With DeMarco Murray now slated to go up against the Dallas Cowboys twice this year as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, the defending NFC East champions are going to find it hard to replace his record-setting production from a season ago.
The biggest issue here is that Dallas has seen a couple of its options vacate training camp before camp itself even started. Ryan Williams was released earlier this week, while free-agent addition Darren McFadden found himself placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list with a hamstring injury. While McFadden can be taken off the list at any time during camp, it's safe to assume Dallas can't rely on the injury-plagued running back.
That leaves the team with the troubled, but talented, Joseph Randle as the most-likely starter when Dallas takes on the New York Giants in Week 1.
Despite multiple off-field issues over the past year, including a probation sentence for stealing from a department store in Texas, Randle's on-field talent suggests that he could very well be a major fantasy surprise this season.
The 23-year-old former third-round pick out of Oklahoma State averaged a whopping 6.7 yards on 51 attempts behind Murray last season. He also reached the end zone three times, making his touch-to-touchdown ratio a solid 18.3/1. Working behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, there's no reason to believe Randle can't be an under-the-radar Top-12 running back candidate this season. It's all going to be about him receiving the necessary touches and keeping his nose clean off the field.
With an ADP at the middle of the Round 4, it's possible you could pick Randle up as a likely top-end RB2, though, with a limited sample size, it makes little sense to actually rely on him to be a RB1. If that were to happen, it would just be icing on the cake in Round 4. This is something to keep an eye on as you conduct your preseason standard drafts. If Randle's ADP continues to rise, he might not represent the same value that he did in drafts conducted earlier this summer.