Will the arrival of Carson Palmer help or hinder Darren McFadden?

The way in which the Raiders steamrolled the Browns on Sunday highlighted the contrast in running ability between the two teams. The Raiders run the ball easily. Feature running back Darren McFadden slips easily through creases and when he goes down, he usually picks up an additional yard two by falling forward. Over the course of the game, those extra yards add up, benefiting his fantasy owners as well as his teammates. He didn’t have his best day of the year today, picking up 91 yards on 20 carries(just over 5ypc) and scored once. He sat down during garbage time to let Michael Bush finish off Cleveland. But if this is a ho-hum performance, he will be among the best backs in the NFL going forward.

In contrast, the Browns struggle to run the ball. Last year’s surprise, Peyton Hillis totaled 14 yards on his 6 carries. Touted youngster Montario Hardesty didn’t fare much better, picking up 35 yards on 11 carries. Neither of them ran with much force or confidence and their line does not support them by opening up any holes. When you consider that they are splitting the carries, neither is worthy of a spot on a fantasy bench.

Cleveland didn’t fare much better when turning to the air. Sure, Colt McCoy wound up with a respectable 200 yards and two touchdowns, but half of those totals came in the final four minutes, after the Raiders had turned off the dogs. Greg Little ended up with 72 receiving yards, but some weeks Mohamed Massaquoi is the lead receiver and you can’t count on a receiver that has that inconsistent quarterback play. Drop them.

The Raiders trotted out a pair of quarterbacks in this game but with the impending arrival of Carson Palmer, their performance is moot. Oakland wasn’t depending on their quarterback for much, so the addition of Palmer cannot possibly hurt anyone’s fantasy value. In fact, there is one player whose value increases and that’s Darrius Heyward-Bey. The former first round pick has put together a string of three good games, finishing with 82 yards on 6 catches this Sunday. While Kyle Boller playing out the year at quarterback would have likely sabotaged Heyward-Bey’s value, a quarterback that can throw mid-range like Palmer can has to have Heyward-Bey drooling. Once considered a deep threat only, Heyward-Bey has upped his game this year by finding great success at mid-range routes. Consider his receptions from this week: 7, 9 14, 15 21 and 24 yards. From the time Palmer begins to play, Heyward-Bey should be considered a solid number three receiver. And Palmer himself, makes a nice pickup if you are in need.

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Tags: 2011 fantasy football, carson palmer, clevleand browns, colt mccoy, darren mcfadden, Darrius Heyward-Bey, montario hardesty, Oakland raiders, peyton hillis

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 18th, 2011 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Picks, Fantasy Football Waiver Wire, Fantasy Rankings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.