yeah.
- Gramps28

i try not to talk about other peoples open offers when one all goes public like this and poop but i see it was already accepted so i guess it's cool. wow that seems like a bad deal for army.

i hope it works out for everybody cause i'm just that kind of guy. but whooo.

will we ever have a bigger cockbuster though? like yuge names getting traded for each other? i like that aspect of it. gonna go up in the anals of the hockeybuzz ff lEEgue.

Antonio Brown for David Johnson has been proposed.
- rmiethaner

Nooooooo

Wow let me in on some of those fair trades

(frank)ING VETO

There are five stages to dealing with having David Johnson on your roster this year, and ...

Stage 1 is Denial

"There is no way someone as talented as Johnson could be bad in fantasy. He was the No. 1 player in fantasy football in 2016. He had more points than Aaron Rodgers and every other QB! He had 82 more points than any other running back! I used a top-three pick on him this year. I mean, OK, so he had only 67 yards in Week 1 against a Redskins team that allowed the eighth-most RB points in 2017... but, but he's scored two touchdowns in three games. And, you know, he's gotten 43.1 percent of Arizona's offensive touches this season, the fifth-highest rate in the NFL. And, and, um, he's, uh, RB20 on the season -- just, uh, one-tenth of a point behind T.J. Yeldon. Yeah! T.J. Yeldon! You see? Everything is perfectly fine with David Johnson. HE'S KILLING IT, BERRY!"
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I know, Mr. DuPree. I know. But while you are still in Stage 1, a quick look at my Twitter shows many folks are now in ...

Stage 2: Anger

"What the hell is going on here? Johnson has lined up as a wide receiver just six times in three games. Six! Total! Did you know he averaged more than 10 snaps A GAME as a wide receiver in 2016?!? How could you give him only 13 carries in Week 2? He ran only 13 routes in Week 2. Did you know 169 players ran more in Week 2? This is David Johnson we are talking about!

"Why won't Mike McCoy run him outside? In 2016, Johnson led the NFL in rushing yards outside the tackles (463), averaging 6.3 yards per carry on those rushes. He had 74 such carries in 16 games (4.6 per game) and 74.7 percent of his rushing attempts were between the tackles. This season? Just five carries for 6 yards outside the tackles, and 85.3 percent of his runs have come between the tackles.

"Arghhh, I hate how they use him this year so much!"

This is the stage many are in, but soon Stage 3 will set in.

Stage 3: Bargaining

"Can we just get him to 15 carries in a game this season, Mike McCoy? Please? I mean, 15 carries per game isn't that much, right? Derrick Henry averages 15 carries per game. Johnson is at least as good as stuck-in-a-committee Derrick Henry, right? Royce Freeman, who is splitting time with Phillip Lindsay, has more carries than David Johnson this season. So does Isaiah Crowell. And Alfred Morris, who wasn't even on a team six weeks ago. All these guys in a committee have more carries than Johnson. And he's not in a committee. Pretty please?

"Dion Lewis has more carries than DJ. Let that sink in. Two different Tennessee Titans running backs have more carries than one of the most talented running backs in the NFL. I'm begging here. The touchdowns are nice, don't get me wrong, but three straight games below 50 yards rushing? Can we count on the scores continuing? What if he gets pulled in the red zone again for another 'teaching moment.' Are you aware that there are 31 different running backs with at least one game of 15-plus carries this season? And David Johnson is NOT one of them?

"Come on. You want your prized rookie quarterback Josh Rosen to have a chance, right? So take some pressure off him and, you know, hand the ball off. Just a thought? Yes? Maybe? And you know the Cardinals' schedule gets a lot easier starting in Week 8, right? And I'll still be in the playoff hunt by then, right? Probably? Maybe?"

Sigh.

At some point you will realize you are not making any progress. You are a fantasy hamster, running in a circle. Which is still better than running into an eight-man front like your first-round pick keeps doing. So you slowly descend into ...
Since becoming the starter in Week 13 of the 2015 season, David Johnson has had fewer than 90 yards from scrimmage just five times. Three of those five instances have come in succession to start this season. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

Stage 4: Depression

Everywhere you look, there's another bad stat about the Cardinals. They have had only two red zone drives this whole season. Two. All year long. Fewest in the NFL. Arizona is averaging just 47 plays per game, also fewest in the NFL. In 2016, they averaged 67.9 plays per game, second most in the NFL.

