Week 8- Try to keep Richardson out of your lineup for this week. His production will likely be hindered by an injury, and it will also lead to limited carries. Add that on to a poor match up, and you have a recipe for fantasy disaster.
Week 6- If you watched the Giants Browns game last week, you know why Richardson is ranked as high as he is. He looked like a mixture of Barry Sanders and Jim Brown, and needs to stay in your lineup.
Week 5- Another strong week for Richardson in Week 4, and he’s officially a RB1. Richardson now appears to be a consistent player with one of the largest workloads in the NFL and third down duties. Until he strings a few bad games together, he should stay in your lineup as your RB1.
Week 3- After a huge game in week 2, fantasy owners have sky high expectations for Trent Richardson. Going against a Bills Defense that has struggled against the run early on, Richardson has a chance of repeating his week 2 performance. Plug him in as a strong RB2 for week 3.
Week 1- It was tough to rank Richardson without knowing if he was going to play or not. This is obviously based on if he plays. Richardson will have a limited workload no matter what, and if he plays he should play to about a low-end RB2 level which should improve as his workload gets larger. I expect a much improved Eagles defense which should dominate the Browns offense, and be another object in Richardson’s path.
Expectations are high for Trent Richardson in 2012, and he is being targeted in the top 6 RB’s in every mock draft that we have conducted this preseason. While we do see Richardson as a competent runner who will see plenty of touches per game, expectations do need to be tempered. The Browns get to see the Steelers and Ravens four times in 2012, and they feature some of the best run defenses in the league. One of the up and coming defenses the Bengals will also get their chance at stopping Richardson. Trent also gets the priveledge of running behind one of the more mediocre offensive lines in football, and it is hard to explode through a hole that doesn’t exist. We currently have Richardson in the top 15 RB’s, and don’t recommend dropping a first round pick on him. A late second or early third round pick is far more realistic, but chances are he will be snapped up by an overeager owner looking for a new rookie sensation in 2012 in the first round.
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 26: Trent Richardson from Alabama holds up a jersey as he stands after he was selected #3 overall by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 26, 2012 in New York City. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
