Burning Questions
I LOST AND DESEAN GOT HURT AND ANDRE JOHNSON WAS TERRIBLE AND THE SKY IS FALLING AND I AM NEVER GOING TO PLAY FANTASY FOOTBALL AGAIN DEZ BRYANT NOOOOOO THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS TO ME CJ ANDERSON %^#&(%#&!@
Now we have that out of the way, so let’s answer some questions.
Is Carlos Hyde the next Jim Brown? Or is he more like the next Barry Sanders?
Going into the off-season I had Hyde hovering around the RB10 slot. As part of my summer book learnin’, I put in some film study on several young RBs, including the 49ers’ sophomore. I didn’t hate what I saw, but I didn’t love it either. Hyde was inconsistent, looking very good at times but not NFL caliber at others. When you add in the projected implosion from a depleted San Francisco defense and a weaker offensive line, I started dropping him down my board.
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Around that time, the rest of Football Twitter started doing the same. Before long, Hyde was being considered amongst the likes of Blair Thomas and this kid named Tyler who was a second string water boy on my junior high team.
At his lowest, Hyde checked in as my RB19. Why so low? I was drugged by an alien who put a foreign substance into my drink, then abducted me and forced me to eat Brussels sprouts while watching reruns of Dynasty for as many as five consecutive hours.
Or maybe I was just really, really wrong.
After seeing Hyde play Monday night, albeit versus an apparently porous Vikings defense, I couldn’t help but watch in amazement. There are two reasons for this:
- Hyde looked not only like a real NFL running back, but a potential top-five player.
- Jim Tomsula’s sweat faucet of a forehead is like a clammy Niagara Falls if Niagara Falls could grow a mustache and sport a gold medallion.
I don’t need to see another week of it, I’ve seen plenty. Hyde looked fantastic. He was decisive, showed plus vision, hit the hole with authority, was difficult to tackle and great in the open field.
Not every week will provide such a loaded box score, but when you look past the numbers and watch the guy play, I don’t see how you can’t be excited for his future. As such, Hyde jumped all the way to my RB7. This isn’t an overreaction, it is a correction of a terrible ranking on my part.
What other players moved the most in your rankings after Week 1?
With Dez Bryant, Julio Jones and Antonio Brown in a virtual tie at the top of my overall rankings already, Dez’ foot injury was enough to drop him two spots. It isn’t a huge change, but any time your top dynasty asset gets shuffled down, it is worth mentioning.
I had two big movers at running back: Chris Ivory (31 to 21) and Tevin Coleman (34 to 28). With Ivory, I wanted to see it actually happen in real life. For so many years he has been underused to the point where I had trouble believing it would actually happen. But boy howdy, he finally did it to the tune of 21 touches, 100 yards, and two touchdowns. Health is always a concern, of course, but Ivory is just as talented as another injury prone running back in Jonathan Stewart, who some of DLF’s rankers have in the top-15.
Coleman is a guy I ragged on pretty hard all summer, but even I can admit he looked pretty good against the Iggles. I would like him to be more patient and still have varying other concerns, but generally came away from Week 1 with much less negativity towards the rookie.
Tight end saw a lot of shakeup with Travis Kelce jumping Jimmy Graham, Tyler Eifert moving from TE7 to TE5, Julius Thomas dropping four spots, and Ladarius Green and Jason Witten sliding up three spots each.
What are you most looking forward to win Week 2?
I want to know if Frank Gore and Andre Johnson can come back from disastrous Week 1 showings.
Investing in older, formerly elite players is very risky in dynasty. You are dedicating capital and a roster spot to a player under the guise of getting one, maybe two, productive seasons out of them. If they falter, there are no “take backsies.” At least with a younger player, you can move them to teams who still have faith in their possible future production. With a 34-year-old player, that isn’t the case.
When you could have had Tyler Eifert or Kendall Wright for about the same price as Gore, you definitely worry about your investment. Is it a bit early for that, especially considering how good Buffalo’s defense is? Sure. But if Week 2 is more of the same, I will start to fret.
What should I do if I started 0-1?
Blow your team up. Trade away every player over 26 years of age. Accumulate tons of draft picks. Shoot for 0-13.
Or…..
Put in your best lineup for Week 2, grab a whiskey, and take a deep breath.
But what if I have Dez and/or DeSean?
Put in your best lineup for Week 2, grab a whiskey, and take a deep breath.
Dude, I ALSO LOST JORDY!
Put in your best lineup for Week 2, grab a whiskey, and take a deep breath.
IS THERE AN ECHO IN HERE? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? MAKE IT STOP, SCARY MAN!!!
Go and read the third question and answer from last week’s article. Then put in your best lineup for Week 2, grab a whiskey, and take a deep breath.
What happened with Brian Quick last week?
No more questions.
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- How to Win Without Watching Football - July 22, 2021
- 2018 Summer Sleeper: Chicago Bears - July 9, 2018
- NFL Draft Aftermath: Winners and Losers from the AFC North - June 18, 2018
