| Arizona Cardinals - (Edgerrin James,
Marcel Shipp) I don't look for a whole lot of change in the
Arizona RB situation. James and Shipp are back as 1 and 2.
Although they did lose Leonard Davis off the O.L., he was overrated in
my opinion. The addition of HC Ken Whisenhunt and OL coach Russ
Grimm will get this offense going. And there's a decent chance
Arizona will draft the best OL in the draft at #5 (Joe Thomas -
Wisconsin). Update:
The Cards did draft Levi Brown, OT, from Penn State with the 5th
overall pick. He should be able to come in and help right away. |
| Atlanta Falcons - (Warrick Dunn, Jerious
Norwood) - Dunn is listed as the starter, but I'd be surprised if
it stays that way all year. Jerious Norwood has shown flashes of
brilliance. His 6.4 YPC average is no fluke. Dunn is 32
years old, averaged 4.0 YPC, and his receiving numbers have declined 5
straight years. Finally, the Falcons plan to draft a RB - likely
in the 1st or 2nd round.
Update: Well... they
did NOT draft a RB as they indicated they would. Status quo for
the Falcons. |
| Baltimore Ravens - (Willis
McGahee, Mike Anderson) - The Jamal Lewis era is over in Baltimore, and
the Willis McGahee-he era begins. Look for McGahee's numbers to
improve over last year's (990 yds, 3.8 YPC, 6 TD's). He has a
better line to run behind, a better overall offense, and the MIAMI
native isn't playing in Buffalo, NY 8 times a year. |
| Buffalo Bills - (Anthony Thomas,
Shaud Williams) - Buffalo currently has the worst RB situation in the
league. Only GB currently sits in a similar situation, but Buffalo
takes the cake. Over the past four seasons (4 different teams),
Thomas has averaged 3.2 YPC. And what the hell is a Shuad? I
certainly look for Buffalo to make a move for a RB - either via trade or
1st or 2nd round draft pick.
Update: The Bills took
Marshawn Lynch with the #12 overall pick. Look for Lynch to have a
decent rookie season if his training camp goes well. He has no
real competition for carries. |
| Carolina Panthers - (DeShaun
Foster, DeAngelo Williams) - The Panthers running game was disappointing
last year. Injuries to the OL and both running backs took their
toll. Carolina always seems to have RB injury issues. I do
not foresee a lot of changes this year for the running game.
Staying healthy is the key. |
| Chicago Bears - (Cedric Benson,
Adrian Peterson) - Thomas Jones is gone (NYJ) and Benson gets his chance
to shine. He will have fairly large shoes to fill though, as
Thomas Jones rushed for over 2500 yards and 15 TD's over the past 2
seasons. Look for Benson to have a nice year (maybe 1100 yards and
8 TD's). Peterson is a great backup RB and should spell Benson
frequently. Update:
The Bears drafted Garrett Wolfe in the third round. Wolfe was a
STUD at Northern Illinois. Sophmore year: 1656, 18TD;
Junior year: 1588, 16 TD; senior year: 1928, 18 TD.
The only reason he didn't have a big freshman year, Michael "the
Burner" Turner had 1648 yards. Wolfe is small so he will never be
a feature back, but he could make waves as a 3rd down back and kick
returner. If not this year, than next year. |
| Cincinnati Bengals - (Rudi
Johnson, Kenny Watson) - Rudi is in the prime of his career. In
the past 3 seasons, he's given you 1300-1400 years, and 12 TD's each
year. He's money. Look for Cincy to draft a backup RB in the
middle rounds. Chris Perry was hurt most of last year and really
just hasn't panned out. Kenny Watson only plays in even seasons
(2002, 2004, 2006), so he will miss most, or all, of this year.
Update: As expected,
Cincy drafted a RB. Kenny Irons (Aub) was taken in the second
round. Look for him to backup Rudi (also from Aub.) |
| Cleveland Browns - (Jamal Lewis,
Jason Wright) - Droughns is gone. In comes Jamal Lewis, who may
not have a lot left in his tank. He's averaged 3.5 YPC over the
past 2 years. And I don't think going to Cleveland is going to
help that. Most think Cleveland will draft STUD RB Adrian Peterson
(Oklahoma) #3 overall, and I agree. Cleveland will need to beef up
the OL in the next few years to give Peterson a chance to live up to his
potential. Update:
OK, so they didn't draft Peterson. They did get the best lineman
in the draft, Joe Thomas (Wisc), and QB help (Brady Quinn).
