I love to get my Skittles ready on Sundays just as much as the next guy. Thing is, I just might not need to buy as many bags of Skittles this year. The blockbuster trade between Seattle and New Orleans earlier this month definitely came as a shock, but there is more than just salary caps and merchandise sales that will be affected. The departure of Pro-Bowl Center Max Unger and the arrival of All-Pro TE Jimmy Graham is a double-edged sword stabbing away at the fantasy value of Marshawn Lynch in 2015. The impact of Jimmy Graham (outside of being top-3 in Red Zone TDs over the last three seasons) is mostly speculation and the projected impact he will have on the Seahawks offense. However, as far as the relationship between Max Unger and Lynch’s fantasy points is concerned, there is plenty of hard evidence to prove that Lynch will struggle to keep his “elite” status this year.

Unger missed ten games in 2014 with injuries (weeks 6-9, as well as weeks 12-17), and those ten games are ones that Marshawn Lynch owners would love to forget. Here’s a breakdown of of Lynch’s production with and without Max Unger:

• WK 6 – 6 points, 0 TDs
• WK 7 – 6 points, 0 TDs
• WK 8 – 6 points, 0 TDs
• WK 9 – 25 points, 2 TDs
• WK 12 – 7 points, 0 TDs
• WK 13 – 10 points, 0 TDs
• WK 14 – 14 points, 1 TD (receiving)
• WK 15 – 15 points, 1 TD
• WK 16 – 23 points, 2 TDs
• WK 17 – 13 points, 1 TD

125 fantasy points, 7 TDs without Unger in the lineup. 8 out of 10 weeks resulted in 15 points or less, with 4 weeks in single digits. He also scored ZERO rushing TDs in 6 out of 10.

• WK 1 – 24 points, 2 TDs
• WK 2 – 11 points, 1 TD (receiving)
• WK 3 – 24 points, 2 TDs
• WK 5 – 17 points, 1 TD (receiving)
• WK 10 – 40 points, 4TDs
• WK 11 – 12 points, 0 TDs

128 fantasy points, 10 TDs with Unger in the lineup. 4 out of 6 weeks resulted in more than 15 points, including 2 weeks of 24 points and a whopping 40 in week 10. He only failed to find the end zone ONCE in those 6 games.

Between 2011-2014 Lynch averaged 295 carries for 1,340 yards & 12 TDs, and 31 catches for 272 yards & 2 TDs, which totals roughly 245 fantasy points. As I mentioned, I believe that his total touches/yardage will come down about 10-15% this year, with his TD totals falling off by more than 25%. I have Marshawn going for 1,175 yards on 270 carries and adding another 215 yards on 25 catches with 10 total TDs and 2 fumbles (195 points) in 2015.

+ most of these stats can be found on ESPN.com/fantasyfootball and Rotoworld.com +          Jegs~