Hot Hot Heat, RB Edition: 5 Burning Questions
Fantasy Dingo
It's getting to the end of summer, which means that The Dingo is packing in as many back patio BBQs as he can. Here are five questions pulled from beneath the burning coals as the crew and I sauteed fresh Ostrich sausage from Danny Woodhead's SoCal farm.
Q: Who goes #1? And does it matter?
The Dingo's first official draft takes place this Saturday evening at 7pm, Delta Time, down in the City of Gators, NOLA, New Orleans, Jazz Town, Ol' Louaineee. And as nine of twelve gentlemen take their seats at Darren Sproles' Memorial Bar and Spa House, the question of which running back goes first will be buzzing around the table. Who should it be?
If it's the Dingo in the box seat, there will be three candidates on my mind: two obvious, one a little from left field. Shady McCoy is getting all of the press at the moment, and has rocketed up the ADP rankings to take the #1 spot on Yahoo!'s list of running backs. Why? Because he features in a very marketable (and fast) offense; because of that step he put on in the snow game against Detroit last year; and because he'll be a hell of a lot of fun to watch play this year, let alone own in your league.
But is the best bet? Last year's owners won't forget the fear they felt when McCoy went down with a pulled hamstring against the Redskins last year. In Chip Kelly's much-written-about, much-lauded high-intensity, run-first offense, could the burden be too much for McCoy to bear? And how many passes does he cede to new-addition Sproles out of the backfield? For me, for a number one pick, that's two questions too many. Which brings us to number two.
For the whole of July, Jamaal Charles was the #1 ranked running back, consistently going off the board in the first position during early mocks. The reason was simple: he was the best running back of the 2013 season. Almost 1,300 rushing yards with 12 rushing TDs, as well as almost 700 receiving yards and 7 more touchdowns. Anyone who went up against a team with Charles when he piled on almost 50 fantasy points against Oakland last year who is NOT picking him first overall in this year's draft can be easily diagnosed with a case of SHADY FEVER (symptoms include susceptibility to media infection, amnesia, slight redness).
The reasons against? He's 28 and he's coming off an absurd year, so there is the fear that the wave may have already peaked. It's never great coming in at the back end of a trend - it's how you end up with ten hardly worn Hypercolor t-shirts. So if you don't want to be late to the party, maybe it's worth looking to a man who showed potential and promise last season, and whose situation has only improved.
Eddie Lacy will be this year's #1 running back in fantasy. Has anyone else loved what they've seen from that Packers offense this preseason? The route running is crisp, Rodgers is back and slanging the ball, and they look impatient as hell to get down the field. They look like Denver looked in the preseason last year.
Rodgers' return is crucial to take the pressure off of Lacy, but don't be fooled that this is a team that's going to throw all day. Rodgers is going to lean on his sophomore back more and more to eat up the yards, much in the same way Manning used Moreno last year. It's a perfect storm waiting to happen. Don't miss out.
Q: Who is this year's Eddie Lacy?
And by that, I don't mean a preseason fatty - I mean a surprisingly fantastic rookie running back! There are four or five promising rookie wide receivers this year, but the outlook for rookie RBs is far murkier. Let me clean away some of the brown mist for you.
I like Bishop Sankey a lot (disclaimer: Go Dawgs). He was great at college, very nimble, hit the gaps well, ran strongly and could find the end zone. He's got a strong pair of hands, and he's coming into a very palatable situation in Tennessee, where he only has Shonn Greene to beat out for the number one spot. I've started to hear some negatives about Sankey Leg these past few weeks, but don't forget, almost anyone can beat out Shonn Greene. I also think Jake Locker could be in for a comeback year (as I said, GO DAWGS), which will ease up some of the pressure on the rookie running back. I'd take Sankey as high as the fourth round in a 12-team draft.
Carlos Hyde is in an interesting situation in San Francisco. He's behind Gore in the depth chart, and Gore has been due to regress for some time. But he's such a bull of a back, thick-set and dependable - I love having Gore on my fantasy team, it's a guaranteed double digits score each week and he just knows how to get the extra yards. So I don't see Hyde coming on that well this year, unlike some other pundits.
My two guys I like for fourteenth round flyers? Jeremy Hill and Dri Archer. Both are situationally great spots for rookie running backs. Hill is a downhill runner out of LSU who offers a different mode of attack to Gio Bernard at the Bengals. Your quick, short running back getting banged around out there? Send in the battering ram to get 'er done. I see him getting some goal line carries from Gio, moreso as the season goes on.
Archer is simply the not-high guy in the right place at the right time. Since Bell and Blount (lolz) got picked up for smoking gang in Bellie's car, the league has been quiet on their sentences and I've still seen Bell going for as much as $45 in auction leagues. Archer could get some playing time while the boys roll smokes on the sidelines.
Q: Who is most likely for a comeback year: Chris Johnson, Trent Richardson, or Steven Ridley?
What a RAGTAG CREW. Probably neither, although I don't mind Chris Johnson - that Jets offensive line isn't bad, the running backs just suffered from Geno being bloody useless last year. Opposing teams lined up and unleashed on Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell, which HAS to go down as one of the worst backfields ever. Johnson talks a big game, and while I don't think we're talking old school numbers, he could be a valuable RB3 this year.
RE: Richardson and Ridley, I refuse to waste words on them. Draft with extreme caution - stinkers both, these boys are.
Q: How many meat pies could Zac Stacy eat in a single sitting?
69.
Q: If you had to compete in the Amazing Race with a top 50 RB, who should it be?
GREAT QUESTION. I'll tell you what, there are some guys I definitely would not like to compete in the Amazing Race with - Ryan Mathews, fumbling a dare docket above the Grand Canyon I'M LOOKIN AT YOU BRO - but I think I would have to go with my guy in Atlanta, STEVIE JACKSON. Farewell tour! Plus he gets the chance to win something again, which is needed after last season. I worry about those hammies tightening up on a long flight though. Runner up would be Danny Woodhead, because he could fit inside a suitcase if we can only get one seat on a bus to Guatemala, or if there's some challenge to fit inside a suitcase (have you seen that show? Those guys are running out of ideas, big time. But then it won an Emmy this year! What the hell! Fickle.)