So I've been praising or picking at your teams for the past 3 weeks and I'm hoping some of you can return the favor. Details: 12 team league. No PPR. 2 keepers (can't be same position), then normal draft of remaining players. All TDs worth 6 points. Tiered scoring and yardage bonuses. RBs get 2 points for every 10 yards. WRs and TEs get 1 point for every 10. Roster limits (2QBs, 4 RBs, 6WRs, 2TEs, 1K, 2DEF/SP)Start 1 QB, 2RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, K, DEF. You can start a 4th WR instead of your second RB. QB: Philip Rivers QB: Matthew Stafford RB: Steven Jackson - Keeper RB: Cedrick Benson RB: Lendale White RB: Ahmad Bradshaw WR: Calvin Johnson - Keeper WR: Steve Smith (Carolina) WR: Laverneous Coles WR: Domineck (sp?) Hixon WR: Earl Bennet WR: Josh Cribbs TE: Jason Witten TE: Shiancoe Viscanthe (sp?) K: Robbie Gould DEF: Titans DEF: Saints We took a flier on Stafford being a keeper league. If he doesn't pan out quickly there are a lot of good QBs still available due to the roster limits. Not thrilled with having to settle for Laverneous Coles for our 3rd WR, but we hope having one of the best TEs will help there. We missed some depth on our team by trading our 5th round pick for Calvin Johnson during the offseason. Our reserve WRs are boom or bust type players but we hope at least one pans out. I'm hoping the addition of Greg Williams improves the Saints D. There wasn't much to choose from where we took our backup D. We tried trading Jackson during the offseason due to his fragile nature the past 2 seasons, but couldn't get good value so we're just praying he stays healthy. If he does we like having 2 workhorse RBs that won't split carries.
Your RB depth is a concern as you have nothing behind Jackson. Your best hope is that Jackson gets off to insane start, sell high and try and get two quality backs who arent as good but both start. Due to his fragile nature Im not sure that it would be possible but you never know; most leagues have at least 1 dunce. You could try the same scenario with Megatron if a team has good depth see if you could poach a starting RB and a decent wr from him for an elite wr because Im not sure Johnson can replicate last year with a rookie qb. After Johnson and Smith all the wr's have big questions. Coles I dont think will hold the starting job for long as Chris Henry is younger and more talented and now that he has his head on straight he is going to be a factor. Bennett was a shrewd pick. Hixon could help if he could hold off 4 former first day picks (Manningham, Moss, Barden, nicks) for playing time. The qb situation is adequate but not spectacular. I know Rivers had a great year last year but with LT healthy and a better defense I think the Chargers will be able to return to their roots as a run first team. I like Rivers in real life, not so much in fantasy because of this. As far as what I would do: Hop on the James Davis bandwagon. Look out for backs who may be taking over for their starters sooner then later like Benjarvis Green, Shonn Green, and Lesean Mccoy.
Thanks for the feedback! Although RB is not our position of strength, I disagree with your assessment that we have nothing behind Jackson. Cedrick Benson is one of 7 RBs who won't share carries with anyone. If he picks up where he left off at the end of last season he should be in for a decent year. Lendale White will continue to get plenty of carries spotting Chris Johnson. As far as Ahmad Bradshaw goes, the Giants had 2 1,000 yard rushers last season. One of them is gone. And even with a Ward around last year, Bradshaw got plenty of action in the 4th quarter of games. Combine that with the fact that the production of a RB tends to decline after they get their big contract (Jacobs) I expect Bradshaw to get a lot of action this year.
While youre correct about Benson not sharing carries with anyone his OL is atrocious and he has shown zero ability to break tackles at this level so far. He may get 20 carries a game but at 3.3YPC thats not going to do you a whole heap of good. LenWhale White may be thinner but I expect Johnson's workload to increase. Additionally, I doubt Tennessee is going 13-3 again so they wont be playing in front as much. This also will affect White's workload. Bradshaw fumbles too much to ever be someone you want to rely on in fantasy. Im aware of what Ward did but I suspect Danny Ware will get many of those carries. Bradshaw's value is on misdirection plays and as a receiver. Hes a nice 4th back in fantasy if you have 2 other guys who can be counted on in case theyre needed. If you needed to go to bradshaw, white or benson as an RB2 in a 12 team league for more then 2-3 weeks imo youre pretty much done. Im sorry i cant say something more positive then that.
We'll see. You might end up being right on one or more of these guys and then we'll look into trading or waiver wire. Roster limits keep it so that there will always be replacement options out there. Bottom line is it's too early to say any team in our league is done based on not having a stud #2 RB. There are a lot of other teams in our situation due to the rules. You keep two players at 2 different positions. People with good draft picks can pair up their starting RB with a good or really good #2 RB, but folks towards the end (we picked at 11) don't have that luxury. We could pick a slightly better option than Benson, or draft a really good WR and take a chance on a guy like Benson. Typically the guys drafting towards the end have better WRs and QBs and the past two years teams with great QBs and WRs have done the best in our league. Despite line issues, barring injury I still think Cedrick Benson will be a serviceable #2 RB on a regular basis. You disagree and I can respect that. I also don't see any reason why Lendale White can't be just as productive as he was last season. If that's the case, based on our scoring, he would also suffice as a #2 RB. Leaving Bradshaw for bye week replacements or depth due to injury.
Benson was actually decent in the pass game so I expect he will have an increased roll in that regard. I feel okay about the Bengals this year. As far as Bradshaw he should be okay for you but obviously you know to watch out for Ware and to be quick if he shows signs of taking Ward's position on the team. Agree with Boik14 on the Titans situation. This is a serious RB favored league right?
Yes and no. They do get more points than your average league at 2 for every 10 yards but the other positions have bonuses and scoring that makes them higher as well. QB points can get really high. 1 point for every 20 up to 100. 2 points for every 20 from 100 to 200, 3 points from 200 to 300 and so forth. It's not abnormal to see a QB have a 60 point game in this league. The great WRs typically score as many points as an average RB so having two really good wide outs goes a long way. As far as Lendale White and the Titans go, I'll know a lot more after seeing what he doesn't against Pittsburgh. I'm not expecting much and not starting him, but if he can notch up a score and maybe 50 yards or so I'll be optimistic about his production going forward. We will definitely be keeping a close eye on Ware's role with the Giants.
