"CJ Anderson is unproven"

[heyfeefellskee]

Had an interesting conversation with someone tonight that said they would take tre mason over CJ Anderson, as anderson is "unproven". When asked what would qualify a player as being "proven", he responded:

"Well let's see,

Only had 2 years at Cal. Didn't play at all in '11, and in '12 didnt even dominate. Went undrafted, which means every other team in the NFL passed up on him. Played poorly against the only 2 good D's he faced in STL and BUF last year, and is now in a new offense with a new head coach. I would say he has to prove himself. Lol"

Discuss.

[KingsKing]

lol

[Tsunami]

This is why his ADP is 35th and not 21st like Jeremy Hill or 7th like Le'Veon Bell. There is some risk there. I don't rely on the College Dominator thing but it is a valid concern. Latavius Murray had 4 games, CJ had 8-10, Hill had 10-12. If they had performed at their level for a couple seasons they would be "proven". But look what happened to Zac Stacy, Doug Martin, Andre Ellington, etc.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I was never a big CJA believe so I never even bothered to look at his game logs, but they are kind of scary.

His good games were essentially against bottom-half run defenses.

Raiders -14th
Dolphins - 18th
Chiefs - 26th
Bengals - 28th
Raiders - 14th

And the 3 bad games he had, he rushed for YPC's of 3.2, 2.8, 2.9 That is scary bad.

Contrast that with a guy I am a bit higher on (Latavius Murray), who also had very good games, but his bad games weren't as bad. He had YPC's of 3.3, 3.7, 3.7 in the three games he had a significant amount of carries against teams with good run defenses.

It's kind of strange how everyone loves CJA and hates L.Murray even though I could easily argue Murray was in the worse situation yet still played better than CJA against tough run defenses.

[FantasyFreak]

I was never a big CJA believe so I never even bothered to look at his game logs, but they are kind of scary.

His good games were essentially against bottom-half run defenses.

Raiders -14th
Dolphins - 18th
Chiefs - 26th
Bengals - 28th
Raiders - 14th

And the 3 bad games he had, he rushed for YPC's of 3.2, 2.8, 2.9 That is scary bad.

Contrast that with a guy I am a bit higher on (Latavius Murray), who also had very good games, but his bad games weren't as bad. He had YPC's of 3.3, 3.7, 3.7 in the three games he had a significant amount of carries against teams with good run defenses.

It's kind of strange how everyone loves CJA and hates L.Murray even though I could easily argue Murray was in the worse situation yet still played better than CJA against tough run defenses.

I'm a Raider fan, and I don't think Murray is anything special. Athletic...yes. I just don't see it with the guy long term. Has an injury history, too. I'd take CJ over him, and it pains me to say that knowing who CJ plays for. Anderson had the better year. Don't forget (not that it changes the ranking drastically, but) the fact CJ had good games contributed to where those teams ranked. If you don't like Anderson based on ADP I understand, but if you have the choice between the 2, he's the easy choice to me. He's certainly much more "proven" than Murray. Murray is older, in a far worse situation, and has had a few big injuries in the past. Le'veon Bell had bad games like the ones you listed about Anderson. Bell is still a good back. OL has something to do with it also. Taking numbers without context is meaningless. As Matt Waldman often talks about, a guy can have a game and average 2.9 YPC, and it's still a good game based on what was available. If a guy has a run that is blocked for 0 yards, and he gets 2, it's a good run. You have to watch the tape to discern whether or not he was "scary bad" against those defences. Did he constantly have plays where he had a big hole that could have netted him 10 yards, but ran into the back of his lineman? Or was his OL dominated by a good D and he had to grind just to get a yard or two?

[Cameron Giles]

The common counter is going to be that Gary Kubiak coached another undrafted RB who turned into a star.

Anderson had some very good moments last year and I do think that people don't give enough credit to the offensive line shift that was the catalyst for opening up the run game. Ronnie Hillman was putting up numbers too before he got injured.

[gsdguy]

I think if Juwan gets a chance, he will take, and hold onto the job. The last thing Manning wants is an RB who is suspect n pass protection (Ball). I just don't feel that CJ is "special". Perhaps Juwan isn't either, but every thing I read is that he has looked great, and is a perfect fit for what Denver wants to do. He is probably available everywhere (for now).

[Coogan Football]

I am not high on CJA but he's def ahead of The Mason just because of situation alone. As I see it its his starting gig to lose to Ball, Hillman or Juwan.

...that and Kubiak says he "wants" a bell-cow RB approach this year.

I'd pay a 2nd for CJA, def not a first IMO

[hornybulls]

I was offered DeVante Parker for CJA and rejected it. If I wasn't contending this year I may have considered it, but I feel like the odds of CJA being an RB1 this year are higher than a rookie panning out, even a 1st round WR.

