Dave Richard: How Fantasy Football GMs Should Handle Ezekiel Elliott
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's almost time for fantasy football leagues to start drafting for the 2017 season, which means Thursday morning was time for CBS Sports' Dave Richard to make his first guest appearance of the season on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich.
Chief among the questions facing GMs this season is how to handle Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys running back would have been a high first-round pick if not for a six-game suspension. While he will certainly drop in the rankings, he would still be incredibly valuable to teams once he finally returns to the field, which is projected to be Week 8 (the Cowboys have a bye in week 7).
Richard likes the idea of spending a late-second round pick on Elliott, which paired with a top-five pick and early-third round selection would give any team a very strong foundation in the second half of the season.
"I was ready to just punt on Ezekiel Elliott and not take him at all in any of my leagues. ... But then I started getting the idea of Ezekiel Elliott and [Cardinals running back] David Johnson on the same fantasy team, Ezekiel Elliott and [Steelers wideout] Antonio Brown on the same fantasy team, and my mouth waters thinking about that," said Richard. "And I also know that you can find some pretty decent running backs in rounds 4-7 that can kind of fill in the blank for Ezekiel Elliott.
"There's [Ravens running back] Terrence West, there's [Jets running back] Bilal Powell, guys with late-season byes who you can start your season with and say, 'OK, this is my band-aid until Ezekiel Elliott gets back."
As for draft prep in general, Richard said the biggest mistake a GM can make pre-draft is forgetting they're in a draft and failing to prepare or do their research. He also told T&R that he never goes into drafts with the same set of rules every year in regards to how to draft certain positions, as he approaches each year individually.
"I will always change the rules based on what the position tells me to do, each of the specific positions, from year to year," said Richard. "What you said about quarterbacks is right, you should wait on a quarterback. Don't take one in the first round. You also want to feel like you're stealing one from the rest of the league. It's been that way for years - and this year especially, there's like 15 quarterbacks. There's so many passers out there that you could start right away and feel fine with."
Richard also touched upon the 2017 rookie class of running backs, which he loves more than any rookie class in recent memory. Listen to the full podcast above!