Somebody in your league watched Ashton Jeanty get two carries Sunday and is already drafting the trade offer in their head. Be the person who receives it. Better yet, send yours first.
I know how this sounds coming from me. I'm the guy who keeps telling you roles beat reputations, and on Sunday the role belonged to Mike Washington Jr. He got 25 carries in the Raiders' 38-33 win over the Jets. Jeanty got two, for 9 yards. Klint Kubiak didn't dress it up afterward, either: "That's my call, and Ashton still going to be a big part of our team." A coach owning a decision and giving no reason for it, after a win that snapped a four-game skid, is exactly the kind of thing that sticks. I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
Now read the rest of the box score, because your league-mate won't. Washington's 25 carries went for 83 yards. That's 3.3 a carry, and his longest run was 15. Jeanty touched the ball five times and gained 73 yards, catching 3 of 4 targets for 64, including a 45-yarder. If you're telling me the Raiders found a new lead back, I'd like to see him do something with the job besides hold it.
And the part that matters most for your trade offer is how the plan got made. Jeanty said it was "communicated" to him before kickoff. That's a plan the staff settled on before the game, and a game plan is a one-week fact. A player getting yanked at halftime because he can't hold up is a different story, and nobody has reported anything like that here. Kubiak also went out of his way to say Jeanty will be a big part of the team, which is a strange thing to say about a guy you just demoted.
So who should be buying? Anybody with a few years to work with. Jeanty's on a rookie deal that runs for years, and in a contract league that's the whole point. You're not paying for Week 9, you're paying for every season left on that deal, and one weird Sunday doesn't touch a single one of them. If you're a contender who needs a running back to score this week, I'd pass and grab Washington off waivers instead, because 25 carries is 25 carries even at 3.3 a pop.
If Washington gets 25 again next week and Jeanty's still sitting there with two, I'll have bought the name I always tell you to sell, and you can bring that up every time I open my mouth. I'll take that risk at a two-carry price. Nobody's going to offer you Jeanty this cheap once his carries come back.
