But I do find it funny that no matter how many times the question is asked and in how many forms all of us are still unable to find a good example of a successful small fantasy/real life RB other than Barry and I don't want to hear DMan's 'whats a few inches argument?' either because obviously when you add in the 2 or 3 inches it sure seems to make a difference in the numbers. I mean you've both already agreed that real life success (super bowl, 1500yards) isn't important to the fantasy owner. But then you bring up names like Dunn and Faulk & other RBBC situations...and this should get the average fantasy owner excited??? I would guarantee you that the average Denver starting RB over the last 7 years or so probably averaged more carries per game than Dunn and Faulk combined. So if you're telling me that in the best possible scenario that Q can be RBBC and in the worst he gets to watch Mike Anderson and (insert FA name here) get all the carries. Then what you're saying is exactly what I'm saying... that in real life or fantasy Quentin is almost worthless. Thanks for proving my point though.
unless you play in a league where only the top-20 or so RBs are on a roster, I can't understand for the life of me how you could argue that the primary ballcarrier in a RBBC would be "practically worthless" in fantasy football.There are plenty of other RBs of
similar size to Griffin that have achieved success running the ball in the NFL.
Quentin Griffin 5'7", 195lbs
Barry Sanders 5'8", 203lbs
Brian Westbrook 5'8", 200lbs
Kevin Faulk 5'8", 202lbs
Amos Zereoue 5'8", 207lbs
Warrick Dunn 5'9", 180lbs
Michael Bennett 5'9", 210lbs
Domanick Davis 5'9", 215lbs
Jamel White, 5'9", 220lbs
Charlie Garner 5'10", 190lbs
Thurman Thomas, 5'10", 205lbs
Emmitt Smith, 5'10", 209lbs
Marshall Faulk, 5'10", 210lbs
If you want to only look at height, then yes he is smaller than the rest. But, his weight is adequate and suggests he has a strong enough frame to be a 10-15 carries/game type of RB. Personally, I'm not hyping him to be the second coming of Barry Sanders, and I'm not even saying he's going to be a consistent RB2 for anyone in 2004, BUT he does have value and I think it is similar to the value that players like Westbrook and Dunn will have, yet they will be drafted 3 or 4 rounds higher than him in many leagues. That makes him a quality pickup at the moment. If things do change and the Broncos bring in somebody else, then perhaps his value will decrease a bit. But, until that happens, Griffin is the frontrunner for that starting job, IMHO. Admittedly, the Broncos would not be smart to put all their hopes in a RB of that size, but I expect them to bring in more of a complementary player or perhaps a player to come in and compete with Griffin and provide depth at the position rather than going out and trying to find a Portis replacement.
At this point, any talk about the Broncos plans in the future is speculation. Based on the way things are right now, I say Griffin is going to be the leading rusher for the Broncos next season. If so, he may not rush for 1000 yards, but he will have value. He doesn't have to be the second coming of Sanders or Portis to be worth consideration on draft day for fantasy owners.