Shuffle Up: The joy of Danny Woodhead
Okay, here are the Shuffle Up rules.
We are talking rest-of-season value. Everything to this point is an audition. If you want leaders to this point, you’ll find them elsewhere. If you want Week 8 rankings, click over here.
Today, we do running backs, and only running backs. Next week, new position.
[Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football: First place wins $100K in our $600K contest for Week 8]
You’ll disagree with stuff because that’s why we have a game. Try to stay grounded and rational with your players, it’s one of the most important skills in your fantasy toolbox.
The prices are unscientific and just a way to compare the players. When players are at the same price, it means they are considered even. I do not compare prices with other shuffles, and I do every shuffle from scratch.
Assume a half-point PPR scoring format. I will eventually comment on many (perhaps most) players, but I do not promise a comment on everyone.
If you have a constructive piece of criticism, I’ll consider it. See something out of place? Offer some reasoning. I may alter the list between initial post and the end of Wednesday.
And now we shuffle, shufflers.
$33 Le'Veon Bell: Good at everything and Ben's just about ready.
$32 Devonta Freeman: Hits hole quickly, gets most out of every run, lovely setup.
$32 Todd Gurley: Stop with these make-up get-Gurley deals; his owners know.
$27 Adrian Peterson: Hasn't been electric, but very high floor and TDs will come.
$25 Matt Forte: Not exciting on a per-play basis, but versatile and will get tons of work.
$24 Doug Martin: Came to camp in better shape and it shows.
$23 Mark Ingram: They ruh in their touchdowns now and I don't see that changing.
$23 Lamar Miller: Every team should hire, then fire, Joe Philbin.
$23 Marshawn Lynch: Terrific when he plays, but we can't ignore earlier nicks.
$21 Justin Forsett: They've fixed the running game and most of carries are his.
$20 Giovani Bernard: More paths to relevance than Hill, though both needed.
$18 Chris Ivory: Looks terrific, but don't ignore past injury/workload concerns.
$17 DeMarco Murray: They're still featuring him, though Mathews looks better.
$16 Danny Woodhead
If you tossed all the running backs into a pool and let the NFL teams re-draft them, Woodhead wouldn't be a lofty selection. But everything's come up Woodhead in this year's version of the Chargers: the team can't run block; the defense has collapsed; Melvin Gordon (cue sound of a draft room laughing) is not ready for prime time. There's one more key element to consider: when the Chargers face a heavy deficit, they don't pack it in and plan for the next week, they aggressively attack garbage time. Woodhead's seven-catch final drive in Week 7 was one for the books, and there's more PPR goodness to come. Woodhead might be just a guy in talent terms, but his setup for fantasy value is delightful. And at the end of it all, we just want the numbers.
$15 LeSean McCoy: Gutting it out, but under 4.0 YPC.
$15 Charcandrick West: Should have a very high touch floor in a Reid offense.
$15 Frank Gore: Been consistent and efficient; I'm not sweating Bradshaw.
$15 T.J. Yeldon: Busted out of late and might get goal-line work eventually.
$15 Latavius Murray: Body shape and running style a concern, ability is not.
$14 Darren McFadden: Live in the now, he looks great and dominoes have fallen right.
$14 Dion Lewis: No debating talent but hard to say where his health is at.
$13 Jeremy Hill: Will have a meaty role but Bernard not going away.
$12 Carlos Hyde: Passing eye test but game flow is not his friend.
$12 Eddie Lacy: Not chasing the name, not chasing rainbows.
$12 Duke Johnson: Has set role every week on team with narrow usage tree.
$12 Chris Johnson: The lead back, but all of a sudden many mouths to feed.
$12 Ronnie Hillman: The gig is his, but don't forget the line is awful.
$11 LeGarrette Blount: Will hit a pothole now and then, but we know who he is.
$11 Ryan Mathews: Deserves a shot at FT role, but does Kelly see it that way?
$10 Jonathan Stewart
It's a perfect time to try to sell Stewart, off two big-yardage games, with one of them in prime-time. Remember, he doesn't catch the ball much, and the team doesn't view him as an automatic goal-line option, either. Recency bias is something you can often leverage.
$8 Matt Jones: His chance in the pilot chair is likely coming soon.
$7 Theo Riddick: One-trick pony, but it's a pretty good trick.
$7 C.J. Anderson
$7 Alfred Blue: No special talent, but probably gets first crack.
$6 Charles Sims: Becoming a sneaky PPR-rental type.
$6 Melvin Gordon: Not all his fault, but will the line be fixed in time?
$6 Andre Ellington
$6 Ameer Abdullah: Give it a week, see if new order sorts anything out.
$5 Antonio Andrews: Not that you can trust anyone in this backfield.
$5 Karlos Williams: Concussions always tricky, but upside higher than McCoy.
$4 James Starks: Dinged up at wrong time; not a featured back anyway.
$4 Chris Thompson
$4 Rashad Jennings
$4 Dexter McCluster: See Riddick and Sims, similar player.
$4 Khiry Robinson: If you need to gamble on a cheap touchdown.
$4 Thomas Rawls: Lynch is no sure thing to ride season out smoothly.
$4 Bilal Powell: If at full health, I'd chase him up to $6-8.
$3 Shane Vereen: Good luck predicting when the next Vereen Game will occur.
$3 David Johnson
[Week 8 rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Receiver | Flex | Tight End | All Positions]
$3 C.J. Spiller: If it didn't happen by now, it's unlikely to happen.
$3 Chris Polk
$3 Tevin Coleman: Still has a major upside if Freeman gets hurt.
$3 Isaiah Crowell
$3 Orleans Darkwa: I'm intrigued, but it's a Party for 4.
$3 Ahmad Bradshaw
$3 Jonathan Grimes
$2 Joseph Randle
$2 Javorius Allen: Not nearly as bad as critics say, but would need Forsett injury.
$2 Joique Bell
$2 Alfred Morris: Sadly, there's nothing left for him in Washington.
$2 Robert Turbin
$2 Darren Sproles
$2 Christine Michael: Nothing in Al Capone's vault.
$1 Benny Cunningham
$1 Jeremy Langford: Could steal some goal-line work from Forte.
$1 Knile Davis
$1 Jonas Gray: Gets the scraps when the game situation is salted away.
$1 Marcel Reece
$1 Jerick McKinnon
$1 DeAngelo Williams
$1 Matt Asiata
$1 Roy Helu
$1 Stevan Ridley
$0 Mike Tolbert: Nothing but love for the Kool-Aid man.
$0 Reggie Bush
$0 Bishop Sankey: More of a pawn, rooked all of us.
$0 Fred Jackson
$0 Taiwan Jones
-$2 Toby Gerhart: What's the definition of insanity, Jacksonville?
