As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. When you don’t see us talking about Christine Michael or Mike Davis, don’t get mad at us for neglecting your favorite sleeper. Get mad at yourself for having bad taste in football players. We are only focusing on the top-rated running backs in standard scoring and points per game leagues. If you think 30 is the new 20 for running, then this fantasy football LeSean McCoy player profile is for you.
With my player profiles, I’ve only decided to go back to look at their fantasy scoring for three years. I could show you lists from earlier, but most of the guys at the top are no longer in the league anymore. I’ve also added a chart for their usage over that time span. We will try to determine, based on those two factors, where the best running back value lies.
LeSean McCoy
Current ADP (As of 9/3/2018):
Standard: Number 14 among running backs. Number 26 overall.
PPR: Number 15 among running backs. Number 27 overall.
Stats:
FANTASY SCORING — STANDARD
| Rank | Total Points | PPG Rank | PPG | |
| 2017 | 7 | 201.4 | 10 | 13.4 |
| 2016 | 3 | 246.7 | 4 | 17.6 |
| 2015 | 15 | 146.7 | 11 | 12.2 |
FANTASY SCORING — PPR
| Rank | Total Points | PPG Rank | PPG | |
| 2017 | 7 | 263.6 | 9 | 16.5 |
| 2016 | 4 | 296.7 | 4 | 21.2 |
| 2015 | 14 | 178.7 | 13 | 14.9 |
FANTASY USAGE
| Carries | Carries Per Game | Targets | Targets Per Game | |
| 2017 | 287 | 15 | 77 | 4.8 |
| 2016 | 234 | 15 | 57 | 3.8 |
| 2015 | 203 | 12 | 50 | 4.2 |
Overview: According to our Jeff Krisko, LeSean McCoy is going to be 2018’s DeMarco Murray. If you want some great fantasy football insight, I recommend listening to Jeff and Mike Valverde sink their teeth into the topic. In this episode, they delved deep into LeSean McCoy and his expected production. McCoy has 2626 carries for his career, which is number 33rd all-time. The last five running backs to cross this threshold were Adrian Peterson, Stephen Jackson, Frank Gore, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Matt Forte. Before they reached that threshold, they averaged 296 carries, 50 receptions, 1728 total yards, and 11 touchdowns a season. After they crossed the 2600 touches threshold, they only averaged 232 carries, 37 receptions, 1180 total yards, and 7.5 touchdowns. The most comparable season is 2013 Joique Bell. And I think we can all agree that when you cross the Joique Bell line, your career is at the point of no return. There is no coming back from turning into Joique Bell. There is no cure for Joique Bell. Joique Bell is terminal.
Strategy: I think when evaluating LeSean McCoy, it is easy to dismiss him as being ready to fall off a cliff, but DeMarco Murray ended the year as an RB2. He was just an extremely volatile one. One thing McCoy’s fantasy value has going for it is that he is in Buffalo. That team is going to live or die with him. As an early third round pick, he is not a bad value play.
Ceiling: McCoy could end the year as an RB1, but it will most likely be as a volume play since he is the only offense in Buffalo that is not offensive.
Floor: What will actually happen is LeSean McCoy will dive straight down past the Joique Bell line down to the AJ McCarron line, where he will block me on Twitter because he is bad forever.
