Posts tagged MarshawnLynch at FanHouse

So, you're closing in on your Fantasy draft and you've done your draft lottery and you realize you won't be grabbing one of the coveted prizes that is LaDainian Tomlinson or Adrian Peterson. Who doesn't want the thrill of picking #1? Who wouldn't want the assurance of having the sure thing. Yet, it's not the end of the world. Relax, it happens.

Well, I'm facing that predicament as we speak. The final hours are ticking away before my first "official" Fantasy draft takes place. And yet, another year and yet again I won't be picking off the top line. It feels like I've been here before, probably because I have been...for as far back as I can remember. Well, no use crying over the fact, for tonight I've got to just cope and accept my fate as the #8 pick.

Now, normally around here it's always a relaxed, yet informative tone. However, I'm turning the page ever so slightly today in order to focus more on what makes Fantasy Football so addictive. And that's the hype, the fun, the drama, the anxiety and more importantly the draft.

Let's face it, the draft is arguably the best thing about Fantasy Football. If you draft with your league in person it's a great excuse to drink in excess and heckle your buddies for a few good hours. Well, maybe your draft isn't quite like that and my apologies for you if that's the case. Anyhow, for me the draft is probably the best two hours of the season...give or take.

And that brings me to the the harsh reality that most of us will face this week. And that's having to deal with our pecking in order in the draft. So, just how can you cope with the realization you're either wedged in the middle of your draft or stuck at the end? Well, just a few suggestions come to mind.

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.

Erie County District Attorney Frank J. Clark announced today that Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch has agreed to a deal that will resolve the investigation of his hit-and-run accident.

"This whole agreement is predicated on the fact that he was driving the car," Clark said. "Has he said that officially? The answer is no. But obviously, the reason we were here in these negotiations is all predicated on the fact that he was driving the vehicle."

Presumably, this means Lynch will plead guilty to some traffic offense related to leaving the scene of an accident, but Clark wouldn't get specific during his bizarre press conference, in which he got angry at reporters when they asked him what the agreement entailed. Clark did say there was one other person in the SUV when Lynch hit a pedestrian, but he would not say whether that passenger was a Buffalo Bills player.