Starting a guy who figures to get <10 carries over a guy who figures to get >20 carries for ANY REASON seems, to me at least, the height of foolishness.
Starting a great RB with the best O-line in a high powered offense against a worse D vs. starting a very good RB with a decent O-line against one of the best D's in the league. I'll take the guy in the much better matchup. Plus, who's to say LJ gets only 9 carries? Maybe he'll get 12 to 15 this week? All we know is that Priest is scheduled to get 2 out of 3 series, and LJ 1 out of 3 series. Gentleman's bet: LJ vs. Caddy, standard fantasy scoring. I'll take LJ.
Let's say LJ gets 12 carries. I think that's reasonable. Now let's say that Caddy gets 24 carries. I also think that's very reasonable. If Caddy gets absolutely owned and averages a meager 3 yards per carry, LJ would STILL need to average 6 yards per carry to match his production- and don't say that with his line it's no problem, because no KC RB has averaged more than 6 yards per carry in a season.Now, let's say that Caddy breaks a long one again this week. Just one long one. Now his ypc is up to 3.5. Johnson's going to need 7 ypc to match him.
If Caddy gets a solid 4.0? Johnson needs a ridiculous 8 YARDS PER CARRY TO MATCH.
Now let's look at TDs. Johnson is producing a TD every 10 or so carries... which means if he gets 10 carries, it's entirely possible he gets a score... but it's also entirely possible that he DOESN'T. If KC gets 3 rushing TDs, how confident are you that Johnson, with half as many carries as Holmes, will get the majority? Meanwhile, if TB gets even ONE rushing TD, I'm pretty darn confident that Caddy will get it.
Don't sit your studs... especially for a guy who only figures to have a dozen or fewer carries.
Starting a guy who figures to get <10 carries over a guy who figures to get >20 carries for ANY REASON seems, to me at least, the height of foolishness.
Ah, so then me starting LJ over Chris Brown this week is foolish? LJ vs. Raiders D or CB vs. Ravens D.Sorry, any argument AGAINST LJ doesn't hold water...not after last week.
Yes, I think it's foolish, because teams have lit up the Ravens D before, and teams have looked underwhelming against the Raiders D before. If you think Chris Brown is going to get twice as many carries as LJ, then it would require LJ producing at TWICE THE RATE of Brown for them to even have equal value. It happened last week. He also averaged over 10 yards per carry last week. I wouldn't bet on it happening that way again.
Starting a guy who figures to get <10 carries over a guy who figures to get >20 carries for ANY REASON seems, to me at least, the height of foolishness.
the chance that LJ scores a TD in his <10 carries is greater than the chance that Caddy scores one in his >20 carries
I disagree with that statement. The odds that a KC RB scores a TD is better than the odds that Caddy scores, but Caddy's not competing for his TDs. Regardless, TDs aren't the only way to score fantasy points. Plus Caddy's likely to be more involved in the passing game, too.
I'm willing to put it to the test, especially when I have a rookie whose ceiling (as I see it) is 100yds and a TD. Whereas for me, LJ's ceiling is 150yds 2TD's. I'll roll the dice and take a chance.
This is the correct answer.I too am starting LJ over Caddy this week and it is the Shark play. Go ahead and play Caddy because he happens to be "a starter." With the matchups they have this week, this is almost a no-brainer for me.
As to the record, it is interesting for sure. I think, if anything, Vermeil might push it to give the O-line the credit. Might he give LJ some more touches? Particularly in the red zone? If the Cheifs have a sizeable lead, might Priest just sit the 2nd half? All interesting questions.
It will be fun to watch how it shakes out regardless.
Anybody who claims to know what the "shark play" is is ignorant. I've been told what the shark play is so many times it makes my head spin. And a lot of times it doesn't pan out. I think the real shark play is realizing that nothing's guaranteed, analyzing your situation, and deciding how badly you need to take a risk to win the game. If you're outclassed and need to swing for the fences, Johnson might be the "shark play". If you're a much better team than your opponent, then playing it safe is the "shark play". Blindly declaring that one player will outproduce another is never the "shark play", because there are so many variables in ceilings, floors, and expected outputs, not only between the two players, but also between every other player on both teams, that need to be analyzed before making a move.It's been my experience that if you have to call yourself a shark... usually you aren't.