Running back decimation 2015 (1 Viewer)

[Ladsud]

What does 2015 teach us about running backs. I have a chance to win the title with D. Williams and D. Johnson.

Charles, Bell, Foster, Lynch, Ingram, Forsett, Lewis, CJK, Ellignton injured.

Joe Randle is a flame out

D Murray is in limbo going into the playoffs, Forte is going to be a free agent and was injured and is now in a time share , L Miller is on a crap team and will be a free agent.

Lacy can not be trusted, Gurley fell off a cliff. Stewart has been ok but how can you trust his history.

Am I missing any RBs?

 

[jbz]

Christine Michael? Sorry....

 

[Chapelboy]

I lost Bell, Ingram, and Forsett off one team. Seriously hampering my title chances. Down to Ivory and Blue for the stretch run.

 

[socrates]

What does 2015 teach us about running backs. I have a chance to win the title with D. Williams and D. Johnson.

Charles, Bell, Foster, Lynch, Ingram, Forsett, Lewis, CJK, Ellignton injured.

Joe Randle is a flame out

D Murray is in limbo going into the playoffs, Forte is going to be a free agent and was injured and is now in a time share , L Miller is on a crap team and will be a free agent.

Lacy can not be trusted, Gurley fell off a cliff. Stewart has been ok but how can you trust his history.

Am I missing any RBs?

Hyde has missed significant time. There are a number of situations you cannot trust week to week, including Cincinatti. Will it be Bernard or Hill this week? Gore is beat up. How much longer can he continue? What is going on in Cleveland, Tennessee, Giants?

One lesson, I suppose, is to load up at RB. That applies every season. That strategy failed me this season, as I loaded up on too many RBs who fell to injury or just simply failed to pan out.

The 2015 RB situation has been very fluid. Fantasy free agents such as DeAngelo Williams, Charcandrick West ,Thomas Rawls, David Johnson and Javorius Allen may carry many owners to titles. To insightful owners who added them, well played. If there is a lesson to glean from this going forward, it is to manage your free agency acquisitions and remain vigilant in loading up with RB free agents.

 

[ghostguy123]

What does 2015 teach us about running backs.

It teaches us that what we already knew is still holding true.

 

[shadyridr]

Yeah it's the year of the handcuffs. Guys with rawls, allen, draughn, Johnson, Williams are sitting pretty right now. In one league I lost Lewis, Hyde, Forsett, and Ingram but I still have two of the above rbs. Crazy year

 

[Sabertooth]

Dion Lewis is another top guy that went down.

 

[habsfan]

The only consolation is that this may be the year my league mates are finally convinced to abandon "rolling list" for FAAB. With the number of injuries and the fact they've been literally every week, waivers has just become a conveyor belt of the next RB where everyone waits in line to get the next one.

 

[TartanLion]

I think what I learnt was that if you get two good running backs in teams where the running game is working, just handcuff them as best as you can asap.

I'm currently 11-2 playoffs week 15-16 with no rolling waivers and haven't been able to replace Foster, Blount ( traded him for Rivers week 3 ) and giving no up on Anderson the entire season even whilst trying to predict injuries to beat the queue. It's been Ivory and 1 other out of a collection of K Williams, Ware, M Jones, T Coleman, Ajayi and Ellington for 2 months now and none of them have offered more than short term fixes.

At least handcuffing 1-2 good running games adequately ties those up for the season ( if you've picked the right handcuff that is )

 

[MattFancy]

This was MFL's top 12 PPR RBs based on ADP going into this season:

Bell

Lacy

Peterson

Charles

Lynch

Anderson

Forte

Murray

Hill

McCoy

Forsett

Miller

Looking at that list now, it looks like only 5 of the 12 have a chance to finish in the top 12 for the season.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

How about Randle, Lacy, CJ Anderson and Murray all getting benched in the course of the year? Randle maybe was no surprise but he was still 3rd-5th round pick? Then he went AWOL then poof gone, cut. Lacy invents the gutfumble. Murray is third behind Sproles and Barner, wow. Those make me feel worse than an injury.

