#Fantasy football: Beware of touchdown vultures

The touchdown-vulture is the filthiest creature in the fantasy football kingdom. How many times have you watched your star running back handle all the heavy lifting during a drive only to see him standing on the sidelines as some other big, bulbous back punches it into the end zone from 1 yard out?

With the rise of tandem backfields in the NFL, the running back position is thinning out in fantasy as it is, but to have someone poaching your goal-line carries could drive you over the cliffs of insanity.

Last season, Packers running back Aaron Jones posted his first career 1,000-yard season and tied consensus No. 1 back Christian McCaffrey with a league-leading 19 touchdowns. How did the Packers reward their leading rusher and first Packer to lead the league in touchdowns since Jim Taylor in 1962? They draft AJ Dillon, a 6-foot, 250-pound monster in the second round and are looking at him as their short-yardage/goal-line back. Jones is still the main guy, but you may want to hedge your excitement with Dillon now in the mix.

The Bills did the same thing to second-year back Devin Singletary, who posted just under 1,000 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns during his rookie campaign. Buffalo drafted former Utah standout Zack Moss in the third round, and it looks like he too will be handling the short yardage and goal-line work.

This actually piles on even more for Singletary, as quarterback Josh Allen is also notorious for poaching touchdowns. Hopefully you can expect a yardage increase, but be wary of a weak touchdown total, especially where he is being drafted this season.

The touchdown vulture lurks in other cities as well, so be on high alert. Frank Gore could steal from Le’Veon Bell in New York, DeAndre Washington could emerge in Kansas City, and keep an eye on Damien Harris in New England. Their value is limited for fantasy, yet it is just enough to ruin that of their teammates.

Howard Bender is the VP of operations and head of content at Fantasy-Alarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the award-winning “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 6-8 p.m. Go to FantasyAlarm.com for all your fantasy football advice.