Ambulance Chasers, Preseason Edition: Reduced S-Pead Limit in Missouri

The tale of St. Louis Rams’ running back Isaiah Pead may end up being a short one.

Pead was taken by the Rams with the 50th overall pick of the 2012 Draft, eights spots ahead of stud linebacker Lavonte David and ten picks ahead of corner Casey Hayward. There would’ve been no reason to doubt the Rams selection at the time, after all, the University of Cincinnati product was an electrifying running back in college and performed very well in the pre-draft combines. The 5’10”, 200-pounder finished fourth among all RBs in the cone drill (6.95) and had the fifth-best 40 time at the position (4.47). Pead went into camp that year looking to compete, but quickly fell behind Steven Jackson and Daryl Richardson on the depth charts, finishing with just 10 carries for 54 yards during his rookie season.

2013 was supposed to be his breakout. Fantasy football owners pegged him as a guy who could be taken later in drafts, yet had fantasy starter capability. With Jackson signing in Atlanta, Richardson was the starter on paper, but he could easily be overtaken. Pead’s sleeper status grew exponentially during the off-season, until a suspension for substance abuse derailed that somewhat. He was forced to miss the Rams’ season opener and never regained any of his momentum from training camp. Coach Jeff Fisher saddled Richardson with the bulk of the ball-carrying duties for the first couple weeks of the season, limiting Pead’s upside. Pead received only one carry in Week 2, turning that into just one yard. He had two catches for 18 yards as well, but he was clearly behind the eight ball. During Week 3 vs. Dallas, Pead rushed for 20 yards and caught seven balls for 43 yards — a pretty productive game. Things were looking up for the second-year back — or were they?

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Final Fantasy: Zac Stacy

July 14, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Final Fantasy | 3 Comments

by: Fantasy with Dase or Days

The St. Louis Rams had a backfield of Isaiah Pead, Zac Stacy and Daryl Richardson going into the 2013 season. Two of these backs (Pead/Richardson) were coming off their rookie years, and Stacy was newly drafted. Pead, in his rookie season, carried the football 10 times for 54 yards (5.4 YPC). Stacy, who was a 5th round pick from the University of Vanderbilt, had a stat line of 1,167 rushing yards (5.7 YPC), and 12 rushing touchdowns per season in his last two years of college. And Richardson, in 2012, rushed 98 times for 475 yards (4.8 YPC) and was able to catch 24 passes for 163 yards. Digging a little bit deeper into his first year, I found a stretch of games from week 6-12 (five games) in which he carried the football 46 times for 281 yards (6.1 YPC) and also caught 11 passes for 81 yards. As fantasy owners, it was up to us to pick the player that we thought could bring the most fantasy production. Just for your amusement at my suffering, I actually chose Richardson. Hmmmm…. There seems to be a growing trend in these intros of mine.

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Final Fantasy: Zac Stacy

May 5, 2014 | 2014 Fantasy Football, Final Fantasy | 4 Comments

by: Fantasy with Dase or Days

The St. Louis Rams had a backfield of Isaiah Pead, Zac Stacy and Daryl Richardson in 2013. Two of these backs (Pead/Richardson) were rookies in 2012, and Stacy was a rookie this past season. Pead, in his rookie season, carried the football 10 times for 54 yards (5.4 YPC). Stacy was a 5th round pick from the University of Vanderbilt, and in his last two years of college, he had a stat line of 1,167 rushing yards (5.7 YPC) and 12 rushing touchdowns per season. And then there’s Richardson. In 2012, he rushed with the football 98 times for 475 yards (4.8 YPC) and was able to catch 24 passes for 163 yards. Digging a little bit deeper into that first year, I found a stretch of games from week 6-12 (five games) in which he carried the football 46 times for 281 yards (6.1 YPC) and also caught 11 passes for 81 yards. As fantasy owners, it was up to us to pick the player that we thought could bring the most fantasy production. Just for full disclosure, I picked Richardson. Hmmmm… there seems to be a growing trend in these intros of mine.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Last Second Decisions – Fight Or Flight

November 17, 2013 | Last Second Decisions | 130 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

So I finally got to watching Flight last night, and I love the way it made me think of fantasy. Mostly because most of my teams make me want to go on one of those Denzel benders. But seriously, I loved the tie in of flight or flight. The majority of owners with bad teams flight it away and don’t check their teams, however some of us fight it out, invert the plane and try to save our dignity. As much as I tried to skirt past with the lies and manipulation (“my team sucks because everyone got hurt!”), I finally fessed up, got a lot of courage and purported “I drafted bad, I managed bad week one, I managed bad week two, I’m managing bad now!” And with a little bit of good fortune and waiver wire moves, I turned a 14-teamer where I drafted in order (and this is no joke) Ray Rice, Stephen Jackson, Randall Cobb, Marques Colston, Ryan Mathews, Daryl Richardson, T.Y. Hilton (that one worked!), Kenbrell Thompkins and Michael Vick into an actual playoff contending team. None of those guys I was particularly high on – just how the draft played out – and through a series of moves and pickups I’m 4-6 and a game out of the playoffs. Fight! This is a pivotal week for me and I’m sure a lot of teams in Razzball Nation as we start getting into the playoff push crunch time.