 

[mphtrilogy]

save rb for your 4th rd pick or later and load up elsewhere, then draft everything under the sun in the rb department.. freeman was a throw away last rd pick for me... harder to get that from a wr flyer

the top pre-draft wrs have performed better than the top pre-draft rbs.. and less injruies, only dez comes to mind and hes back even if it is a reduced rate, its more because of romo....

i would even think about wr wr wr next year in my distance scoring league where we have 2 flex and can flex up to 5 wrs... although we lost jordy and kelvin pre-season, most of the wr's have held up this year...

 

[socrates]

Yeah it's the year of the handcuffs. Guys with rawls, allen, draughn, Johnson, Williams are sitting pretty right now. In one league I lost Lewis, Hyde, Forsett, and Ingram but I still have two of the above rbs. Crazy year

Yeah, the crazy thing has been that those handcuff situations have changed throughout the season. To begin the season, you may have felt good with Fred Jackson, Knile Davis, Khiry Robinson, Reggie Bush, Andre Ellington, etc., as handcuffs.

I don't generally get into bidding wars for high dollar free agents, but those have been the jewels of the season.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The point about the handcuffs being as fluid as the lead backs is a good one. You can add Chicago where Carey was supposed to be the handcuff then he wasn't. Also Baltimore is another one where the backup got hurt allowing the 3rd string Allen to step in.

 

[Thunderlips]

The position of RB in the NFL has become so devalued, to combat future "RB decimation".....a savvy fantasy player owner will look more at the individual NFL teams running philosphy instead of individual players and target those teams who tend to A)use their RB efficently and B) not give up on their RB if their weekly Offensive plans start to go awry.

Think about it. RBs are such a dime a dozen these days....that quality backs are being drafted in the 3rd/4th/5th rounds with no qualms about being used as a rookie if the teams starter goes down or is even ineffective. Going foreward, I think I'd much rather draft a starter and backup(if capable) from a run oriented team or two instead of "throwing #### against the wall" and trying to grab as many RB starters as possible and instead use those slots for other positions.

 

[dickey moe]

Depth and working the waiver wire like a mother gives you the best chance.

 

[The Claymaker]

I personally am stuck with either Woodhead or Hightower, neither are sexy options at this point. Hightower is on the road and I have no idea how he will be used and Woodhead has been awful for the last four games and KC shut him down last time they played. Unfortunately I have to start one RB so it's just trying to choose the lesser of two bad choices.

 

[zamboni]

Think about it. RBs are such a dime a dozen these days....that quality backs are being drafted in the 3rd/4th/5th rounds with no qualms about being used as a rookie if the teams starter goes down or is even ineffective. Going foreward, I think I'd much rather draft a starter and backup(if capable) from a run oriented team or two instead of "throwing #### against the wall" and trying to grab as many RB starters as possible and instead use those slots for other positions.

I think this is key here. It's not just about drafting a bunch of RBs, but focusing on those backup RBs who seem to have talent but are stuck behind proven starters. At the same time, looking for favorable team situations where a backup unknown guy could possibly thrive (e.g., KC, Baltimore, Seatlle). Granted, it's easier said than done, and we don't often know until some guys emerge, but it's better than just handcuffing a guy if the situation could just as easily devolve into RBBC.

For draft purposes, I can see how teams next year may not want to burn early picks on RBs, but at the end of the day if you can find a rare 3-down back, I can't see how you can ignore the pick. It's the back end of the draft where you need to cover yourself if your stud RB(s) go down.

 

[Loipz]

I'm handcuffing handcuffs next year too.

 

[Skeletore Eh]

I carried lacy/ Starks and freeman/Coleman all year in one league and it worked for me. Sucked using the roster spots, but the peace of mind was enjoyable

 

[MattFancy]

I carried lacy/ Starks and freeman/Coleman all year in one league and it worked for me. Sucked using the roster spots, but the peace of mind was enjoyable

Think that may be my strategy next year. One league I'm in, we only need to start 1 RB. Seems like a no-brainer for that one.

