99 percent of the time, NFL trades that take place in-season are almost univeraslly non-descript minor ones. Every once in awhile you get a blockbuster however which was the case Wednesday when the Cleveland Browns shockingly dealt former first round RB Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first round pick. The explosive but oft-injured Richardson apparently "was not a fit" in new head coach Rob Chudzinski's offense whatever that means which led to the deal going down quickly. The shock was instantaneous around the NFL as Richardson was clearly the best offensive player on the team and one of the most gifted overall on both sides of the football. However for whatever reason the perpetually rebuilding Browns felt he was not useful enough for them and thus swung the deal. So what kind of impact does the move have for the purpose of fantasy football? Let's dig in and find out.
-First off, Richardson benefits the most out of all this by far. Whereas I told you all to avoid drafting him this past summer due to the utter lack of support on offense, which led opposing defenses to stack the box with 8 and sometimes 9 defenders, Richardson will have much more room to run in Indy with Andrew Luck leading a high-powered passing offense. With Reggie Wayne, T.Y. Hilton, and Coby Fleener stretching the field, Richardson will see daylight like never before when he totes the football. Blessed with tremendous speed and cutback ability, Richardson is primed for a big time stretch the rest of the way. Also an adept pass receiver, Richardson plays well in PPR and standard formats. His biggest challenge of course is staying healthy which has been a struggle going back to his Alabama days. So far good on that front this season though. Thus those who took a chance on Richardson in drafts this past summer will be rewarded in a tremendous way.
-The flip side of this move is the Browns signing Willis McGahee off the street to replace Richardson. McGahee of course is coming off knee surgery and will likely need some time to get in shape. Chris Ogbonnaya will likely start in Week 3 as McGahee gets himself familiar with the playbook. In addition, Ahmad Bradshaw will see his value vanish almost completely since Richardson will likely get the bulk of the work. Thus what was at one time looking like a big rebound campaign was under way, Bradshaw now finds himself as a bench guy at best. How quickly some things change.
No comments:
Post a Comment