Posts tagged Marshawn Lynch at FanHouse

This 10-team mock draft was comprised of Fantasy and NFL FanHouse contributors, and took place late last week. Standard scoring format (no PPR) of fleaflicker was used -- as the live draft took place in fleaflicker's really sweet draft room. We went with a 15-man roster because every league in the world has an even number of players on the roster ... we're spitting in their collective faces. Starters? QB, RB, 2 WR, TE, K, D/ST with one flex who can be a RB/WR/TE.

Round 1
1. Matt Watson -- LaDanian Tomlinson, RB, Chargers
2. Shane Bacon -- Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings
3. Sean Lalley -- Steven Jackson, RB, Rams
4. Tosten Burks -- Brian Westbrook, RB, Eagles
5. Matt Snyder -- Joseph Addai, RB, Colts
6. Ryan Wilson -- Frank Gore, RB, Niners
7. Tom Herrera -- Clinton Portis, RB, Redskins
8. The Piler, JM -- Marion Barber, RB, Cowboys
9. Will Brinson -- Marshawn Lynch, RB, Bills
10. Tom Mantzouranis -- Randy Moss, WR, Pats

Well, we heart RBs in round one. It makes sense, since you only have to play one, to garner a studly runner at the top. There are a limited number of sure things. Interesting that Mantz went a Pats WR instead of QB here, but you can't go wrong with any of these first-round choices.

WHO YA GOT???
While it's easy to sit back before the draft and know who you want, it's a helluva lot harder to make those calls when the pressure of the clock counting down is squared all up on your shoulders. (Although in fairness, if you're playing in the most perfect and free fantasy football league of all time, then it's a lot easier to deal with those decisions.)

So that's why Fantasy FanHouse (with the help of Mock Draft Central's ADP report) is here to help you through the tough picks, with a little thing I like to call: Fantasy Coin Flips.

Early Round QB: Peyton Manning vs. Tony Romo
If you follow what we write here at FanHouse, you know that I am an unabashed basher of Romo. Not because he won't help lead the Cowboys this year, but just because he's overrated in fantasy. (No, seriously, Cowboys fans, re-read that before you comment. Please.) Peyton carries the injury risk, yes. And Romo has weapons, sure. But unlike most years, Peyton's going to be fighting for the playoffs while Romo is going to be taking it easy in December with the NFC East on cruise control. Plus, the value in Peyton Freaking Manning at this point is too good to pass up.

From the days of Olandis Gary (yes, that's him in the picture ... I can't believe I found one) taking over for Terrell Davis to last season's Earnest Graham breakthrough following Cadillac Williams' injury, fantasy owners have long seen backup running backs rise to prominence via injury to a teammate. Conventional wisdom states that you grab the backup runner to your highly drafted starting running backs, and the term handcuff is used to describe this theory.

This isn't always the case, though, unless you have a very large league. Say you have a 10 owner league with only five bench spots. Simply put, DeShaun Foster should not be taking up room on that bench.

Let's take a look at whether or not to handcuff starting RBs around the league in four different categories.

Must Cuff
Ryan Grant -- Grant held out, and now has a slight injury in camp. Meanwhile Brandon Jackson -- supposed to be the starting back last season before injuries and inexperience derailed him -- has been receiving rave reviews from the Packers coaching staff. You can still draft Grant in the 2nd round, but it is imperative to grab Jackson as well.

Since fantasy football doesn't have a equivalent to baseball's roto format, where you accrue stats all season without regard to when the player does it, consistency matters. Looking at someone's overall numbers for the 2007 season heading into the 2008 season can be misleading if a player completely blew up two or three times and stunk the rest of the way (ahem, Kevin Curtis).

A solid foundation to your fantasy team is nab at least a few consistent studs. Here are a few of the best examples:

Peyton Manning, QB, Colts
Assuming his injury is all healed by opening day, there is no one more consistent season-to-season or week-to-week in the NFL. His seasonal stats have looked very similar for nearly a decade. He threw for 250-plus yards in 11 games in '07, while tossing multiple TDs in nine times. The supporting cast and system in which he plays (and pretty much runs) breed success ... don't expect anything to change this year. Tom Brady and Tony Romo are hot names this year, so it means you can get Manning cheaper than usual.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: The J.P Losman era has come to its logical conclusion. Which is to say, he probably won't be around after this season. Trent Edwards, the team's 2007 third-round pick is now the starter, and if the Bills are to have any chance to improve on last year's 7-9 record, it will lie largely with him. Heat Index: 5

Running backs: Marshawn Lynch had a relatively quiet offseason until he accidentally ran over a pedestrian and bonked out before the cops showed up. The case has been settled, and he won't miss any time, which is great news for a Bills offense that can't afford to lose one of its best players. I suspect the hit-and-run victim might feel differently, however. Fred Jackson is more than capable behind Lynch. Heat Index: 8

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet the ...
Beast Modes. Sorry, that's just all I think about when I start analyzing the Buffalo Bills. I can't help it. My mancrush on Marshawn Lynch just runs too deep. I actually loved the Bills as a sleeper team last year and think the same thing in 2008. Trent Edwards and Lynch are an up-and-coming young duo and Lee Evans obviously has gobs of talent, even if it comes on sporadically. However, this team is young, which means growing pains in real and fantasy football.

