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***Mike James, RB Tampa Bay*** (1 Viewer)

Slapdash

Footballguy
Looks like this kid will get the start this week. Anything to see here?

Seems like just another guy, but any warm body starting at RB can have value.

 
Watched some videos of highlights from his days at Miami.....seems to accelerate quickly but lacks high end speed and does not have "special" burst. Not a whole ton of lateral agility....doesn't appear to be the guy who makes would-be-tacklers miss and doesn't seem to have moves to make up for it (like, for example, Eddie Lacy and his impressive spin move). Does have plus balance and seems to break arm tackles and bounce off guys who don't wrap up well. Seems to play hard. Excels as a receiver and has good hands and runs good routes.

If Tampa's line can play well I don't envision him improving on Martin's numbers....however, his strength in the passing game with a rookie Qb (who targeted him 8 times yesterday) makes him a valuable commodity in PPR. If they hand him the keys and he gets 15-ish touches a game I think he has RB2 upside in PPR.

 
Watched some videos of highlights from his days at Miami.....seems to accelerate quickly but lacks high end speed and does not have "special" burst. Not a whole ton of lateral agility....doesn't appear to be the guy who makes would-be-tacklers miss and doesn't seem to have moves to make up for it (like, for example, Eddie Lacy and his impressive spin move). Does have plus balance and seems to break arm tackles and bounce off guys who don't wrap up well. Seems to play hard. Excels as a receiver and has good hands and runs good routes.

If Tampa's line can play well I don't envision him improving on Martin's numbers....however, his strength in the passing game with a rookie Qb (who targeted him 8 times yesterday) makes him a valuable commodity in PPR. If they hand him the keys and he gets 15-ish touches a game I think he has RB2 upside in PPR.
In the little I watched him in Miami, he was always overshadowed by Duke Johnson making big plays.

 
Given how poorly Martin looked, i'm not holding my breath.
Martin rushed for 4.2+ YPC in 4 of 6 games. Had that one nightmare game against Arizona, but was solid more often than not.

To answer the OP's question, I think any back who stands to get the ball 15-20 times per game has value. James should immediately be a low end RB2.

Can he be more than that? He's got good size and decent mobility. Talent-wise, I don't think he's that far away from someone like Brandon Bolden or Benjarvus Green-Ellis. A no-nonsense 220 pounder with just a little bit of elusiveness and speed. He was pretty pedestrian at Miami though and I think his game lacks dynamic qualities, so don't expect anything radical. He's more likely to be merely solid than exceptional.

 
If Tampa's line can play well I don't envision him improving on Martin's numbers....however, his strength in the passing game with a rookie Qb (who targeted him 8 times yesterday) makes him a valuable commodity in PPR. If they hand him the keys and he gets 15-ish touches a game I think he has RB2 upside in PPR.
:goodposting:

I don't think anyone is expecting a lot running the ball, but should catch a few passes.

 
Watched some videos of highlights from his days at Miami.....seems to accelerate quickly but lacks high end speed and does not have "special" burst. Not a whole ton of lateral agility....doesn't appear to be the guy who makes would-be-tacklers miss and doesn't seem to have moves to make up for it (like, for example, Eddie Lacy and his impressive spin move). Does have plus balance and seems to break arm tackles and bounce off guys who don't wrap up well. Seems to play hard. Excels as a receiver and has good hands and runs good routes.

If Tampa's line can play well I don't envision him improving on Martin's numbers....however, his strength in the passing game with a rookie Qb (who targeted him 8 times yesterday) makes him a valuable commodity in PPR. If they hand him the keys and he gets 15-ish touches a game I think he has RB2 upside in PPR.
He scored 8.3 points in my ppr league in limited action. A 12-15 point average would be an upgrade for me.

 
Watched some videos of highlights from his days at Miami.....seems to accelerate quickly but lacks high end speed and does not have "special" burst. Not a whole ton of lateral agility....doesn't appear to be the guy who makes would-be-tacklers miss and doesn't seem to have moves to make up for it (like, for example, Eddie Lacy and his impressive spin move). Does have plus balance and seems to break arm tackles and bounce off guys who don't wrap up well. Seems to play hard. Excels as a receiver and has good hands and runs good routes.

If Tampa's line can play well I don't envision him improving on Martin's numbers....however, his strength in the passing game with a rookie Qb (who targeted him 8 times yesterday) makes him a valuable commodity in PPR. If they hand him the keys and he gets 15-ish touches a game I think he has RB2 upside in PPR.
He scored 8.3 points in my ppr league in limited action. A 12-15 point average would be an upgrade for me.
I'm with ya. I've got a PPR team where my starting RBs are T-Rich and Lamar Miller. Getting a guy like James, assuming he is the "workhorse" is definitely an upgrade for me too.

 
He has looked like a serviceable guy when given the chance. He looks faster than Blount was but still lacks high end speed & quickness. He should be a good fill in, but the Oline is a mess. Not to mention Carolina Thursday is hard to run on, and then Sea, Mia MNF. He then has an easier schedule Atl, Det, Carolina again Buffalo week 14 playoffs, SF week 15, @STL 16. So a few good playoff games...

 
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Slapdash said:
Rodeojones said:
Given how poorly Martin looked, i'm not holding my breath.
Martin is sitting at RB 20 on FBGs despite already having his bye and being injured half of a game. Not the top 10 people expected, but a solid RB2.
It's weird, people act like scoring approximately 11, 14, and 12 points in standard formats each of the first three weeks is a bad thing from a RB.