 

[Mookie]

The key to managing the RB issue in redrafts is to have a short term view. Draft for the first 2-4 weeks and then constantly churn through FAs, looking for value and potential starters. Sell RBs for WRs. Strength at WR and TE allows you to use the back end of your roster on more RB depth.

 

[lsufan]

Started the season with Lacy, Bell, Forsett. I'm barely going to squeak into the playoffs with DeAngelo Williams, Buck Allen, David Johnson.

I think I may go WR/WR next year lol.

 

[FBG Moderator]

what would you like to know?

Anything and everything about your teams. The fact your injuries this year "hampered" your chances at a title in one of your leagues is fascinating.

We can't believe you are down to Ivory and Blue. It's incredible.

While I think you're adorable for the way you're trying to mock this poster to prove that no one cares about other people's teams, this is kind of the entire premise of this thread. To speak about all the injuries and how playing the waiver wire was so important this year. I bet we see a lot of it here.

There is a thread for that.

Or you know, you could just choose not to read this one?

How's he supposed to be a troll that way?

The lamenting, please give us more. Can't wait.

Ugh. if you just ignored the one post, we could all be spared reading the next 10 that came from your dumb response. I never understand message board police. You are adding to the problem that you are complaining about and making it all worse.

If this type of post bothers you THAT much, you probably need some therapy.

Likewise. The mirror is an interesting place.

The difference is I wasn't crying about the post and I wasn't all butt hurt bc it wasn't in the correct forum Mr. message board police man. I think my 5 year old could understand this.

for every one post about a specific person's team we get 15 replies about how its in the wrong forum. so dumb. don't you just skip over things you don't care to read about? it's real easy, you just look one post down. if that one doesn't interest you, rinse and repeat. YOU are the problem, not the other guy posting about his RB troubles.

If you pay little attention to things that you aren't interested in you will be a much more pleasant person. I promise. Now next time, you won't start this whole dialogue (like you did this time), and everyone will be happy reading about dead running backs.

Now let's take all this information, let it soak in. Then when the next situation like this occurs, you can try to ignore rather than flame. it's a win-win for everyone. thanks.

The rest of the posts have been cleaned out and Kook is on a month-long timeout now, but wanted to address what went on more than just sweeping it away.

Yes a thread like this runs the risk of turning into something that is more appropriate in the pinned grieving thread. But it can also turn into legitimate conversation about lessons learned from this year.

If it goes the grieving route it can always be merged. But we'll take that over running a thread into the ground the moment there is a post that is more about one person's team than about useful strategy. Attacking people like this isn't the answer. Be part of the solution and either help steer it back towards useful conversation, or else stop reading it.

 

[ghostguy123]

So draft RBs who will have a cheap handcuff that you can get very late? Check.

 

[renesauz]

save rb for your 4th rd pick or later and load up elsewhere, then draft everything under the sun in the rb department.. freeman was a throw away last rd pick for me... harder to get that from a wr flyer

the top pre-draft wrs have performed better than the top pre-draft rbs.. and less injruies, only dez comes to mind and hes back even if it is a reduced rate, its more because of romo....

i would even think about wr wr wr next year in my distance scoring league where we have 2 flex and can flex up to 5 wrs... although we lost jordy and kelvin pre-season, most of the wr's have held up this year...

I agree with this for most leagues, but not all.

In my work league (low stakes redraft...hardly serious for me), we have fairly short benches and it's non-PPR. There's no room for speculative adds and players, but productive RBs in general are still bigger assets than WRs (6 pt TDs and no PPR). Draft and start well in a league like that, find yourself at the tail end of the waiver wire. When your RB goes down, there's little hope of picking up his replacement on waivers. If multiple injuries hit, you're stuck panning for and starting the Bilal Powell's of the world because those are the only RB's you can grab.

