Chris Johnson

[Valuist]

Driving into work this morning I almost drove off the road when I heard the following quote from ESPN's Doug Gottlieb:

"With the major knee injury to Adrian Peterson, the number one running back in the NFL is Chris Johnson."

Is Gottlieb on crack? Or has he been in a coma and still believe we are living in 2009? A guy who relies strictly on speed, like Johnson, doesn't tend to improve as he gets older. I can think of NINE running backs who will probably be selected ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts. Johnson declined in 2010 and steeply declined this year after signing a big contract. Arian Foster, LeShon McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, Frank Gore, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch, Michael Turner, and Darren McFadden all figure to be drafted ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts.

Its unfortunate re: Peterson. I suspect he won't be "fully" back until the 2013 season.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Valuist

Driving into work this morning I almost drove off the road when I heard the following quote from ESPN's Doug Gottlieb:

"With the major knee injury to Adrian Peterson, the number one running back in the NFL is Chris Johnson."

Is Gottlieb on crack? Or has he been in a coma and still believe we are living in 2009? A guy who relies strictly on speed, like Johnson, doesn't tend to improve as he gets older. I can think of NINE running backs who will probably be selected ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts. Johnson declined in 2010 and steeply declined this year after signing a big contract. Arian Foster, LeShon McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, Frank Gore, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch, Michael Turner, and Darren McFadden all figure to be drafted ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts.

Its unfortunate re: Peterson. I suspect he won't be "fully" back until the 2013 season.

Running back, in my opinion, is the most overrated position in football by a lot. Certainly there are differences in talent, but it isn't as great as many believe.

[Valuist]

Originally Posted by cj

Running back, in my opinion, is the most overrated position in football by a lot. Certainly there are differences in talent, but it isn't as great as many believe.

Probably true. It seems to be the easiest position to replace. Even more true at the college level.

[elysiantraveller]

Originally Posted by Valuist

Driving into work this morning I almost drove off the road when I heard the following quote from ESPN's Doug Gottlieb:

"With the major knee injury to Adrian Peterson, the number one running back in the NFL is Chris Johnson."

Is Gottlieb on crack? Or has he been in a coma and still believe we are living in 2009? A guy who relies strictly on speed, like Johnson, doesn't tend to improve as he gets older. I can think of NINE running backs who will probably be selected ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts. Johnson declined in 2010 and steeply declined this year after signing a big contract. Arian Foster, LeShon McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, Frank Gore, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch, Michael Turner, and Darren McFadden all figure to be drafted ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts.

Its unfortunate re: Peterson. I suspect he won't be "fully" back until the 2013 season.

Two mistakes:

1) DeMarco Murray, that makes 10.
2) Listening to Doug Gottlieb...

[sandpit]

Originally Posted by elysiantraveller

Two mistakes:

1) DeMarco Murray, that makes 10.
2) Listening to Doug Gottlieb...

Add Ryan Matthews to the list...I drafted that bum Johnson in the first round, and stuck with him for about 6 weeks before I traded him away for Stevie Johnson on the Bills...and I got the better Johnson out of the deal.

[Valuist]

Originally Posted by sandpit

Add Ryan Matthews to the list...I drafted that bum Johnson in the first round, and stuck with him for about 6 weeks before I traded him away for Stevie Johnson on the Bills...and I got the better Johnson out of the deal.

I'm more of a believer in Murray than Matthews as Tolbert will vulture away some of his TDs. The big question for Murray is can he stay healthy. They also have Felix Jones there to split the workload.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by Valuist

Driving into work this morning I almost drove off the road when I heard the following quote from ESPN's Doug Gottlieb:

"With the major knee injury to Adrian Peterson, the number one running back in the NFL is Chris Johnson."

Is Gottlieb on crack? Or has he been in a coma and still believe we are living in 2009? A guy who relies strictly on speed, like Johnson, doesn't tend to improve as he gets older. I can think of NINE running backs who will probably be selected ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts. Johnson declined in 2010 and steeply declined this year after signing a big contract. Arian Foster, LeShon McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, Frank Gore, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch, Michael Turner, and Darren McFadden all figure to be drafted ahead of Johnson in next year's fantasy drafts.

