STLNATE

I've been able to build a pretty good group of running backs but now I'm not sure who to play, especially with two of them playing tomorrow and the news on Rawls' knee although it's most likely nothing. Anyway, which three should I play this week: A. Peterson, D. Murray, J. Stewart, T. Rawls.

I was offered Calvin and Crowell for Hyde. A week ago I would have taken this in a heartbeat, but I actually think Hyde will continue to be successful. I also don't really like my team as much with the shift towards WR from RB strength. Plus, I'd have to drop someone and I don't really have anyone I would want to drop just for this trade. My current starters (non PPR): QB Rodgers RB A. Peterson RB Hyde WR R. Cobb WR Emanuel Sanders TE D. Walker Flex J. Stewart.

I have Murray, Bush, J. Bell, Bradshaw, and Mckinnon. I'm thinking I'm going Murray, Bradshaw and Mckinnon, but Joique has a nice matchup as well this week. What do you think?

I drafted RGIII and have been QB hopping each week from RGIII to Locker to Cousins. I just traded Asiata for Cutler and felt pretty good about it considering my QB situation and the fact that my other RBs are Murray, Bradshaw, Bush, J. Bell, and Vereen. However the guy I traded Asiata to said he was surprised I accepted. What do you guys think?

I have Murray, Bush, J. Bell, Vereen, Asiata, and Bradshaw. I was already feeling pretty deep at RB, then I picked up Asiata and Bradshaw right before they jumped in value. I'm planning on going Murray, Bush, and J. Bell, but I'd like to see other opinions.

Guys I'm looking at are: Ahmad Bradshaw Travis Kelce Justin Hunter Shonn Greene Jordan Mathews Knile Davis or should I just hang on to West? My starters are set, I'm just hoping to catch the next waiver wire stud preemptively.

Graham Murray Jeffery Bush J. Bell Crabtree Vareen RG3 L. Miller Terrance Williams Terrance West Brandin Cooks Deangelo Williams Andre Williams Andre Brown (dropping tomorrow and taking Bengals def with 1st waiver pick) Our league is pretty competitive and I'm pretty happy with my draft. What do you think? Also, who should I drop for a kicker? Btw the positions are: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, RB/WR, TE, DEF, K, 6 Bench.

I need T. Smith, Calvin, and D. Pitta to get more than 26.58 pts standard scoring.

Lol...

Ya those were the facts that made me lean towards Dobson. I can just see Amendola getting a hit to the head or pull his groin or something and be done for the game.

I've had Amendola in my lineup all week, but I just picked up Dobson and I'm pretty sure I'll play him, because I think he has a lesser chance of getting less than 23 yards tonight. Any thoughts?

I have Calvin and I would probably trade him for Charles given the chance. There are just so many more WR's to replace Calvin than there are to replace Charles.

Most likely has most of his studs on the bench for byes and has to play bench players this week, that's the situation I'm in. So I have no one to drop.

You have a really good team with plenty of depth on your bench, I would consider trading for a better QB than Romo. I know his most recent game was huge but I still think you could upgrade there. Nicks, Blackmon and Cameron would be good trade material, and if the other owner likes Romo and is needing some players like those three you could really upgrade your QB.

I have Calvin and was worried when he was listed IA, BUT my opponent had Bush who didn't get much done without Calvin and I replaced Calvin on my lineup with Blackmon... So I'm glad he sat.

Nice call man, I was sure your were wrong.

DMC isn't playing this week and from what I hear Reece probably won't play much either and Rashad isn't worth playing unless you just have to replace DMC.

I bet you're one of those people that think it's more dangerous to wear a seat belt aren't ya?

I agree with all of that, I don't consider myself a stat monkey though. I happen to have a statistical background but I don't really use it in my own fantasy football. Now if I could be a psychologist and figure out what these coaches are gonna do, then I'd really be getting somewhere.

I agree, I feel like Cobb is way more reliable.

There really is no right or wrong when looking at statistics unless, of course, you are actually changing them. You could remove those if you want but keep in mind those short yardage runs don't affect the average near as much as the break away runs. Removing the high outliers isn't to say well this run doesn't count, the purpose is to see what kind of distribution there is. For example two runners may each have 10 carries and 35 total yards averaging 3.5 total carries, but runner A may have all 10 runs within 2 yards of 3.5 and runner B may have had a 15 yard run and averaged 2.2 ypc on the other 9 carries. There is no real better or worse, it just depends on how you interpret the two different distribution types and how you think they might predict future results.

Ya man don't do that, McCoy will never give you nothing and will usually give you a whole lot. WR even top end ones can be a little more on the feast or famine side. Plus, like you said your WR depth is fine but your RB depth wouldn't be great without McCoy.

No problem, while I am a football fan I also have a decent math background and that's more of the angle I was coming from. Removing outliers is a common and accepted method in analyzing data.

It isn't skewing the facts, what he said is the facts. He did choose a fact that maybe supported his claim, which is what people do in a discussion, unlike a scientific journal or something. I know the average yards per carry isn't all you need to predict, I just meant you are trying to predict value like you said and that is a factor in that value. I'm not on either side of the discussion, I was just defending the validity of his statistic.

His point was that there was an outlier greatly affecting the average. You're right to point out that it still counts towards the average, but when you are trying to predict a future average (which is what we're doing here) outliers are important to note.