The Weekly Bender: The NFL Justice System Loves Fantasy Football

Sat Aug 16 10:01pm ET
By HOWARD BENDER
Fantasy Writer

I remember it as if it was yesterday – in 2017 every NFL general manager was polled and asked if they would draft Joe Mixon even after the video of him punching a woman in the face was released. You would have thought one of them would have said no, but none of them did and a few of them even said, “of course, I don’t want him running against my team.” That set the tone for how the NFL would be handling itself with regard to players and their legal issues.

Maybe they found it futile, after all those attempts to get Josh Gordon on the straight and narrow, but however it all transpired, we have routinely seen the NFL drag its feet with regard to punishing players. Sure, we’ve had incidents like Henry Ruggs where the league was forced into taking action, but with everything we just witnessed with Jordan Addison, whose three-game suspension came over a year later for a 2024 DUI arrest, it would seem that the NFL has its own form of justice, that time is never of the essence and that fantasy football players really don’t need to worry as much when drafting players.

Let’s start with Rashee Rice of the Kansas City Chiefs. Dude is a baller and when he’s on the field, he’s insanely explosive and Patrick Mahomes’ new favorite target. But he was incredibly reckless back in March of 2024, caused a multi-car crash and left the scene of the crime as well. He was charged with aggravated assault, collision involving serious bodily injury, and multiple counts of collision involving injury. He pled guilty to two felonies and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation.

You would think that the charges, the guilty plea and the sentence would have the NFL acting swiftly and show the players that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated. Instead, it was announced on Thursday (August 14) that the NFL has set a hearing for Rice for September 30^th. Really? An incident that took place well over a year ago and has a guilty conviction needs to have its hearing pushed to after Week 4 of the regular season? I’d ask, “What’s up with that?” but as someone who drafted Rice much earlier in the offseason, I am fine with the league being so stupid.

The NFL idiots have blessed the fantasy football community with their decision to postpone the hearing. It’s true that a suspension this season could still happen, but Rice is going to play for the first four weeks, a crucial time for fantasy owners. You always want to get off to a good start and having one of the top receivers in the game is exactly how you do that. Rice will be there for tough match-ups against the Chargers, Eagles and Ravens while he also gets a super-soft match-up against the Giants. We fully expect Mahomes to lean on him and if you buy the dip – because everyone else in your league is scared to draft a guy who could see a six-game suspension and his ADP is rapidly dropping – you’re going to see some serious value through the first four weeks.

And what about that potential six-game suspension? If it happens, Rice will start serving in Week 5 and will be eligible to return for Week 12. The Chiefs have a bye in Week 10, so he’ll lose Week 11. But what will that matter? You got to use him for the first four weeks, got your team off to a hot start and then you’ll get Rice back just in time for the final two weeks of your fantasy regular season and the fantasy playoffs. Tell me that’s not going to be worth a sixth or seventh round pick. Thank you, NFL, for caring more about the Chiefs than you do actual justice.

So, Addison is only gone for three weeks, Rice is technically not even gone and then we also have, cut more from the Mixon cloth, another player we should be getting back shortly in rookie running back Quinshon Judkins. Earlier this week it was announced that the domestic violence charges against Judkins were being dropped. I’m sure there are multiple sides to the story, but in looking at it from a fantasy perspective, we’re all apparently cool here too. We expect the Cleveland Browns to present Judkins with his rookie contract and get him into camp as quickly as possible. Sorry, Jerome Ford and Dylan Sampson owners, but we don’t believe in the “appearance of impropriety.” No charges, no foul, right?

With the charges dropped, the next question actually will be whether or not there will be an investigation by the league. Will they look into it? Will they seek out the actual truth? I guess the answer to all of that is, “who cares?” With the way the NFL drags its feet, any sort of investigation or subsequent hearing likely won’t take place until sometime around 2026. Maybe they say they will start it earlier, but with no charges, the team and Players’ Association will have no trouble pushing it off. Judkins ADP had dropped from the fifth round to the 10^th in most places, so buy the dip here as well if you’re drafting this weekend. By the time drafts roll around at the end of the month, he’ll be back in the fifth round.

Just to be clear, much of this was written tongue-in-cheek. I am not diminishing a DUI, Rice’s accident or Judkins’ possible behavior. I am being a sarcastic ass who hates how the NFL operates in matters like this. However, I am also a fantasy football analyst paid to help you win championships, so if that means leaning into the NFL’s chronic stupidity, I will do just that. I do it for you, for the fantasy people.

Bender out.

The Weekly Bender: The NFL Justice System Loves Fantasy Football

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