During the first week of free agency, several teams saw changes to their running back depth chart. While the Texans added two seasoned veterans in Mark Ingram and Phillip Lindsay, the Raiders and Falcons added one each of their own in Kenyan Drake and Mike Davis.

While some of these moves may bode well for the newly signed running backs, they could also negatively impact the incumbent backs on their respective teams.

Let’s look at how the latest running back signings in free agency could impact these running backs in the 2021 season.

One Last Rodeo in Houston

Before free agency officially kicked off, the Texans agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with Ingram. Initially perceived as the immediate backup to David Johnson, the Texans’ top-two running backs would have boasted an average age of 30 at the start of the season.

For those curious about how age tends to affect a running back, you can check out Amr Gabr’s article How Old is Too Old for an NFL RB? to get a better sense of what the Texans are looking at as it stands right now.

Not all hope is lost for the Houston backfield, however, as the signing of Phillip Lindsay to a one-year, $3.25 million deal provides something of a youth infusion. While Lindsay isn’t the youngest of backs, the 27-year old veteran could provide a much-needed spark to an offense that is likely to struggle in 2021.

Lindsay entered the league as an undrafted free agent (UDFA), and played his first snap as a 24-year old rookie. During his first two seasons, he reeled off back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing performances and finished as a top-24 PPR back. Despite the impressive start to Lindsay’s career, the fourth-year pro is now set to begin his age 27 season with a new team.

The 2020 season was largely a lost one for Lindsay. The Broncos unexpectedly signed Melvin Gordon during the offseason and immediately inserted him as the lead back. After averaging 16.5 opportunites/gm during his first two seasons, Lindsay saw his opportunities/gm plummet to 12.0 behind Gordon. His career 13.6 PPR/gm also dropped to 6.0. PPR/gm.

While Lindsay enjoyed significant volume during his first two years in the league, he was also a highly efficient rusher. As a whole, Lindsay ranked as the overall RB16 in fantasy points over expectation from 2018 to 2019 (49.3). Where he excelled, however, was in the running game with 62.2 rushing FPOE (RB4) – his receiving FPOE of -13.0 ranked as fifth-lowest mark during that time.

Looking at FFPC best ball ADPs, we see that the recent signings of Ingram and Lindsay have done little to affect how drafters feel about Johnson.