Its unfortunate re: Peterson. I suspect he won't be "fully" back until the 2013 season.

Not in PPR leagues. After McFadden missed the last half of the season, I will be drafting fifth next year. I doubt that he will be there for me. Foster, McCoy and Rice are likely to go ahead of Johnson. Forte might depending on how he comes off his injury and where he ends up. RBs like Lynch and Turner are not high picks in PPR leagues because they don't catch many passes. Foster is the clear cut number one fantasy RB right now for next year. After that it is crap shoot for number two with Johnson in the mix. I like McCoy second and Johnson third. The missed training camp killed Johnson this year.

[Robert Goren]

Originally Posted by Valuist

I'm more of a believer in Murray than Matthews as Tolbert will vulture away some of his TDs. The big question for Murray is can he stay healthy. They also have Felix Jones there to split the workload.

Is Tolbert going to be a free agent? If so and he ends up some place as the number one running back, he will be a stud. If Turner is fired as expected, who knows how valuable Mathews will be in the new offense. Murray may well turn out to be a stud. Since Felix Jones can't stay healthy more than 1 game, I am not worried about him very much. I will looking to draft him in the third round next year.

[cj]

This was about fantasy football?

[Valuist]

Originally Posted by cj

This was about fantasy football?

Not really but players are judged largely by their stats they compile. Granted, no way to account for blitz pickups and other blocking metrics (although teams have their own grading). In this case I think the fantasy numbers are applicable as Johnson is not considered an especially good blocking back.

Robert-

I am in a PPR league and I doubt Johnson will go as high as 4th. I assume you are talking about RB and not overall because even in PPR leagues Rodgers and Brees could easily go top 5. But a guy like Johnson, who relies so heavily on speed, doesn't figure to improve with age. And with Locker as the likely QB next year in Tenn, he may face a number of 8 man fronts.

[Valuist]

One other thing about Johnson: he got his big payday. Too often we see guys who are tremendous when they are hungry, then they get the big contract and lose their edge. True less is guaranteed in the NFL but you aren't going to see Johnson get cut in the next 2 years even if he can't break 1000 yards or 4 ypc.

Anyone think the Bills regret signing Ryan Fitzpatrick to that giant contract back in October?

[Casino]

Did anyone ever notice CJ best years was when Young was the qb-the reason being defenses schemed against Young not Johnson,Young gone now the defense could focus on CJ,imo.

[Fwizard]

Originally Posted by Valuist

Not really but players are judged largely by their stats they compile. Granted, no way to account for blitz pickups and other blocking metrics (although teams have their own grading). In this case I think the fantasy numbers are applicable as Johnson is not considered an especially good blocking back.

Robert-

I am in a PPR league and I doubt Johnson will go as high as 4th. I assume you are talking about RB and not overall because even in PPR leagues Rodgers and Brees could easily go top 5. But a guy like Johnson, who relies so heavily on speed, doesn't figure to improve with age. And with Locker as the likely QB next year in Tenn, he may face a number of 8 man fronts.

Valuist,
In PPR leagues do you feel RB;s are most important than wr's , what about TE's?

[Valuist]

Originally Posted by Fwizard

Valuist,
In PPR leagues do you feel RB;s are most important than wr's , what about TE's?

In leagues I've been in, RBs who catch the ball are the most valuable of all. I drafted Andre Johnson with the 8th pick in my league last year and he was great while he played but he missed a few games w/an injury (and missed several this year also).

TEs usually aren't that significant but Gronkowski put up insane numbers this year. He may very well be a top 10. Graham also had a big season. Those two have separated themselves from Gates, Witten etc.

For several years you could wait on QBs because even the 12th or 13th best QBs put up pretty strong numbers. But this year, you've got Rodgers, Brees and Brady at the top (maybe Newton in leagues that don't penalize INTs) but you had a number of guys like Freeman, Bradford, Flacco, Sanchez and Cassel who regressed. Cutler and Schaub were solid but missed too many games. Palmer is finished and Manning obviously missed the entire season. Basically if you waited until the late rounds for a QB this season, you were screwed.

[DigitalDownsJoe]

Who cares about running backs anymore, its a passing league. The best running back in the league is Cam Newton LOL