Okay, folks, gather ’round. I wanted to walk you through a bit of a headache I had recently, trying to figure out who to roll with: Rhamondre Stevenson or Joe Mixon. This stuff keeps me up sometimes, seriously.
My Starting Point
So, I was looking at my fantasy football draft board, or maybe it was a weekly lineup decision, doesn’t really matter, the process was the same. I had these two guys staring back at me. Both running backs, both capable of putting up points, but in pretty different spots.
First thing I did was just pull up their basic info from last season, you know? Just jog my memory. I looked at their game logs, not getting too deep, just the general vibe. How many touches did they get? Did they score touchdowns? Were they catching passes? I just wanted a baseline refresher.
Thinking About Rhamondre Stevenson
Alright, Stevenson. Over on the Patriots. What I remembered, and what I double-checked, was his knack for catching the ball. That’s big in PPR leagues, which is mostly what I play. He felt like the main guy for a stretch last year.
But then, I started thinking about the downsides. The Patriots offense… well, it wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire, was it? A bit clunky sometimes. And then they brought in Ezekiel Elliott. That worried me. Was Zeke just gonna vulture goal-line carries? Was he going to eat into Stevenson’s overall work? That was the big question mark I kept wrestling with.
- Pros I saw: Good pass-catcher, showed he could handle a big load.
- Cons that bugged me: Sketchy offense, Zeke showing up to potentially steal work.
Thinking About Joe Mixon
Then there’s Mixon. He’s on the Bengals, and that offense, man, when Joe Burrow is healthy, it can really hum. That’s a huge plus right off the bat. Mixon felt like the clear number one back there, no real committee threat like Stevenson had, at least not one that scared me as much.
He gets the goal-line carries usually, which means touchdown potential. Touchdowns win weeks, plain and simple. He gets volume, too. They feed him the ball.
My hesitation with Mixon sometimes was his efficiency. You know, sometimes he gets a lot of carries but doesn’t rack up huge yardage totals on those runs. It felt like he needed the volume and the touchdowns more than pure breakaway runs, though he’s capable.
- Pros I saw: Better offense, clear lead role, goal-line work.
- Cons that bugged me: Sometimes not super explosive, relied on volume.
Making the Call
This is where I really started going back and forth. It was like:
Stevenson: Maybe a higher ceiling in games where he catches a ton of passes? But a lower floor if Zeke takes TDs and the offense stalls.
Mixon: Probably a safer floor because of the guaranteed work and the better offense? But maybe not the same receiving upside as Stevenson.
I spent a good while just looking at their situations. I thought about the game script. Would the Patriots be trailing, forcing them to pass more (good for Stevenson)? Or would the Bengals get a lead and just pound the rock with Mixon (good for Mixon)?
Ultimately, I leaned towards Joe Mixon more often than not in this internal debate. My thinking was this: the situation felt more stable. The Bengals’ offense gave him a better chance to score touchdowns, and his role felt more locked in compared to Stevenson potentially sharing with Zeke. I decided I’d rather take the guy with the clearer path to touches and scoring opportunities on a better team, even if Stevenson might have had moments of better pass-catching brilliance.
It wasn’t an easy choice, mind you. I could see the argument for Stevenson, especially in full PPR formats. But for my gut feeling, Mixon felt like the slightly more reliable play week-to-week because of the factors I mentioned. Just sharing my process, hope it makes sense!
