LeSean McCoy ruled eligible for Week 1 vs. Ravens and safe to start in fantasy

LeSean McCoy is not in the crosshairs of the league office yet, so his fantasy owners can use him in Week 1 without issue.

Without getting into great detail, Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy may draw discipline from the NFL for an incident involving his ex-girlfriend during the offseason. But according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, McCoy will not be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list and he will be eligible to play Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens.

Depending in how his legal situation plays out, McCoy may find himself placed on the commissioner’s exempt list at some point this season. He has also reached the dreaded age of 30, had a groin injury during the preseason and the Bills lost plenty of talent along the offensive line this offseason. So there’s a lot of downside, apart from the off-field situation, but if healthy and available McCoy is in line for plenty of volume as the bell cow of Buffalo’s offense.

McCoy surely fell in pretty much every fantasy draft, with an ADP (via Fantasy Football Calculator 12-team leagues)) of RB17 in standard scoring  (pick 3.05) and RB16 (pick 3.06) in full-point PPR scoring. But there’ a decent chance he returns value on that draft position, if only based on volume (and assuming availability).

The Bills could have had rookie Josh Allen starting under center right off the bat, but they’ve decided to go with second-year man Nathan Peterman for at least Week 1. That puts McCoy in line for lots of touches, even in what could be a tough matchup against the Ravens.

The Ravens are favored by seven points for Sunday’s game right now, so the game script could go negative for McCoy at some point and diminish his impact. But the optimistic view puts him on 25 touches in the game, and a firm place in fantasy lineups, even if the split tilts toward passing game targets in the fourth quarter.