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Zen And The Art Of Running Back Maintenance
Authored by Brian English - 6th October, 2006 - 3:19 pm
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Have Sunday afternoons become frustrating nightmares for you? Do you get nervous tics and cold sweats while you’re flipping through the games? If so, I’m guessing that, like me, you’re having problems with your fantasy running backs.
This is a common problem in the fantasy world, and it seems more so this season than ever. It may only be four games into the season, but there’s been a lot of conspicuous underperformance and egregious non-productivity from NFL running backs so far.
How bad is it? Of the five leading rushers so far this season, guess who logs in at #5? Here’s a hint: it’s not even a running back. It’s QB Michael Vick, with 333 yards. Now, it could be argued that Vick isn’t really a QB, he’s more of an RB with a decent arm. But look at the rest of the top five:
1. Willis McGahee (389 yards)
2. Stephen Jackson (367 yards)
3. Warrick Dunn (365 yards)
4. Rudi Johnson (3?? Yards)
5. Michael Vick (333 yards)
Most of these guys are first or second round fantasy picks, but only Jackson and Johnson were projected to go in the back-half of the top 10.
A list like this means there are a lot of frustrated and somewhat panicky fantasy owners out there right now. And believe me, I’m one of them. I thought I was getting a steal when with the tenth and eleventh picks over all, I snagged Ronnie Brown and Carnell “Cadillac” Williams. Brown is starting to have that uncomfortable “bust” feeling about him, and as for Williams … well, let’s just say he’s looked more like a Ford Taurus.
Remember the “Big Three” of the fantasy preseason? That seemingly can’t-miss triumvirate of Johnson-Tomlinson-Alexander? If you had one of the top three picks in your draft, you just HAD to take one of these guys or face derision and recrimination later on. Every fantasy magazine, website, sports radio show, or cable sports network drilled these three into our heads as gospel during the preseason.
But where are they now? Of the the three, we only is LT is doing about as expected. Alexander is out with a busted foot before logging even a single 100-yard game. And before all you Larry Johnson owners start popping the Champagne over Sunday’s 101-yard, two-TD day, remember that LJ was playing the Niners at home. And those were his first two TDs of the year – very un-Johnson like.
But then, I’m not telling you anything new. You’re coming to me for answers. But the sad truth is that decent running backs just can’t be found lying around the waiver wire. Even in a 10-team league, the only free agents left out there are the lowliest dregs. The waiver wire isn’t necessarily the answer.
When a running back problem has you in a panic even early in the season, you need to think less about which player you’re going to add and more about which player you’re going to cut. Call it addition by subtraction. A lot of running back problems stem from pig-headedness on the part of owners. Don’t get hung up on “star” players, or where you drafted these clowns. Look at how their teams are playing. If you look closely – and believe me, I know it hurts – and you’ll see that it’s probably time to move on.
Here are a couple of philosophies to help you deal with RB woes. It’s sort of a Zen approach, and to get it right, you really need to meditate on the subject and step away from conventional wisdom. These ideas won’t necessarily put better players on your roster, but they can help you to minimize the damage by getting those unproductive
players off of your roster.
CUT THE DEAD WEIGHT A lot of owners get into situations where they’re starting players “because there’s no one better out there.” This isn’t always true, and there are a couple of key RB whose past glories are duping owners into keeping them in the starting line-up. I say these guys need to go.
There are also a couple of teams whose RB situation is so disastrous that their backfield should be treated like they have Bird Flu.
Whether you drop them to add someone else, or trade them away and make them some other poor bastard’s problem is up to you. Or if you want to keep these guys in your back pocket in case of injuries or bye weeks, that’s fine, too. But there’s one place that these players should never be found, and that’s in your starting line-up for the remainder of 2006.
Edgerrin James I like to call Edge “The Unhappiest Millionaire in the NFL.” Sure, they backed-up the Brinks truck to bring him out to the desert. But they didn’t tell him he would feel like it backed over him after every game. How bad has it gotten? At the end of the first half against Atlanta last Sunday, Edge had two yards. That’s not a typo. Two yards. It’s not Edge’s fault; Cardinal’s O-line is like one giant human turnstile. It’s hard for an RB to hit a hole that doesn’t exist. Edge hasn’t had a 100-yard game yet this season, and I’d be shocked if he managed to have even one. This is a situation that’s not going to get any better.
