Greetings and welcome to the first installment of A Librarian's Touch for the 2008 season. The name of this column deserves just a bit of explanation since some of you may be wondering how you suddenly landed on your local library's website - have no fear, you are still safely ensconced on the Bruno Boys site. I'm just a librarian who is a bit overzealous about fantasy football - some of you may know my blog, Fantasy Football Librarian (if you don't know it, have a look why don't you?) and a special hello to you all. Anyway, enough on the introductions, let's get right to fantasy football.
Raise your hand if you've been burned by an RBBC (running back by committee) situation in a fantasy football league lately. Oh yeah, raise it high. Don't worry about your coworkers, spouse or dog staring at you oddly (sidebar: is there anything more disconcerting than a pet who stares at you with that slight head tilt and befuddled eyes?) - I mean really, every man, woman and child has probably been burned by RBBCs by now so there's no shame in it. Raise your hand even higher, I say, because it's about time we embrace this crazy RBBC world that we fantasy footballers live in. Embrace it and beat it; personally, I have no interest in letting the RBBC get the best of me.
So how do we beat the RBBC conundrum? Knowledge! I know, I sound like a bad public service announcement but in fantasy football, knowledge really is power. And there's just not enough info out there on all the various committees. I applaud the few sites out there that have attacked the RBBC analysis...though I can't say I really blame the experts out there for not wanting to talk about them. But now it's time we face committees head on and do our best to take a gamble and figure out which guys might pull to the front of the committee battles. Trust me, some of those guys might even be a top 10 back by the time the season is over.
With that being said, let's take a look at 3 under-discussed teams and their backfield situation heading into 2008!
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1. Denver Broncos
The granddaddy of the RBBC. As a Coloradan, I feel it is practically my duty to take a guess as to which back is really worth your time. A quick recap for you - during the offseason the team got rid of Travis Henry and Mike Bell, leaving Selvin Young, Michael Pittman, Andre Hall and rookie Ryan Torain. The press is in love with rookie Torain, which is all the motivation that a newly bulked-up Selvin Young needs. Earlier this summer Young referred to himself as a "beast" now that he's had a year to adjust to the team and the altitude. So my vote is that Young will be just fine this season as an RB2 (I personally would feel good about drafting him in the 4th or 5th round) but if Young goes down with an injury, it will be Andre Hall who is ready and waiting to take over. Give Torain a little more time to gel with the team before he becomes worthy of even being a flier pick. Also, keep in mind that Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan is known to play games with all of the fantasy football owners out there, when it comes to running backs.
2. Detroit Lions
Wow, a very large part of me just wants to run screaming from this team. But in reality, there's some potential here. The Detroit Lions have an offensive line that will likely improve their run blocking in 2008 (maybe even significantly?), giving whichever back rises to the top a good chance to be a decent player. And imagine if the Detroit defense could step it up giving the team a little more balance - dare I say that a Detroit running back could be a top 20 fantasy option given the right circumstances? If that back is rookie Kevin Smith, I think he's got a real chance to shine immediately. Fortunately for Smith the new running scheme that Detroit has employed is precisely the system that allowed him to rack up 450 carries in just 14 games last year at UCF. Yes, that 450 carries should probably make you a little nervous, but Smith claims "I got a little tiger in me, I'm pretty feisty" and frankly, I have very little faith in Tatum Bell or Brian Calhoun being able to challenge him for many carries. I think the Lions' RBBC situation will melt away as Smith becomes the lead runner within just a few weeks, making Smith a solid middle round pick.
3. Houston Texans
Alex Gibbs has arrived in Houston as the new assistant head coach. Gibbs came out of retirement to help the Houston Texans running game and he was previously in Denver during the reign of the "whoever plays in Denver will be a top 5 back" days - so I see better things for the Texans' running game this year. But there couldn't possibly be more backs in Houston - Ahman Green, Chris Brown, Chris Taylor, Darius Walker and rookie Steve Slaton are the backs that are all part of the nightmareish RBBC in Houston. I have to admit that I am writing off Green almost immediately - I think he will be injured within a month; he might not even make it through the pre-season. And while I've added Chris Brown to my teams in some deep mock drafts, I've done so only as a late round pick. So enter Chris Taylor. He had a decent rookie season in 2006 followed by a knee injury during camp that put him out for the 2007 season, but Gary Kubiak and Gibbs believe in Taylor and I think we could all be surprised by his skills in the Texans' new running game. Will I take this guy as anything other than a late draft round? No, but I think he's worth the gamble more than the rest of the Houston backs.
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Past "A Librarians Touch" Articles (click to view)
Best & Worst of 2008
Week 17 Sneaky Fantasy Football Options
Championship Week Defenses
Finding the Week 15 Gem
Revisiting the Top 10 Running Backs
Taking It One Week At A Time
Predicting Playoff Studs
Second Half Players to Avoid
Second Half Handcuffs
Finding the Week 8 Bye Week Fill-In
Which Top 10 Running Backs will remain strong in 2008?
Shop Em, Don't Drop Em
Bye-ing into a Team D/ST
Forecasting Streaky Players
Fantasy Football Hindsight from Week 1
Hidden Potential Among Rookies
Fantasy Football Draft Day Trends
Creating Fantasy Football Tiers
Pick your Kicker with some Statistical Perspective
Optimizing Your Tight End
Beyond the Obvious with IDP's
Committing to a Running Back Committee
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Sara Holladay, owner of Fantasy Football Librarian, will be writing a weekly feature called "A Librarians Touch" on the Bruno Boys website on every Wednesday throughout the football season. Remember to check back next week to read what Holladay has on her fantasy football mind.
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