Fantasy Aftermath: Leftover Turkey

Running backs. Even though wide receivers were the trendy pick this year in fantasy football drafts, running backs are still a cornerstone in the foundation of your fantasy football team.

If  you look at the top scoring players in the 4 Sport Boston Fantasy Football league you can see how valuable running backs actually are:

Top 50 Players 1-25:

16 QB

8 RB

1 WR

Top 50 Players 26-50:

7 QB

8 RB

9 WR

1 TE

Top 50 Players 1-50:

23 QB

16 RB

10 WR

1 TE

Quarterbacks are high scorers since they often throw multiple touchdowns in a game (unless you are JaMarcus Russell.) After that running backs not only outnumber wide receivers as top 50 players, only 1 receiver (Reggie Wayne) is a top 25 player. I could crunch more numbers to explain it but I’ll let you read this article over at The Huddle that explains how to crunch the numbers for yourself. I thought I’d kick off this week’s Fantasy Aftermath by recapping some of the notable running back situations around the NFL (I’ll talk more about The Pats and L-Mo in the next segment.)

Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner came back to play this week from a right ankle sprain and proceeded to re-aggravate it and left the game. As a Turner owner I wasn’t happy to see that. Not only did Turner leave the game, Jerious Norwood got into the mix carrying the ball 6 times for 22 yards and catching 2 passes for 28 yards and a touchdown. Popular waiver wire pick-up Jason Snelling only ran the ball 4 times for 8 yards. Neither player had an amazing game, but you are now left wondering what kind of time share will be in place if Turner has to sit out a few more games. Right now my money is on Norwood to outrank Snelling on the depth chart but Id’ wait another game to see how it plays out.

Buffalo Bills

Fred Jackson looked great in the beginning of the season when he filled in for Marshawn Lynch and last week he started again for Lynch and and ran for 73 yards on 15 carries and scored a pair of TDs. Lynch has been disappointing this year and I just dropped him in a league- you shouldn’t be afraid to do the same. Jackson is probably owned in most leagues already but if he isn’t, he’s a must pick-up.

Cincinnati Bengals

I hate Larry Johnson. I hate him so much. You can read some early posts on my blog if you want to know why; but now that he’s not only become fantasy relevant again but possibly fantasy valuable. I’m going to proceed to bang my head against a wall. Now that Larry Johnson rushed for 107 yards compared to Bernard Scott’s 87, there’s a slight possibility that LJ maybe become the #2 guy for the Bengals. Hopefully Cedric Benson will return this week and we won’t have to worry about it.

Miami Dolphins

Ricky Williams might win some people’s fantasy leagues with the way he’s been taking advantage of becoming the feature back. He ran for 115 yards and a touchdown this past week against Buffalo, however I will say he should stay away from throwing the ball- he threw an interception on 1st and goal early in the game. Some people are worried that Williams won’t be able to last the rest of the season, he’s 32 and already has 154 carries this season (last year he carried the ball 160 times.) That’s why you’ll see Lex Hilliard being touted all over the place. Last week he carried the ball 5 times for 22 yards, not that bad but it’s clear that as long Williams is healthy Hilliard won’t be completing for touches. The only reason you want Hilliard is if you own Williams and want some insurance.

Houston Texans

First there was Steve Slaton, then he fumbled the ball a lot and Ryan Moats became the guy. Now Chris Brown is coming out of nowhere to split carries with Slaton. Slaton and Brown split carries pretty evenly this past week and Brown scored the TD. Moats meanwhile is nowhere to be found. I’m not liking this situation at all, if you own Moats it’s safe to let him go. The question now is if Chris Brown should be added in leagues. Personally it’s a situation I’d just like to stay away from- it reminds me too much of the Shanahan Broncos RB situation.

San Diego Chargers

LaDanian Tomlinson had been turning it on the past three weeks, he hasn’t rushed for 100 yards yet but his 2 TDs against the Chiefs shows he’s still a solid play when the match-up is good.

Seattle Seahawks

Justin Forsett’s 130 yards and 2 TDs this past week against St. Louis is a strong case for him to keep the starting job when Julius Jones is healthy again. I’m sure many fantasy owners are hoping the same thing. Now it was against The Rams but the Seahawks would be silly to ignore Forsett’s performance to date.

Washington Redskins

Clinton Portis is expected to miss this week’s game against The Saints, that means Rock Cartwright is your man. However his 38 yards over 15 carries doesn’t make me excited for his match-up this weekend.

Patriots Pride

New England 17 New Orleans 38

I came home during half-time to see a very depressing 10-24 score with The Saints in the lead. It didn’t get any better. One the things I noticed is our assumption that The Pats could pick apart the banged up Saints offense was more fantasy than reality. Randy Moss and Wes Welker were shut down with only 99 combined yards and no TDs. In fact Tom Brady wasn’t able to throw a touchdown pass the entire game. When you shut down the Patriots’ passing game that’s pretty much the game. There was a glimmer of hope however with Laurence Maroney.

Even with Sammy Morris back on the field, L-Mo was the primary back running 15 times for 64 yards and 2 TDs. He lost a fumbled in the third quarter but redeemed himself when he forced a fumble from Sean Ellis he recovered it. After all the fumble hoopla Belichick still trusted him to run the ball in for a TD later in the quarter. Last week I said L-Mo’s future value would depend on how he shared time with Morris, right now we don’t know if L-Mo will be the guy or if Morris isn’t fully back up to speed yet. The upside could be that Maroney is going to heat up like he did during the last half of 2007 and could be a great flex play here on out.

