Matt Neatock, husband, friend, anti-immigrant zealot and the guy who once tried drafting the league’s #2 wide receiver in the eleventh round during the infamous Harlem draft. Of course, he’s the same Matt Neatock who has won two championships and drafted some of the best late-round picks in league history. My point…he’s a paradox, wrapped in a riddle, smothered in confusion.
Yet, during the 2016 draft, it was this Neatock that broke new ground, drafting the least productive running back class in the history of the league. Let’s take a walk back, shall we…
THE KEEPERS
Before the draft even got rolling, Matt made his keeper decisions. He picked Julio Jones in round one. Now Julio ended the year as the top receiver (although not on Matt’s roster), so it’s hard to argue against that decision, but guess who he could have kept in round two? Melvin
Gordon. The same Melvin Gordon who finished 2016 as a third-team All-Robio running back. Just imagine what Matt could have done with Gordon and whomever he would have drafted in round one?
In round seven, he also kept Ryan Mathews, making the Eagles back the first of what would be many running back fails for Matt. Mathews was technically the starter in Philly, but that meant little. The backfield was a crowded one, as six different backs got touches. Mathews got the most (155), but he also fumbled, lost his job and got hurt, all things Mathews was known for prior to the draft. He had just 661 yards rushing, catching only 13 passes. He did scored nine times, which helped his fantasy value, but he still only averaged 148 points per game. Again, this was Matt’s best running back heading into the season.
THE DRAFT
On draft day, Matt’s first actual pick would be #16 overall in the second round. Matt Forte was there, so was Carlos Hyde, Melvin Gordon, Thomas Rawls, Jeremy Hill, and both Murray’s. Instead, he went with Alshon Jeffery, the oft-injured wide receiver of the Chicago Bears. He finished the season as the 49th best wide receiver, after getting suspended for four games.
It was a huge risk to wait to the third-round to draft a running back and before Matt’s third pick came back around, eight running backs went off the board, including five legit RB1s. Thus, he again made the decision to skip on a back and draft Demaryius Thomas. The Broncos receiver would finish the year 21st among all wide receivers.
Seven picks later, no one had take a running back, because the pickings were already slim, so Matt decided to strengthened his defense, taking the Seahawks DST. They finished 5th among all D’s.
Finally, in the fifth round, with the 69th pick in the draft, Neatock drafted his first back, deciding on Chris Ivory. The former Jets running back was projected to be the top guy in Jacksonville, but there were definitely warning signs. First, he was injured and hadn’t played in the preseason. Second, based on the previous season’s performance, it wasn’t clear if he was any good. Sure he rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2015 with the Jets, but 460 of those yards came in the season’s first four games. In the final 12 games, he rushed for only 610 yards, seven times getting held to under 50 yards for a game.
Well, his 2016 was no different. After missing the first two games of the season, Ivory rushed for over 50 yards in a game just once (in week nine). His 3.8 yards per carry was a career low. He ran like an old man, which was a bit surprising since he just turned 28 this season. Anyhow, he averaged only 99.4 fantasy points per game, which usually gets a player cut, but actually was good enough for a couple of starts for Neatock.
In the sixth round, just seven picks later, Matt drafted his second back, Arian Foster. There was a time the name Foster meant success. This was a guy who had over 1,500 total yards in four out of five years during the height of his career, but he was also a guy battered by injuries. He missed 36 games in his seven-year career, including twelve the previous season. The Texans had no faith in him and let him go. The Dolphins brought him in for a tryout, but they didn’t sign him until a month later. That shouldn’t have made anyone confident, but Foster still ended up on some sleeper lists.
Well, he did “earn” the starting job and in week one against a tough Seattle D, he produced 100 total yards (38 on the ground, 62 through the air), but a week later he was hurt. He would miss three weeks. By the time he returned in week six, Jay Ajayi was spitting out 200-yard games and Foster clearly saw the writing on the wall. He retired, making the sixth-round pick the highest pick to ever retire mid-season. His contribution to Matt’s squad…266 fantasy points.
In round seven, Ryan Mathews was kept, so when Matt took Ameer Abdullah in round eight, it was the fourth straight round where he took a running back. Of all the picks, Abdullah was arguable Matt’s best. In a decent Detroit offense, Abdullah struggled as a rookie in 2015, ofter sharing the ball with Joique Bell. However, in 2016, Bell was gone and the only really threat was Riddick as a third-down back.
Things started off nicely, as Abdullah delivered 120 yards and one touchdown (300 fantasy points). The following week, he again looked good, produced 38 yards on just six carries, but sadly he suffered a foot injury and his season was over.
Abdullah would be the last running back Matt would draft, taking none in the final five rounds.
So Matt drafted or kept just four running backs and those four backs combined for…
RUSHES: 312 YARDS: 1.256 YPC: 4.03 TOUCHDOWNS: 11 FUMBLES: 5
RECEPTIONS: 44 YARDS: 436 YPR: 9.90 TOUCHDOWNS: 2
TOTAL GAMES MISSED: 34 out of a possible 64.
Combined, these four scored a total of 3,128 fantasy points. Four running backs scored more than that all by themselves.
IN-SEASON
Now plenty of teams have had bad drafts and gone on to long and productive seasons, all it takes is a little work on the wire and maybe a winning trade or two. Hell, my 2002 championship squad featured just one starter that I drafted.
WEEK THREE Matt waited three weeks to pick up a running back, grabbing Jacquizz Rodgers, after Doug Martin went down. For a month, it had no effect, until Chris Sims went out for the year. Suddenly, Rodgers was a starter and for two weeks, he dominated, giving Matt 326 and 216. However, in that second game, Rodgers himself got hurt and was done for the season.
WEEK FIVE Matt made his big move, when he shipped the league’s top receiver (Julio Jones), one week removed from his career game, to Bob, along with Arian Foster for Todd Gurley and Devin Funchess.
Gurley was struggling behind a weak offensive line and in the end, the trade didn’t pay off, as Gurley and Jones pretty much broken even. In eight starts for Matt, the Rams back averaged 175 points per game, which would make him just the 24th best running back in that stretch. During that same stretch, Julio averaged 206 points per game.
WEEK THIRTEEN In the season’s final week, Matt picked up Jamal White for some reason, even though he was now behind both Blount and Lewis on the depth chart. He wouldn’t even crack Matt’s starting lineup.
That’s it. Despite having one of the worst group of running backs this league has ever seen, Matt added only two running backs through free agency and performed just one trade. Grated, there werent’ a lot of great options, but I count three top-20 backs he could have added and he failed to get: Spencer Ware, Jordan Howard, Rob Kelley.
NEATOCK’S WEEKLY RUNNING BACK RESULTS
Week one – Foster: 200, Mathews: 214 Week two – Foster: 18, Mathews: 190 Week three – Mathews: 0 Week four – Ivory: 58 Week five – Gurley: 246, Mathews: 180 Week six – Gurley: 194, Mathews: 120 Week seven – Gurley: 184, Rodgers: 326 Week eight – Rodgers: 216, Mathews: 82 Week nine – Gurley: 148, Mathews: 90 Week ten – Gurley: 144, Mathews: 418 Week eleven – Gurley: 212, Mathews: 62 Week twelve – Gurley: 178, Ivory: 170 Week thirteen – Gurley: 94, White: 70
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