Second and Third Year Player Development: Week Fifteen

In this weekly column, I dissect a few young players who haven’t yet made a consistent impact. Some of these players may be available on your waiver wire, while others may be available via a cheap or moderate trade. Acquiring or not acquiring one of these players could decide how well your dynasty or keeper team does for the next few years. This week I will be taking a longer look at San Diego Chargers tight end Ladarius Green as well as the former super coveted Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson. I will focus on their most recent matchups to draw the majority of my insight.

Ladarius Green, TE SD

This former hybrid tight end/wide receiver played his college ball as a Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin’ Cajun.  Last season many fantasy owners were excited about his chances to contribute as a rookie, but hopes were quickly squashed as he had to play behind all-pro tight end Antonio Gates and more traditional blocking tight ends.  Because of his rawness as a blocker, Green played very sparingly last season only seeing four targets, catching all of them.

Through the first nine games of the 2013 season, the young tight end averaged over 20 yards per reception despite being targeted only once or twice per game.  Because of the lack of targets, there was little discussion regarding Green other than he improved greatly as a blocker and his contributions on special teams.  That all changed in Week Eleven when he saw five passes tossed his way, cathing four for 81 yards.  From Week 11 through Week 13, Green received 16 targets, making the most of those by catching nine for 206 yards and two touchdowns.

However in weeks 14 and 15, Green was only targeted two times.  This has caused his value with some short-sighted dynasty pundits to go down considerably.  Don’t make that same mistake.  Green has become more of a two-way tight end than I ever thought he could.  The young tight end is an effective lead blocker who does a great job sealing off his man.  He lines up as a traditional tight end, in the slot, out wide, and as a fullback making it hard for defenses to keep track of him.  There were a few times Green was looking around for someone to block.

On his only target of the game (in the middle of the fourth quarter), Green was unable to to make the one-handed catch  with a safety on his back, holding down his other arm.  That really wasn’t indicative of what the second year tight end can do.  I would take advantage of his two game dry spell and try to buy him cheap as this may be the last time his price could be reasonable.

Trent Richardson, RB IND

What is it about Alabama backs?  It seems like they get all used up in college.  I like many others ignored the same concerns that plagued Mark Ingram and jumped on the Richardson train just like the Browns did in the 2012 draft.  Despite Richardson having an effective season in 2012 with over 1,300 combined yards and 12 total touchdowns, the Browns new front office decided to ship him out quickly to the Colts for a first round pick in the 2014 Draft.

Having spent a first round dynasty pick on him this season, I like many others thought that things could not get better than with him playing with Andrew Luck and the high-flying Indianapolis offense.  Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.  Richardson is now in a dog-fight with the lesser talented Donald Brown who was clearly behind Ahmad Bradshaw before the former Giants was placed on injured reserve. 

Lucky or not for Richardson owners, Brown was injured in the first quarter against the Texans so the former Alabama back had the chance to play a bigger role than he has all season with the Colts. He finished the game with the 23 touches and 102 yards, so perhaps things are finally clicking in Indianapolis.  Before Brown left the game, Richardson was featured as a glorified third down back and/or a short yardage back.

I did enjoy the different roles they asked the running back to play as he was lined up as a fullback, in the slot, and lined up out wide much like Green.  Richardson looked good in pass protection, stepping up to meet blitzers, knocking a few of them on their backsides.  I enjoy the way he sells every fake handoff like his life depended on it.  The young back excels at catching the ball with his soft hands and exploding down the sideline.  On his scoring reception, he took a little shovel pass, weaved back and forth through about six bodies to cross the stripe.

Richardson has a bit of wiggle to his game, but he isn’t running with a lot of power.  He does his best work on screens and draws as it puts the defense on their heals and he can exploit them with his phone booth quicks.  Part of his lack of power is that Richardson allows defenders to get into his legs and lets them gain leverage by being the low man in the hole.  The back isn’t picking up his feet and this is allowing defenders lying on the ground the ability to grab at his ankles and hold on for dear life.  He does have good lean and falls forward on the majority of his carries.  Unlike most backs, Richardson needs to keep his feet and not get airborne, as he loses all advantages in that case.  When he tried that against the Texans, he got thrown back for a loss.

The question is what is an owner supposed to do now with him.  I’m a Richardson owner and I’m holding onto him.  Not tightly mind you, but I’m not giving this talented back away.  Richardson is a decent mid-tier dynasty RB2 right in the 18-22 range.  If someone thinks he is worth more than that, sell him.  If someone thinks less of Richardson, hold on tight.  I am going to hold onto him for now, but he is not a core player to build your dynasty team around.

For follow-up questions or information, contact me on twitter @AndrewMiley