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Choose David Johnson over Devonta Freeman in fantasy drafts

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 20: David Johnson #31 of the Arizona Cardinals carries the ball as Mychal Kendricks #95 of the Philadelphia Eagles defends in the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on December 20, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

We’ve gone through many of the toughest questions that fantasy owners have over the last month, including A.J. Green vs. DeAndre Hopkins, Drew Brees vs. Ben Roethlisberger, and the triumvirate of big-name Arizona receivers. Today, we’ll tackle a battle near the top of the rankings for running backs.

Last year’s breakout vs. last year’s rookie — should you take Devonta Freeman or David Johnson in the late first round of your fantasy draft?

Below, we’ll break them down, and you’ll see why the best bet is to draft Johnson and let someone else end up with Freeman.

Volume

The Cardinals are the superior team with the superior defense — one that allowed Johnson to average 18 carries a game once he took over as the starter in Week 13 in place of an injured Chris Johnson. The best part, though, is that David Johnson was able to rack up 5.6 targets per game during that time as well.

While the Falcons struggled with a subpar defense, Freeman was still able to average 17.6 carries and 6.5 targets per game. His per-game totals are a bit more impressive, because they are over the entire season, rather than just a five-game span.

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