Sometimes I really question how people were trained to think. How and why people come to an answer just blows my mind on a daily basis. Fantasy football drafts in August are usually the focal point of my frustration. Why someone chooses Steven Jackson in the second round when AJ Green is on the board will be something I never understand. Or why owners want to draft a 4th RB when RG3 is on the board!! Come one guys, think! Would you trade RG3 for that 3rd RB during the season. ABSOLUTELY NOT! So why would you draft another a 3rd RB when there is a stud like RG3 there. Now to help some of you guys out, here are a few RBs to steer clear of despite their huge name recognition and the “this is his year” mentality that always overcomes us come draft day.
DeMarco Murray, Cowboys
Average Draft Position: 26
There are 2 distinct reasons why DeMarco is being drafted in the late 2nd and early 3rd round of drafts this summer. First, the ridiculous love fest around the country for the Cowboys despite the fact that they, as a whole, aren’t a great football team and haven’t been for about 15 years now. Second, is because the “this is his year” syndrome is effecting many owners this season. Remember some of these stats when you are about to click that button or say his name on draft day. In the past 2 seasons, he has missed 28% of his games. Think about that. Just over 4 games a year. MOST LEAGUES HAVE 13 WEEK SEASONS PEOPLE! Why would you want to draft a guy that could miss 1/3 of your fantasy regular season? If that’s not enough for you, how about the fact that this dude has a total of 6 TDs in 23 games. That means he is getting you a TD every 4th game he plays. ”Why is this”, you ask? Because they have Jason Witten and Dez Bryant to throw the ball to inside the 10 yard line. Far be it from me to tell you that you are an idiot if you take this guy, but if you draft this guy in the late second round when guys like Demaryius Thomas, Frank Gore and Larry Fitzgerald are on the board, please give me a shout. I got an iceberg that I want to sell you.
Darren McFadden, Raiders
Average Draft Position: 34
Just 8 spot after Murray is being drafted, we see Darren McFadden being drafted in the late 3rd round despite the fact that this dude has missed 34% of his games over the past 3 years. This is where I go back to my whole issue with the way people come to their decisions. How does someone come to the decision to draft a RB who has missed 16 games in 3 seasons in the 3rd round? Don’t you guys want to actually win your league and not just participate? No joke here…Tom Brady, Randall Cobb and Victor Cruz are all being drafted, on average, after Darren McFadden…I’m speechless. And if you know me, it is borderline impossible to find me speechless. If we mix in the fact that the Oakland Raiders are fighting the Jacksonville Jaguars for the worst roster in the league and we can see that this offense will be pitiful. And now that I think about it, ZERO players on the Oakland Raiders offense should be owned at this point. There. I said it.
Montee Ball, RB, Broncos
Average Draft Position: 48
I have a strict rule for drafting rookies. Don’t draft them. From time to time, they pan out and you find great value. But for every Doug Martin rookie season you give me, I can give you Mark Ingram, CJ Spiller, Kevin Smith, and Jahvid Best rookie seasons. Yes, you can once in a while find great value in a rookie RB, but it happens so infrequently that the risk is not worth it. Montee Ball is going to be a nice RB for the Denver Broncos, but for fantasy football purposes, the RB situation in Denver seems to be too fluid for me to want to invest a late 4th or early 5th round pick. Unless you are in a keeper league, I just don’t know if you are going to get 4th or 5th round value out of rookie RB that seems to be splitting time with Ronnie Hillman. When I look and see Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez and RG3 available based on ADP, I’d rather target one of those guys rather than hope a rookie RB turns on to be a starting RB. Call me greedy, but I want proven players within my first 6 picks.