On The Saints side of the ball, Drew Brees made me and The Pats D look like a fool last night, he threw over 3 TDs for the first time since week 6 and definitely made a statement that he needs to be counted among the top tier quarterbacks in the NFL. Of course in fantasy we already knew that- he was a consensus top QB pick. He threw touchdowns to pretty much everybody. Marques Colston? 121 yards and a TD. Sneaky play Robert Meachem? 69 yards and a TD. Even Devrey Henderson got in on the fun with 116 yards and a TD. In our Madden game last Friday Henderson also had a big game, maybe it was a sign of things to come. Fantasy wise though the only thing you can walk away with is that The Saints are really good- nothing we didn’t know already.

Reading The Box Scores & Watching The Highlights

Tampa Bay 17, Atlanta 20

The Co-Hero of the Week award goes to Chris Redman, who won the game for with a 5 yard TD pass to Roddy White with only 23 seconds left. Redman played in turn for Matt Ryan who left the game with a toe injury. It’s looking like he won’t play this week against Philadelphia but Redman looked really good with 243 passing yards and 2 TDs. However the Eagles will be more of a true indicator than the lowly Bucs. I’d stay away. Michael Jenkins was a sleeper pick by Craig earlier in the year, and he was targeted 8 times for 7 catches and 80 yards. He’s been getting more action recently and he’s an interesting name to keep an eye on.

Despite Redman’s heroics, Josh Freeman actually was the better QB that day. It’ll be interesting to see how he develops as a rookie but remember rookies are wildly inconsistent. Antonio Bryant was a 2nd half darling last season and had his best game this season with 91 yards and a TD. However his stats still came off of 3 receptions and was only targeted 4 times. Sammy Stroughter and Kellen Winslow were targeted more often.

Miami 14, Buffalo 31

I picked up Ryan Fitzpatrick to plug in place of Big Ben and the gamble paid off with 246 passing yards, a passing TD and a rushing TD. The 2005 7th round pick from Harvard didn’t do too well in extended play with Cincinnati last year so I don’t entirely trust him now.

Talk about fantasy players left for dead, Terrell Owens is looking good with Fitzpatrick under center, and might be worth a pickup- however his schedule the rest of the way is mixed.

Washington 24, Philadelphia 27

Jason Campbell is still quietly having an ok season fantasy wise, however he’s still not a top 12 starter.

Brent Celek left the game with a hand injury and I’ve heard everything from sprains to detached ligaments. Keep an eye out on him this week.

DeSean Jackson was the concussion du jour this week, I don’t expect him to play against Atlanta given the mood around the NFL with concussions. If he doesn’t play I like Jeremy Maclin a little bit more than Jason Avant but it’s really close.

Seattle 27, St. Louis 17

Well Matt Hasselbeck really made my pick over Tony Romo look really stupid. Thank goodness I still won that fantasy game despite his 5 measly fantasy points. His upcoming schedule was the reason I brought him on but now I wonder if he’s too inconsistent to trust.

Danny Amendola got all the targets and receptions for the Kyle Boller led Rams. Besides the fact I knew him from Hard Knocks, I don’t think he’s anything but a familiar name.

Carolina 6, New York Jets 17

Is it time for the Matt Moore era yet? Jake Delhomme looks terrible, I thought there was a chance he was controlling his urge to throw the ball to the other team but 4 picks later and I’m left wondering why they gave him so much money.

Steve Smith met Darrelle Revis and proceeded to disappear from the game. I’m less concerned about the Revis effect than the fact Delhomme might still be the guy throwing him passes.

Cleveland 7, Cincinnati 16

Do I have to talk about this game?

Indianapolis 25, Houston 27

I watched this game while I was in Massachusetts and The Texans had this game, then they let the Colts off the hook. Nothing else to gleam from this game that I haven’t already said.

Kansas City 14, San Diego 43

Jamaal Charles is certainly in charge for the Chiefs (have I used that pun yet?) If he’s still on the wire you need to run- not walk and grab him. His next three match-ups look juicy.

Antonio Gates finally gets into the end zone, not once but twice. All is right again in the world.

Jacksonville Jaguars 3, San Francisco 20

Alex Smith is another fantasy player that’s back into relevance. His schedule the rest of the season only has one bad match-up against The Eagles- I like him better than Ryan Fitzpatrick and could be a solid fill-in play down the stretch.

Chicago 10, Minnesota 36

Who knew Jay Cutler would have thrown more picks this season than Brett Favre? Man trading Favre for Anquan Boldin and Pierre Thomas is looking more and more questionable…

Arizona 17, Tennessee 20

Vince Young gets the other Co-Hero of the week award with his game winning pass to Kenny Britt with no time left on the clock. I like both Young and Britt as pickups, in most cases you are probably looking for some WR depth than QB depth.

Kurt Warner sat out of the game after waking up with concussion related headaches on Sunday, Matt Leinart proceeded to start and give me headaches despite not playing a terrible game. I just don’t think Leinart is going to be a great QB.

Pittsburgh 17, Baltimore 20

Dennis Dixon wasn’t too bad with 145 passing yards, a TD and a pick. However I think he’s going to hurt the stats for Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward if the rookie continues to play.

There was a Michael Clayton sighting this week with 129 yards over 7 catches, but then he hurt his knee and will be out for a week or two- so you can continue to ignore him.

I Rock At Fantasy Fooball

I went 4-1 in all my leagues and locked up a playoff spot in the 4 Sport Boston league, which is more than our fearless leader Craig can say…

Related Posts

• December 29, 2009 -- Fantasy Aftermath: End Of The Season Edition
• December 7, 2009 -- Fantasy Aftermath: Unleashing Hell In December
• December 14, 2009 -- Fantasy Aftermath: Crunch Time