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Hoyer Donde Va?

October 4, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Daily Notes | 247 Comments

by: Sky

I should’ve known it was black magic. Didn’t even need the woman to be involved. A Cleveland Browns passing offense that passes the eye test? Not possible they said. A QB that could withstand the pressure of playing behind a bad offensive line? ‘I’m incredulous’ said those who use the word ‘incredulous’ and actually know what it means. I blame Carlos Santana. Hey, there’s a catcher from the Indians named that so it’s apropos, people. But it happened for a couple of weeks that the Browns and their passing game was saved by their quarterback being – by both the stats test and the eye test – really not that bad. But of course it’s Cleveland and as we know, everything Browns eventually goes to Brown-town. Brian Hoyer left the Thursday Night Football game with a knee that couldn’t have been more shredded than the hillside of a snowboard instructor in Aspen. There’s nothing definitive as of this typing but for all intents and purposes, it didn’t look good at all and I wouldn’t be surprised if his season is over. I take partial blame as I’ve been snake-bitten with injuries this year and actually picked Hoyer up to stream this week in one of my leagues. Mea culpa. Moving forward, the skill position players are gonna have to learn what it means to go from good to bad and how to cope. The parts there are still good, but they lost a little luster for me tonight knowing it’s going to take a trade – unlikely – or a free agent pickup – possible? – to fix this mess. And just when I was about to say Cleveland Rocks…in other 2013 Fantasy Football news…

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Frankly My Dear, I Couldn’t Give A Gore

September 27, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Daily Notes | 231 Comments

by: Sky

I had the audacity…nay, the paucity (not really a good word to use here but it kinda works)…better yet the ignorancy (not a really real word at all) to go and rank Frank Gore 22nd overall amongst fantasy running backs this week in my Weekly Rankings. After finishing last week with a decent number and the complaining that he did in the days leading up to tonight, I should’ve known my ranking would come back to haunt me. Mike Wallace did it, I had been warned. Or was that the ghost of Gore from years past *faintly heard in the distance is Frank screeching I’m not dead yet!*. Whatever the culprit, Gore dropped upon his fantasy owners a much needed boost for his believers, carrying the load for 153 yards on the ground on 20 carries with a touchdown and a lone, measly you’re not gonna lose your week because of it fumble on the night. It was very much vintage Gore. And that’s why I still strongly encourage the sell. I used the word vintage for a reason, ya know. Look, tonight’s game aside, he’s brought you 47 yards a game and only one TD. Great for a flex but not so great if he’s one of your main backs you rely on from week to week. I would use this game and last week’s 82 rushing yards vs a very inferior rushing opponent as a springboard to bigger and better things in your league. As much as I love Gore, he’s just not the RB2 we were looking for. In other news for 2013 Fantasy Football…

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HAM Newton

September 23, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Daily Notes | 167 Comments

by: Sky

I got a lot of curious looks this week for ranking Cam Newton as my number two QB behind Peyton. Pretty sure I was the only one that ranked him that high. Via FantasyPros, his highest rank was 2 so I guess there COULD be another person just as crazy as me out there, but not moreso. The naysayers said things like ‘The Panthers have looked terrible’ and ‘Cam’s been a bum all year so far’ and ‘You can’t do that on television!’ and other nonsensical senselessness. Well, ok all things true but I’ll say this. For how ‘bad’ the Panthers have looked on offense, the Giants defense has looked like the Invisible Man out there for most of the year. Something had to give and on this Sunday, Cam went HAM on the poor Giants defense, going 15/27 for 223 passing yards, added 45 on the ground and chucked in a total of 4 TDs with one being a rushing TD. I can hear you now saying ‘Is Cam back?’ and all I can say is he’s never really left. Sorry everyone, this is the life of being a Newton owner. He has limited weapons surrounding him unless either LaFell or Ginn step up along side Steve Smith like they did today on a consistent basis. Moving forward, Cam is still Cam and Cam can still go HAM at any given time but this is one of the few times the Panthers have really utilized his wheels as much as they did today. Clearly it was effective and I’m sure Cam and his owners hope this change is here to stay. In other 2013 Fantasy Football news…

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Last Second Decisions – Everyone Is Questionable!

