The Weekly Bender: Longing for the Good Ol Days

Mon Oct 20 9:32pm ET
By HOWARD BENDER
Fantasy Writer

While I may sound like the old man shaking his fist at the clouds and yelling into the void, I really do miss the old days of fantasy football. No, I’m not going to speak on the talents of an Emerson Boozer or a Franco Harris, but I really do miss the old days of a bell-cow running back. When I think back to some of my favorite fantasy championships, the rosters were littered with names like Terrell Davis, Jerome Bettis, Jamaal Anderson, LaDanian Tomlinson and Sean Alexander. Back then, a single running back could win you your week. Yes, we still have some throwbacks like Jonathan Taylor, Christian McCaffrey and Bijan Robinson, but this trend of tandem backfields is making fantasy football a lot more complicated than it needs to be.

Let’s start with the obvious thorn in my side – the Carolina Panthers. Two years ago, Dave Canales turned a tomato can like Rachaad White into a top-five fantasy back. Not because White was talented and got an opportunity, but because of the sheer volume of touches. When he took the job in Carolina and did that for Chuba Hubbard, he turned him from a 900-yard, five-touchdown guy to a 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown back worthy of your attention in fantasy drafts.

But then Hubbard got hurt and Rico Dowdle stepped in as the next man up. Now I’m not a Dowdle fan, by any means. We just watched the Cowboys let him walk in favor of signing Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders. Now given the way Williams has played, it seems like a fantastic upgrade, but they didn’t even offer Dowdle the back-up job, instead signing Sanders. That, and just a look at his game logs, should tell you all you need to know about Dowdle’s abilities.

But I guess timing is everything because Dowdle’s opportunity could not have come at a better time for him. Miami and Dallas? Are you kidding me? Two of the absolute worst run defenses in the league and Dowdle was about to see significant volume. I don’t need to rehash his numbers from those two weeks. Just go try and play some old school Tecmo Bowl and let your opponent use Bo Jackson. Dowdle was a beast and now, instead of going back to his role as a back-up, Canales is suddenly deviating from his usual path and, according to a report from Adam Schefter, is now exploring the tandem approach he sees everyone else is using around the NFL.

Let me pause to vomit.

OK, I’m back. If the Panthers become sheep and do what everyone else is doing, those of us who invested in Hubbard as a bell-cow are screwed. I don’t care what his numbers were this past Sunday against the Jets – 14 carries for a 2.2 YPC average – because it was his first game back from a calf injury. I fully expected him to share carries this week. Dowdle had a fine game with 17 carries and a 4.6 YPC average, but does he really deserve a 50/50 split?

And that’s probably what is driving me crazy the most. Hubbard clearly outplayed Dowdle throughout the preseason and then got hurt. Why does he not reclaim the job? Are the Bucs going to put Bucky Irving into a time-share with White who has been a serviceable back? Is it because of Dowdle’s success against the two worst run defenses in the league? If Hubbard was healthy and he got a chance to run against Miami and Dallas, what would he have done? Would we even be having this discussion? We would not.

But here we are now with coaches all across the NFL thinking they’re the Lions and want their own version of Sonic and Knuckles. Klint Kubiak has altered his plan in Seattle and has Zach Charbonnet helping to carry the water. Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand keeps forcing Breece Hall to share carries. The Titans – yes, the crappy ol’ Titans, have Tyjae Spears and Tony Pollard splitting the work and there and don’t even get me started on the Steelers and Cardinals.

It sucks, right? But I know there’s nothing I can do about it, outside of staying RB-heavy in the early rounds of my drafts. But for this year, since no one is trading me their top backs without requesting a king’s ransom in return, I will find the one silver lining to all of this and that is head to my waiver wire and find some of these guys who are pushing their way into larger roles.

Kansas City’s Brashard Smith saw a 35-percent snap-share this past week and got 14 carries and five targets. We tabbed him as a sleeper during the preseason and with Kareem Hunt having lost a step and getting banged up, Smith should continue to see an increased workload. Both Tyjae Spears and Woody Marks are available across numerous waiver wires. Denver’s R.J. Harvey is seeing more touches in recent weeks and we’ll see what happens once Minnesota’s Aaron Jones is activate from Injured Reserve.

I hate it. And it makes me feel dirty. Like some Zero-RB truther everyone makes fun of at your draft. But sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and make it work.

Bender out.

The Weekly Bender: Longing for the Good Ol Days

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