Sometimes the best option, even when fighting the good fight, is to give up. No, we’re not going to ease up on our anti-PPR campaign, and of course we still give thunderous backing to SuperFlex formats.

But maybe our battle of nomenclature that pits the Madman against the term “sleepers” … maybe we should give that a rest. Because every time we try to write about “value picks,” we have to take a circuitous route to explain why we’re not just saying “sleeper.”

Yes, all our previous points stand (the term is outdated, doesn’t really apply, no one really qualifies anymore, etc.). But it is common, it is universally understood, and it is just so bloody easy.

So you win, World. We give up, and instead of fighting, we will give “sleeper” a loving embrace. But we’re still on the march to bring the word “swell” back to popularity.

Now, on with some fantasy football running back sleepers!

What few reliable running backs there are get gobbled up quickly in drafts. The questions start to emerge fairly early. So when looking in the middle to late rounds for usable RBs in Week 1, you’re just not going to find ”reliable.” But what you might find are guys who could realize their upside at some point in the season.

Jonathon Brooks is unlikely to begin the year as the Panthers feature RB. Yet, we saw last season that Chuba Hubbard’s grasp on the role is tenuous — he lost his job to Rico Dowdle by midseason. That could be Brooks this year.

Note, he has an injury history. Like, a “War & Peace” type injury history — he has missed almost all of his first two seasons after two different ACL tears. But there have been other players who suffered early career injuries or had the “fragile” label then went on to have production, even great careers: Keenan Allen, Matthew Stafford, Frank Gore, Thomas Davis, Fred Taylor, et al.

Maybe that is what happens with Brooks. Compared to some of the other RB options around that area of the draft — Aaron Jones, Rashaad White, Woody Marks — Brooks represents outsized upside.

He was routinely available sometimes as late as Round 10 but has risen to around the eighth round in recent weeks. There are others in this general range to consider as well.

Jeremiyah Love is dealing with a high ankle sprain. Now, we don’t love the Cardinals running game, but someone will be running the ball. And with their first-round pick on the shelf likely into the start of the regular season, that puts a spotlight on offseason addition Tyler Allgeier.

We would classify this as a bad team scooping up another team’s scrub, but Allgeier previously was robbing Bijan Robinson of work. We’re not defending that coaching decision by the Falcons staff, but it wasn’t made in a vacuum. Somebody liked Allgeier for a reason. We should get to see why in the coming weeks.

Everyone is in love with Blake Corum, who could vulture a big chunk of Kyren Williams’ work, but we look at him more as a super handcuff option than a sleeper. We prefer someone who can actually wrestle away the top job. Like Jordan Mason.

Remember when we dissed Aaron Jones earlier? Well, this is one reason why. Reports out of Minnesota have Mason easily outperforming Jones this summer. Considering this was thought to be largely a split backfield from the start, Mason gaining ground is basically the same as him pulling ahead. If we can get the top RB in a Kevin O’Connell lead offense in Round 8-9, we’ll gladly take it.

Betting on the NFL?

There seems to be shyness around Bucky Irving, which is valid. But the reason for that seems to be largely ignored. Kenneth Gainwell will eat up most of the passing down work. And in PPR leagues, he should be much more valuable than a ninth-round pick.

Now, go figure out which of these sleepers you like best during the late-middle rounds. If you pick among the guys we mentioned, well, that is just swell.