Posted by John Boyd | Nov. 12 at 04:02 AM

Ian...I know that S. Slaton had a tough week against Baltimore, and that Kubiak could be limiting him a little becuase he is a rookie, but to drop him to #31 behind Ced Benson (with his schedule and team) and J. Stewart (with his injury and the committee approach) seems a little too harsh. His is still capable of being a poor man's Westbrook, and this should place him at least around #16-20. Right? Is this a mistake? If not, could you explain it a little more in this weeks rankings (or in response)? Thanks.

Posted by Roy Sherman | Nov. 12 at 07:40 AM

I agree with John that ranking Slaton at #31 is pretty shocking, but what I find even more shocking is that K. Smith is ranked at #15 in yardage+td leagues and #9 in PPR leagues.

Posted by ANDY RICHARDSON | Nov. 12 at 09:13 AM

Not to speak for Ian, but the rankings are stat-based; subscribers can download the Excel-format stat projections for every player. On those two players, just broadly, the rankings are likely due to a comparative share of the team's offense. Houston certainly has a better offense than Detroit, but Kevin Smith is essentially a full-time player who's catching a lot of passes right now. Slaton's head coach came out this week and said Slaton was "worn down" and the team would be limiting his workload -- and did just that against Baltimore. Smith's in a lesser offense, but he's probably going to get three quarters or more of the workload the rest of the way, compared to maybe half (less?) for Slaton. (Again, I'm just ballparking, Ian is the one who projects the actual numbers.)

Posted by John Boyd | Nov. 12 at 10:30 AM

Andy...Thanks for the quick response. I figured that was Ian's thinking, but given that Slaton has a very favorable schedule I thought he might be higher (IND, CLE, JAC, GB, TEN, OAK). Also, I figure that Kubiak comes from the Shanahan school of thought so splitting RB's carries and/or misinformation about Slaton's workload may be at play. Who knows; those two concepts would cut contrary to one another, perhaps we learn more this week with Slaton’s matchup at Indy.

Posted by IAN ALLAN | Nov. 12 at 11:00 AM

I may have overreacted on Slaton. Outside the top 30 does look a little low. After he got only 4 carries against the Ravens (despite being healthy), I sliced him down to only 45 percent of his own team's rushing production -- yards and TDs. I do have concerns about him. I think Ahman Green and/or Ryan Moats are going to continue to play, and both of the team's quarterbacks (Rosenfels, Schaub) are relatively mobile guys who'll call their own numbers around the goal line. I don't think he's going to be real good down the stretch. Can we split the difference and stick him at No. 25 among running backs?