C.J. Spiller, RB, Buffalo Bills
Redshirt: Dion Lewis, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers
Granted an expansion team for the 2011 season, Norris used the strategy of going young and seeing what stuck. His picks of [then-rookie] running backs Mark Ingram and Daniel Thomas were both busts, but his two young receivers form the core of what looks like a potentially dangerous team.
Julio Jones is an extremely popular player in fantasy drafts this summer, with one renowned fantasy analyst even going so far as to say that Jones would potentially be his #2 wide receiver overall, behind only Calvin Johnson. Most publications rank Jones in the 8 to 15 range among all wide receivers, with definite upside in an Atlanta offense that will certainly become more pass-happy as Michael Turner's age catches up to him.
Jordy Nelson is also a consensus top-15 wide receiver, as emerges as the #1b to Greg Jennings' #1a in the amazing Green Bay aerial onslaught. He's young, he's talented, he's paid his dues, and he knows how to find the end zone and pile up fantasy points.
Jones is 23 and Nelson is - surprisingly - already 27. But both are still young enough to represent major building blocks and trade pieces in a keeper league like the CKL.
C.J. Spiller is a less exciting keeper to me. Yes, Spiller is young and explosive, and he's playing in an ascending offense in Buffalo, with only an injury-prone and aging Fred Jackson stealing carries. But this is -at best - still a timeshare situation for Spiller, and in my personal opinion (gained through watching him work at Clemson and in his first two NFL seasons), Spiller is straight-line fast but he's fragile and lacks the wiggle and burst to be able to truly excel as an every-down speed back.
ESPN ranks Spiller as the 34th-best running back for fantasy this season, and I think that projection is probably pretty accurate. A decent guy to have on your team, but not the kind of player you look at on your roster and get goosebumps; not even the kind of player you look at on your roster and think yep, I've at least got that spot locked down. I suppose Spiller is a capable flex starter in our league, but dollars to doughnuts he's not the player who will elevate the expansion Blackpool Penguins into a level of CKL relevancy.
Finally, the redshirted Dion Lewis... The guy has some upside, no doubt about that. But he's also a potential knucklehead, who might not have a spot in the Philly pecking order due to the emergence of Bryce Brown. LeSean McCoy isn't ceding many touches to his caddies, anyway. I figure Lewis is the kind of player you can get in the 14th round of our draft, which makes him a bit of a wash as a redshirt.
Overall, I like the upside of this set of keepers, and if Jones and Nelson both make good on their top-8 WR potential, Norris could build an effective team around this core. But the lack of a real workhorse running back and the underwhelming #3 keeper C.J. Spiller ranks this group somewhere in the bottom half of the CKL's keepers.
Fine analysis, K. With the #1 pick in the upcoming draft and therefore a tractor beam lock on Tom Brady, the QB/WR section of Norris' squad will be fantastic. If Bunn can hit on a late RB or two (and his RBs will be late, as he sees 26 players come off the board between Brady and his next two picks), he'll have enough to be in the playoff discussion.
ReplyDeleteThat's a big IF though, and one that will go a long way towards defining the narrative of the Penguins' CKL infancy.