Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Before NFL fans around the nation drafted their fantasy football team and the league was in its preseason stage, the hype about Buffalo Bills running back C.J. Spiller was immense. Fantasy players were expecting him to have a huge year and he was viewed to be one of the top fantasy options to go after. Now through three weeks of the NFL season, the view on Spiller has changed drastically and so far is a candidate for the “bust” label.
As I dove into my pre-draft ritual of researching my potential fantasy players in the upcoming season, I was not high on Spiller. I thought to myself, there is no chance that I will draft Spiller no matter what. The three reasons that I came up with as to why I would not draft him seemed pretty obvious; he’s injury-prone, E.J. Manuel will struggle and a solid backup in Fred Jackson.
So now let’s see, Spiller has already succumb to injury only three weeks into the season, Manuel is having a decent year but Spiller only has 29 receiving yards, and Jackson has actually performed better in all aspects than Spiller.
If Spiller is on your fantasy team, it’s time to stop being let down week after week by Spiller and have him take a seat on the bench. Your bench may not necessarily be a permanent spot for Spiller, but until he really starts to get things going, he needs to be out of your lineup.
Spiller’s stat line so far is unbelievably weak with 153 yards on 43 carries. The bright spot many fantasy players previously saw in Spiller was is average per carry. This season Spiller has an abysmal per carry average at 3.6 compared to his entire career’s average of 5.2. Spiller has yet to find the end zone after he scored a total of eight touchdowns last season. With 29 yards receiving on nine catches, he’s averaging 3.2 yards per reception compared to last season’s 10.7.
Still not convinced Spiller deserves a spot on your bench? Well maybe this will help, despite having fewer carries than Spiller last week, Jackson actually rushed for eight times as many yards. Jackson so far this season has 32 total carries for 169 yards and one touchdown plus 113 yards on 13 receptions. Less carries, more rushing yards, more touchdowns and more receiving yardage has given Jackson over double the fantasy points (32 to 14) as the starter Spiller.
If you still go ahead and start Spiller in his banged up state against a solid Baltimore Ravens defense, you may want to re-think why you’re playing fantasy football in the first place. You may have named your fantasy team after an alcoholic beverage because you were so excited you drafted Spiller, (It’s Spiller Time) but put the less filling back on the bench and grab something with a little more substance and flavor.
Tristen Challe is a Fantasy Writer for Rantsports. Follow him on Twitter @TristenChalle or on Google
