FanPost

NFL Fantasy Football: Trent Richardson a Hot Fantasy Commodity?

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Many people think Trent Richardson is the best thing since sliced bread, including me. This is no coincidence.

Trent Richardson is considered the best rookie RB since Adrian Peterson, and we all know how terrific AP has done. This is because TRICH is a very strong, powerful runner. He can go in between the tackles, outside the tackles, take one to the house at any time, be a workhorse back, can catch, and can also block (rare for a rookie). He's the complete package and there is no questions about that. I mean, the guy max benches 515 lbs.

Lets look at some RB's who have been drafted since 2008 in the first round, and their impact in their rookie seasons.

Darren McFadden: 5 GS, 13 G, 113 attempts, 499 yards, 4 TD's, 285 receiving yards

Jonathon Stewart: 0 GS, 16 G, 184 attempts, 836 yards, 10 TD's, 47 receiving yards

Felix Jones: 0 GS, 16 G, 30 attempts, 266 yards, 3 TD's, 10 receiving yards

Chris Johnson: 14 GS, 15 G, 251 attempts, 1,228 yards, 9 TD's, 260 receiving yards, 1 TD

Adrian Peterson: 9 GS, 15 G, 238 attempts, 1,341 yards, 12 TD's, 268 yards, 1 TD

The only RB that came out of college that is on the same caliber as Trent Richardson is Adrian Peterson. As you can see in his rookie year, he had the statistics of a top 5 RB in the NFL. That also includes the troubles that AP has catching the ball, and blitz pickups. He still doesn't play on 3rd downs. Even CJ2K had a terrific rookie campaign, splitting the carries with RB LenDale White.

Trent Richardson is joining a Browns team devoid of much offensive firepower. He will immediately step in as the #1 RB and carry the workhorse load. He is guaranteed at least 270+ touches this year. Outside of him, the Browns only have 2nd year wideout Greg Little, and he doesn't change anything. Pat Shurmur is now the HC there. In his 2 years as OC here, SJAX got the ball 375 times in 2009 and 366 times in 2010. Expect TRICH to get something similar to that.

My friend ramsfan873 raises a good point. He's going up against PIT, BAL, and CIN 2x each. All those defenses are top 10. It'll be tough for him to run against them, but here is 10 more games in the season. Not to mention the PIT defense won't be as good as usual this year with the losses of many guys like James Farrior, Aaron Smith, and William Gay.

He also says the QB situation isn't the best, in which he is correct. Rookie QB Brandon Weeden has basically already won the starting job. I think he'll be decent, but he's irrelevant anyways. Plenty of RB's have been successful on bad teams, guys like Barry Sanders, and even our very own Steven Jackson.

I can see TRICH going no later than the 2nd round in all Fantasy drafts. He's going to be a dangerous weapon with PLENTY of opportunities to prove why he was picked so high. My advice, take him if you get the chance!