September 22, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Last Second Decisions | 184 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Well, despite it only being a measly three weeks into the season, it feels like every owner is dealing with a handful of questionables in their line-ups this morning – much to the chagrin to those of us wanting to pregame like we’re in college for our noon football game. And to those of us with guys in late games. I mean, c’mon I don’t want to have to watch Chris Berman for three straight hours to get reports on who’s playing! Although, I wouldn’t mind listening to him on commercial breaks…

It’s already gotten into that time of year when you have to make last second decisions based on news reports coming out mere hours before kickoff. Right now, I’m torn on Larry Fitzgerald. Sure everything points to him playing, but is this another Roddy White limited game? I’m moving Fitz down a few pegs. And past Fitz there’s a whole Seattle slew of other guys with question marks we will know more about (but still not enough) as we approach kick-off. That’s why we have the comments section! I’ll be here all morning with my thoughts on your line-up decisions, along with some picks below.

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Targets and Touches: Jimmy Graham Goes Green Eggs and HAM

September 20, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Hard Targets | 47 Comments

by: LT Murray IV

Greetings! Tis I, the extraordinary Mr. Beddict, here to shoot fantasy football knowledge from my fingertips to your brains. I’m gonna shoot. I’m gonna shooooooot. After scouring the box scores for days on end, I’ve concluded that some of my guidance in the comment section might have actually been advantageous. And for that I give myself, Tehol Beddict, two snaps and a twist! It’s reigning men out here in the fantasy football world, and my duty here at Razzball is to handpick a squad of these demi-gods every week and dissect their targets and production for your reading pleasure. It’s been said Bill Simmons flogs the dolphin to my posts. There’s been rumors Peter King has my 1997 Playgirl foldout on his wall. What they don’t understand is that no amount of money could ever tear me away from Razzball, the home of legends like Grey, Rudy, and my sensei Sky-dog. Ok, that’s probably an overstatement. Five hundred would probably get the deal done. Enough about me (is that possible?), let’s get to the players we rode like Seattle Slew for the win, or the so called gladiators who performed like gelded steers during mating season:

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Last Second Decisions – Overreaction Week

September 15, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Last Second Decisions | 131 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

A week is in the books and it’s time to absolutely freak out. Tom Brady is horrible, time to drop him for Terrelle Pryor!

Like a GOP reaction to Obama having his foot on the Oval Office desk, then the subsequent overreaction to the jokes about overreactions, there’s been a lot of drama to overreactions. Chill out people! It’d be like a biologist getting all angry because that’s not what the Fox really says… Idea! Colbert cuts that video with Fox News people freaking out over the gobbledygook in the chorus. Comedy gold.

Point is – don’t worry about tough week ones and keep playing your studs. Barring a late scratch I’m still playing Roddy White, who despite the bum ankle and only out there as a “decoy,” still got a red zone catch and I think gets more involved. I’m not benching him for some scrub, but he does obviously move down a few spots.

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Razzball Writers League Draft Recap: Tehol Beddict’s Team; Winter is Coming

August 30, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Razzball Writers League | 33 Comments

by: LT Murray IV

Greetings all! Tis I, Tehol Beddict, writers league defending champion, international male model and fantasy guru. I come to you today to speak of what will be an eventual champion fantasy football roster. Thus far I’ve never guaranteed a title and didn’t end up victorious. This year will be no different. I’m still not clear if this is a ppr league or not but based on my roster it’s truly not going to matter either way. Take heed.

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The Yahoo All-ADP Team

August 13, 2013 | 2013 Fantasy Football, Draft Strategy | 91 Comments

by: Sky

Greetings one and all, since we’ll be doing our Razzball Commenter Leagues via yahoo this year – and if you haven’t up, clicky-click on that linky-link to do so now – I thought it would be fair to highlight some round by round value plays for a 12 team league much like it so you get a feel for how I’d draft in this little shin-dig. Because as we all know, I’m so important that you should care how I’d draft. Now I’m gonna go round by round so clearly the first few aren’t going to be difficult to call ‘values’, per se. But of course, I’ll aim to do a follow up to this piece called the Anti-~~Christ~~ ADP so you get a feel for guys I’ll avoid via their round value. Just in case someone out there isn’t familiar with our RCL set up, it’s 12 team PPR with W/R/T flex and 6 bench spots with the rest being, as they say, ‘the youzzzch’…or however you special the kid’s abbreviation of ‘usual’. Now keep in mind, I know some draft picks will be unreasonable. That’s not the point of this exercise. I’m simply pointing out round by round whom I think is a steal or undervalued so if someone’s bye week if my QBs have the same bye week, you can tell me but I promise you I won’t care. But now that we’ve laid the groundwork, let me do the footwork as I take you throw my All-ADP Team for 2013 Fantasy Football…well I can’t very well talk to you about the RCLs without strongly encouraging you to sign up for said RCLs now could I? Here’s the link. Get over there, create a league, then go back and look at yourself in the mirror and see how happy you’ve made yourself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still have a post to finish…

Please, blog, may I have some more?