This is an example of the type of information you can gain access to if you pick up a copy of the fabulous 2014 Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Football Draft Guide. Click on the link to learn how to gain access to the Guide, the articles, the rankings, all of it so that you can take down your competition. Let's take a look at Doug Martin (Jeff Mans will argue for) versus Le'Veon Bell (Ray Flowers will argue for).

Doug Martin
By Jeff Mans

Has everybody just forgotten that Doug Martin racked up nearly 2,000 total yards and 12 TDs in 2012? It feels as though Martin is somehow being faulted for getting injured last season. Although any injury is a concern for a RB, a torn labrum is as good as it gets realistically. What we worry about with RBs is a torn knee, Achilles or hip each of which will zap speed and agility. Martin has had none of these injuries in the past and thus is completely the same runner he was in his rookie campaign.

Le’Veon Bell also had a very nice rookie season. In 2013, he racked up 1,259 all purpose yards with eight TDs. I actually was a big advocate of Bell last year mostly because he was the uncontested runner for the Steelers. Much like Doug Martin is for the Bucs, Bell was the short yardage and third down/passing down runner for the Steelers in 2013. The problem though is that the Steelers brought in LeGarrette Blount and drafted Dri Archer to take a lot of that volume away from Le’Veon Bell. Blount will likely get short yardage carries while Archer will see plenty of snaps in passing situations. 

Oh and before I hear any of this garbage about how “bad Doug Martin was early on last year” I will simply point to Ray Flowers beloved numbers. Doug Martin played six games last year rushing the ball 127 times for 456 yards. This averages out to 3.6 yards per carry. Le’Veon Bell in his “great” season played 13 games rushing the ball 244 times for 860 yards. That averages out to 3.5 yards per carry. So even at the worst for Martin and the best for Bell, Doug Martin comes out on top. 

Le'Veon Bell
By Ray Flowers

How dare Jeff point to the numbers – he's trying to take away my advantage with Bell. Dastardly, but well played Mr. Mans.

I'm not overly concerned with Blount and Archer, but the fact is that both will have roles, and it seems like their chances might be more voluminous than I had expected after Mike Tomlin said the following. "They’re both going to get their share," Tomlin said of Blount and Bell. “We’ll deal with that on a game-by-game basis based on the plan.” Not sure I totally believe that, but that was surely a sucker punch to the gut of the Bell boosters. There was also another bit of extremely relevant news recently, and that is that the injured ankle that Charles Sims is dealing with is very malo (that's bad in some other language I think). Sims needs surgery on his ankle and will be sidelined for 12-14 weeks. He might even end up on the I.R. list and be done for the year. 

Those two pieces of information pretty much have wiped out the gap that I personally saw between the two backs. I'll still take Bell for a couple of reasons. One, the Bucs seem intent on doing whatever they can to reduce the workload of Martin a bit. Second, Bell is a far superior football player to Blount. Third, Blount can't catch, at all, and he's had fumble issues through the years. Fourth, the Steelers have long ridden one back and eschewed shared backfields when their horse was healthy. Admittedly, it's getting harder to see a gap between the two backs.

* Don't worry about the geetting busted by the police thing. The team has already said they will not discipline Bell and Blount, and it's highly unlikely the NFL will rule until the court case is settled, and that will likely not happen until the 2014 football season is complete.

 


 This is an example of the type of information you can gain access to if you pick up a copy of the fabulous2014 Fantasy Alarm Football Draft Guide. Click on the link to learn how to gain access to the Guide, the articles, the rankings, all of it so that you can take down your competition.