Thompson vs Rex

[vlax525]

Have an offer to:

Give: Rex Burkhead
Get: Chris Thompson

0.5 ppr otherwise normal scoring. Which side would you like

[HughHoney]

Thompson easily for me

[fakespike13]

Thompson was the best player on his team last year. Rex is a talented, versatile player who could slide into a lot scoring opportunities and has upside. I voted Thompson but it’s pretty close.

[FantasyFreak]

Thompson has 3rd down duties carved out on that team. As long as he is healthy, there is not a RB on that team that will take that from him. I'm not sure where Burhead stands. The Michel pick really muddies up that backfield. For that reason, I take Thompson, as you know you at least a consistent 3rd down back.

[skip]

I'd expect Guice to be a bigger threat to Thompson than Michel is to Burkhead. Washington is a team without any defining characteristics. Not sure what to expect from Thompson...

[surgebird2]

I think it's Thompson and that it's not close at all. Gruden has said they expect Guice to be their early down back while being unlikely to push Thompson for passing down work. Thompson has a clearly defined role as others have mentioned. Michel is a much better bet to take most/all the work in New England seeing as he was the best all around back in the draft after Barkley. New England wouldn't have spent a 1st round pick on him if they weren't going to give him a good amount of work eventually. I expect Burkhead to have a rather small workload, especially since James White does a lot of what he does too.

[Shcritters]

Thompson by a bit.

[Hottoddies]

I'd expect Guice to be a bigger threat to Thompson than Michel is to Burkhead. Washington is a team without any defining characteristics. Not sure what to expect from Thompson...

I usually have the upmost respect for your views, Skip, but this time I think the opposite is true. Last year, without fail, Thompson was in the backfield in passing situations. It was as predictable as the sunrise and they have said it will be the case this year as well. Whereas New England's RB rotation has been the most impossible to predict. My vote is with Thompson.

[ninotoreS]

Hmm.

Thompson will be 28 in October, has been fragile and injury prone since college, may not be ready for all of training-camp, and might struggle to get his conditioning where it needs to be in time for the regular-season's start. I also suspect Guice is more capable of stepping in for him on passing-downs than people appreciate.

Rex is a few months older than Chris, and has had his share of injuries throughout his career too, although he's never suffered the season-ending injuries Thompson has. Burkhead shined in OTAs, while new addition Michel reportedly struggled a bit. Unlike Thompson, Rex may still get goal-line carries, and the Patriots' schedule this year projects to be very favorable for RBs on the ground and through the air.

It's closer than I thought it'd be once I broke down the facts for myself, but I'm gonna pick Burkhead here. He's one of my favorite sleepers at RB this season.

Last year, without fail, Thompson was in the backfield in passing situations. It was as predictable as the sunrise

Different depth-chart back then.

Defenses don't respect Thompson as a ball-carrier up the gut, and so they can 'cheat' a bit with their pre-snap prediction when Thompson is spied in the backfield.

But Perine and Kelley were/are hapless as pass-catchers, so Washington didn't have much choice last year. This is not the case with Guice, who can be serviceable as a pass-catcher. An RB capable of being both an any-type-of-carry threat and an adequate outlet receiver makes an offense more unpredictable, and obviously that's an advantage. Assuming he's competent knowing his assignments, Guice will probably stay on the field for more passing-downs this season than Perine and Kelley did last season.

[Titans95]

I probably lean burkhead. He's a on a 3 year guaranteed deal so the pats are going to use him.

[Goddard]

Neither should be anything more than a RB3/4 on someone's roster. That's why I'd take my chances with Thompson and his higher upside.

[BigBawseRoss]

almost no interest in either playter but if i had to pick one i would choose thompson and hope he regains his passing game role that he had for about 6 games last season

[pmart33]

I'd go Thompson in this one. More often than not trying to play roulette with the Patriot's backfield is very difficult thing to do in Fantasy. Considering they just drafted Sony in the first round and also have James White, Jeremy Hill and Gillislee hanging around I'd stay away from Burkhead and acquire Thompson if I could.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

Thompson is vastly overvalued due to his crazy long TDs last year. It reminds me of Antone Smith in ATL a few years back when it seemed like every time he touched the ball for a few weeks he'd break a 90-yard TD. Thompson has struggled to stay healthy, and I think Guice will eat into his receiving workload at least a little bit. I'd prefer Burkhead as the likely goal-line RB in NE, though the value gap between the two RBs isn't huge. I'd say Burkhead = 2.06 and Thompson = 2.10.

[topher]

Neither should be relied upon as more than a bye week starter/ flex plays. Both teams added prolific backs, but I’d rather have Thompson and his clearly defined 3rd down passing role. Not too worried about it changing despite Guice. I feel Rex is hurt more by Michel