Ilov80s
Footballguy
2011
2nd round: Ryan William, Mikel LeShoure, Shane Vereen, Daniel Thomas
3rd round: DeMarco Murray, Steven Ridley, Alex Green
Williams and LeShoure saw their careers derailed by injury. Unlike Williams, LeShoure did see significant work in year 2 with the Lions. However, that was more due to the lack of real competition. LeShoure got 215 carries due to Best missing the entire year with a concussion, Kevin Smith being on his last leg and Joique Bell just starting to emerge. LeShoure would only get 2 more carries over the rest of his career. Vareen touched the ball 15 times as a rookie and as we know never really was able to do much more than a pass catching specialist. That was a unique situation as in the 3rd, the Pats took another back. BJGE was the incumbent and despite being very pedestrian, BJGE held Ridley to just 77 rushes. Year 2, BJGE was gone and Ridley became one of the better fantasy backs. That would not last long as the Pats added Blount for 2013 ad divided Ridleys role up. Thomas had his best year as a rookie, but their big FA signing Reggie Bush was the clear starter. Bush got about 80 more touches than Thomas. Thomas trended down in his second year as Bush continued to be the lead dog and Lamar Miller was drafted. Alex Green did nothing as a rookie, was the leading rusher for the Pack in year 2 with 135 carries and never scored an NFL TD. Felix Jones was the starter and Murray was slated as the back-up, but after week 5, Jones was hurt and Murray took the starter role over. Other than the time missed with injuries, Murray never looked back.
2012
2nd round: Lamichael James, Isaiah Pead,
3rd round: Ronnie Hillman, Bernard Pierce
Not much to see here. James never found a role in the NFL. SJax was the workhorse so I don't think anyone expected Pead to replace him immediately. I also don't think people expected Daryl Richardson or Zac Stacy to pass Pead up on the depth chart. While over 4 years Hillman has been able to slowly build his role in the offense, he has always been behind guys like McGahee, Moreno, Ball, Anderson. Ray Rice was in the prime of his career when Pierce was taken so I don't think many saw Pierce has being a guy that would make an immediate impact. Pierce was able to get 170+ touches in year 2, but he was very unproductive. After Rice was released, Pierce seemed to have a golden opportunity, he was so outperformed by long time NFL back-up Justin Forsett which pretty much ended Pierce's fantasy career.
2013
2nd round: Gio Bernard, Le'veon Bell, Montee Ball, Eddie Lacy, Christine Michael
3rd round: Knile Davis
2013 made up for the total void of success of 2012 backs.
Once again, the pedestrian BJGE in the incumbent holding back a promising rookie. Gio looked great as a rookie and with 220+ touches, 1000 yards and 8 TDs he had instant fantasy value. He looked like the next a potential fantasy study and a PPR monster. However, Jeremy Hill was drafted to take over the BJGE role and Gio's workload remained stagnant. Gio seems locked in as one of the best #2 backs in fantasy, but without an injury, it looks like his role won't be growing as long as he is a Bengal. Bell was drafted to the man right away as Felix Jones and Jon Dwyer were the only other backs on the roster. Bell's career is pretty simple. When healthy, he is a superstar. Lacy also walked into a open job. James Starks hadn't ever been able to win the Packer job. Franklin's career ended before it began. Lacy was gifted the job and for two years was the definition of a #1 fantasy RB. Montee Ball seemed to enter a situation where he would have a real shot to win the job from day one. He beat out Ronnie Hillman, but Knowshon Moreno was the surprise lead dog. Moreno finally able to stay healthy was super productive and kept Ball in a minor role. Entering year 2, Moreno was gone and Ball was the presumed new workhorse on one of the most high powered offenses in NFL history. Ball busted right out of the league. Christine Michael and Knile Davis sharre similar stories. Anyone that drafted them knew they weren't beating Lynch or Charles out for those job. They knew it would take time to develop a role. That role ended up being passed over a by a lengthy series of other players.
