I have a roster spot to fill, and I would like to pick up a potential sleeper RB that may have an impact the second half of the season. We all know about Jones-Drew. Turner the Burner is always good to have in case LT gets hurt, but what about Leon Washington. I have read the numerous threads about him, but I would like to hear some opinions regarding his worth on a roster vs guys like Turner, Jones-Drew.
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Leon Washington vs the rest (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Shorty
- Start date
Brassmonkey71
Footballguy
Third
Footballguy
AC is down the hall on the right.
Yes, I am fully aware that the assistant coach forum is available. I also use the search function regularly and read all threads regarding Washington. None of the threads compared his potential versus other possible sleepers like Jones-Drew, Turner, Gado, etc. They spoke mostly of his potential versus other Jets RBs. So turn the fantasy football arrogance off and lighten up. If I have a who do I start question, I will gladly use the AC, or more likely, I will make the decision myself.birdy said:
I think the first thing to do is ask the opportunity question.
Drew is behind Fred Taylor, who, by all accounts is running well. There's the injury issue, but aside from that, I think it would be close to impossible for Drew to win the starting job.
Turner is in the same boat. No injury = no upside.
Gado is in a different situation. He could wind up winning the job in Houston, and we've seen him running in NFL games. The note of caution here is that he was reported throughout the summer ot have a hard time adjusting to the zone blocking scheme, and I suspect that GB got rid of him precisely for that reason. Still, given the dearth of talent at RB in Houston, he has a real shot.
Washington is somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, there is no RB who MUST get touches - the starting job is wide open. Washington is undersized, but he's built thick - a Jones-Drew clone. We haven't really seen enough on the field to evaluate him - he had a couple of nice plays where he showed speed and elusiveness, but we really haven't seen him all that much. I think that given the presence of Barlow and Houston, two big backs who haven't run out of chances yet, Washington is probably not going to take the starting job anyime soon. However, I'd rather have him on my roster than pray for an injury to LT.
I guess I like him about as much as Drew.
Drew is behind Fred Taylor, who, by all accounts is running well. There's the injury issue, but aside from that, I think it would be close to impossible for Drew to win the starting job.
Turner is in the same boat. No injury = no upside.
Gado is in a different situation. He could wind up winning the job in Houston, and we've seen him running in NFL games. The note of caution here is that he was reported throughout the summer ot have a hard time adjusting to the zone blocking scheme, and I suspect that GB got rid of him precisely for that reason. Still, given the dearth of talent at RB in Houston, he has a real shot.
Washington is somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, there is no RB who MUST get touches - the starting job is wide open. Washington is undersized, but he's built thick - a Jones-Drew clone. We haven't really seen enough on the field to evaluate him - he had a couple of nice plays where he showed speed and elusiveness, but we really haven't seen him all that much. I think that given the presence of Barlow and Houston, two big backs who haven't run out of chances yet, Washington is probably not going to take the starting job anyime soon. However, I'd rather have him on my roster than pray for an injury to LT.
I guess I like him about as much as Drew.
FFdork
Footballguy
Not true. Washington is still available in all my leagues, as he probably is in most leagues with short rosters or those with owners that don't frequent FF boards. In leagues that only have 1 or 2 sharks, you just can't get everybody on your roster.
I didn't say he wasn't available - I said he is not available as a SLEEPER which is what his post alluded to.He will cost a lot more this week after playing last week and the Coach saying he would get more playing time this week. His AVERAGE cost in 8 NFFC leagues from Las Vegas was OVER $200 this week - it was obviously a lot more in the New York leagues.
Unless he can just click 'Add/Drop'.
As the original poster I will say he would be considered a sleeper in my league and could be had with a click of the add button. I appreciate all of the valuable opinions. It shed light on the potential of a few RBs. I am strong at RB, but still may get Leon hoping he does well and use him for trade bait. We have Jets homer in the league (and by Homer I mean a guy with blinders who still thinks CuMart is coming back to save the day) and I need an QB upgrade.
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The Carnage
Footballguy
You just had to go and take the drama out of it, didn't you?
If anyone considers Leon anything but a sleeper then they know more than he's shown on the field. He's guaranteed no carries and competes with 3 others. Just because we know his name and he's had 10 carries hardly nullifies his sleeper status. I picked him up in my league with a non-priority pick, though we have only 12 man rosters so you really go out on a limb for such a guy.
