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July 2 (UPI) -- D'Onta Foreman of the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Benny Snell are among my top sleeper running backs in fantasy football this season. Both players can be had for a minimal price in your fantasy football drafts. Foreman and Snell will only cost you late round picks, unlike expensive first-rounders such as Le'Veon Bell, Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott.
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Bell, Barkley and Elliott might have the talent to warrant such a high price, but they also carry risk, as one injury could cost you your season if you don't have adequate help on the bench.
Both Foreman and Snell have star potential if they can find a way to earn a large workload in their respective backfields. You should attempt to load up with these low price, high-upside options late in your fantasy football draft.
D'Onta Foreman
Foreman, 23, showed flashes of talent as a rookie in 2017, but spent a bulk of his 2018 campaign on the bench due to an Achilles tear. Presumed starting running back Lamar Miller is coming off of a Pro Bowl 2018 season, but failed to rush for more than 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season.
The door is wide open for Foreman to take this job. If he manages to do so, he could come alive as a fantasy football asset in a high-powered offense. Field-stretching wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller and Keke Coutee should create plenty of space for the third-year tailback.
What they're saying:
"He's light-years ahead of where he was last year at this time, coming off the injury and everything," Texans running backs coach Danny Barrett said in June. "I still think he's continuing to work hard. I think he's had a good off-season to date.
"The time away from here, I thought was well spent for himself. Getting ready to go physically, and I think mentally, right now, is what I look at is each and every day. Being consistent mentally as far as being locked in to what we're trying to do and improve on the little things and trying to get back to that form in which we saw prior to me coming into here, which was the 2017 season, his first year."
Benny Snell
Steelers running back James Conner was as good of a sleeper as you can have in 2018. The former backup stepped in for Le'Veon Bell and piled up 1,470 yards and 13 touchdowns in 13 games, becoming an elite RB1 for the start of the regular season. Conner says he'll have a similar role in 2019, but as he knows, anything can happen in the NFL.
The Steelers selected former Kentucky running back Benny Snell in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Snell was a touchdown machine in college, scoring 48 times in three seasons for the Wildcats. He is a big, bruising runner who could come in handy near the goal line this season for the Steelers. That alone gives him standalone RB2/flex value this season. If Conner were to get injured, Snell could find himself in RB1 territory.
What they're saying:
"Wherever coach wants me, wherever he wants to put his trust in me," Snell told reporters at Steelers media day. "I will block, run, catch. Whatever they ask. I want to see the field as soon as possible."
Other running back sleeper candidates
Latavius Murray, New Orleans Saints
Rashaad Penny, Seattle Seahawks
Ronald Jones II, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carlos Hyde, Kansas City Chiefs
Kalen Ballage, Miami Dolphins
