. But here's the key caveat: his former head coach Jay Gruden - with whom he has a special connection - is now the O-coordinator in JAX.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/jaguars-running-back-chris-thompson-says-being-back-with-jay-gruden-is-good-for-me/#:~:text=Team%20Betting%20Guide-,Jaguars%20running%20back%20Chris%20Thompson%20says%20being%20back,Gruden%20is%20'good%20for%20me'&text=Former%20Washington%20Redskins%20running%20back,Jaguars%20for%20the%20upcoming%20season.

One of Gruden's first lines of business as the Jags's new O-coordinator was to sign Thompson as a free agent. In five seasons together (excluding Thompson's 2nd season, when he played just 2 games), Thompson averaged 4.6 targets per game.

He is one of Gruden's favorite players. And believe it or not, Thompson somehow finished 2nd on the team in total targets (58) in Washington last year - in only 11 games!

Fournette saw an astounding increase of 74 targets in 2019 - going from 26 in 2018 to 100 in 2019. Last year's O-coordinator loved throwing to RBs as much (if not more) than Gruden, and I expect the team to heavily employ pass-catchers out the backfield once again in 2020.

I predict that at least 60-65 of those targets end up going to Thompson this season, with the potential for even more. After all, Thompson's 16-game pace over a half-decade with Gruden was 73.6 targets per season.

Again, Gruden LOVES Chris Thompson.

Thompson is certainly no league-winner, but in PPR he should have a solid weekly floor. I wouldn't want him as anything more than my RB3/4, but he could be a very solid FLEX option all season long - especially in SF or leagues with two FLEX positions.

Bench depth matters in fantasy, especially at RB. And considering that 73 RBs (!!!) are going ahead of him right - which includes guys like Justice Hill, Gio Bernard, Dion Lewis, Jaylen Samuels, and Malcolm Brown (HUH??! HOW?!) - there may be no better value at the position.

I can see Chris Thompson finishing similarly to Nyheim Hines in PPR leagues this season, but for some reason people are comfortable drafting Hines 20 spots higher.

Stop. Sleeping. On. Chris. Thompson