Tough but I think Dixon. He's trending upward while West is faltering a bit.If you had to own one (redraft, standard scoring) would it be West or Dixon?
It was haley.West got rejected by CLE and TEN. Enough said. Dixon should be the starter. But, Harbaugh is acting like John Fox did in Carolina with Deshaun Foster and Deangelo Williams. That was maddingly frustrating back in the day.
That idiot KC coach (Haley I think) did the same thing with a washed up Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles for a couple of years.
Again, no. Dixon and West had better camps than the incumbents Forsett and Buck Allen, and Dixon appeared to have taken over the starting job in the most important third preseason game before injuring his MCL. There are two grades of MCL injury - one which takes 2 to 4 weeks to heal, and one 4 to 8. Nobody knew which one, and a couple sites tweeted he would be out 4 weeks. Turns out he was out closer to 8.West got rejected by CLE and TEN. Enough said. Dixon should be the starter. But, Harbaugh is acting like John Fox did in Carolina with Deshaun Foster and Deangelo Williams. That was maddingly frustrating back in the day.
That idiot KC coach (Haley I think) did the same thing with a washed up Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles for a couple of years.
I won't argue that the Ravens are tearing the NFL apart or anything, but after two straight wins vs. division opponents, I doubt Harbaugh is feeling much pressure to change things.West got rejected by CLE and TEN. Enough said. Dixon should be the starter. But, Harbaugh is acting like John Fox did in Carolina with Deshaun Foster and Deangelo Williams. That was maddingly frustrating back in the day.
That idiot KC coach (Haley I think) did the same thing with a washed up Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles for a couple of years.
Those games were both home games, the 1st against Pitt with Ben hobbled and then against an awful Browns team. The schedule gets much tougher starting next week, so they're going to have to play much better to win those (although I think the running backs themselves aren't the main problem).I won't argue that the Ravens are tearing the NFL apart or anything, but after two straight wins vs. division opponents, I doubt Harbaugh is feeling much pressure to change things.
These guys are trying to win NFL games, not fantasy football games. Using both guys seems to be working.
Honestly, I was going to post something similar to this last night immediately after the game (with a few caveats) so I am glad to see a confirmation of my thoughts from a smart poster such as BostonFred and am in total agreement that Dixon is great, but I have already been carrying the torch for this guy in this thread for some time so didn't want to dominate or continue to push this too much like a fanboy. Would rather see what the pool thinks. The only thing I will add is (and I am a huge Dixon believer) that the called back run was on 3rd and long, so while it was a nice run, it was in one of those situations where the D was playing vs a deep pass. Also, West just sucked last night compared to Dixon (stats tonight / college tape/ draft profile / & eye test all confirm this so it wont bee too much longer now), but Dixon did his damage vs CLE, which also sux, so while its encouraging to see his touches going up, I'm not going to get too excited yet and still wouldn't start him yet, but down the line he could be huge considering his easy sch and the fact that he is clearly better than West in most of the important phases of the game.bostonfred said:West ran the ball 21 times for 65 yards. His longest run of the night were 17, 6, 5, and 4 yards. His other 17 runs went for 33 yards.
I am not cherry picking. I don't need to. West ran for 3 yards per carry. That's not great. But compare it side by side with Dixon.
Dixon ran it 6 times for 11, 6, 0, 5, 6 and 10 yards (plus a 17 yard run called back for holding). These runs were all on first and second down and went for 4 first downs, so they're not watered down third down back carries. He simply ran better than West did.
Dixon added 5 catches for 42 yards with a long of 12. West had one catch for 12. Again, he caught the ball better than West.
West also whiffed on a block early that got Flacco hit (they drew a roughing the passer penalty). Dixon stood guys up a couple times but went out for a lot of pass routes too.
Dixon ended up with 80 yards on 11 touches. West ended up with 77 yards on 22 touches.
Draw your own conclusions about whether this will remain a split backfield or if West will remain the starter/top back.
Couldn't have said it better myself. All you need to know about this situation is right here. Table set for a nice run EOY. Honestly, if it were not for the early season injury, I believe Dixon would have been one of the SODs and been producing like a RB1 all season.Again, no. Dixon and West had better camps than the incumbents Forsett and Buck Allen, and Dixon appeared to have taken over the starting job in the most important third preseason game before injuring his MCL. There are two grades of MCL injury - one which takes 2 to 4 weeks to heal, and one 4 to 8. Nobody knew which one, and a couple sites tweeted he would be out 4 weeks. Turns out he was out closer to 8.
In his first games back from injury, they eased him in. Then thty gave him more cerries last week, and he looked good before getting blasted on a tackle and getting a "chest contusion". He kept playing but after a couple decent gains early in the game he didn't get much more and both of them were getting hit in the backfield as pittsburgh keyed in on the run, allowing that mike wallace td and some pass interference while they hemmed in the short stuff.
This week dixon ran for over 6 yards a carry while west ran for 3 against the same d and with more carries. He looks healthy and for the first time he looks like the guy who had won the job in preseason. They didn't use him a ton this week on short rest with a chest bruise and a big lead against a 0 win team that was turning the ball over, but when the games was in doubt, he was getting a decent share of touches (west out touched him 5 to 3 in the first quarter and 4 to 3 in the second, but dixon was targeted on a couple passes so they had about the same number of plays called for them).
With a longer rest before their next game i would expect dixon to be fully healthy and get about half the touches again, maybe more. and if he vontinues to outperform west as he has done before and after the mcl injury, i would expect him to take over in the next couple weeks for a playoff run.
It was cleveland, but he got 80 yards on 11 touches. 5 or more yards on all but 2 of his touches. He's fresh legs guy. Fresh legs guy wins leagues. Every year.