 
Slapdash said:
Rodeojones said:
Given how poorly Martin looked, i'm not holding my breath.
Martin is sitting at RB 20 on FBGs despite already having his bye and being injured half of a game. Not the top 10 people expected, but a solid RB2.
It's weird, people act like scoring approximately 11, 14, and 12 points in standard formats each of the first three weeks is a bad thing from a RB.
for a rb drafted in the top 4 it is a bad thing.

 
Per Rotoworld...

Bucs claimed RB Bobby Rainey off waivers from the Browns.
They cut WR Skye Dawson to clear space. A versatile if modestly-talented back, Rainey will slide in as the Bucs' No. 3 behind Mike James and Brian Leonard.
 
Per Rotoworld...

Bucs claimed RB Bobby Rainey off waivers from the Browns.
They cut WR Skye Dawson to clear space. A versatile if modestly-talented back, Rainey will slide in as the Bucs' No. 3 behind Mike James and Brian Leonard.
Bobby Rainey Hype Trainy Part Deux

 
I definitely agree Martin was disappointing.

It always hurts if you draft a guy #2 or 3 and see half the league out producing him.

Only doing 2 leagues this season--Martin went 2nd in both. Where did Reggie Bush go in most drafts? You think owners aren't irate that their #2 overall pick isn't producing close to a Reggie Bush?

ETA:

I don't like James at all in standard formats. If Doug wasn't dominating, why do you expect someone else to?

PPR, maybe more RB dumps were coming/are coming. Who knows.

 
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Martin was underperforming for where he was drafted by fantasy owners (top 5), and Mike James is no Doug Martin; however, James is still worth an add. Nobody is expecting Mike James to deliver numbers of an early first round pick. Rather, he is a rare potential feature back available on the waiver wire you can add for your worst player. At the rate players were dropping this weekend, fielding a viable weekly lineup could become difficult for some fantasy owners.

I agree with EBF's assessment. While nothing really stands out about James' game, he is a versatile runner who does not go down easily, keeps his legs churning on contact, and James has good receiving skills, giving him some extra value in PPR leagues.

EBF said:
Rodeojones said:
Given how poorly Martin looked, i'm not holding my breath.
Martin rushed for 4.2+ YPC in 4 of 6 games. Had that one nightmare game against Arizona, but was solid more often than not.

To answer the OP's question, I think any back who stands to get the ball 15-20 times per game has value. James should immediately be a low end RB2.

Can he be more than that? He's got good size and decent mobility. Talent-wise, I don't think he's that far away from someone like Brandon Bolden or Benjarvus Green-Ellis. A no-nonsense 220 pounder with just a little bit of elusiveness and speed. He was pretty pedestrian at Miami though and I think his game lacks dynamic qualities, so don't expect anything radical. He's more likely to be merely solid than exceptional.
 
Slapdash said:
Rodeojones said:
Given how poorly Martin looked, i'm not holding my breath.
Martin is sitting at RB 20 on FBGs despite already having his bye and being injured half of a game. Not the top 10 people expected, but a solid RB2.
It's weird, people act like scoring approximately 11, 14, and 12 points in standard formats each of the first three weeks is a bad thing from a RB.
for a rb drafted in the top 4 it is a bad thing.
Bad? I don't know about that. Not ideal and less than you were hoping for? Yeah, probably.

But we're still talking about him putting up RB2 numbers...and better numbers than the first 6 weeks of the season last year, at that.

And now we're talking about being better off without him, or not missing him from our teams. Really? RB2 numbers not something we want on our rosters?

 
I think James is a good play for PPR leagues.

Targeted 8 times after Martin went down. I think he could be a poor mans Danny Woodhead in PPR leagues. Not as good, but holding great value

5 catches a game for 30 yards and 50-60 yards rushing is 13-14 points. That's solid.

Throw in an occasional TD and that's a nice stat line.

People looking for him to replace Martin won't like those numbers. They've been hoping for RB1 stats. James should produce like a RB2, so others who didn't see their RB1 take a dump this season may e able to scoop him up and get good RB2, bye week, or flex play out of him

 
That pass was ridiculous. Pass is a strong word for what that was, but it still scores!

 
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It looks like Seattle is susceptable against the inside run. Mike James and Stacy are very similiar runners, and gashed them back-to-back the past couple of weeks. I started James hoping for this kind of game, and he exceeded expectations. He looks good.

 
I watched the whole game today and this kid looks good. Breaking tackles right up the middle and just getting tough yards. Is the Seattle Run D this bad or is this kid Zac Stacy 2.0. Glennon looks good as well, which is making teams actually respect the pass.

Call me crazy but I think this guy may have RB2 upside from here on out. 20+ touches a game in an offense that seems to be clicking finally. When / if Nicks gets back, that only means better upside for James as well.

 
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Didn't play him but I'm very encouraged by this. Hes staying in my lineup from here on out.

 
Not sure if it was this thread, but I mentioned somewhere that Glennon set a record in passing attempts through his first 4 games. I was encouraged by how he looked against Carolina but he didn't get enough touches to put up stats.

Yesterday, the Bucs finally found balance running the ball and looked good on offense doing it. I am going to assume that they look for this balance more going forward. I'm confident that he will produce when given the touches.

The Stacy comparisons are pretty good, he gets yardage and runs with power.

 

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