Second and Third Year Player Development: Week Fourteen

In this weekly column, I dissect a few young players who haven’t made a consistent impact to date. 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 Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back  Bobby Rainey and Miami Dolphins tight end Charles Clay. I will focus on their most recent matchups to draw the majority of my insight.

Bobby Rainey, RB TB

“What a long strange trip it’s been”  I’m not sure truer words have ever been spoken about another NFL running back.  The first time I saw the Western Kentucky Hilltopper running back was an amazing YouTube clip showing off his ability to jump away from danger in a swimming pool. Rainey is a bit old for a second year running back (26 years old) and had an alarming 975 touches as a collegian which put a lot of wear and tear on his body.

Rainey was picked up as a free agent by the Baltimore Ravens in 2012, but did not register a single carry as he spent most of his tenure there on the practice squad or on injured reserve.  He found a new home with the Cleveland Browns at the start of the 2013 season and was primarily used as a returner.  After limited offensive touches he was released after six games.   When both Doug Martin and then later Mike James went down for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rainey got an opportunity alongside journeyman Brian Leonard. The second year back’s excellent play earned him the Bucs starting running back job.

There were several things that stood out from the young back’s college tape.  Rainey has a good center of gravity, tremendous quickness, and changes direction often to avoid contact.  His speed is a bit limited, but he can get to the outside, beating defenders to the edge.  The young back uses good short area burst, while changing direction quickly, and lowers his hips to get extra speed.

Rainey certainly made a fantasy impact with his huge game against the Falcons in Week Eleven where he accounted for 167 total yards and three touchdowns.  Rainey later took his first carry of the game against Buffalo 80 yards to the house !  The second year back stiff-armed linebacker Kiko Alonso within the first two yards, sunk his hips, exploded down the field, and juked past some late arriving defensive backs on his way to the end zone.  He demonstrated good balance, anticipation, sideline awareness, and downfield vision during his scoring jaunt.

Rainey was not much of a factor in the passing game, even though he has soft hands and is willing to stretch out to make off-balance receptions.  For the majority of third down plays, Rainey poor pass blocking caused him to be replaced by Leonard.  The back either cut blocks would-be blitzers or looks around aimlessly for someone to hit.

While he uses a nice little jump cut, sometimes the second year back does a little too much dancing.  Rainey does his best work in space or with a clean lane to run through, but needs to pick up his feet especially when plowing into the line of scrimmage.  Sometimes the back will throw a nice little shoulder shake or bust out a spin move to create space.

Many fantasy owners could be excited by him, but remember that he has two more talented runners in front of him and his shelf life could be very limited.  I wouldn’t want him higher than a RB5 at best on my dynasty squad.

Charles Clay, TE MIA

Versatility is the first word that comes in mind when you talk about this third year player.  In college he played all over the field – seven different positions. At the start of the 2013 season, Clay was the backup fullback and tight end.  Due to injuries at both tight end and running back, this player was thrust into the spotlight.

Through Week 13 Clay has become the Dolphins most effective receiver catching almost 69% of his targets, and leading Miami with the most receiving touchdowns (four).  He brings dependability and a certain calmness to the rest of the offense.  His second year quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, has relied on him as a safety blanket in the short passing game as both Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline are downfield receiving options.  Clay has soft hands, can exploit weaknesses in coverage, has a slight wiggle to his game, and is a willing blocker.

He had a tremendous game against the Steelers (seven receptions for 97 yards with two touchdowns on ten targets, bringing his touchdown total to six).  Clay lined up in the slot and as a traditional tight end and got placed in motion to get the best matchups or serve as a lead blocker at times. The Dolphins took advantage of his success pass blocking as they slipped him out in the flat after protecting Tannehill for a few seconds for a short touchdown grab.

Clay does a good job finding a soft spot in the defense then waiting for his quarterback’s throw.  Out of his seven receptions, at least four of those were in the flat where the tight end would side-step the defense and tear down the sidelines picking up at least an extra five yards every play.  Clay is a strong powerful runner who swatted away the former all-proTroy Polamanu on more than one occasion.

The young tight end kept his legs churning and hugged the sidelines.  He made a great bucket catch barely getting both feet in bounds, but his most impressive play of the game was when Clay used great balance and determination in the red zone to power through two tacklers on the way to the end zone to take the lead.

Before this season, Clay was a tweener who didn’t have a true place in the offense.  Now the third year tight end has arrived and should be considered a top ten dynasty tight end option.

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