By Dalton Del Don
I’m pretty dumbfounded where Thomas Jones has been going in my drafts. Last year’s 1,119 rushing yards don’t look bad as an end result, but that was because he received the fifth most carries in the league, and on a week-to-week basis, he was literally unusable, especially since he’s so uninvolved in the passing game. Maybe he’ll bounce back at the goal line (1-for-17 last year) and become a viable option, and Brett Favre’s addition does bring optimism. However, he averaged 3.6 YPC last season and is now a year older. He’s on the wrong side of 30 and has carried a big workload over the past three years. I’d draft teammate Jerricho Cotchery ahead of Jones eight days a week.
The more I think about it, the more I’m considering Marion Barber as the No. 1 overall pick. First of all, he’s awesome. Also, he’s in one of the best offensive systems in football, is extremely durable, catches passes, is fresh as a runner and gets all the goal-line work. No one else can say the same. The guy has scored 28 touchdowns over the past two seasons without ever starting a game. Felix Jones will probably get similar carries to every other backup in the league. The only player I’d take over Barber is Adrian Peterson, and that’s mostly because of the huge discrepancy in Week 14-16 schedules.
I tried to talk myself into Julius Jones after he signed in Seattle, but apparently I momentarily forgot how much he sucks. Not that Maurice Morris is some budding star, but at least he knows the system well and is solid. Jones can’t catch or break a tackle. It’s a coin flip on whom I’d rather have, but the fact MoMo typically goes 5-10 rounds later makes it a no-brainer.
I’m surprisingly hooked on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Some quick, general observations: Wade Phillips is clueless, Jerry Jones is insane, Pacman Jones is rusty, Martellus Bennett is a punk, Tony Romo is extremely unassuming, and Terrell Owens is the man.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d prefer Steve Slaton, but Chris Taylor seems to be getting overlooked in Houston’s backfield. Ahman Green and Chris Brown are done, just forget about them and move on. So after Slaton, who else does that leave? Darius Walker isn’t even getting preseason carries, whereas Taylor is getting preseason starts. His YPC hasn’t impressed, but the Houston beat writers have raved about this guy for years. Maybe he best projects at fullback, but the opportunity for much more appears to be there. The Texans’ offense should be very good.
If I’m drafting a Bronco running back, it’s Andre Hall. For one, he’ll cost much cheaper. Also, which is somehow being overlooked, he’s currently the team’s goal-line runner. He can catch the ball, is fast and averaged 4.9 YPC last season. Rookie Ryan Clady looks like a dominant franchise left tackle, and only Young is really competing for touches right now.
During the NFL Draft, ESPN frequently cut to camera crews inside the homes of Chad Henne and Brian Brohm as they fell down the draft board. Since I’m not a big college football watcher, I decided to predict who would be the better pro based on my scientific reasoning that was body language. I concluded Henne in a landslide. There’s really no point to this, other than to say so far I look very, very good. Of course, I could have been just as right flipping a coin, but still.
I’ve seen Willie Parker go as high as the second round recently. Huh? Not only is his touchdown potential limited since he’ll get taken out at the goal line, but he also doesn’t catch the ball – two pretty crucial aspects to the value of fantasy backs. So what if Rashard Mendenhall has struggled a bit over the first few weeks of his pro career; he still looms large. Parker’s YPC has dropped four straight seasons, as his workload has increased significantly. Plus, he’s coming off a broken leg. All the Fred Taylor comparisons are apt.
Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express were both good, not amazing. The best part of each: Tropic Thunder’s opening fake trailers, which killed me, and Pineapple Express’ Amber Heard.
If you are set on drafting an Arizona running back, make it Tim Hightower and not Edgerrin James. Not only will he come much cheaper, but he’s also got a higher ceiling at this point in their respective careers. James is coming off five straight 300-carry seasons and is approaching 3,000 career rushes, which is astronomical for a running back. He also hasn’t averaged better than 3.8 YPC since leaving Indy. Hightower, meanwhile, has impressed and will at worst get 10 carries a game, including all the goal-line work. But there’s likely to be much, much more.
Peyton Manning’s mysterious injury status is of utter importance, since it not only affects a top-3 QB but also a top-5 pick, three draftable wide receivers and a tight end. I think he should be fine long-term, but the repercussions here could be devastating if not.
Darren McFadden has ended up on far too many of my teams this year. He’s not even the starter, led college football in fumbles last year, could lose goal-line work to Michael Bush and plays on a team that figures to struggle in the passing game. Naturally, I view Run-DMC as a top-15 back. No, he’s not going to go all Adrian Peterson on the league his rookie year, and I do worry about his ability to break tackles, but Oakland’s running system is top-3 in the league, and Tom Cable’s run blocking unit only improved over the offseason. The team will be very ground heavy, so there will be plenty of carries to go around, and McFadden should be active as a receiver. The defense should improve, and Oakland’s coaches are quietly ecstatic that McFadden fell to them after watching him through training camp. Additionally, Bush doesn’t look the same as he did before the broken leg, and Fargas is quite injury-prone.
I actually enjoyed the Olympics a good deal. But seriously, how can so many world records go down? Evolution is going into overdrive, apparently. Speaking of which, I thought this WSJ article on the world’s greatest athlete was ridiculous at the time, but it looks even worse after their No. 1 finished in sixth place at his event in the Olympics.
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