The dust has settled on the Trent Richardson trade and now fantasy football owners are scrambling to figure out what adjustments they should make to their lineup. Richardson moves to the Indianapolis Colts who have a much better offensive line and will likely utilize his talents more. The Cleveland Browns now bring Willis McGahee back into the league and his production could be really hit or miss.
Fantasy owners that hit the panic button with Richardson after he started the season putting up 105 yards on 31 carries should ease up a little bit. His value instantly goes way up. The Colts have a well-functioning offense and he will play a featured role in that system. Indianapolis will run an offense similar to what Richardson played in at Alabama. Andrew Luck will utilize him on play-action and the Colts' offensive line will do a much better job of blocking.
The Cleveland Browns on the other hand are a mess in the backfield. It is wise to pick up McGahee mainly because he will be a new featured back. The Browns are starting inexperience Brian Hoyer at quarterback on Sunday and will likely rely heavily on him. The issue is that McGahee is 31 and his conditioning could be an issue as he has been sitting on his couch the past few weeks since getting cut by Denver.
Last season McGahee rushed for 731 yards, but only played in 10 games. Injuries have been a huge issue for the veteran and that likely will not change now that he is with the Browns. It is hard to envision McGahee getting all the carries; he simply is not built for that workload anymore.
The real fantasy football sleeper in this whole scenario could be Bobby Rainey. The running back must have really impressed the Browns during practice for them to let Richardson go so willingly. There is an upside and downside with Rainey. The upside is that he rushed for over 3,300 yards in two seasons at Western Kentucky. He is 212 pounds and can really thrive on contact and be a great workhorse for the team. He is also 25 and injury free. The downside is that he has yet to record a carry in the NFL. Minor details, right?
Fantasy football owners should be wise not to rely on Cleveland running backs in the first place. Owners should lower their expectations when it comes to McGahee because the Browns offense barely runs the ball in the first place.