The good news is, name Edgerrin James will probably still carry some weight in your league. And when you tell another owner you’re willing to trade a first-round RB, there’s a good chance they might offer a pretty good player in return. They may think you’re crazy for giving up on a perennial pro bowler after just four games, but you’re not. Take what you can get and let some other sucker wait for the breakout game that’s never going to come.
Jamal Lewis Jamal’s just not the same guy since he got out of prison. But then, who would be? Ever since his 2,066 yard, 14 TD season back in 2003, Lewis has been going backwards in terms of productivity. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better this season. Don’t believe the hype about Steve McNair revitalizing this offense; it’s still a plodding mess, especially on the ground. The only positive thing you can say about Lewis is that he’s far and away the number one RB, with 73 carries on the season to Mike Anderson’s nine carries.
All Titans RBs The only Titans player to have shown any fight at all this season is Albert Haynesworth. This team is a mess, and their RB situation is a direct reflection of this. This backfield features the three-headed monster of Lendale White-Chris Brown-Travis Henry. Henry seemed to show the most promise with a two TD effort in Week 1, but he’s been inactive for two of this year’s four games. Of the other two, Chris Brown is getting the most carries, but other than Henry, no Titans RB has come near the end zone. Lendale White is banged up. This situation has “train wreck” written all over it. Stay away.
All Texans RBs Ron Dayne started at RB for the Texans last Sunday. That should about sum up the RB situation in Houston. There are valuable fantasy players on Houston like David Carr and Andre Johnson. But since they always tend to be playing from behind, the running game is no longer an option by the second quarter. In the team’s first win against the Dolphins last Sunday, they racked up a paltry 70 yards rushing. It’s that bad.
THERE’S A REASON THEY’RE NOT STARTING I’m not a big fan of the “handcuff” theory – acquiring a player’s back-up in the event of injury. When Shaun Alexander broke his foot a couple of weeks back, Maurice Morris suddenly leapt to the top of everyone’s free agent wish list. The theory was, “hey, it’s the same offense – they’ll run Morris just like they run Alexander.”
Sure … take out the NFL rushing leader and league MVP, put in some guy named Maurice. Same difference.
This is a common mistake. You’ve got to keep in mind that a back-up is never the ideal. If they were so damned good, they’d be the starter in the first place. And in the case of Alexander, remember that even he didn’t have a 100-yard game; what reason is there to think that Maurice Morris was going to light it up?
I say take off the handcuffs. Some owners have the back-up of their fantasy team’s big-time RB in case of emergency. Other owners have the back-up of some other fantasy team’s big-time RB, and hope for an injury (you know who you are). Regardless of which kind of owner you are, I say cut ‘em loose. More often than not, the best thing you can say about a fill-in RB is that he’ll get most of the carries. But this doesn’t necessarily translate into fantasy points. Fantasy owners should treat back-up players the way NFL teams treat them: for use in emergencies only.
JOIN THE COMMITTEE It’s the most dreaded phrase in fantasy football: “Running Back By Committee.” But getting a “committee” back on your fantasy team can be preferable to having feature back who is either useless or in a bad offense (i.e., the Texans and the Titans). Or, in the case of Ron Dayne, both. Not all of these players will be available – big weeks by Joseph Addai, Jerious Norwood, and Marion Barber will certainly cause these players to be snapped up. But you might be able to convince their owners to deal them away for your unproductive feature backs (i.e. and Edgerrin James and Jamal Lewis). This won’t yield huge points – but it’s likely to pay off more often. Many of those “RBBC” teams out there have productive offenses – and that’s something you want to be a part of.
Thinking differently about your RB situation could have a calming effect on you. The tics will decrease. You’ll be less likely to throw empty beer bottles at your flat screen. And, if you’re lucky, it can help get your fantasy team going in the right direction.