Overall the offense should be improved. Maybe Lewis will have a
serviceable year after all. |
| Dallas Cowboys - (Julius Jones, Marion
Barber III) - Jones is penciled in as the starter, but Barber will end
up with the fantasy numbers. In fact, I'm not convinced that
Julius Jones will be a Cowboy in 2007. I can certainly see them
trading him to a team with RB needs (Ten, Buf, GB, etc) and drafting a
backup to Barber. |
| Denver Broncos - (Travis
Henry, Mike Bell) - The Denver RB situation is constantly changing.
Out with the old, in with the new. They picked up Travis Henry,
and moved Tatum Bell. Henry is penciled in as the starter, but
Bell looked good at times last year. Oh, and look for Denver to
draft another RB in the 1st three rounds. Then look for Henry,
Bell, Rookie, and a 4th, unknown RB to look great in camp and
pre-season. The team as a whole will put up great FF numbers.
But I refuse to try to predict who will get what. Damn you Mike
Shanahan. |
| Detroit Lions - (Kevin Jones, Tatum
Bell) - Kevin Jones would be a nice FF RB if he could keep his ass on
the field. He's questionable to open the season, so Detroit picked
up Tatum Bell (Den.) Bell is speedy, but can't find the end zone.
I think each of these guys will have some nice weeks, but it just
doesn't set up very well for either of them to have a stand-out season. |
| Green Bay Packers - (Vernand Morency,
Noah Herron) - I won't waste my time talking about Morency or Herron.
Green Bay will draft Marshawn Lynch (5-11, 215, CAL). Lynch will
get playing time early and often. He's as good a receiver as he is
a runner. Unless he does something stupid like hold out, he will
be the starter by week 5. He's a good candidate to amass 1500
total yards and 6-10 TD's.
Update: I lied.
Buffalo took Lynch before GB could. The Pack opted for Nebraska RB
Brandon Jackson in the 2nd round. |
| Houston Texans - (Amahn Green, Ron Dayne)
- Somehow, Houston's running game looked pretty good in the second half
of the season. Ho-Ho Dayne looked (dare I say it) impressive in
the last 4 games of last year (getting about 400 yards and 5 TD's).
And 30 year old Amahn Green showed he still has something left in the
tank even after coming back from an injury-filled 2005. Between
the 2 RB's and a new QB (Matt Schaub, ATL), Houston's offense is looking
pretty decent. Houston may also try to draft the RB of the future
in the early rounds. |
| Indianapolis Colts - (Joseph Addai, Dede
Dorsey) - DeDe who? Joseph Addai is poised to have a very nice
year. Dom Rhodes is gone and Addai will not be sharing carries so
much in 2007. I could see a top 10-15 year for Addai. I also
look for Indy to draft a decent backup RB. |
| Jacksonville Jaguars - (Fred Taylor,
Maurice Jones-Drew) - Taylor stayed healthy and had his best YPC ever as
a pro (5.0). Maurice Jones-Drew had a monster rookie campaign.
941 yards, 5.7 YPC, 13 TD's. Another 436 yards receiving and 2
TD's. They are both good fantasy options, but neither of them will
be great fantasy options. Jones-Drew is unlikely to repeat his
rookie numbers. |
| Kansas City Chiefs - (Larry Johnson,
Michael Bennett) - Larry Johnson has been a BEAST the past 2 seasons.
Two straight seasons of 1700 yards rushing and 19 (or more) combined TD's is hard to top. Unfortunately his 457 total touches last year
are too. Too often, a RB with 375 or more carries (Johnson had
416) has injury problems (and a reduced YPC) the following year.
Add to that, KC is rumored to be shopping Johnson before the draft.