In leagues like this, it still makes sense to spend several early picks on RBs

 

[OU#1]

What did you learn?

Draft Adrian Peterson every chance you can in whatever round you can get him in, and flip the bird to the naysayers...

 

[Chapelboy]

Sorry fellas, just got back to this thread and didn't realize my comment caused a hoo-ha. I apologize for referring to my team in my post, I sincerely thought it was relevant to the subject. All I had to see was "Running back decimation" and it set me off

 

[MattFancy]

What did you learn?

Draft Adrian Peterson every chance you can in whatever round you can get him in, and flip the bird to the naysayers...

Isn't it funny that one of the older RBs going into the season has been the best one? I feel dumb for worrying about his age coming into the season.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

What does 2015 teach us about running backs. I have a chance to win the title with D. Williams and D. Johnson.

... One lesson, I suppose, is to load up at RB. That applies every season. That strategy failed me this season, as I loaded up on too many RBs who fell to injury or just simply failed to pan out...

One thing I found is you will ALWAYS need fresh legs later in the season so judicious use of waiver wire is essential.

You have to be disciplined and move up high enough on your waiver order and sit and wait till injuries hit and then use your WW to find the RB who emerges every year.

Last year it was CJ Anderson/Justin Forsett. Before that it we've other guys like Bryce Brown. This year Thomas Rawls/DeAgelo Williams, etc.

This happens every year so its a good strategy to save that WW claim. I don't go for the early flashy guys so I typically don't go for the Dion Lewis' type of guys which makes me concentrate and have a handful of guys who I'm monitoring who I feel can step in and be a #1 RB if called upon that are out on the wire.

 

[shadyridr]

What does 2015 teach us about running backs. I have a chance to win the title with D. Williams and D. Johnson.

... One lesson, I suppose, is to load up at RB. That applies every season. That strategy failed me this season, as I loaded up on too many RBs who fell to injury or just simply failed to pan out...

One thing I found is you will ALWAYS need fresh legs later in the season so judicious use of waiver wire is essential.You have to be disciplined and move up high enough on your waiver order and sit and wait till injuries hit and then use your WW to find the RB who emerges every year.

Last year it was CJ Anderson/Justin Forsett. Before that it we've other guys like Bryce Brown. This year Thomas Rawls/DeAgelo Williams, etc.

This happens every year so its a good strategy to save that WW claim. I don't go for the early flashy guys so I typically don't go for the Dion Lewis' type of guys which makes me concentrate and have a handful of guys who I'm monitoring who I feel can step in and be a #1 RB if called upon that are out on the wire.

last year Forsett emerged early

 

[Bracie Smathers]

What does 2015 teach us about running backs. I have a chance to win the title with D. Williams and D. Johnson.

... One lesson, I suppose, is to load up at RB. That applies every season. That strategy failed me this season, as I loaded up on too many RBs who fell to injury or just simply failed to pan out...

One thing I found is you will ALWAYS need fresh legs later in the season so judicious use of waiver wire is essential.You have to be disciplined and move up high enough on your waiver order and sit and wait till injuries hit and then use your WW to find the RB who emerges every year.

Last year it was CJ Anderson/Justin Forsett. Before that it we've other guys like Bryce Brown. This year Thomas Rawls/DeAgelo Williams, etc.

This happens every year so its a good strategy to save that WW claim. I don't go for the early flashy guys so I typically don't go for the Dion Lewis' type of guys which makes me concentrate and have a handful of guys who I'm monitoring who I feel can step in and be a #1 RB if called upon that are out on the wire.

last year Forsett emerged early

He was and I didn't grab him because, and this is the tough part, I don't look at RBs early because I'm coming from a dynasty approach assuming you have gone into the season with established RBs and are not looking to find a RB early. Let others burn their wire early.

That is the key, saving WW bid/claim for later in the year when injuries hit or when the inevitable dissapointming RB weighs your team down to the point you need an upgrade.

