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The Weekly Bender: I Love My Job

Mon Oct 13 9:15pm ET
By HOWARD BENDER
Fantasy Writer

I will always be grateful for the opportunities I have been given in life. Yes, I’ve had to work my ass off to get them, but let’s face it – being a fantasy football analyst and radio personality is pretty damn cool. I know it is. Not just because I hear people say it to me all the time, but because I continue to enjoy doing what I do for a living. Sure, there are those cringe moments where someone trolls you for making the wrong call on their start/sit question, but overall, this job is a ton of fun and the longevity of my career indicates I’m pretty good at it, too.

But part of what makes someone a good fantasy analyst is being able to roll with the punches and not dig your heels in too deep. Standing by your analysis is important, but understanding when to make adjustments or to change your tune on a player is vital to your success. Not everything is black and white and considering how much the NFL game and coaching strategies evolve, you have to be able to pivot when necessary.

What will stand out to most in the coming week will be my endorsement of Cleveland tight end Harold Fannin. After Week 1, many in the industry were pushing Fannin on everyone because he had a better game than David Njoku. I fought against it. Not because I didn’t like Fannin, but because I have an understanding of Kevin Stefanski’s offense, what the match-up against the Bengals dictated and what we could expect moving forward. Still, people came at me as if I hated Fannin on some personal level; that I couldn’t accept his success or being wrong.

In my defense, I equated it to the Ravens situation from last year when everyone was pushing Isaiah Likely and telling you to dump Mark Andrews. I cited personnel packages and defensive match-ups and slowly but surely, we watched the cream rise to the top and while Fannin never got phased out, his usage diminished and everyone who spent their hard-earned FAAB dollars on him, eventually dropped him back to waivers. Today, I tell you all to pick him up if he’s available. You want him on that wall; you need him on that wall.

We don’t know the exact severity of Njoku’s knee injury, but it comes at a terrible time for those who roster him in fantasy. Like any young quarterback, Dillon Gabriel has shown a strong penchant for leaning on his tight ends. Njoku and Fannin have combined for more targets and receptions than any other tight end group over the last few weeks and even if there is a change to Shedeur Sanders, we expect a similar lean. With Njoku sidelined, Fannin steps into the lead role and will face the Dolphins, Patriots, Jets and Ravens over the next four weeks, four teams that rank at or near the bottom in coverage against the tight end position. Today, I stand before you as his biggest champion.

Having to argue about Fannin is just the tip of the iceberg. One guy heard me on SiriusXM saying not to use Jaxson Dart in Week 5 against the Saints. I didn’t like all the hype that was being draped on him as some New York football messiah and expected him to incur some problems on the road in New Orleans. After Dart threw for 88 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter, this guy was all over me on social media, telling me it’s actually quite difficult to be as wrong as I was. Of course, nothing but crickets from him after Dart closed the final three quarters with only 114 passing yards, two interceptions and a lost fumble.

But then on Thursday night against the Eagles, following another strong first quarter, there he was chirping at me once again, demanding that I admit I was wrong about his beloved quarterback. Did he not hear me recommend Dart against the Eagles that week? I guess not. Did he want to hear that I recommended Dart? Absolutely not. Gone into the internet shadows, hiding somewhere behind his keyboard, I suppose.

I expect something similar this week. Not only did I not recommend using Chargers running back Kimani Vidal this past week, but I also said that I wasn’t pushing the chips all-in on him for this week’s waiver wire. No, I don’t have it in for Vidal, nor do I have some vested interest in Hassan Haskins. I didn’t recommend using him either. But there’s the angry mob at the gates with torches and pitchforks in-hand, ready to tell me that I’m terrible at my job.

To put it simply, I hate the Chargers offensive line and if I am being honest, I think I could rush for 100 yards against this Miami Dolphins run defense. Have you seen the numbers? They rank dead-last in DVOA against the run, they allow a league-worst 168.5 rushing yards per game, they allow a 5.6 yards per carry average and they’ve coughed up six rushing touchdowns already. They’re atrocious and apparently more atrocious than the Chargers offensive line.

With no Rashawn Slater, Joe Alt or even Trey Pipkins, this Chargers line is a hot mess. Do you think Vidal….

Quick sidebar – let’s also not forget that Vidal was cut by the Chargers in the offseason and resigned to their practice squad when NO OTHER TEAM had any interest in him. Yeah, that’s right. They chose Haskins over him, left him to be picked up by 31 other teams and when he wasn’t, they brought him back. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it?

OK, back to the article…

Do you think Vidal is going to have the same success behind this line when he faces Grover Stewart and DeForrest Buckner of the Colts? What about when he faces the Vikings? Maybe there’s a reprieve when the Chargers travel to Tennessee, but then it’s the Steelers and the Jaguars. Sorry, but those run defenses and defensive lines are going to feast on the Chargers makeshift line.

And that doesn’t even take into account that Omarion Hampton is coming back sooner than later. I know there’s a report that says he could miss more than the four games he’s on IR for, but I am more than willing to wait and see what his ankle sprain looks like in two or three weeks rather than crown Vidal as some league-winner. It’s not stubbornness. It’s the simple fact that this is football. This is the NFL. And just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you get punched right in the mouth.

Can you handle the swings? Are you prepared to deal with the consequences? Part of the reason no one knows how to sell-high on a player is because they think that what they saw one week is exactly what they’re going to see in weeks to come. It just doesn’t work like that and if you aren’t prepared to change your tune, you’re going to continue to struggle with bad pick-ups and rosters filled with players you are continuously waiting to turn it around but never do.

So here I sit, year after year, and the only hill I’m willing to die on is the one that tells you to be diligent in your research and accept that you don’t always know everything. It will be your ability to make the proper adjustments that leads you to the Winner’s Circle each year.

The Weekly Bender: I Love My Job

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