Sorry about your running back ruining your fantasy season.
I don't know you, of course. I'm just playing the odds. And this year, the odds that you've had at least one guy at that position giving you headaches is pretty good.
Maybe it was an injury. That would apply to Matt Forte, Jamaal Charles, Marshawn Lynch, Le'Veon Bell, Dion Lewis and Arian Foster.
Then you have guys who haven't performed like starters, or are still fighting for carries in a timeshare. I'm talking to you, Alfred Morris, Jeremy Hill and C.J. Anderson.
By the way, where do I put Andre Ellington, Justin Forsett and Eddie Lacy? The injured category, or the didn't-perform-up-to-expectations category? Ah, it doesn't matter.
Besides, that's why you have depth, right? I'm sure Frank Gore or Joseph Randle will work out. If not, maybe Melvin Gordon, Amir Abdullah or Carlos Hyde. I mean, it's not like everyone you drafted became a bust or got hurt. Or did they?
Those guys make me feel good about players like Bishop Sankey. I expected nothing from him, and I got nothing. Just a good, honest goose egg. No disappointment whatsoever. I respect that.
But unless you're trotting out Todd Gurley and Adrian Peterson every week, you've probably had issues at running back. That's a bad thing, but in a way it can be good over the final weeks of the season. In fact, it might be better that this year is worse than most.
(I don't have any scientific data to back that up. It's similar to the "feels like" temperature outside. I have no idea how they get that number. It's probably a hunch. Same here. It just feels like this has been an awful year for that position. At some point, all the running backs seem to stop running).
So why would it be better? Because when everyone gets hit, the playing field evens out. If more owners suffer, it becomes a matter of how well you drafted or how well you work the waiver wire. You have to actually fight your way out of it, and hopefully it pays off for the better owners.
It also prevents someone to simply vulture a top backup off the waiver wire and cruise to victory. Sure, you might get a DeAngelo Williams, although someone probably took a late flier on him at the draft since he was definitely starting a couple of games. But it's not like you could laugh at the Lacy owner because you picked up Starks. And while Chris Johnson has been okay, he's not carrying teams to the playoffs. Neither is, you know, the main guy in Detroit. Who is that again?
The point is, it's rare for a backup to slide in and perform like the starter. Charcandrick West seemed to have done that, except he got hurt Sunday. So now, is it Spencer Ware? And now that Forsett is gone, will Javorius Allen perform just like him? Do you even want him to perform like Forsett?
Still, something is better than nothing. And if you need a little help to make the playoffs, you're likely in a pretty good spot in the waiver order. And maybe the new guys will give you a couple extra points (until they also get hurt), and that will help you get the wins you need. If nothing else, you're keeping functional players away from your rivals, and maybe that sends them into a spiral that knocks them out of the postseason. Maybe that becomes your spot.
At the very least, we all know that misery loves company, especially in fantasy football. While you scramble to find somebody to fill your starting running back spots, know that you're not alone. And some of the teams that are really suffering were thinking about a title a few weeks ago. Now they're just trying to stay afloat.
If you can manage your problems just a little better than they do, it might be you sneaking into the playoffs. So when it comes to injuries, their pain might be your gain. That's the optimist in me, anyway. Keep working the waiver wire, and good luck this week.
Who's got the worst running back injury story of 2015? Share your tales below.
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