Takes discipline but its a successful strategy if used correctly.

 

[shady inc]

I learned it's more about luck than skill. Be lucky enough to pick the players who stay healthy, you'll win!

 

[Terminator Stout]

I am feeling the same pain. I am 11-2 with crap left on my roster. Lost J Charles, M Ingram, C Johnson, K Allen and A Luck. Luck could have been a blessing in disguise since the Colts stink. I have a week roster left and can only hope that I can make it to our Super Bowl.

I think handcuffs will become more prevalent in the following years. Teams may start to use RBBC as Shanahan has done for years.

As Shady stated FF is more about luck than skill. You draft based on history and hope for the best.

Good Luck to all.

 

[silentmark]

Lost Bell and Forsett, in the PO's rolling with D.Will, L. Blunt / S.Draughn

 

[Deamon]

save rb for your 4th rd pick or later and load up elsewhere, then draft everything under the sun in the rb department.. freeman was a throw away last rd pick for me... harder to get that from a wr flyer

the top pre-draft wrs have performed better than the top pre-draft rbs.. and less injruies, only dez comes to mind and hes back even if it is a reduced rate, its more because of romo....

i would even think about wr wr wr next year in my distance scoring league where we have 2 flex and can flex up to 5 wrs... although we lost jordy and kelvin pre-season, most of the wr's have held up this year...

QB and TE have been fairly crazy too. Guys like Bortles, Palmer, Taylor, Mariota all performing well. Barnidge, Walker, etc at TE too. It does seem like the stud WR's are performing for the most part fairly consistent compared to other positions. WR WR WR may not be a bad call going into next year.

 

[Deamon]

"Top" RB's per team going into this season:

Arizona Cardinals- Ellington- Injured/Bust
Atlanta Falcons- Coleman? No one really knew.
Baltimore Ravens- Forsett- Injured
Buffalo Bills- Mccoy- Missed a few games, probably one of the more consistant ones though
Carolina Panthers- Stewart
Chicago Bears- Forte- Injured
Cincinnati Bengals- Hill - Inconsistent
Cleveland Browns - No one really knew... no one doing great
Dallas Cowboys- Randle - Cut
Denver Broncos - Anderson - Bust
Detroit Lions - Abdullah - Bust
Green Bay Packers - Lacy - Bust
Houston Texans- Foster - Injured
Indianapolis Colts- Gore - Inconsistent this year, getting worn down
Jacksonville Jaguars- Yeldon has been consistently okay
Kansas City Chiefs- Charles - Injured
Miami Dolphins - Miller - Misused first few weeks. Better now.
Minnesotta Vikings- Peterson- Good.
New England Patriots - Lewis - Injured
New Orleans Saints - Ingram - Injured
New York Jets- Ivory - Stud!
Oakland Raiders - Murray - Been okay but cooled off a lot
Philadelphia Eagles- Murray - Bust
Pittsburgh Steelers - Bell- Injured
San Diego Chargers- Gordon - Bust
San Francisco 49ers - Hyde - Injured
Seattle Seahawks - Lynch- Injured
Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Martin - Stud!
Tennessee Titans - Cobb? Injured.
Washington Redskins - Morris - Bust.

Really, Peterson, Ivory, Martin are the only pre season starters who you have to be happy with for the full season if you drafted this year. Maybe Miller, Mccoy, Stewart can be put into that too. But thats an incredibly low percentage.

 

[theplayer11]

Peterson good while Martin, Ivory have been studs?..Peterson has outscored both...good list though of how it's turned out

 

[NeverEnough]

Injuries cannot be predicted. Handcuff your stars if you can & hope you picked the right handcuff. I lost L. Bell, Foster & CJ2K in one league, but I'm 10-3 & in the playoffs. I drafted well elsewhere & mined the WW very well. Those 2 things are what got me here IMO. I also made a couple good trades.

