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Insane blowouts can be fun when you're not a fan of either team, but sometimes it reaches a point where you just feel bad. That's how it felt watching the Ravens obliterate the poor, poor Buffalo Bills 47-3.
Beyond the real-life ramifications of things like "How on Earth did they start Nathan Peterman?" and "Josh Allen can't possibly be worse," there is a lot to unpack here on a fantasy basis. Specifically, we already need to have our finger hovering over the panic button when it comes to LeSean McCoy and Kelvin Benjamin. If this game happened in the middle of the season, I would be inclined to say we should throw out the box score. It being a Week 1 game, however, and the Bills already switching quarterbacks, we have to at least consider the possibility that the team could be in for 15 more losing efforts a la last year's Cleveland Browns.
So what do you do if you took a chance on Shady as your RB2 or Kelvin Benjamin as your WR3? Is it too soon to consider benching them in fantasy or should you spare yourself another goose egg? Let's look at the relevant details so far.
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Buffalo Bench Riders?
LeSean McCoy rushed seven times for 22 yards with one reception that went backwards for negative yardage. That comes out to a whopping 3.1 fantasy points in PPR. Not stellar to say the least. It's easy to look at that demoralizing fantasy score, the 47-3 final, and think "I want out of the LeSean McCoy business." You'd be justified. So much so that I actually fired off some early trade offers on Tuesday. Upon further reflection, however, I think we all need to calm down. 47-3 is an insane score. It's a fantasy anomaly. The Ravens were up 14-0 after the first quarter, and 26-0 at halftime. The Bills had to abandon the run game early. Not only that, but Nathan Peterman does his running back zero favors. He's so notoriously bad that it's easy for the defense to ignore him.
So should you bench LeSean McCoy? The short answer is no, it's too early for that. Buffalo has already decided to go with a quarterback change, rolling with rookie Josh Allen. It cannot possibly get worse. Besides, you would need to be loaded at running back to justify it this early. On the other hand, the long answer is that it's ok to send out some feelers on trades. If you can upgrade McCoy and just wash your hands of the situation entirely, I say go for it. Guys like Jordan Howard or Joe Mixon would be worthy targets in a trade offer. But if you can't swing something, don't sweat it, roll with McCoy until it seems like there's no hope.
If you want some extra confidence that things will get better, you should know that below average QBs tend to rely on simple dump-offs and swing passes to their running backs. There should be a fantasy uptick based on receptions alone. Throw in a super banged up Chargers defense this week and things should get better sooner rather than later.
Kelvin Benjamin is a much, much worse case to me. Realistically speaking you probably weren't starting Benjamin week one anyway so it's easy to leave him on your bench. I could have seen him being in the flex conversation in deeper PPR formats, but most leagues have enough depth at the position to warrant leaving him outside of your lineup. One positive takeaway from this game is that even though he only had one reception for 10 yards, he led the team in targets at seven. Hard to blame the receiver with such porous quarterback play but at least there's potential for volume here. Don't drop the guy just yet. Simply leave him on the back of your bench until you see some reasonable production. Benjamin was a solid WR2 when healthy in Carolina. If he gets any semblance of serviceable quarterback play he'll be worth something at some point this season.
Generally speaking, it's best not to panic on players after just one game. It's the same thing as not overreacting to some random dude blowing up for a 100 yards and two touchdowns. There will be some funky results sprinkled throughout the year. Just be smart, start your studs, and as a miracle worker once said, R-E-L-A-X.
