2023 Free Agency

[ericanadian]

I agree. Bump for Strong, ding on Ford. I'd rather own Strong right now.

Weird way of viewing it.

Ford - was installed as the RB2 behind Chubb all offseason, so much that they declined all FA and draft options at cost. Has a far closer skillset to Chubb if he was to go down.

Strong - just got traded to his 2nd team in his rookie contract. Will likely have a role as the 3rd down back on occasional snaps as he gets more comfortable... for a running QB.

Ford all day if you're actually wanting Chubb's backup imo.

You might be right but then why trade for Strong? Not to say that CLE decisions are typically the wisest...

Teams carry more than two running backs.. If they like him better than Felton, and his cost is barely anything, why not? Not sure why his acquisition means he’s the number two back other than his fantasy owners are just being overly hopeful.

[Jigga94]

Weird way of viewing it.

Ford - was installed as the RB2 behind Chubb all offseason, so much that they declined all FA and draft options at cost. Has a far closer skillset to Chubb if he was to go down.

Strong - just got traded to his 2nd team in his rookie contract. Will likely have a role as the 3rd down back on occasional snaps as he gets more comfortable... for a running QB.

Ford all day if you're actually wanting Chubb's backup imo.

You might be right but then why trade for Strong? Not to say that CLE decisions are typically the wisest...

Teams carry more than two running backs.. If they like him better than Felton, and his cost is barely anything, why not? Not sure why his acquisition means he’s the number two back other than his fantasy owners are just being overly hopeful.

I had no idea NFL teams carried more than 2 RB

Adding Strong means more competition for Ford either way you slice it. They like strong more than their other RBs apparently. Yes Strong is likely the #3 there and Ford still the 2, but I think its a ding to his value either way. I doubt either gets a ton of work if Chubb goes down either way though. Which is the only way either has value at this point

[BabyChark23]

You might be right but then why trade for Strong? Not to say that CLE decisions are typically the wisest...

Teams carry more than two running backs.. If they like him better than Felton, and his cost is barely anything, why not? Not sure why his acquisition means he’s the number two back other than his fantasy owners are just being overly hopeful.

I had no idea NFL teams carried more than 2 RB

Adding Strong means more competition for Ford either way you slice it. They like strong more than their other RBs apparently. Yes Strong is likely the #3 there and Ford still the 2, but I think its a ding to his value either way. I doubt either gets a ton of work if Chubb goes down either way though. Which is the only way either has value at this point

I’m not convinced this is true. Hunt had value when Chubb was healthy. Right or not, they have historically opted to use a 3rd down back rather than use Chubb in the passing game.

[Jigga94]

Teams carry more than two running backs.. If they like him better than Felton, and his cost is barely anything, why not? Not sure why his acquisition means he’s the number two back other than his fantasy owners are just being overly hopeful.

I had no idea NFL teams carried more than 2 RB

Adding Strong means more competition for Ford either way you slice it. They like strong more than their other RBs apparently. Yes Strong is likely the #3 there and Ford still the 2, but I think its a ding to his value either way. I doubt either gets a ton of work if Chubb goes down either way though. Which is the only way either has value at this point

I’m not convinced this is true. Hunt had value when Chubb was healthy. Right or not, they have historically opted to use a 3rd down back rather than use Chubb in the passing game.

Hunt was a much better talent. We saw him do it on his own as well.

Ford and Strong are not in the same category. They do not carry stand alone value. At this point

[frerichs5]

I had no idea NFL teams carried more than 2 RB

Adding Strong means more competition for Ford either way you slice it. They like strong more than their other RBs apparently. Yes Strong is likely the #3 there and Ford still the 2, but I think its a ding to his value either way. I doubt either gets a ton of work if Chubb goes down either way though. Which is the only way either has value at this point

I’m not convinced this is true. Hunt had value when Chubb was healthy. Right or not, they have historically opted to use a 3rd down back rather than use Chubb in the passing game.

Hunt was a much better talent. We saw him do it on his own as well.

Ford and Strong are not in the same category. They do not carry stand alone value. At this point

Nick Chubb averaged 1.5 catches per game with Kareem Hunt. Averaged 1.8 catches per game without him.

Maybe that changes this year, but historically it hasn’t mattered who the #2 was.

Edit: went back and looked at Chubb without Hunt since 2019 (when Hunt signed). The average catches per game actually dropped from 1.8 to 1.6.

[Jigga94]

I’m not convinced this is true. Hunt had value when Chubb was healthy. Right or not, they have historically opted to use a 3rd down back rather than use Chubb in the passing game.

Hunt was a much better talent. We saw him do it on his own as well.

Ford and Strong are not in the same category. They do not carry stand alone value. At this point

Nick Chubb averaged 1.5 catches per game with Kareem Hunt. Averaged 1.8 catches per game without him.

Maybe that changes this year, but historically it hasn’t mattered who the #2 was.

