NFL Fantasy Thread Part 5

Pacey's Best wrote:What are everyone's thoughts on the holdouts from Zeke Elliott and Melvin Gordon? Will they do a LeVeon Bell and sit out the whole year.
Maybe not for Zeke, as at least they're talking numbers but don't know about Melvin..

If I was Dak I'd be praying that Zeke comes back in a hurry, they're gonna struggle massively without him.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

I have no idea, that said I'd hate to be picking 4th 5th 6th or 7th as one of those blokes is gonna have to take a punt on Zeke and that could potentially break a season. Hopefuly both guys sort things out prior to the draft otherwise its a bit of a crap shoot!

If he makes it to me at 7 I'll mess my pants.

Krump wrote:
If he makes it to me at 7 I'll mess my pants.

You will mess them anyway as soon as the draft starts, just because u love us all so much

Krump wrote:
If I was Dak I'd be praying that Zeke comes back in a hurry, they're gonna struggle massively without him.

Nah, Zeke is overrated. Dallas OLine is the top in the league, he's a massive beneficiary of that. Look at how good Connor was last year behind a good OLine after Bell held out. I reckon I could get 4 or 5 YPC behind Tyron Smith.

Either way, they cant sit out the whole year. It's different to Bell's situation, they are still under contract. If they dont show up before round 11, this year doesnt count as "served" towards their contract, it ticks over to next year and they wont hit free agency until 2021 - which is potentially going to be lockout affected if the player's association plays hardball, like they are talking up as a certainty. Zeke seems to be likely to get a deal done but Gordon is playing much harder. He seems pretty comfortable with sitting the first 10 rounds out to prove a point.

Which could make him a good pickup for the back half of the season. Fresh legs. Point to prove.

Other RBs to have a mosey at is the situation in Houston. Miller is officially gone and Duke JJ isnt a RB1's freckle. They need a solution and could be a good landing spot for either a trade for a team with surplus (Lions/Redskins/Broncos/Chargers/Seattle) or a solid RB potentially being cut (Raiders/Cheifs/Bills)

Thanks Ryno. Great info there.

ryno_ wrote:

Nah, Zeke is overrated. Dallas OLine is the top in the league, he's a massive beneficiary of that. Look at how good Connor was last year behind a good OLine after Bell held out. I reckon I could get 4 or 5 YPC behind Tyron Smith.

Either way, they cant sit out the whole year. It's different to Bell's situation, they are still under contract. If they dont show up before round 11, this year doesnt count as "served" towards their contract, it ticks over to next year and they wont hit free agency until 2021 - which is potentially going to be lockout affected if the player's association plays hardball, like they are talking up as a certainty. Zeke seems to be likely to get a deal done but Gordon is playing much harder. He seems pretty comfortable with sitting the first 10 rounds out to prove a point.

Which could make him a good pickup for the back half of the season. Fresh legs. Point to prove.

Other RBs to have a mosey at is the situation in Houston. Miller is officially gone and Duke JJ isnt a RB1's freckle. They need a solution and could be a good landing spot for either a trade for a team with surplus (Lions/Redskins/Broncos/Chargers/Seattle) or a solid RB potentially being cut (Raiders/Cheifs/Bills)

Great info as always mate!

I've heard differently on Duke though, he was more than just a 3rd down back in college right? I hear he is a chance of taking that role. That said, it does appear more likely they will bring a big bopper in at some point.

Rippin and Tearin wrote:

Great info as always mate!

I've heard differently on Duke though, he was more than just a 3rd down back in college right? I hear he is a chance of taking that role. That said, it does appear more likely they will bring a big bopper in at some point.

I mean, it could always flip in a day and Gordon signs an extension tomorrow while Zeke cracks the shits until November... but all thats happened so far is dialouge between Cowboys and Zeke (they arent close to agreement but at least they are talking and making counter offers) and Chargers have told Gordon their hard limit, which is only about 75% of what he wants. Chargers also have all the bargaining power, which is the oppsite of Bell/Steelers siutation. Most likely scenario I reckon is Gordon holding out until round 10, copping the loss of salary, staying fresh but more importantly healthy and working towards free agency without an injury cloud to sign a new contract an recoup the money he'll lose by holding out (which is only about 3.5M). He's only completed a full season once and injury/durability is his biggest obstacle to a big contract - Gurley having arthritis has scared a lot of teams from investing in a big ticket RB.

Although, Chargers could offer the same money, restucture to be mostly guarunteed and he'd probably jump at it. Who really knows, outside Gordon and his agent.

