Fantasy Football Podcast 2016 - The TRUTH About Fantasy RB's in 2015, Part 2

The opportunity would be there. And he started off great. I mean, week after week after week, he was reliable. In the first nine weeks, there were only two games under double digits. He was utilized in the team when they were healthy. But then something strange happened. They go to their buy week. And when they came back from their buy week, they decided we are not going to use Danny Woodhead.

in any way, shape, or form in the same fashion that we had been using, we are going to focus on Melvin Gordon. Which makes perfect, perfect sense for real life NFL. Because their by week was a good bye week. I mean, it was like a farewell to the playoffs, and we're going to change the transition of the direction. Yes, it was a good bye week. And they were done, so they had to check out what they have in Melvin Gordon. And so for the next month, those four games following that buy, he had...

No weeks in double digits. In fact, three of the four weeks, he had less than five points. So he was worthless. Then Melvin Gordon gets injured, goes out, and he comes back to kind of superstardom. So he is a really hard guy to really wrap your hands around because on one hand, I want to say, look, they decided to go away from him.

They didn't use him towards the end of the year. It took injuries to every offensive weapon to get Daniel Woodhead back on the field. But then I think, well, really, when they were not playing for let's look at the future and they were starting the year, he was an integral part of that game on passing downs. And why wouldn't he be this next year? So it's really... I got two really good questions for you guys. Great. To put this in perspective.

The first one is, and I want you to think about it, don't just react, because I know he finished number 11. Would you have won a Danny Woodhead on your team this year? That's question number one. And number two, do you want him on your team next year? Number one, yes, because he was great for me when I used him.

But didn't fantasy owners then put, look, I was waiting for the shoe to drop on him. So were you. You traded him for C.J. Anderson in the middle of the season because we were waiting for the shoe to drop. So the question is, if you were an owner that counted on him, he didn't deliver when you needed him to. So that's why I asked the question. When I traded Woodhead, that was because I was trading for the upside of what I thought could be C.J. Anderson. It wasn't necessarily that I thought Woodhead would be bad. But what's the upside of a guy who at that time was probably number three in the league? I mean, you gave up on Danny Woodhead.

I didn't give up on him. I traded him for what I thought C.J. Anderson would. I didn't think Danny Woodhead was a top five running back. You certainly thought he was going to drop off. Otherwise, you don't trade a guy who was top three, right? I thought C.J. Anderson would be better. It wasn't that I had a problem with Danny Woodhead. Do I want him on my team next year? Absolutely. He's going to be a guy you can draft super late, ninth round again, and the potential is there. It may not work out.

next year. So I looked it up. Ken Wisenhunt was there in 2013. That was the good Danny Woodhead. He had six receiving touchdowns again that year. He had 400-something yards in the guy. So for that kind of potential, a guy you're drafting in the ninth round. Every time. It's impossible to argue the value of it. But Jason, answer those two questions. Yeah, I have to say, you know, not being reactionary and actually thinking.

If I was an owner, I would still have wanted him on my team. It is because of the value. Because where I got him, he was going to be 9th, even later this previous year, where we drafted him, you could get him very, very late. This coming year, I expect you're going to get him super late again. You know, 8th, 9th round is where you're going to get a guy who really, we know. There's been his last two healthy years. He has been a...

An RB1. So you've got to have, you've got to not sour on him too much. And honestly, it's good news for next year that he had that stretch after the buy where they were trying to see what they had in Melvin Gordon because his value is going to drop in this year's draft again. All right. The next two guys on our list are Frank Gore and Darren McFadden. Now the things that stick out to me, we'll talk about both guys, but Darren McFadden was the actual number five most consistent running back this year. Okay, he had 11 top 25 performances. Number five?

It says fifth. Fifth most consistent. Darren McFadden, right there. Consistent. Oh, I was looking at Frank. I thought we were talking about Frank. He had one top five and he had one dud game. Now, Gore was the 15th most consistent right around where he finished. We'll wait to get into McFadden, but I don't know how much that speaks about McFadden and how much that speaks about, hey, the consistency level of a Dallas running back is going to be blank. It's going to be right in this zone. But Frank Gore...

260 for 967 and 6. By far the worst yards per carry he's ever had in his career. 58 targets. Another guy that's hard to analyze because of age mixed with the offense losing Andrew Luck. There's not a lot that I project forward for Frank Gore in terms of success next year. It doesn't mean I wouldn't draft him. It just means that the guy is getting older. He showed all the signs of getting older this year.

He showed injury, what, you know, Pagano beat up from the feet up. You know, what are your guys' thoughts on Frank Gore? This is a guy who really didn't take advantage of good matchups or anything like that. He's a guy that I would still draft. He's not going to be banished next year. It's in the middle rounds. I'm fine taking him. The Colts will have to address the running back position if that's bringing back.

Bradshaw. What was Bradshaw's injury? I don't even remember what happened this year because he gets hurt every single year. I thought he broke a bone or something. He probably did. But they have to do something. No, they don't because they have Ryan Grigson as the general manager still. They are bringing him back so they do not need to address the running back position. Coming to the Indianapolis Colts in the first round, another wide receiver. No, I hear T. Rich can be signed. He's a free agent. That's true.

You know, Frank Gore had a bad hand dealt to him this year. You talk about the fact that he had his worst production. And I was a Frank Gore owner in our league of record the entire year, had him pretty much from week two on and watched his games. And I still saw juice.

