Buy Jonah Coleman before kickoff, because by tonight he costs double cover
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Buy Jonah Coleman before kickoff, because by tonight he costs double

Denver activated rookie Jonah Coleman from injured reserve Saturday and put Tyler Badie on IR, and Coleman plays Sunday at Arizona. Vic Castellano says the cheap window on him closes the moment his snap count posts.

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  • Send the offer for Jonah Coleman this morning. Not tonight, and not after you've seen the box score. This morning, while the guy who owns him still thinks of him as the rookie who's been parked in an IR slot for a month.

    Here's what happened while your league was busy arguing about Lamar Jackson. Denver activated Coleman from injured reserve on Saturday. Ian Rapoport posted it, The Denver Gazette confirmed it, and he plays today at Arizona. He practiced fully all three days this week. And the Broncos made room by putting Tyler Badie on IR with a broken thumb, which means one fewer back standing between Coleman and the football.

    Now the part his owner forgot. Back in Week 2 against Jacksonville, before the ankle, Coleman led Denver's backfield in snaps, per Rotoworld, which says he could take back the main rushing role. He was the guy. Then he got hurt, sat out the minimum four games, and fell out of everybody's head. That's the whole opportunity. Nobody's forgotten about him because he's bad. They forgot because he was gone.

    The risk, and I'll only say it once: Denver hasn't said how much work he gets today, and his one real game this season was 39 rushing yards, 38 of them in the fourth quarter. He could get eased in and look like a nobody. Fine. Run that out. If he looks like a nobody, you paid nobody prices and you're holding a rookie back who led his team in snaps the last time he was healthy. If he gets a real workload, the price you'd have paid this morning is gone by the time the late games end, and you'll be the one fielding offers instead of making them.

    In a contract league that math gets louder. A rookie deal at running back is cheap control at a position that burns out fast, and the only way you ever get that kind of contract at a discount is by buying before the proof shows up. Proof is what lets the other guy double his asking price.

    So who's selling? The manager who's spent four Sundays staring at a zero in an IR slot. He's tired, and tired managers take the first reasonable thing that lets them stop thinking about it. Don't insult him. Offer him a back he can start right now, or a pick he'll like more than he should, and let him feel smart for getting something.

  • Yes, you might pay a little more than you'd like this morning. I'll take that over paying tonight's price for something everybody else watched happen.

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