CJA

[ppm]

I'm very concerned for Anderson at this point but not really due to Hillman. Of the things I'm worried about, Hillman is probably 4th on the list after the terrible o-line, Peyton's struggles, and the potentially nagging toe injury.

[knotts4372]

CJ is to 2015 RBs what OBJ is to 2015 WRs. They looked so good, but you have to be nervous as to whether they can sustain that production over the long haul.

indeed!! the two most overvalued players in fantasy been saying that for months. now might actually be the time to try to buy cheap maybe if someone is put off by all this

[ericanadian]

A big takeaway personally was how much better CJA was better as blitz pickup and blocking than Hillman. It was a factor in the snap count being 57-17 in CJA's favour. If you can't protect manning, you're not going to be his lead back.

Snap count moved to 58%-42% this week. I don't think they're worried about Hillman's pass blocking at this point. I think they just fully intended to run CJA as the lead back and he fell on his face.

[Jfever]

Once again it seems that in fantasy / dynasty - many times people are prone to knee jerk reactions and jumping to conclusions early. For all the talk of CJA being potentially the #1 scoring back in fantasy, he didn't look the part in his last two outings. I used to be a Ball supporter but was proven wrong. And I moved on. Never owned stock in CJA / actually sold him very early on as a small part in a larger deal.

I'm not saying Hillman is the answer either. I see Denver as struggling to find their identity. The only time they looked really good was when Manning was spraying the ball over the field when he was hitting Sanders and Thomas. Their run blocking was inconsistent and since CJA was a little nicked up, I wasn't surprised to see him struggle.

He may bounce back but a top 3 or so back in fantasy - he isn't. Best case scenario he could or should be in the top 10 range. As a non owner - I'm not invested or overly concerned but as a fan - it sucks. Maybe they turn it around but to me the problem is a combination of scheme, play calling, run blocking, lack of balance of attack, and CJ's health. Hillman, even though I do own a few small shares in him, I believe is a non factor.

[JoshGordonsDealer]

This is a bummer. It's beginning to look like I was just plain wrong.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

This is a bummer. It's beginning to look like I was just plain wrong.

If only there was some way to have predicted CJA would bust...

____________________________________________________________________________

And yes, I get that it's only 2 games and too early to make it official. Just let me have a little fun.

[DLF3000]

Wanted Hillman in waivers this week, had him last year, but can't grab everybody.

That said... it's already smelling like committee for some reason. Thought CJA was the clear bellcow but now who knows?

[Csl312]

Is it possible his lesser usage this week was because he is not 100% healthy and the run game wasn't going anywhere anyway? I did not watch the game so I have no idea. Sounds like the line is a major cause of CJAs woes though.

[DLF3000]

Is it possible his lesser usage this week was because he is not 100% healthy and the run game wasn't going anywhere anyway? I did not watch the game so I have no idea. Sounds like the line is a major cause of CJAs woes though.

True. I don't know, I'm kind of glad I don't have to worry about that backfield.

[basilthesnake]

I'm starting to wonder if they start going back to Peyton's offense will CJA start to play like he did in 2014? More than anything though, a bad O-line or at least bad o-line play will ruin any offense.

[MEuRaH]

Is it possible his lesser usage this week was because he is not 100% healthy and the run game wasn't going anywhere anyway? I did not watch the game so I have no idea. Sounds like the line is a major cause of CJAs woes though.

Yes, this is the case. It was mentioned in the post-game interviews.

I still love CJA, but forcing him to run on a bum foot is ludicrous. He needs to sit a week and get healthy.

[kmbryant09]

The two times the line actually opened holes he went for 14 yards and 10 yards. I lost count of the number of times that CJ and Hillman had to dodge defenders in the backfield. There was one play where the defender could have collected the handoff from Peyton and tripped CJ up 4 yards behind the LOS. He stumbled back to the line, but I'd challenge anyone to operate well behind that line. For as 'good' as Hillman looked, he averaged 3.7 YPC and got half his yards on one run.

I won't be starting him until they get it sorted out because the line is just killing the entire running game, but I think the issue is far more to do with the line than with CJ at the moment.

This ^^^

[Coogan Football]

It's like all the CJA lovers fell in love just based on the fact he was taking the ball from Peyton Manning..

Talent over situation, people..

....at least 90% of the time!!

[Telperion]

Manning + Kubiak on paper is a great situation for any RB, and Anderson showed talent last season. In December people were talking about how evasive he was for a guy his size, now he's a "don't choose situation over talent" poster boy?

When did the Anderson narrative change so drastically?

There's a couple of possibilities here:

- Anderson isn't as good as he legitimately looked last season (and he looked good, don't revise history)
- Kubiak's current offensive scheme isn't opening things up for the running game (why though - Kubiak RB's nearly always succeed)
- The offensive line

I think it's all factors. Manning's deep ball isn't as respected anymore so Kubiak's scheme isn't stretching the field to open things up for the ZBS. Anderson may not be as good a fit in a zone scheme as we thought. Arian Foster beat out Ben Tate after all because he was a great fit. Then on top of that the line isn't protecting Manning or opening holes, it's a general hot mess.

He can go either way and I wouldn't be surprised.

[Coogan Football]

I was never high on Anderson. I never thought any of the Denver RBs were talented enough to separate themselves from each other either (enough to designate one the true #1 RB in Denver)