In this "keeper" edition of the FF4W blog, let's hone in on some RBs and WRs that you should strongly consider stashing for next season. I'm referring here not only to traditional keeper leagues (keep your two best guys), but for the increasingly popular weighted keeper league, where you can keep Derek Carr for, say, a 7th round pick in next year's draft, or Austin Seferian-Jenkins for a 13th rounder.
This is for managers who are either completely out of the playoffs, or who are so stacked that you can afford to drop a little-used backup for a potentially near-elite option for next season. None of these guys are helping anyone this season, so there's no reason to roster any of them--except to keep them.
(1) Breshad Perriman has been a bust through no fault of his own. Injuries and more injuries have, as of yesterday, officially sidelined him for the year. But even if Steve Smith Sr. returns for another season, Perriman has the potential to be Baltimore's leading receiver in 2016, putting him on the WR3 map starting Week 1.
(2) David Johnson: If the Cardinals hadn't signed Chris Johnson this preseason, David would have been at least a top 20 RB at this point. Andre Ellington is an every-week injury risk, and as I pointed out yesterday, CJ2K has played most of this season well beyond what's sustainable. While Chris is on pace for nearly 300 carries, rookie David has a respectable 4.4 YPC on 25 carries and a wildly impressive 15 catches for 216 yards. In those 40 touches, he has five TDs. If David earns the lead-back role in 2016, he'll be a fourth round steal.
(3) Jerick McKinnon: The ageless Adrian Peterson is on pace for 347 carries. He'll be 31 1/2 next September. McKinnon has a career 4.7 YPC and has maintained a strong case to be AP's heir-apparent. While it might not happen next year, keeping McKinnon for, say, a 15th rounder makes a helluva lot of sense when you consider how many starting RBs in Week 1 aren't starting in the fantasy playoffs.
(4) Jordy Nelson and Kelvin Benjamin: These guys are obvious, but they need to be included. Any dynasty manager with the bench space to land these two guys are setting themselves up for a title run in '16, especially if you can keep them for no more than a 4th or 5th round pick.
(5) Josh Gordon: Why not? Worst case, if he's not reinstated next summer, you can keep someone else.
(6) Dion Lewis: Seems fairly obvious, but is worth including on the list.
(7) Le'Veon Bell, obviously. But I wouldn't be so quick to keep Jamaal Charles or Arian Foster, both of whom might require too steep a price (1st rounder?) to hold onto.
(8) Thomas Rawls: Marshawn Lynch has hinted at retirement and will be 30 in April. It's easy to see that he's starting to break down, as happens to nearly every heavily used RB. If Seattle weren't so invested in Lynch, they'd be better off handing the reins to Rawls, whose 71 rushes for 395 (an astounding 5.6 YPC) are unusually impressive for even part-time RBs. If he gets a full workload in 2016, he could be worth a 2nd round pick (but you probably won't have to give up much more than a 7th rounder).
This is for managers who are either completely out of the playoffs, or who are so stacked that you can afford to drop a little-used backup for a potentially near-elite option for next season. None of these guys are helping anyone this season, so there's no reason to roster any of them--except to keep them.
(1) Breshad Perriman has been a bust through no fault of his own. Injuries and more injuries have, as of yesterday, officially sidelined him for the year. But even if Steve Smith Sr. returns for another season, Perriman has the potential to be Baltimore's leading receiver in 2016, putting him on the WR3 map starting Week 1.
(2) David Johnson: If the Cardinals hadn't signed Chris Johnson this preseason, David would have been at least a top 20 RB at this point. Andre Ellington is an every-week injury risk, and as I pointed out yesterday, CJ2K has played most of this season well beyond what's sustainable. While Chris is on pace for nearly 300 carries, rookie David has a respectable 4.4 YPC on 25 carries and a wildly impressive 15 catches for 216 yards. In those 40 touches, he has five TDs. If David earns the lead-back role in 2016, he'll be a fourth round steal.
(3) Jerick McKinnon: The ageless Adrian Peterson is on pace for 347 carries. He'll be 31 1/2 next September. McKinnon has a career 4.7 YPC and has maintained a strong case to be AP's heir-apparent. While it might not happen next year, keeping McKinnon for, say, a 15th rounder makes a helluva lot of sense when you consider how many starting RBs in Week 1 aren't starting in the fantasy playoffs.
(4) Jordy Nelson and Kelvin Benjamin: These guys are obvious, but they need to be included. Any dynasty manager with the bench space to land these two guys are setting themselves up for a title run in '16, especially if you can keep them for no more than a 4th or 5th round pick.
(5) Josh Gordon: Why not? Worst case, if he's not reinstated next summer, you can keep someone else.
(6) Dion Lewis: Seems fairly obvious, but is worth including on the list.
(7) Le'Veon Bell, obviously. But I wouldn't be so quick to keep Jamaal Charles or Arian Foster, both of whom might require too steep a price (1st rounder?) to hold onto.
(8) Thomas Rawls: Marshawn Lynch has hinted at retirement and will be 30 in April. It's easy to see that he's starting to break down, as happens to nearly every heavily used RB. If Seattle weren't so invested in Lynch, they'd be better off handing the reins to Rawls, whose 71 rushes for 395 (an astounding 5.6 YPC) are unusually impressive for even part-time RBs. If he gets a full workload in 2016, he could be worth a 2nd round pick (but you probably won't have to give up much more than a 7th rounder).