2nd round: Ryan William, Mikel LeShoure, Shane Vereen, Daniel Thomas
3rd round: DeMarco Murray, Steven Ridley, Alex Green
Williams and LeShoure saw their careers derailed by injury. Unlike Williams, LeShoure did see significant work in year 2 with the Lions. However, that was more due to the lack of real competition. LeShoure got 215 carries due to Best missing the entire year with a concussion, Kevin Smith being on his last leg and Joique Bell just starting to emerge. LeShoure would only get 2 more carries over the rest of his career. Vareen touched the ball 15 times as a rookie and as we know never really was able to do much more than a pass catching specialist. That was a unique situation as in the 3rd, the Pats took another back. BJGE was the incumbent and despite being very pedestrian, BJGE held Ridley to just 77 rushes. Year 2, BJGE was gone and Ridley became one of the better fantasy backs. That would not last long as the Pats added Blount for 2013 ad divided Ridleys role up. Thomas had his best year as a rookie, but their big FA signing Reggie Bush was the clear starter. Bush got about 80 more touches than Thomas. Thomas trended down in his second year as Bush continued to be the lead dog and Lamar Miller was drafted. Alex Green did nothing as a rookie, was the leading rusher for the Pack in year 2 with 135 carries and never scored an NFL TD. Felix Jones was the starter and Murray was slated as the back-up, but after week 5, Jones was hurt and Murray took the starter role over. Other than the time missed with injuries, Murray never looked back.
2012
2nd round: Lamichael James, Isaiah Pead,
3rd round: Ronnie Hillman, Bernard Pierce
Not much to see here. James never found a role in the NFL. SJax was the workhorse so I don't think anyone expected Pead to replace him immediately. I also don't think people expected Daryl Richardson or Zac Stacy to pass Pead up on the depth chart. While over 4 years Hillman has been able to slowly build his role in the offense, he has always been behind guys like McGahee, Moreno, Ball, Anderson. Ray Rice was in the prime of his career when Pierce was taken so I don't think many saw Pierce has being a guy that would make an immediate impact. Pierce was able to get 170+ touches in year 2, but he was very unproductive. After Rice was released, Pierce seemed to have a golden opportunity, he was so outperformed by long time NFL back-up Justin Forsett which pretty much ended Pierce's fantasy career.
2013
2nd round: Gio Bernard, Le'veon Bell, Montee Ball, Eddie Lacy, Christine Michael
3rd round: Knile Davis
2013 made up for the total void of success of 2012 backs.
Once again, the pedestrian BJGE in the incumbent holding back a promising rookie. Gio looked great as a rookie and with 220+ touches, 1000 yards and 8 TDs he had instant fantasy value. He looked like the next a potential fantasy study and a PPR monster. However, Jeremy Hill was drafted to take over the BJGE role and Gio's workload remained stagnant. Gio seems locked in as one of the best #2 backs in fantasy, but without an injury, it looks like his role won't be growing as long as he is a Bengal. Bell was drafted to the man right away as Felix Jones and Jon Dwyer were the only other backs on the roster. Bell's career is pretty simple. When healthy, he is a superstar. Lacy also walked into a open job. James Starks hadn't ever been able to win the Packer job. Franklin's career ended before it began. Lacy was gifted the job and for two years was the definition of a #1 fantasy RB. Montee Ball seemed to enter a situation where he would have a real shot to win the job from day one. He beat out Ronnie Hillman, but Knowshon Moreno was the surprise lead dog. Moreno finally able to stay healthy was super productive and kept Ball in a minor role. Entering year 2, Moreno was gone and Ball was the presumed new workhorse on one of the most high powered offenses in NFL history. Ball busted right out of the league. Christine Michael and Knile Davis sharre similar stories. Anyone that drafted them knew they weren't beating Lynch or Charles out for those job. They knew it would take time to develop a role. That role ended up being passed over a by a lengthy series of other players.
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