Edit: went back and looked at Chubb without Hunt since 2019 (when Hunt signed). The average catches per game actually dropped from 1.8 to 1.6.

Hunt was a solid flex play as the RB2 there at times. He averaged a little over 2 catches per game and had 12, 9 and 7 rushes per game from 2020-2022. That was good for RB22, RB21 and RB53 on a ppg ranking

Ford/Strong are not Kareem Hunt. Even if they got 3 receptions a game, I do not see either RB getting the 8+ rushes on the ground per game. They aren't on the same level talent wise. And Strong coming in just muddies it up. Ford was a nice stash prior and maybe he's still the unquestioned RB2 there. I don't think it matters much though. Maybe CLE makes it a 60-40 split with Chubb as the 1A and surprises me though

[frerichs5]

Hunt was a much better talent. We saw him do it on his own as well.

Ford and Strong are not in the same category. They do not carry stand alone value. At this point

Nick Chubb averaged 1.5 catches per game with Kareem Hunt. Averaged 1.8 catches per game without him.

Maybe that changes this year, but historically it hasn’t mattered who the #2 was.

Edit: went back and looked at Chubb without Hunt since 2019 (when Hunt signed). The average catches per game actually dropped from 1.8 to 1.6.

Hunt was a solid flex play as the RB2 there at times. He averaged a little over 2 catches per game and had 12, 9 and 7 rushes per game from 2020-2022. That was good for RB22, RB21 and RB53 on a ppg ranking

Ford/Strong are not Kareem Hunt. Even if they got 3 receptions a game, I do not see either RB getting the 8+ rushes on the ground per game. They aren't on the same level talent wise. And Strong coming in just muddies it up. Ford was a nice stash prior and maybe he's still the unquestioned RB2 there. I don't think it matters much though. Maybe CLE makes it a 60-40 split with Chubb as the 1A and surprises me though

I think I misunderstood you from an earlier post. I pretty much agree with all of this. I just don’t expect Chubb to have a lot of extra receiving work this year. But agree these other guys may not see enough work to have a ton of value.

[Jigga94]

Nick Chubb averaged 1.5 catches per game with Kareem Hunt. Averaged 1.8 catches per game without him.

Maybe that changes this year, but historically it hasn’t mattered who the #2 was.

Edit: went back and looked at Chubb without Hunt since 2019 (when Hunt signed). The average catches per game actually dropped from 1.8 to 1.6.

Hunt was a solid flex play as the RB2 there at times. He averaged a little over 2 catches per game and had 12, 9 and 7 rushes per game from 2020-2022. That was good for RB22, RB21 and RB53 on a ppg ranking

Ford/Strong are not Kareem Hunt. Even if they got 3 receptions a game, I do not see either RB getting the 8+ rushes on the ground per game. They aren't on the same level talent wise. And Strong coming in just muddies it up. Ford was a nice stash prior and maybe he's still the unquestioned RB2 there. I don't think it matters much though. Maybe CLE makes it a 60-40 split with Chubb as the 1A and surprises me though

I think I misunderstood you from an earlier post. I pretty much agree with all of this. I just don’t expect Chubb to have a lot of extra receiving work this year. But agree these other guys may not see enough work to have a ton of value.

All good. I don't expect Chubb to see an uptick either. He's been pretty steady at 15-18 rushes per game the past 3 years. Maybe the 27/28 year old shows signs of slowing down this year, but I don't think they've run him into the ground either.

I would guess that the ~200 touches the backup RBs were getting in CLE past are mostly absorbed by the passing game in general and then split between Ford/Strong from there.

[Menace2010]

So if we can roster only one of Ford or Strong who are folks rostering?

[BabyChark23]

So if we can roster only one of Ford or Strong who are folks rostering?

Ford

[81-]

I'd go Ford and back fill with stong.

Only strong is available in my league.

[mild]

So if we can roster only one of Ford or Strong who are folks rostering?

Ford

I currently roster both on my main team and I'll be keeping Ford.

Limited data for both - but one guy just got cut/traded at roster cutdowns... and the other has been rock solid as "the guy" at RB2 in Cleveland all offseason.

A real shame he got injured as I'd love to have seen him run this Preseason.

[Jigga94]

So if we can roster only one of Ford or Strong who are folks rostering?

Ford

x2

[Shoreline Steamers]

Sean Peyton sure has brought a number of his former Saints with him to Denver. Now trading something (yet unreported) for Will Lutz at PK. He hasn't been good for a few years now, but OK. What's next, adding Michael Thomas before the November deadline?

[mild]

Sean Peyton sure has brought a number of his former Saints with him to Denver. Now trading something (yet unreported) for Will Lutz at PK. He hasn't been good for a few years now, but OK. What's next, adding Michael Thomas before the November deadline?

*monkey paw twitches*

Honestly, I could see it.