[clarion contrarion]

he was fed the ball as manning faded after the injury mostly , if manning returns to form they will pass a ton that is what he does and if he doesn't pass protect he will lose his job . He is proven but in a very small sample size and I personally would not be comfortable w/ him as any more than a rb3/flex if I were intending to play for a title( which I always do).

[jdomer2403]

he was fed the ball as manning faded after the injury mostly , if manning returns to form they will pass a ton that is what he does and if he doesn't pass protect he will lose his job . He is proven but in a very small sample size and I personally would not be comfortable w/ him as any more than a rb3/flex if I were intending to play for a title( which I always do).

Return to form lol. Manning is 39. Also, I don't see Denver passing a ton that's not what a Kubiak offense does. He loves to run the ball and set up PA. CJA is a top 5 RB for 2015 but beyond that there are still questions.

[Irbir]

I was offered DeVante Parker for CJA and rejected it. If I wasn't contending this year I may have considered it, but I feel like the odds of CJA being an RB1 this year are higher than a rookie panning out, even a 1st round WR.

I offered Kevin white and then Arob to the cja owner and got rejected both times.

[Phaded]

I've never been a big CJA fan. He honestly is just not that good. Sure, he has some highlight reel plays; but many unsuccessful players have put up some nice plays now and again.

The moment he stutters (or gets injured), Juwan Thompson or Montee Ball are going to be given a shot and it is possible CJA never gets the job back. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Ball or Thompson are "special" - but neither is CJA.

[Westy22]

From a Denver fan I can echo we made some significant OL changes which opened up gaps that just weren't there before. CJA has some talent and showed some good skills and determination. He is not special though and if he gets injured or fumbles I will not be surprised to see Ball/Juwan take over the job if they can show anything.

Broncos will commit to the run this year there is no doubt. You will also see more running in the redzone and TDs for CJA/Juwan. No orange Julius will also see more attention on DT and a need to punch it in. Unfortunately for fantasy owners probably a lot more use and space for TEs like Owen Daniels in the redzone.

What all this means is that CJA is a high risk high reward proposition this season. Potentially Arian Foster...potentially worthless by next offseason. I wouldn't want him on my team if I wasn't a certain playoff team in my league. I think if you are honestly a playoff roster he is a worthwhile risk.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I was never a big CJA believe so I never even bothered to look at his game logs, but they are kind of scary.

His good games were essentially against bottom-half run defenses.

Raiders -14th
Dolphins - 18th
Chiefs - 26th
Bengals - 28th
Raiders - 14th

And the 3 bad games he had, he rushed for YPC's of 3.2, 2.8, 2.9 That is scary bad.

Contrast that with a guy I am a bit higher on (Latavius Murray), who also had very good games, but his bad games weren't as bad. He had YPC's of 3.3, 3.7, 3.7 in the three games he had a significant amount of carries against teams with good run defenses.

It's kind of strange how everyone loves CJA and hates L.Murray even though I could easily argue Murray was in the worse situation yet still played better than CJA against tough run defenses.

I'm a Raider fan, and I don't think Murray is anything special. Athletic...yes. I just don't see it with the guy long term. Has an injury history, too. I'd take CJ over him, and it pains me to say that knowing who CJ plays for. Anderson had the better year. Don't forget (not that it changes the ranking drastically, but) the fact CJ had good games contributed to where those teams ranked. If you don't like Anderson based on ADP I understand, but if you have the choice between the 2, he's the easy choice to me. He's certainly much more "proven" than Murray. Murray is older, in a far worse situation, and has had a few big injuries in the past. Le'veon Bell had bad games like the ones you listed about Anderson. Bell is still a good back. OL has something to do with it also. Taking numbers without context is meaningless. As Matt Waldman often talks about, a guy can have a game and average 2.9 YPC, and it's still a good game based on what was available. If a guy has a run that is blocked for 0 yards, and he gets 2, it's a good run. You have to watch the tape to discern whether or not he was "scary bad" against those defences. Did he constantly have plays where he had a big hole that could have netted him 10 yards, but ran into the back of his lineman? Or was his OL dominated by a good D and he had to grind just to get a yard or two?

Of course cherry picking stats is stupid, I only did it to make the point that people cherry pick Murray's stats to discredit him but then they don't do it for CJA. I am just tired of the hypocrisy. A certain DLF podcaster was making the case against Murray on twitter because he is just a workout warrior and hasn't proven it on the field (he brought up the YPC against good defenses as a negative), then was singing McKinnons praises because he had such great combine numbers and "proved it on the field". Things that don't make sense just irritate the crap outta me... If you don't like the way Murray runs, if you think he'll get injured, fine you don't like him. But to cherry pick numbers is ridiculous because imo he proved himself against tough defenses given he was on a horrible team.