Standard League Scoring. Need to fill RB2 and FLEX slots.
P. Thomas v. ATL / R. Mathews v. TB / M. Reece v. BAL / B. Lloyd v. BUF / T. Young v. MIN
Right now I'm leaning towards starting Mathews and Lloyd. Even though Mathews has the worst matchup, he's probably the most talented out of the RBs. As for Lloyd, he has the most favorable matchup and he's coming off a bye week.
Starting Lineup:
QB - Eli Manning (I would start Schaub, but his matchup is terrible) RB1 - LeSean McCoy RB2 - ? (Ryan Mathews) FLEX - ? (Brandon Lloyd) WR1 - Eric Decker WR2 - Mike Williams TE - Dustin Keller K - S. Suisham D/ST - Steelers
Bench: Darren McFadden, Jordy Nelson, Matt Schaub, Brandon Pettigrew, Titus Young, Pierre Thomas, Marcel Reece
Titus Young is a dud. Don't put him in, all he knows how to do is drop passes. It doesn't matter that Megatron is injured, he's not going to see any action. What'll probably happen is Detroit will rely on its running game more. Ryan Matthews, honestly, is also pretty much a dud at this point. Dude's been underperforming in games where it should've been easy for him. He's unreliable. Reece had a great game last weekend, in the wake of Darren McFadden getting injured, but it'll be tricky to repeat that against a tough Baltimore defense, so he's a bit iffy. Brandon Lloyd is a GREAT start against Buffalo, because that defense is paper thin. Of course, he's a little low on the depth chart, but Tom Brady loves spreading the ball around, so I think there's a lot of upside potential with him. Pierre Thomas is a great RB. And yes the Atlanta defense is tricky, but that's just a highly valuable player right there. The problem, of course, is that despite his amazing 7 yards per carry, he wasn't a major factor in the Monday night game, indicating that he won't be much of a factor against Atlanta.
So where does that leave us? Brandon Lloyd is the best option here, but in terms of your 2nd best option, it's tough. Ryan Matthews is PROBABLY your best call here, certainly that's the conservative way to go. But if you like to roll the dice a little bit (which I do), then you might consider putting Reece in. Sure he's unproven, and against a tough defense, but he could do a lot of things in McFadden's absence. Also, it's not like Oakland has any great WRs, so the game could be won or lost on him. It's definitely a risky as hell play, but if you wanna go for a gambit (which, like I said is my style, and thus I suggest it, haha), then put in Reece and Lloyd.
I agree completely with the above post, it depends on how risky you are willing to play. Reece has a much higher ceiling but also has a lower floor. Matthews is the safe pick, but his upside isn't that great. Lloyd is a no brainer. My recommendation is to go big or go home, start Reece.
I think you have to go with Reece and Lloyd. Mathews against a tough healthy D (top rush D in yrds/game in the league) < Reece against a banged up and aging ravens D.
Thanks for the help so far. The issue with Mathews v. Reece, which has already been mentioned, is that Reece's 'low' is far lower than Mathews. At the moment, there isn't any clear indication from the coaching staff on how Reece will be used in the offense. I would guess that he would see the majority of plays, but not the majority of carries. More specifically, his pass blocking and receiving capabilities should keep him involved, but at the same time, I could easily see him only getting a few carries and a few receptions for a total of 50 yards. Mathews, on the other hand, is SD primary rushing back, but his role is somewhat limited by Jackie Battle (short yardage) and Ronnie Brown (3rd down and 2 min). Again, I think Mathews is the more talented back, but he also has the worse matchup (TB v. RB: 15.4 and BAL v. RB: 19.6). Additionally, I like Mathews IF he somehow gets more involved in the passing game. TB has given up over 500 receiving yards to RBs this season while BAL has only given up 194 yards. In regard to Reece, BAL could significantly limit his upside. What do other people think? What kind of role is Reece going to play?
pocrates wrote:Thanks for the help so far. The issue with Mathews v. Reece, which has already been mentioned, is that Reece's 'low' is far lower than Mathews. At the moment, there isn't any clear indication from the coaching staff on how Reece will be used in the offense. I would guess that he would see the majority of plays, but not the majority of carries. More specifically, his pass blocking and receiving capabilities should keep him involved, but at the same time, I could easily see him only getting a few carries and a few receptions for a total of 50 yards. Mathews, on the other hand, is SD primary rushing back, but his role is somewhat limited by Jackie Battle (short yardage) and Ronnie Brown (3rd down and 2 min). Again, I think Mathews is the more talented back, but he also has the worse matchup (TB v. RB: 15.4 and BAL v. RB: 19.6). Additionally, I like Mathews IF he somehow gets more involved in the passing game. TB has given up over 500 receiving yards to RBs this season while BAL has only given up 194 yards. In regard to Reece, BAL could significantly limit his upside. What do other people think? What kind of role is Reece going to play?
You've pretty much summed up the varying roles here, you know what you're talking about. But I think, just because of how versatile Reece is, he can make the game very interesting. Mathews is a straight-up running back, he's not going to get receiving yards. Reece, on the other hand, is more akin to CJ Spiller, in the sense that, due to his versatility, he can also be counted on to get passing yards. Of course, this is all cancelled out by the fact that, as you stated, BAL doesn't give up passing yards to RBs. So it's very tough.
Ultimately, Mathews will get SOME touches, and he'll get some yards. He's a competent running back, against a mediocre at best defense. But he's almost certainly not going to have a breakout game. Reece, on the other hand, very well MAY have a huge game. Of course, he could also get completely stifled, but because of how versatile he is, I feel like Oakland is going to be using him in a variety of ways. Personally, I think Reece is going to be pretty involved, and I think he's going to get a lot of touches.
Which brings me to my next point- if your league is a PPR league (you never specified on that point), then DEFINITELY go with Reece. Because while he may not get that many yards, he WILL get the carries. He'll almost certainly get the ball as many times as Mathews, and his upside is better.
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by pocrates » Wed Nov 07, 2012 11:58 am 
