You Are Not Alone
Your running back is either (1) seriously injured, (2) facing an indefinite suspension, or (3) presently beating the shit out his fiancé, wife, mother, or one of a sundry of illegitimate children. This third scenario eventually placing him in scenario 2. He may even be beating the shit out of one of his colleagues on the field. There is nothing like the level of class and sportsmanship that comes with those millions of dollars in the NFL.

The only positive to come from all of this, fantasy-wise, is that you are not alone. The RB core has been debilitated over the first four weeks of play. Only a few of them were performing as expected anyway, so maybe we aren’t missing much. I don’t know. Maybe this hit too close to home for me – watching my #1 Draft Pick, again, go down early in a flaming heap of pathetic shit. Things are looking up though. Doug Martin made an appearance. Jamaal Charles looked like Jamaal Charles last night with 3 TDs against Belichick’s Brady Bunch. And word on the street is that we’ll see Rice, Peterson and Dwyer at some point this season. The NFL can’t keep a good criminal down.

PPR
More importantly, the first 4 weeks of play have shown that this is now a passing league and the Wide Receiver is king. The Point-Per-Reception (PPR) change this season has opened up a whole new level of scoring for us, and some longevity at that position’s value. This really does make sense – the tailback position has been devalued in recent years and there hasn’t been a running back drafted in the first round since 2012. Why not take advantage?

Breaking down the top 3 WRs and top TE for each team, let’s take a look at who has capitalized the most from this change. Some are doing more with less and some are not taking advantage of the available players out there. Reigning champ, RFS, can easily boost his PPR Strength from 155 to 139 with little to no effort. I hesitate saying that going in to Week 5 facing yours truly, but something must be said. 

Leaderboard
By Week 3 of our maiden season (2012) there were no undefeated teams. By Week 4 of last season (2013) everyone had a dink on their record. We are through 4 weeks in 2014 and still have 2 undefeated teams. Air Jordy and Packer Cave sit at the top of the leaderboard, tied for 1st at 4-0 with only 7.5 points separating them. These two dynamos are averaging 190 points per week, but the fact that they have faced the least amount of production to date shouldn’t worry the competition – yet. Air Jordy and Packer Cave’s opponents have scored a league-low average of 153 points and 143 points per week, respectively. This trend will likely continue for Air Jordy in Week 5 as he faces 12th-seated Reservations For Six. Packer Cave has a tougher matchup as he faces the 2-2 White Wes Welkers who have put up over 205 points twice in the last three weeks. 

Just one game back, IJamAllDay and E-40 at 3-1 have put up strong showings but both have had to endure losses to standout performances from Air Jordy and the Lake Hickory Swallops. The Swallops, taking down then undefeated IJAD, continue to improve each week, with production up 25% from Week 1. E-40 has worked the waiver wire intelligently and managed to scoop up every backup RB for the aforementioned core of RBs on the mend. We’ll have to see how this plays out for him. 

Speaking of waiver wire – did anyone notice a few weeks back when REDSKINS (formerly Genetic Black Jesus) stuck Josh Gordon in his back pocket? With Gordon’s suspension reduced to 10 weeks, versus the expected season-long hiatus, he will be available in Week 11. Being the #1 WR in 2013, this was essentially a bonus first-round draft pick for REDSKINS. Already having the 5^th highest points in the league, and ranking 3^rd in PPR strength, this pickup could wreak havoc on the last 6 matchups of the season. 

Don’t get discouraged yet. Don’t trade away your best players because you MAY get someone on the waiver wire. Don’t rely on NFL.com’s projections – they are shit. Do your homework. Don’t forget to utilize your two Reserve (RES) positions if needed. This allows for you to take any injured or suspended players and place them in a ‘Reserve’ spot in order to not have to drop them. This frees up that available space on your bench for a free agent. To bring that player back out of ‘Reserve’ you will obviously have to drop someone off your bench to make room for them. Only officially listed injured (IR) or suspended (SUS) players can be placed in Reserve. *I don’t agree with being able to place suspended players in Reserve, but I have no control of that feature. It’s two free spots, use them. 

Bye weeks are in play so pay extra attention to your lineups. Playing someone your best one week, then playing the next guy with 4 players on BYE is tremendously unfair to the other teams in the league, and violates the terms of the Constitution. Don’t be that guy.