Outside of a few stretches filling in for an injured Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman has never really sniffed the fantasy radar. No one would expect Gallman to significantly move the fantasy needle after being cut by the 49ers, but the fantasy sleeper upside is there as the Falcons’ RB2 behind Mike Davis.
With the Falcons bringing in no other legit RB competition, Davis was seen as one of fantasy’s true winners of the offseason. Gallman is by no means scaring us off of Davis, but Gallman could possess fantasy value if Davis can’t handle workhorse duties — which is certainly a possibility.
Anyone who drafted Mike Davis doesn’t think the Wayne Gallman signing matters, and anyone who hasn’t drafted Mike Davis thinks Wayne Gallman is a threat.
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) September 2, 2021
After the Falcons’ cut Qadree Ollison and Javian Hawkins, Arthur Smith said the team added Gallman because he can play special teams.
“It’s obviously not the end of the road for Qadree, but Wayne was a guy we thought, we wanted to bring in here and maybe he could add something for us out of the backfield and more importantly on fourth down,” Smith said. “So that was a big part of it.”
Entering his fifth season, Gallman has rushed for 1,444 yards on 336 carries (4.3 YPC). He also snagged 80 passes for 498 yards. The 6-foot, 216 lb veteran filled in admirably for Barkley last season when he set career highs in rushing yards (682) and six rushing touchdowns. He joined the loaded 49ers’ backfield this offseason before being let go by Kyle Shanahan.
If Davis were to miss time, Gallman would lead an Arthur Smith backfield that ranked 10th and second in respective rushing attempts, third and second in rush yards, and second in rush touchdowns both years.
Smith developed a creative run-game that thrived on blending wide-zone concepts with unique power staples, similar to Greg Roman‘s lethal run scheme with the Ravens.
The Wolf is high on Gallman, ranking him RB59 (+13 vs ECR) on his updated 2021 Fantasy Rankings. Meanwhile, Mike Davis sits at RB21 (+1 vs ECR).