Breakout
I'm classifying 'Beast Mode' Lynch as this year's breakout on this squad. Yes, he had 1,000 yards last year, but when doesn't a back break 1k these days? I think he's going to flirt with 1,500 this season and will end up catching substantially more balls out of the backfield than last year. If you check his game logs, he didn't really start to come on strong until Edwards took over, but he was a model of consistency when he was on the field. If he stays healthy for the whole season, you can pencil in 1,700 total yards.

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet the ...
Beast Modes.Sorry, that's just all I think about when I start analyzing the Buffalo Bills. I can't help it. My mancrush on Marshawn Lynch just runs too deep. I actually loved the Bills as a sleeper team last year and think the same thing in 2008. Trent Edwards and Lynch are an up and coming young duo and Lee Evans obviously has gobs of talent, even if it comes on sporadically. However, this team is young, which means growing pains in real and fantasy football.

Breakout
I'm classifying Beast Mode as this year's breakout on this squad. Yes, he had 1,000 yards last year, but when doesn't a back break 1k these days? I think he's going to flirt with 1,500 this season and will end up catching substantially more balls out of the backfield than last year. If you check his game logs, he didn't really start to come on strong until Edwards took over, but he was a model of consistency when he was on the field. If he stays healthy for the whole season, you can pencil in 1,700 total yards.

It took a month, but we've finally gotten to the bottom of the nowhere-close-to-murder mystery involving Bills running back Marshawn Lynch, his SUV, and some poor, unsuspecting lass who got runned over.

Last week, Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark announced that Lynch had agreed to a deal but neglected to go into detail. Now we know: Lynch will lose his driving privileges after his SUV accidentally struck a Canadian woman.

"I didn't know my car had hit anyone or anything," Lynch mumbled to reporters Friday afternoon before heading into traffic court to plead guilty to a violation. "So I continued on my way home. I apologize to Ms. [Kimberly] Shpeley for any injuries she suffered."

And with that -- along with a $100 fine -- the case is closed. Presumably, Lynch made his way to traffic court, paid the fine, turned over his license, and had somebody drive him home.

Because the wounds suffered by the woman weren't considered to be of the "serious physical injury" variety, Lynch avoided criminal charges. Instead, he plead guilty to a single count of failure to exercise due care to avoid striking a pedestrian, which is just a traffic violation.

On a completely random, local-celebrity note: the News notes that as he left the courthouse, "a woman on the street recognized Lynch and began to shout: 'Touchdown! Touchdown!'"

I'm guessing that doesn't happen to everyone.

The Fantasy FanHouse team will occasionally debate pre-draft topics for your perusement and amusement. Any excuse for a Roundtable really. Today's topic: picks 3-6 in the first round.

Matt Snyder: Right behind the obvious top two picks is another tier of elite running backs. There shouldn't be much debate that the next four players off the board are Joseph Addai, Brian Westbrook, Steven Jackson, and Frank Gore -- unless someone wants to waste their top six pick on Tom Brady or Randy Moss, in which case you happily let them. The debate, though, is in what order they should be taken.

So, Fantasy FanHouse ... what order and why?

Dear Lord, thank you for Clinton Portis and blog wars, but mostly for Clinton Portis because he doesn't take himself quite so seriously.

Dan Steinberg writes that the artist also known as "Southeast Jerome", "Coach Janky Spanky", "Bro Sweets", "Choo-Choo", "Sheriff Gonnagetcha", and "Dolemite Jenkins", unveiled four new characters this week, and he's looking for YOUR help on which one to debut to the Washington-area media this fall.

You can see all four characters and vote here, but if Dr. Do Itch Big doesn't win, the whole thing is rigged. Just like Spygate, which means we can expect Senator Arlen Specter to get involved, and, really, nobody wants that.

According to his bio, Do Itch Big is a dentist who does his own work (of course he does), and goes by the motto, "Cleaning up the NFL one mouth at a time." And then there's this fun fact: "The good doctor started his bicuspid crusade by enhancing the grills of former Giants DE Michael Strahan and Bills RB Marshawn Lynch." Nice.