FFdork
Footballguy
I feel ya. So, to summarize, he's no longer a sleeper in hardcore/high stakes leagues. In your more casual money leagues he may range from on the radar to deep asleep depending on your league members and proximity to NYC.
brednbuddah
Footballguy
the guy is 5'7''; 202. I don't see him as anything other than a COP/3rd down back.
Chaos Commish
Footballguy
I find the debate over his sleeper status worthless.
drpill
Footballguy
Warrick Dunn 5'9", 180Brian Westbrook 5'8" 203Charlie Garner 5'10" 190Barry Sanders 5'8" 200It's unlikely he becomes a huge contributor, but there are several players of his size who have had success in the NFL...
tombonneau
Footballguy
Interesting, didn't realize he was nearly identical to Westbrook in stature. So there is precedent for a guy that size carrying the load.I picked him up this week, if only to move him to Barlow owner should Washington get a ton of touches this week.Btw, DrPill,
on BOC avatar.
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Brassmonkey71
Footballguy
STUPID POSTThere have been other small backs that have excelled!!Dunn and Sanders come to mind!!!STUPID STUPID POST
brakeyawself
Footballguy
Washington is 5'8 202lbs. Jones-Drew is the guy who's 5'7 212lbs.
Here is the data from the WCOFF leagues (my thanks to edcnp for compiling)
Washington was bid on in 67 of 70 leagues in the main event (two leagues had teams that had DRAFTED him - must have been Jets fans in the AC drafts; and one league had NO team bid on him > there he WAS a sleeper)
The average winning bid was $289
Highest Winning bid = $912 (the underbid was $177 LOL)
Lowest Winning bid = $48 (the underbid there was $11 - another league where he was a sleeper)
Washington was bid on in 67 of 70 leagues in the main event (two leagues had teams that had DRAFTED him - must have been Jets fans in the AC drafts; and one league had NO team bid on him > there he WAS a sleeper)
The average winning bid was $289
Highest Winning bid = $912 (the underbid was $177 LOL)
Lowest Winning bid = $48 (the underbid there was $11 - another league where he was a sleeper)
Gopher State
Footballguy
VERY
joffer
Footballguy
Rovers
Footballguy
Washington himself has admitted he's 5'7".
While there have been smallish RB's who have become feature backs like Dave Megget, they are few and far between. I wouldn't say Washington has no shot at becoming a feature RB, but the odds are very long against it. Like most rookie RB's (and Houston is only in his second year) the last thing they generally become proficient at is in pass blocking and picking up the blitz.... something Curtis Martin was one of the very best at. Barlow has more experience in the NFL, and his blocking has improved since he entered the league.... bad pass blocking was a rap on Barlow for a long time too. He still isn't great at it, but is adequate.
Washington though, is in fact very much like Megget. Short, elusive, VERY fast and hard to get a good hit on. Given the so far sub-par run blocking the Jets O line has showed, Washington may be best suited to run behind it of the RB's on the Jets' roster. The Jets RB lines up seven yards behind the LOS in Shottenhiemer's offense. That makes Washington's speed that much more important in getting to holes that the O line can't sustain for a long period of time. This has led to the speculation that Washington's touches could go way up against Indy tomorrow. Houston didn't hurt his chances of seeing an increase in playing time with his 5 yard TD run in which he ran over an LB to get itno the end zone. Unless his pass blocking has improved on the practice field, he will have a hard time stealing touches from Barlow, however.
While there have been smallish RB's who have become feature backs like Dave Megget, they are few and far between. I wouldn't say Washington has no shot at becoming a feature RB, but the odds are very long against it. Like most rookie RB's (and Houston is only in his second year) the last thing they generally become proficient at is in pass blocking and picking up the blitz.... something Curtis Martin was one of the very best at. Barlow has more experience in the NFL, and his blocking has improved since he entered the league.... bad pass blocking was a rap on Barlow for a long time too. He still isn't great at it, but is adequate.
Washington though, is in fact very much like Megget. Short, elusive, VERY fast and hard to get a good hit on. Given the so far sub-par run blocking the Jets O line has showed, Washington may be best suited to run behind it of the RB's on the Jets' roster. The Jets RB lines up seven yards behind the LOS in Shottenhiemer's offense. That makes Washington's speed that much more important in getting to holes that the O line can't sustain for a long period of time. This has led to the speculation that Washington's touches could go way up against Indy tomorrow. Houston didn't hurt his chances of seeing an increase in playing time with his 5 yard TD run in which he ran over an LB to get itno the end zone. Unless his pass blocking has improved on the practice field, he will have a hard time stealing touches from Barlow, however.
