The Mighty Have Fallen
I am nearing the end of yet another dynasty start-up and at the 29.09 spot I looked on the board and there staring me in the face was Montee Ball. Almost every running back that can breathe has already been taken off the board, and granted this is a fairly deep IDP league as well, but all I could think of is “Oh, how the mighty have fallen” as I went ahead and clicked the select button and added him to my roster. We are just 12 months removed from when he was a firm late 2nd or early 3rd round pick in dynasty startups.
12 Months Ago
I remember seeing some pretty hefty trades, people who believed he was a young stud RB that could anchor their lineup for years trading away Matt Forte or 1st round rookie picks like candy to obtain his services. It isn’t as if he is old, and it isn’t as if he had such a bad injury that nobody thinks that he will ever come back. It’s just that CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman are young too, and they showed that they could do the job as good, if not better than Ball. Yet another sign that running backs in the league are so replaceable, not just in the NFL, but on your fantasy rosters as well.
So I took a stroll down memory lane and looked at who else would have been available in that 21-32 ADP spot between April and that start of last season. Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Mike Evans, and even Rob Gronkowski were all in that same range, and today have all increased in value. There were land mines also in that range, like Percy Harvin and Cordarelle Patterson, but even they have held their value more than Ball.
The UTH Way
Anyone employing the UTH way of drafting in a start-up wouldn’t have come close to drafting Ball and stepping on that land mine. They would have been scooping up the top young wide receiver talent and/or rookie picks and lining their rosters chock full of lottery tickets. Organic growth is usually going to pay more dividends than acquired growth, it is all part of the buy low and sell high concept. Heading into the end of round 30 in that start-up and there is another young RB with a similar meteoric fantasy trajectory that is still on the board.
Trent Richardson.