 

[Arodin]

Peterson good while Martin, Ivory have been studs?..Peterson has outscored both...good list though of how it's turned out

Peterson was drafted as a top 3-5 pick, while Ivory was a late 3rd/early 4th at best...and Martin was often later. I think it fair to say that Martin and Ivory outplayed their draft position more than Peterson did (or could have). That's likely the spirit of the remark.

 

[ldizzle]

Crazy year when guys like Darren McFadden and Jonathan Stewart stay healthy all year...

 

[Deamon]

Peterson good while Martin, Ivory have been studs?..Peterson has outscored both...good list though of how it's turned out

Peterson was drafted as a top 3-5 pick, while Ivory was a late 3rd/early 4th at best...and Martin was often later. I think it fair to say that Martin and Ivory outplayed their draft position more than Peterson did (or could have). That's likely the spirit of the remark.

Ya that's how I meant it. Didn't mean to say they were better, was just trying to make a quick comment on each player and those guys have been very pleasant surprises. AP has also been a stud though for sure.

 

[Phantom Knight]

"Top" RB's per team going into this season:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Martin - delayed Stud!

Martin did little enough the first 3 weeks that I cut him loose. But yeah from week 4 onward he has been good to great and in someone's lineup.

 

[Bracie Smathers]

"Top" RB's per team going into this season:

Arizona Cardinals- Ellington- Injured/Bust

Atlanta Falcons- Coleman? No one really knew.

Baltimore Ravens- Forsett- Injured

Buffalo Bills- Mccoy- Missed a few games, probably one of the more consistant ones though

Carolina Panthers- Stewart

Chicago Bears- Forte- Injured

Cincinnati Bengals- Hill - Inconsistent

Cleveland Browns - No one really knew... no one doing great

Dallas Cowboys- Randle - Cut

Denver Broncos - Anderson - Bust

Detroit Lions - Abdullah - Bust

Green Bay Packers - Lacy - Bust

Houston Texans- Foster - Injured

Indianapolis Colts- Gore - Inconsistent this year, getting worn down

Jacksonville Jaguars- Yeldon has been consistently okay

Kansas City Chiefs- Charles - Injured

Miami Dolphins - Miller - Misused first few weeks. Better now.

Minnesotta Vikings- Peterson- Good.

New England Patriots - Lewis - Injured

New Orleans Saints - Ingram - Injured

New York Jets- Ivory - Stud!

Oakland Raiders - Murray - Been okay but cooled off a lot

Philadelphia Eagles- Murray - Bust

Pittsburgh Steelers - Bell- Injured

San Diego Chargers- Gordon - Bust

San Francisco 49ers - Hyde - Injured

Seattle Seahawks - Lynch- Injured

Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Martin - Stud!

Tennessee Titans - Cobb? Injured.

Washington Redskins - Morris - Bust.

Really, Peterson, Ivory, Martin are the only pre season starters who you have to be happy with for the full season if you drafted this year. Maybe Miller, Mccoy, Stewart can be put into that too. But thats an incredibly low percentage.

Good post.

I have always had that 'gut feeling' that fresh legs are needed later in the season but I never saw it in detail showing why.

Just having a guy at the beginning of the year isn't enough, you need at least two and a good backup but during the year you can see that at least one or two of those guys will go down or be ineffective meaning you will inevitably need to rely on the WW to find a guy with fresh legs late in the year.

 

[PIK95]

I went heavy Wr's and TE this year and then grabbed backups Gio-Duke-Starks-Oliver-Ajayi late in the draft. Its a sixteen teamer that starts three wr's ppr. It worked out very well.

 

[UncleZen]

I started the season with L. Bell, CJ Anderson, Dion Lewis, CJ2K, and Deangelo Williams. After a couple of weeks, I was disappointed with CJ but figured he would turn it around and I had the best set of backs in the league. Now, well we can all figure out how this turned out. (especially considering my starting QB was Romo.)

All that said, I will stockpile as RB's next year using the same strategy. It usually works.