Who knows what 2007 holds for LJ. Michael Bennett was effective
the few times he touched the ball in 2006. |
| Miami Dolphins - (Ronnie Brown, Ricky
Williams?) - Brown had a somewhat disappointing year in '06. But
the offense never had any consistency, and he missed a few games as
well. Ricky Williams is on the verge of coming back to Miami, and
I look for them to share and put up similar numbers to the 2005 season.
If they get some good QB play out of ????????, they might both have top
20 seasons. Update:
It appears Ricky is NOT coming back to Miami. The Dolphins cleaned
out his locker and gave it to 3rd round pick Lorenzo Booker. Look
for Booker to be Ronnie Brown's backup. |
| Minnesota Vikings - (Chester Taylor, Mewelde Moore) - Taylor looked as good as advertised most of the season,
but faded in the last month. But so did the Vikings offense.
If Minnesota can get a passing game going (and a QB for that matter), I
look for Taylor to have a real nice year. Moore is a good backup /
3rd down back.
Update: Stop the presses. The Vikings selected Adrian
Peterson with the #7 overall pick (much better than last year's wasted
#7 overall pick). Peterson will split this year with Taylor - but
will have the better numbers. |
| New England Patriots - (Laurence Maroney,
Kevin Faulk) - Dillon is gone, likely to retire. Maroney gets his
chance to shine, and shine he will. No longer splitting time, I
can see Steven Jackson type numbers for Maroney. Faulk remains a
nice 3rd down type back. |
| New Orleans Saints - (Deuce
McAllister, Reggie Bush) - McAllister far exceeded expectations coming
off the 2005 injury. 1200 total yards and 10 TD's is not bad even
if he had all the carries. Enter All World rookie Reggie Bush.
He added a mere 1300 total yards and 8 TD's. Bush had 88
receptions. What a great combo. Look for big things again
this season from this duo.
Update: The Saint's
drafted Antonio Pittman (Ohio St) in the 4th round. He's
insurance. |
| New York Giants - (Tiki B... oh wait, he
RETIRED... Brandon Jacobs, Reuben Droughns) - Tiki and his 1500
combined yards per year (for about 30 years) is gone. Brandon
Jacobs will be asked to take up the slack. Or most of it, anyway.
Jacobs excelled in short yardage and goal line situations last year.
Hell, he should - he's 265 pounds. This year we get to see if he
can handle 15-30 carries a game. Reuben Droughns comes over from
the Browns, and I expect to see him get 10 carries a game (or more if
he's rolling). Droughns has put up some good yardage in the past,
but will need NY's line to step it up a notch. These two could
make a really good tandem, again, if NY's O-line is healthy this year.
Update: The Giants
drafted Amahd Bradshaw in the 7th round (a steal). Bradshaw put up
nice numbers for Marshall (1523 yards and 19 TD's). |
| New York Jets - (Thomas Jones, Leon
Washington) - The Jets have had more RB's since Martin retired, than
Snoop has had bitches and ho's. Enter Thomas Jones this year.
Jones does not get the respect he deserves. Sure he sucked in
Arizona when he was drafted #7 overall, but all RB's such in Arizona.
In the past 3 years, he's put up 4200 total yards and 22 TD's.
That's not too shabby. He's 28, and really didn't have a lot of
carries in his first 4 seasons as a pro. He should do well in NY.
Leon Washington is an interesting prospect. He put together a few
nice games last year, and will make a nice change of pace back this
year. |
| Oakland Raiders - (LaMont Jordan,
Dominic Rhodes) - I'm not sure what to make of Jordan. He sucked
last year. But he was a sitting duck. Oakland had NO passing
game, and a pretty bad O-Line. If they draft JaMarcus Russell, and
5 or 6 lineman, maybe he can get back to his 2005 numbers. Dominic
Rhodes comes over from Indy, and is a capable back himself. But
again, unless Oakland improves in that embarrassment of an offense, he
stands no chance either.
Update: Oakland
drafted Michael Bush (Louisville) in the 4th round. If he returns
to health, he could be a good pickup for the silver-and-black. |
| Philadelphia Eagles - (Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter) - These 2 have been the Philly RB's forever.