For Duke, yeah he was a weapon in college, but thats college. The game is faster and hits are harder, its not really comparable. Eg, the all-time college rusher is Donnel Pumphrey (who?). Duke's also only ever been a backup for Cleveland for 4 years, stuck behind Isiah Crowell whose not exactly a stud. Its hard to think that he'll magically go from the 3rd Down/change of pace/obvious pass catching RB to a bellcow in his 5th year in the league. He may well get an increased role but the more likely outcome is a committee with a big unit (Jay Ajayi has form in replacing Lamar Miller).

Dumb question, there's no reserve grade comp, right?
So once guys graduate from college its either NFL, practice squad or maybe Canadian league?

Pain wrote:Dumb question, there's no reserve grade comp, right?
So once guys graduate from college its either NFL, practice squad or maybe  Canadian league?

Pretty much mate although XFL is coming in 2020

ryno_ wrote:
I mean, it could always flip in a day and Gordon signs an extension tomorrow while Zeke cracks the shits until November... but all thats happened so far is dialouge between Cowboys and Zeke (they arent close to agreement but at least they are talking and making counter offers)

Over night update.

Cowboys have tabled a contract (more or less) equal to Gurley which has been knocked back by Zeke. Given the trend to stagnant or even downwards RB contracts, the overall value of that seems like a pretty fair contract - and it was knocked back immediately. We already know that Zeke wants to be the highest paid RB by 10% or so, so an immediate knock back isnt surprising.

Zeke wants $16 (offered $14, equiv to Gurley), Cooper wants $18 (offered $16, equiv to Hopkins) and Dak wants $40 (offered $30, equiv to Ryan). They only have $68 in room next season. Their next rookie class will cost them $5, minimum. So they can't meet everyone's demands. TBH, the Cowboys offers seem pretty reasonable.

Their OLine anchors are all locked down for 4-5 years. Lawrence signed his extension last year. So they dont have the flexibility to play shenanigans with big ticket contracts they already have, unless those players come to the party - or a trade which isnt likely to be great value because as good as those players are, they are on appropriate contracts, so they come with a lot of commercial baggge.

It's crazy watching salaries going up by so much more than the cap.

Krump wrote:It's crazy watching salaries going up by so much more than the cap.

Its nuts seeing the amounts of money being bandied around and even the amounts being knocked back. Especially when the 2021 season is probably going to be holdout affected, the first QB contract in 2022 (or whenever the new CBA is signed) is going to be eye-watering - and it probably would have been Andrew Luck until 3 days ago.

I was reading an article somewhere yesterday saying that including endorsements it could end up costing Luck $600-800 million.

Krump wrote:I was reading an article somewhere yesterday saying that including endorsements it could end up costing Luck $600-800 million.

Yeah I saw that - but at least the Colts arent going to come after him for the $28M they gave him already this season? Silver linings and all that. Calvin Johnson wasn't so lucky.

Shouldnt be a situation that is even able to occur, holdout. Absolute joke some sporting contracts. Laughable.

Revraiser wrote:Shouldnt be a situation that is even able  to occur, holdout. Absolute joke some sporting contracts. Laughable.

I agree with other sports but football players get shafted all the time, no injury guarantees for a start.

Revraiser wrote:Shouldnt be a situation that is even able  to occur, holdout. Absolute joke some sporting contracts. Laughable.

Yes and no. Like Gordan has been in the league for 4 years and had to play the entire time on a contract which had a set value and length he couldnt negotiate. If you didnt get any control over the employment contract you work under, you'd try and get the power back if you could. And the money he's knocking back by holding out is peanuts compared to what he'll get on an extension... Would be a pretty dumb move to risk injury playing for 3.5M, when he's looking at between 14-16/yr on his next contract. Anyone looking after themselves would do the same thing.

ryno_ wrote:

Yes and no. Like Gordan has been in the league for 4 years and had to play the entire time on a contract which had a set value and length he couldnt negotiate. If you didnt get any control over the employment contract you work under, you'd try and get the power back if you could. And the money he's knocking back by holding out is peanuts compared to what he'll get on an extension... Would be a pretty dumb move to risk injury playing for 3.5M, when he's looking at between 14-16/yr on his next contract. Anyone looking after themselves would do the same thing.

Yeah but I was jumping forward, not elaborating. The situation shouldn't be able to arise, the contract they are stuck on shouldn't be in place. This should all be anticipated somehow so all parties aren't looking like wanks in the preseason. I dont have the answer. Just saying its gotta be sorted so it is not an annual thing now.

Is the Texans O-line that much worse than last year ?

Is league 2 draft going to be 9.00am Saturday morning ?

Pacey's Best wrote:Is league 2 draft going to be 9.00am Saturday morning ?

I need a time off you guys and i will work around it lads! Will set it today then ready, League 3 will be an hour later so those in 2 AND 3 can jump right in