Jay Glazer: Marshawn Lynch traded to Seattle

I just got back from my lunch workout and BAM, there is breaking fantasy football and NFL news.

Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reported via Twitter just a few minutes ago that the Seattle Seahawks have traded a 4th round pick in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2010 for running back Marshawn Lynch.

Here is the tweet from Glazer about the Marshawn Lynch trade:

Breaking news: I’m reporting seattle has traded for bills rb marshawn lynch for 4th in 2011 and cond pick 2012. Great move for ‘hawks

This obviously has tremendous fantasy implications for a bunch of running backs on both teams – Justin Forsett, CJ Spiller, Fred Jackson, and of course Lynch. Bear with me and I’ll analyze here in the next 10-15 minutes.

Fantasy Impact of Marshawn Lynch Trade in Seattle

Up until now, none of these four backs has been a legitimate fantasy starter. Lynch had been getting the majority of the carries in Buffalo, but he has yet to score a TD. He now joins a Seattle team that seemed ready to turn the feature back position over to Justin Forsett, but Forsett responded with subpar outings against San Diego and St. Louis, meaning that his job is anything but safe.

Right now, I wouldn’t overreact about either guy, mainly because Seattle’s offense is terrible so their potential ceilings are limited. Add to that the fact that they will likely split carries in some kind of time share and I am not particularly bullish on either guy.

It’s a different story in Buffalo.

Fantasy Impact of Marshawn Lynch Trade in Buffalo for CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson

This trade clears the way for CJ Spiller to start getting his hands on the ball more, and that means explosive plays that can provide fantasy value. We’ve already seen Spiller take a kick to the house, and he also has a receiving TD. This guy was a top 10 pick for a reason. With the Bills already at 0-4 and essentially playing for 2011, it makes sense to let Spiller have the ball and see what he can do.

The trade of Lynch also means that the underrated Fred Jackson can get regular touches again. After running for 1,062 yards last year and adding another 371 receiving, I thought Jackson could be a sneaky fantasy player this year. He has not been, getting only 20 carries through four games. That will change now. Even if Buffalo commits to Spiller, it won’t give him more than 12-15 carries per game. He’s simply not built to be a workhorse back. Jackson will pick up the slack and has value if he can get his hands on the ball 15 times.

Bottom line: Like Forsett and Lynch, the Bills’ offense limits the potential of Spiller or Jackson, but the value of each increases because of the trade. I’m not sure the value of Lynch or Forsett does anything but just tread water at best.

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