Westbrook continues to amaze me each year. I keep saying "that was
a fluke - he won't put up those numbers again." And (when he stays
healthy) he does. OK, I admit it. He's pretty good.
Update: The Eagles
drafted Tony Hunt (Penn St) in the 3rd round. Some say he will
supplant (the often injured) Buckhalter for backup duties. |
| Pittsburgh Steelers - (Willie Parker, Dookie Davenport) - Parker had an amazing year, especially considering
the horrible year Roethlisberger had. 1700 total yards and 16 TD's.
Not bad for a player that wasn't even drafted. I can see similar
numbers again this year. Davenport was supposed to vulture some of
Parker's TD's last year, but it didn't happen then either.
Roethlisberger should start the year off with his head screwed on right
this year, and the Steelers offense should look better overall.
Update: My Steelers
are close to signing Kevan Barlow to a 1-year contract. In other
words, no Steelers RB news. |
| San Diego Chargers - (LaDainian
Tomlinson, Michael Turner) - LT. What a year he had. 2300
yards and 31 TD's combined. Let's repeat: 2300 yards and 31
TD's. Unreal. There is NO WAY he repeats that. Here's
why. First of all, that is a once-in-a-lifetime season for a RB.
Second of all, he's had a lot of touches in the past 2 years. And
finally, Michael Turner will get 150 carries this year. If you
think the asking price was high this year (there is still a slight
chance he gets dealt on draft day), wait till he puts up 1000 yards of
his own this year (backing up LT). You may see the Chargers take a
RB in the middle rounds, further showing that Turner is gone after this
season. |
| Seattle Seahawks - (Shaun Alexander,
Maurice Morris) - Damn you John Madden. The Madden Curse got it's
filthy mitts on Shaun Alexander in 2006. A pitiful 900 yards and 7 TD's rushing after garnering 1880 and 27 in 2005. Look for
Alexander to bounce back this year. He had a lot of touches the
two previous year, so in essence, he got to rest last year. He
should be fresh, and ready for his final 2-3 year run. Maurice
Morris had his chance to shine last year, and disappointed. I
would not be surprised to see Seattle draft a RB in the middle rounds. |
| San Francisco 49'ers - (Frank
Gore, Maurice Hicks) - Frank Gore far exceeded all expectations rolling
up almost 2200 combined yards and 9 TD's in 2006. It's hard to
imagine him repeating those numbers, but he should have a good year
nonetheless. San Fran is improving a little each year from their
pitiful state a few years ago. They could possibly draft a backup
because Hicks isn't capable of carrying the load if the (formerly)
injury prone Gore gets hurt. |
| Saint Louis Rams - (Steven
Jackson, Travis Minor) - Steven Jackson has arrived. 2300 yards
and 16 TD's (combined) made Jackson a top 5 RB in 2006. Many have
him a top 3 RB for 2007. I can not disagree. He has all the
tools and is surrounded by a complete offense. |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers - (Cadillac
Williams, Michael Pittman) - The Cadillac had a disappointing season in
'06. Injuries and bad QB play did not help. He should bounce
back somewhat this year. Michael Pittman, as always, is a good
backup RB |
|
Tennessee Titans -
(LenDale White, Absolutely Nobody) - You know what? I lied about
Buffalo having the worst RB situation. Tennessee needs to draft 2 or 3 RB's. White with his 244 yards, is the top returning RB on the
team. Travis Henry left for Denver, and Chris Brown (who only
played in 5 games in 2006) is gone too. The jury is still out on
White making it as an NFL running back. The Titans plan to draft a
WR in round one, so it is possible they may pull off a draft day trade
for an established RB.
Update: The Titans
drafted Chris Henry (Arizona) in the 2nd round. He's a bit of an
unknown. He didn't get a lot of carries until the last 4 games of
the season - which he did nicely in. He'll get a chance right away
to battle LenDale White for a starting role. |
| Washington Redskins - (Clinton
Portis, Ladell Betts) Portis should be healthy again, and Betts
was a monster down the stretch with Portis injured. I look for
these two to split 50-50 this year. |