Every other team in the NFL has at least 51 offensive plays on the opponents' half of the field. Arizona has run 32 such plays.

Other members in your league are offering trades like Peyton Barber for him. The best offer you've gotten is Austin Ekeler. Or Javorius Allen. You can't trade him for such a low price. This is your first-round pick. You could have drafted Ezekiel Elliott. Or Alvin Kamara. Or Saquon Barkley. Or Melvin Gordon. Look at the people who drafted them in your league. Look at them looking at their phones, laughing and smiling as the fantasy points pile up.

This is what it is. Me and my top-three-pick RB who has scored 6.1 more points this season than Bilal Powell. It hits you like a ton of bricks: "With my first-round, top-four pick ... I drafted Bilal Powell. I hate Bilal Powell."

You can't get out of bed. You just sit there staring at the ceiling as depressing music plays and raindrops hit the window. You can barely set your lineup. You didn't even make a waiver claim this week. Why pick up LeGarrette Blount or Nyheim Hines, you think to yourself. I already have a more famous version of either of them.

It is only at this point, when you have hit rock bottom in your depression, that you are ready for ...

Stage 5: Acceptance

"OK," you think. "So I'm stuck with Johnson this year. That's OK. Hey, it could be worse, right? I could have drafted Le'Veon Bell. At least Johnson is playing in NFL games. And hey, remember Todd Gurley II in 2016? He was a super-high draft pick that year, too. And yes, Jeff Fisher and staff, were not, you know, the most creative offense, but they did use him a lot. Gurley didn't return the value of his draft pick that year, but he played every game, he ground out yards and when all the dust settled, he still somehow managed to finish as the 15th-best RB in fantasy that season."

Just one spot and 1.2 points ahead of ... Bilal Powell.

You will get through the stages of having David Johnson this year at your own pace, at your own comfort level. Just know that as you move through the stages, we are all in this together ... you, me and David DuPree.

As I continue to tinker with the format of my 50 Facts column, I have gotten some feedback that among the things some folks really enjoyed about Love/Hate was that they could skim the piece and look for their players, immediately knowing if one of their guys made the "love" or the "hate" list. There are always going to be people who don't love change, so resistance to a new format was to be expected, and I will say that I have gotten a number of nice emails and tweets saying they really enjoy the new format. But ultimately, I want this column to be of the most use to as many people as possible, and I understand that quick scan for your specific players was among the appeals of the column.

Let's get to it.

I am 0-3.

Maybe a good idea to flip my depth.

With Rosen starting, taking a chance that Johnson will be the focus of the offense.

Pretty much just trading first round draft picks.
- rmiethaner

this is 2nd Level thinking. don't let these snake draft mouth breathers give you any guff

#MasterPlan

i try not to talk about other peoples open offers when one all goes public like this and poop but i see it was already accepted so i guess it's cool. wow that seems like a bad deal for army.

i hope it works out for everybody cause i'm just that kind of guy. but whooo.
- kicksave856

guess he is going for a huge shake-up. i asked him why.

#MasterPlan
- Nucker101

i hope hill breaks a leg on the last play of the game monday night.

this is 2nd Level thinking. don't let these snake draft mouth breathers give you any guff
- Crimsoninja

hey..sit AP again.

i hope hill breaks a leg on the last play of the game monday night.
- Gramps28

I hope Thielen retires at halftime next week

I hope Thielen retires at halftime next week
- Nucker101

as a bears fan, i am okay with that

https://twitter.com/bleac.../1046128665489281024?s=21

Are you guys just working to help Nucker win?

Are you guys just working to help Nucker win?
- PhillySportsGuy

I was trying to help you

Are you guys just working to help Nucker win?
- PhillySportsGuy

Told you not to give him 1st Overall

I was trying to help you
- Streit2ThePoint

And you did, bud. You did.

Now help me help me

Told you not to give him 1st Overall
- mr.peanut

The lucrative offer was too good for my Jew eyes to pass up. I am sorry

Are you guys just working to help Nucker win?
- PhillySportsGuy

i know you can't be talking to me.

The lucrative offer was too good for my Jew eyes to pass up. I am sorry
- PhillySportsGuy

First jew to fall for fool's gold. I will inform Netanyahu.

First jew to fall for fool's gold. I will inform Netanyahu.
- mr.peanut

We went to the same high school

We went to the same high school
- PhillySportsGuy

I know who did better in economics class!!!

peanut, how livid are you that 3 of the top 5 are PSGSEC teams right now?