I didn't see a guy that couldn't run well. He bursted off some good runs when he needed to. He had a couple just absurd fumbles on the goal line that were. Yeah, that was weird. You take those bizarreo like I'm just throwing the ball away moments out. And I think our view of him turns out better than he was already an RB1. But with Andrew Luck going out and all their quarterback woes and their offensive line woes,

I don't think you could have expected more from Frank Gore this year. And so his average draft position should fall pretty dramatically, pretty dramatically this year. He's a year older, and people were scared of him already because of age. He was beat up. And so, yeah, I think he's going to fall too far. He's going to be a guy that's going to be on a lot of my teams next year, depending on what they do at running back. The Colts, 24th in the league in points, 28th in yards, 22nd in passing yards, 29th in rushing yards. This was not an offense.

They could move the ball with that Andrew Luck. And he was an RB1. So to speak to your point, here's the difference between him and like Latavius Murray, right? Because you could make similar arguments for them. Six touchdowns on the ground. It's very low for the guy who gets all the carries. The only thing that will be thrown out there, which has been thrown out there for far too long, maybe. But again, you can't not throw it out there every year he gets older. Yeah. He'll be 33.

And they showed from the beginning of the year if they had the ability to use somebody else. They tried to use Josh Robinson before they cut him. But they took a load off of Gore. I don't see any reason why they would, with Andrew Luck coming back, give Gore more of a workload. So there will always be that. There will be a limited ceiling, I think, for Frank Gore. But if he drops to where he's being, you know, the 25th.

28th running back taken. I mean, I'm going to do a backflip. I'd love to have him. Sure. That makes sense. So, Darren McFadden, Mike, I know he's your favorite player in the league. So tell me everything about Darren McFadden. Darren McFadden workload and targets. He had 53 targets, and we've seen that the Dallas offensive line. He really averaged 4.6 a carry this year? Yeah, he was good. Wow, he really was. He was good.

And the Dallas offensive line absolutely plays a part in that. I mean, we saw them make Joseph Randall at the beginning of the year look halfway decent. And... Last three games of the year for McFadden, 6.2 a carry, 5.9 and carry 7.7 a carry. That's ridiculous, man. I mean, like... He did look like he maintained, you know, his juice all year. Let's say moving forward. There's only 28. Darren McFadden is the guy...

on, he's the main running back on that team with Tony Romo, with Des Bryant. Dude, give me Darren McFadden. Sure. We, the Dallas running back was one of the biggest topics of conversation this off season because everyone assumed that they would do something in the draft and they.

They picked up Darren McFadden off the free agent scrap pile, and they turned him into a fantasy stud. So you fix the equation of the offense. They already have a pretty decent defense. I mean, Darren McFadden would be great next year. I don't see them addressing the running back position in any major way. There's going to be every time you talk about a free agent running back.

the question is going to be, is you going to go to Dallas? When you talk about a rookie running back, it's going to be, is Dallas going to grab them because of that offensive line and the ability? But Jerry Jones doesn't need to address their running back position because they have a guy who proved, I mean, it wasn't a short stint. You know, their buy was in week six. And from that buy on, he was the guy. And he only had two games under 10 fantasy points, and those were nines. It's just one of those things. Jerry Jones and the word need.

Don't often mix together. So it's one of those things where I would not be surprised. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I would not be surprised if they took a running back high because they believe they want to max some. There's a difference between being, looking at the numbers, well, you know, Derek McFadden did really well. Are we maximizing this ultra offensive line potential or not? Right, right. I just see the pride. Derek Henry, number four, Dallas. I'm not putting that, just throwing it out there. It could happen. He likes the names. Maybe, but.

Dallas the last couple years has actually been smart in their draft. The chips were all lining up for Johnny Mansell to be drafted in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys, and Jerry Jones was able to hold him. He said he wanted him, though. Yeah, that's what I was saying. You know he wanted to draft Mansell. He can get him this year. But my point is that he actually made the right football decision, and he's been making the right football decision. But the right football decision might be.

To get the best running back you can get for that offensive line. I don't see Darren McFadden holding up through another season at 29. Getting someone else in there is a good football decision. But the pride of Jerry Jones might say. They're going to be a good team next year. Their defense was really good. The only analysis we can do on Darren McFadden is a hypothetical. Wait and see. Yes. But if he's back as the lead guy and they've done pretty much nothing, they brought in a backup.

He's the perfect running back to draft when you decide you want to go wide receiver early. Because his consistency level was so high. Do you think you're going to be able to? Yes. He will be. He will not be a first round. No, no, no. I mean, he's somebody who you could go wide receiver early and get back in the third round. I would say he'll be back of a second top of the third. To me. If status quo. If status quo doesn't change, I think he might be first. No. Why? I mean, he doesn't even finish. He's not even a top 12 back.

He's a 13th bat. Well, he wasn't a featured back. Yeah, the first. You can't be a first round. No, no, no. I mean, okay, second round is probably more realistic, but I think people are going to be really high if it stays status quo. Okay. Jeremy Hill is number 14 on the list. Oh, Jeremy Hill, you were voted. You were given a footie for the most disappointing player. The most disappointing season. The footie award winner, Jeremy Hill.

223 for 794, and that was the problem. He got the same amount of carries as last year, which, by the way, we thought would go up. He only averaged 3.6 a carry. He looked like a guy who lost confidence at multiple points in the season, barely caught anything through the passing game, and he was the 18th most consistent running back, but he pooped your team on several important weeks. That was the problem. Yes, look, he finished 14. That's the silver lining is, hey, he ended up here. 11 touchdowns will do that.