4for4 Mailbag: Week 3
Welcome to the weekly 4for4 Mailbag, where I answer your questions about all aspects of fantasy football including redraft leagues, DFS strategy, advice on handling angry football widows, and even some pop culture. Since it will be published on Thursdays throughout the season, I won’t be tackling waiver wire advice, so be sure to check out 4for4’s valuable articles on streaming and the like, to aid with your weekly roster decisions.
To submit a question for consideration, tweet me @themondaymommy or simply use the hashtag #4for4mailbag.
@Urkedout: Should I trade away Mark Ingram or should I just hold him for now? Thx.
JE: After two weeks of NFL action, Mark Ingram is currently sitting at RB26 with 19.4 PPR points, not ideal for a guy you most likely selected in the late 2nd or early third round. Although he has had a slow start to the season, Ingram is still clearly the number one guy in the Saints backfield and is even leading the pack in snap count and passing targets.
Some good news is that they get the Falcons at home this week, a team that gave up 37.9 PPR points to the Raiders backfield in Week 2. Not only are they porous against the run, but Ingram has found the end zone five times in his last three games against Atlanta.
I guess my point here would be to hang onto him, as you won’t get the value that you would want or need for him at the present time. Keep Ingram and hope that he either turns it around and you’re stoked, or he does well enough that you can gain another position player that will enhance your roster. Another thing to add is that after Atlanta, the Saints play the San Diego Chargers in Week 4, another team that is soft versus the run, followed by their bye week.
@FFBallAppraiser: Is Melvin Gordon this year’s Devonta Freeman? Am I foolish to offer Gurley for Gordon straight up?
JE: I have a difficult time dubbing Melvin Gordon or anyone, the next so and so after just two football games. However, he appears to be having himself a heck of a season thus far and will see an increased role now that Danny Woodhead is out for the year. In Week 1, Gordon saw the field 32% of the plays, while the following week, his snap count was 75%.
As far as Todd Gurley goes, his sloth-like start is certainly troubling, however, I wouldn’t panic just yet. This week he plays a Tampa Bay defense that gave up 26.5 PPR fantasy points to Falcon RBs in Week 1 and 30.8 to the Arizona backfield last week.
My suggestion would be to see how the talented RB fares this weekend versus the Bucs, that way if he’s successful you have more leverage if you still want Gordon. With such a small sample size, it’s tough for me to be all in on the Chargers’ sophomore back. His rookie season was a disaster, in the form of lack of productivity and a season-ending knee injury. Plus, it seems that the Chargers have some sort of injury curse that needs to be exorcised with sage, voodoo, or whatever works.
Gurley has shown that he can be successful in this league, finishing his rookie season as RB9 with 208.6 PPR fantasy points, all while missing several games due to injury. I wouldn’t bail on him just yet, but make sure if you do decide to deal him, you get a fair value in return.
@King_sgking93: Should I pick up Chris Ivory?
JE: Well Seth, in order to provide you with the best possible answer, I would need to know who you have on your roster and who you would be dropping.
However, I can at least let you know my thoughts on Chris Ivory this season and what type of value he has moving forward. In 2015, Ivory was a surprise stud, ending the year as RB11, averaging 13.5 PPR points per game. He began super-hot and did fade a bit towards the end of the season, yet outperformed his ADP by a wide margin.
This season, he is wearing a different uniform and has yet to see the field. The Jacksonville RB was hospitalized with some sort of illness that apparently is so secretive, it has yet to be disclosed. Perhaps we will never know. The good news is that Ivory was back at practice with the team Wednesday and will hopefully return to his backfield duties sooner than later.
It’s apparent that the Jaguars don’t have confidence in T.J. Yeldon as an every down back and their offense has sputtered in the first two weeks with him in that role. The return of Ivory should be a good thing for this team as he adds another dimension that Blake Bortles and his offense have been lacking in their first two matchups.
If Ivory is available on your league’s waiver wire, I say go for it. I obviously wouldn’t drop a Gurley, Freeman or David Johnson for him, but considering the amount of RBs already down for the count due to injury, it certainly couldn’t hurt.
@carlg1000: Marry, Shag or Kill; Chris Berman, Jon Gruden and Chris Collinsworth?
JE: I love this question, although I wish I was given some better talent to choose from.
First off, I am happily married, not that it matters for this little exercise, just thought I’d throw it out there in the event that my husband actually reads this column. I’m kidding, he reads everything I write, how else would he be successful at fantasy football?
I’m going to address kill first because this is a slam dunk for me. Chris Berman has to go. I don’t wish actual harm to the man, but I think we all have had enough of his tired shtick. He has certainly earned his place at the media big boy’s table -- it’s time to walk away.
I guess I would marry Jon Gruden, as he does have entertaining moments and his football knowledge is envy worthy. It would be fun to hang out and watch film with him and hear his thoughts. Although I am sure I would definitely need a woman cave or whatever the female equivalent is, because spending that much time with him would get really annoying, I can only assume.
By default I would shag Chris Collinsworth, he is the least of the evils in this scenario. I most likely would have to ask that he not talk though, because his voice irks me.
As always thanks so much for all your submissions this week. See you all next Thursday for the 4for4 Mailbag!
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