This season the Eagles thought they had that famous combination, pairing LeGarette Blount and Darren Sproles (only to have Sproles break his arm and tear his ACL, brutal, and get replaced by another Lighting). The nickname for a running back combination, typically a larger, burlier back and a shiftier, quicker back has been passed down through the years. Beginning with the backfield of one Archie Manning, the original Thunder and Lighting were the Saints duo Chuck Muncie and Tony Galbreath, so dubbed by Hank Stram (I don’t remember this, uh, since I wasn’t born yet, so thanks NY Times, though the link is about the tough life of Muncie, worth the read, but come right back!).
In more recent years we’ve had CJ2K (more on him later) and LenDale White (I still remember winning leagues with White scoring 15 TDs back when leagues weren’t rewarding .1 for rushing & receiving yards and TDs were what won leagues) Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott(and later TJ Duckett), Tiki Barber and Ron (the Cocaine Train) Dayne and I’m sure I’m missing a bunch (so feel free to add your favorite).
A google search yields multiple teams are working on their own T&L this season including the Bears (Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen), the Dolphins (Jay Ajayi and Kenyan Drake), Atlanta (though I’m not really sure which is which), Cincinnati (Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard formed a piss poor T&L, just let Mixon be the number one already) and…wow, this is such a lazy way to refer to running back combinations so let’s all agree to never use the term Thunder and Lighting…except in the title of this post. But after that, no more, ok?
Onto the Values! At this point I’m going to assume you’ve spent at least half of a $100 budget (If you have more, add a few dollars to the bids, what do you have to lose?) So with that remaining Grant this week we’re spending it on:
Gold
No gold toilets for us this week, its porcelain all the way baby!
Silver
Wendell Smallwood ($19) – Is he the guy this week? OK, alright, but me, I’m looking at Corey Clement ($5). He had a nifty shift TD run and while LeGarrette Blount did score this looks like a time share and I’ll bet on upside for a lot cheaper. Hopefully the Eagles scrap the whole T&L thing and just let Clement take the rock.
Chris Johnson ($16) – Kerwynn Williams isn’t playing in Arizona (boo!) and while Johnson is not even close to what he was (it felt like he was running in slow motion, well not that slow, but no more video game speed) he is the lead back in AZ until David Johnson returns.
Bronze
Sterling Shepard ($6) – I’m glad he scored a TD cause he was robbed on one earlier and was due. He’s good and worth the depth for bye weeks, but Brandon Marshall has improved his stat line each week and there’s this other WR with crazy hair and weird Spiderman TD celebrations, he takes catches away from Shepard too. So let’s all not go cray-cray over him.
Bryce Butler ($6) – Can he be another weapon for Dak Prescott? Yes, yes he can, even if he had a second TD called down after a great catch. I wouldn’t go overboard but he looked good on Monday.
Geronimo Allison ($5) – He may have just had a big week or may be something; I’m taking a chance on him to see. Once Cobb comes back he probably will be droppable, but we’re playing for now!
Branden Oliver ($5) – He’s the clear backup to Gordon, who missed some of Sunday’s game. In deep leagues he’s worth more. Better to spend a little now and see if it bears fruit later, eh?
D’Onta Foreman ($4) – He looked good on Sunday making a couple of good catches as well as getting eight carries after getting 12 last week. He hasn’t scored yet, but he will, at least that’s what the Magic eight ball told me when I asked it. Well, it said “signs point to yes” so I’m taking it. Also, Lamar Miller is looking pretty average and a change might be coming.
Charles Clay ($4) – Now people are coming around. He’s a solid TE with a boring team and a boring name. If he was Chuck Terracotta he would’ve been a top ten rounder.
Eli Manning ($3) – He was dropped en masse (sounds so fancy) last week…and I’d leave him out there, but dang does he have so many talented receivers and if the Giants would just trade for Adrian Peterson they’d have a complete offense (and those that drafted AD wouldn’t be so dejected). Win win win!
Deshaun Watson ($3) – He looked good against the Pats but whether or not he deserves a spot on your team depends on his schedule. He has three straight home games against Tennessee, Kansas City and Cleveland before hitting the bye and then going to Seattle. So if you have Cam you could do worse, and definitely look to him as a spot start against the Browns (who just made Jacoby Brissett look like a Pro Bowler; Brissett goes to Seattle this week so I’m not paying for him; if you want him add him after next week).
Robby Anderson ($3) – Last week it was Kearse, this week back to Anderson. Why do you want to mess with the Jets receivers? And he’s an adult with a Y on the end of his name? Just don’t, unless 14 team or greater, ok?
Danny Amendola ($3) – He’s back from injury this week. That’s the best thing I can say about him. And he could have a big week if he did everything Tom Brady told him to, like clean his room, not drink tap water, mow the lawn, eat all his home grown GMO-free vegan organic vegetables, and then, just maybe, he’ll catch a couple of TD passes. Truth is Brady spreads it around too much for me to want Amendola.
Marcedes Lewis ($2) – Because he’s not scoring 3 TDs again this season however he can be serviceable. That is all I have to say about Marcedes.
$2 Defenses
That Baltimore team must have partied way too hard in London this past weekend, still I’m not liking the Jags at the Jets. Look to add the Packers against the Bears (though Thursday night division games can devolve into shitshows), Atlanta at home against Buffalo and New England at home against Carolina are all worth a couple bucks. I really want to like the Bengals in Cleveland but I just can’t. That’s a weird feeling, not wanting to start a defense against the Browns, I actually can’t remember the last time that happened. Huh.
Finally…
Dez Bryant is a beast, carrying half the Cardinals with him in the end zone; can he just be running back when Zeke gets suspended for real?
Really Finally…
Our leader here at Razzball Football Jay posted a great piece on the weekend’s political crossover and I highly recommend it. Good luck getting your adds this week!
