Dose: Brown or Dixon for BUF?
The Bills lost both Fred Jackson (groin) and C.J. Spiller (collarbone) to multi-week injuries in Week 7. Jackson is staring at a rough timetable of four weeks, while Spiller has been placed on short-term injured reserve and can't come back until Week 16. There's a chance he doesn't play again this season and may have pulled a Bills jersey over his shoulder pads for the final time. Spiller's contract is up at season's end. The question now becomes who the Bills turn to at running back.
Frankly, we may not know the answer to that question and may not find it out until the Bills' tilt with the Jets on Sunday. The candidates: Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon. Brown was acquired from the Eagles for a fourth-round pick in the offseason, while Dixon was signed as a free agent in March after he spent the first four seasons of his career earning his paycheck on special teams with the 49ers. The talent lies with Brown. He was the No. 1 high school running back in the country back in the day, ahead of Trent Richardson, and we saw flashes of his raw ability in 2012 with Andy Reid's Eagles. But the 23-year-old has been inactive each of the first seven weeks of the season. We're simply going to write that off to Dixon being the superior special teams player. In addition to covering kickoffs, Dixon is a downhill bruiser at 6'1/233. He drew Shonn Greene comparisons coming out of Mississippi State. GM Doug Whaley admitted to trading for Brown because he thought Brown had "star potential." He has 4.48 speed at 6'/220 and is excellent in the pass game. The problems we saw with Brown during his time with the Eagles was ball security and a tendency to bounce every run to the sideline. Brown's actually very similar to Spiller.
Now, which running back do you add? We're siding with pure talent here and going with Brown. Dixon is under the impression that he'll be the feature back moving forward. And top beat writer Joe Buscaglia cautions "not to be surprised" if Dixon leads the Bills' committee approach in Week 8. But talent trumps all, and Brown has serious juice in his legs. He piled up 878 yards and six touchdowns on 190 carries in Philadelphia (4.62 YPC) and averaged 4.47 YPC on 34 carries in the preseason. There are obvious concerns in Buffalo for Brown, though. First, the offensive line is flat-out terrible, coming in as the 29th-ranked run-blocking unit in PFF's grading system. Second, the Bills had troubles getting Spiller in space. Can they figure out how to use Brown? It's a serious question. At this point in time, we believe Brown and Dixon will start in a timeshare, with Brown being the big-play threat. Look at it as Dixon being Matt Asiata and Brown as Jerick McKinnon. The cream rises to the top. And once Jackson returns from his groin injury, Brown can still have a healthy role as the speed complement. Spiller averaged 13.5 touches per game the first six weeks as the change-of-pace. Both Brown and Dixon need to be added in all formats. Brown is the plug-and-play RB2.
In Other News…
Pierre Thomas injured his shoulder Week 7. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that Thomas will be sidelined 2-3 weeks. The do-it-all running back will likely be out until at least Week 10 with the Saints playing on Thursday night in Week 9. Look for Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson to split Thomas' handful of carries per game, while Travaris Cadet's already-increasing role in the pass game will grow even more. Cadet has put up a 15-129-1 line as a receiver the past three weeks. Once fancied as the next Darren Sproles in New Orleans, Cadet is worth adding in 12- and 14-team PPR leagues as an RB3/FLEX candidate.
Reggie Wayne hurt his elbow last Sunday and underwent an MRI on Monday. Speaking in a radio interview Tuesday, Wayne said it's "too early to tell" if he'll play Sunday against the Steelers. Wayne hasn't been practicing on Wednesdays all season, so we're unlikely to learn anything until Thursday at the earliest. Wayne did make it sound like there's a good chance he'll miss Week 8, however, and an ABC6 Indianapolis report suggested Wayne could miss 1-2 games. If Wayne were to miss any time, rookie Donte Moncrief would be the biggest beneficiary at receiver, even though washed-up Hakeem Nicks would likely step into an every-down role. Dwayne Allen and Ahmad Bradshaw could also see an addition target or two in Wayne's absence.
Reggie Bush, who admitted he's not 100 percent over his ankle injury, said he expects to play against the Falcons in London this weekend. Bush was barely used in the second half of the Week 7 win over the Saints. Even in a tasty matchup against a weak Atlanta defense, Bush will be nothing more than a FLEX option. Joique Bell should dominate carries and flirt with RB1 value for the week as the much more enticing fantasy play.
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Quarterback & Running Back Slants
Donald Brown (concussion) and Ryan Mathews (knee) remained sidelined at Chargers practice. It'll be the Branden Oliver show again Thursday against the Broncos. … Free agent Ray Rice's appeal of his indefinite suspension has been set for November 5-6. … The Broncos signed RB Kapri Bibbs off their practice squad as a way to block the Bills from signing him. Buffalo settled for free agent RB Phillip Tanner. … The 49ers re-signed QB Josh Johnson. … The Titans signed RB Antonio Andrews off their practice squad. … Darren Sproles (knee) practiced on Tuesday. Check back Wednesday for an update. … Theo Riddick (hamstring) expects to play Week 8. … Terrance West was benched in Week 7 against the Jaguars after failing to pick up a first down on a pair of second-quarter carries. He may be inactive again this week. … Coach Mike Pettine reiterated Brian Hoyer is still "firmly" the Browns' starter. We wouldn't call Pettine admitting he considered going to Johnny Manziel last Sunday a strong endorsement. … Mike Glennon is expected to start for the Bucs in Week 8, even with Josh McCown (thumb) returning to practice.
Wide Receiver & Tight End Slants
Former first-round WR Jon Baldwin, now a free agent, worked out for the Giants. Terrelle Pryor also worked out for the G-Men. … Seahawks claimed TE Brett Brackett off waivers from the Titans. … The Jets signed WR Jeremy Kerley to a four-year, $16 million contract extension that includes $5.4 million guaranteed. … Markus Wheaton played a season-low 46.2 percent of the snaps on Monday night. He can be dropped in most formats. … A.J. Green (toe) said his Week 8 status is "still up in the air." … Marcedes Lewis (ankle) plans to resume practicing October 28. … Calvin Johnson (ankle) has resumed running. He's still likely a week or so away from game action.