LMAOHonestly, I was going to post something similar to this last night immediately after the game (with a few caveats) so I am glad to see a confirmation of my thoughts from a smart poster such as BostonFred and am in total agreement that Dixon is great, but I have already been carrying the torch for this guy in this thread for some time so didn't want to dominate or continue to push this too much like a fanboy.
West has a decent NFL sample size telling you he almost certainly isn't going to be a league winner down the stretch.If you had to own one (redraft, standard scoring) would it be West or Dixon?
Payton Hillis won people leagues as a Browns RB one year. Don't write off West.West has a decent NFL sample size telling you he almost certainly isn't going to be a league winner down the stretch.
Dixon has a small (almost meaningless) sample size telling you he probably isn't going to be.
This time of year, from my RB4 or similar slot, I'm looking for potential league winners, period. Give me the guy who has maybe a low double-digit percentage chance of that over the guy who has virtually none, 100 times out of 100.
He's fresh legs guy. Fresh legs guy wins leagues. Every year.
Thanks manMister CIA said:Great work in here Stompin Tom and Boston Fred.
Fred, you're the best thing going in this forum.
Me happy.Baltimore Ravens RB Kenneth Dixon (knee) feels like he is 100 percent recovered after missing time due to a medial collateral ligament injury in his left knee. "I feel like I'm back 100 percent, and I'm ready for the workload that the team gives me," Dixon said.
West is a good 2 down back, but not nearly as good as a pass catching RB.https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/800379575251386368
Per Rapoport, West will start but Dixon's carries will increase given his TNF performance.
Terrence West should adopt Mark Ingram as a drinking buddy -- both backs proven they can start and do well, but are held back by a coach who hates them.
And yes, I'm a Dixon owner. All about Dix getting his shot as he seems more dynamic, but having watched all Ravens games this year, can say with confidence that West has done nothing wrong to really lose his starting spot. I don't see him keeping it much linger regardless.
Wow. I'd call that being in. I own both these guys and don't think I'd give up Kelce for Dixon.Officially on this train in dynasty. Just accepted Dixon for Travis kelce. Kelce had an expensive contract but the other guy is in playoff contention and needed a te.
I love kelce but hate Alex smith. Smith holds him back from being elite and doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Plus his contract was pricey. My team is in rebuild mode and I needed rbs. I think Dixon is the future in Balt.Wow. I'd call that being in. I own both these guys and don't think I'd give up Kelce for Dixon.
Not sure I want to start him yet due to better options but if you need a RB this week you could do a lot worse. At the very least he is a great bench player to throw in if your team suffers an injury.I'm tempted to put him in as a flex play.
Probably a mistake but it's a pretty solid match-up for a breakout game. He's averaging 12 opportunities/game since the bye week (high of 17 and low of 7), if he can get going early I could see him leading the backfield in snaps/touches/targets.
According to SSN&D's awesome spreadsheet (if you aren't using this resource you're missing out in a huge way) Dixon's snap % has been 29%, 32%, 39% and 46% and Terrance West has been in on 41%, 41%, 42% & 36% over that same time span. Dixon's utilization seems to be trending up too 11, 13, 7, 17 (targets+carries). The 7 opps two weeks ago is definitely a concern but the upside now seems to be there (at least it's not limited by injury anymore).
Dunno. Trying to talk myself into starting him AND benching him at the same time.
We need to win this week to make the playoffs, in some casesStompin' Tom Connors said:Love Dixon, think he'll continue to progress but not enough still for me to believe volume or split will change -- both he and West will likely get around 12 carries per their averages, with both being involved in the passing game, too.
Definitely possible for Dixon to get slightly more work, which I see as a continuing trend if he continues to perform at the level he is currently. Also definitely possible for a breakout game against a middling Dolphins run D that is reeling a little from last week.
But like others, would take some of the higher probability backs mentioned (Blount, Booker, Hill) instead of troitting out Dixon. If he blows up on your bench, at the very least you will know you can capitalize in the playoffs as that would shift the split more solidly in Dixon's favor ROS.
I disagree with you higher probability argument for Blount, Booker, Hill.Stompin' Tom Connors said:Love Dixon, think he'll continue to progress but not enough still for me to believe volume or split will change -- both he and West will likely get around 12 carries per their averages, with both being involved in the passing game, too.
Definitely possible for Dixon to get slightly more work, which I see as a continuing trend if he continues to perform at the level he is currently. Also definitely possible for a breakout game against a middling Dolphins run D that is reeling a little from last week.
But like others, would take some of the higher probability backs mentioned (Blount, Booker, Hill) instead of troitting out Dixon. If he blows up on your bench, at the very least you will know you can capitalize in the playoffs as that would shift the split more solidly in Dixon's favor ROS.
Snap count might be similar but what is the touch count for point of comparison?I disagree with you higher probability argument for Blount, Booker, Hill.
Dixon has just as much chance of success as any of those guys, see his snap count in the 45-55% range this week.
Snap count week 12:
Booker 58%
Jeremy Hill 49%
Dixon 46%
Blount 37%
Booker -25 touches 24/79 and 1/22Snap count might be similar but what is the touch count for point of comparison?
Thanks!Booker -25 touches 24/79 and 1/22
J. Hill - 18 touches 12/21 and 6/61
Kenneth Dixon -17 touches 13/49 and 4/31
Blount -11/67
No problem, all 4 of those guys kind of just melt together on the page for me, biggest separator obviously is matchup/gameflow.Thanks!
The trend is certainly there but Dixon still seems a game or two off from a real coming out party.
He'll stay on my bench and will remain my "break glass in case of emergency".
I look forward to his draft value next year though.
Debating Booker vs. Dixon.Starting him this week, not thrilled with my other RB2/RB3 options J. Hill/Booker, Bloom has a nice piece on Dixon in his sleeper report.