WAY undervalued Rb's thnis year.....

[Steve_L]

You also missed the fact that he basically said he wouldn't give it his all last year, for fear of injury. He wanted to make sure he stayed healthy, so he could get paid in 2006. And he did that that, to the tune of a 3-year, $26M contract that he just signed a month ago.

Which begs the question, what incentive does he have to give it his all now that he's got is big contract? Unless the contract is structured with some very nice incentives for rushing totals and such, you have to seriously consider how good a player can be who will decide for an entire rest of the season just not to give it his all. If Jamal isn't willing to drive through people, and pull away from defenders, and contents himself to go down at first contact, because he isn't giving it his all, that will show in fantasy points.

Yea that's my thought as well. If he can get paid having an average year, why does he need to try any harder. Plus Mike Anderson kills his value for me.

[toofunny]

The main problem is, the Ravens don't think he'll bounce back to old form. Seeing as they went out and got MA. And the Ravens should know better then anyone.

He's seemingly always hurt, or getting hurt, and has clearly lost some power/speed after all those leg injuries. It's not the same Lewis.

If the Pats don't draft a RB, Dillon will be fine. Should get at least 10 TDs, and put up 65-70 yards a game.

[disgruntledjetsfan]

People don't seem to understand how hard it is to come back from jail and preform.

I would hope not...

heheh, I was thinking the same thing



I like your points, but I have to disagree with you. I think you MIGHT be right about Jamal Lewis, but I think he is a big risk, especially now that the Ravens have a proven backup in anderson.

As for Thomas Jones, I have to disagree. He is actually being chosen fairly highly, and if you don't remember, Cedric Benson was chosen 4th in the draft last year, I can't imagine that he will sit on the bench all season...

[dirty weasel]

You also missed the fact that he basically said he wouldn't give it his all last year, for fear of injury. He wanted to make sure he stayed healthy, so he could get paid in 2006. And he did that that, to the tune of a 3-year, $26M contract that he just signed a month ago.

Which begs the question, what incentive does he have to give it his all now that he's got is big contract? Unless the contract is structured with some very nice incentives for rushing totals and such, you have to seriously consider how good a player can be who will decide for an entire rest of the season just not to give it his all. If Jamal isn't willing to drive through people, and pull away from defenders, and contents himself to go down at first contact, because he isn't giving it his all, that will show in fantasy points.

Yea that's my thought as well. If he can get paid having an average year, why does he need to try any harder. Plus Mike Anderson kills his value for me.

As I understand it, the Ravens have structured the contract so that they can back out of it if Jamal has a bad year. But if he does great, he'll get paid handsomely. It's perfectly structured to motivate him to go the extra yard. As for BAL picking up Mike Anderson, they did that because they let Chester Taylor go. If BAL was truly worried about the future of their RB corps, they would've kept Taylor and never signed Anderson. Exchanging a younger backup for an older one suggests to me that BAL is quite happy with Jamal. They certainly didn't sign MA for the future; he's just injury insurance for Jamal this year, and an occasional change of pace. We'll see if they actually use MA as was first suggested - a FB leading the charge for Jamal.

[michaelavelli]

Also, Billick has already came out and declared Lewis the starting back after the Anderson signing. I don't think that was necessary - if they had any doubts that Lewis wouldn't be able to get it done next year, there's really no reason not to leave the job open for competition and to motivate Lewis that way.

Also, yes, there has already been talk of moving Anderson to fullback - I just don't see Anderson being there affecting Lewis' value that much (at least any more than Taylor did when Lewis was healthy).

Also I'm reading questions about Lewis' ankle surgery and his prison time, but I'm not sure if this connection has been put out there yet - not only did he have ankle surgery during the off-season, not only was he imprisoned, but he was REHABBING the ankle IN prison - I'm sure Jamal got to do as many bench presses as he wanted to, but I'm not sure that a prison was the best environment for the rehab of his ankle.

I expect him to be a a great value pick this year and a prime bounceback candidate. To me, he's at least as valuable as McGahee (for example), and will probably go later than him given his frustrating season in 2005.

[moose_ffc]

My vote for underrated:

High pick but underrated: Clinton Portis (shhhhh)
Lower pick but underrated: Julius Jones

[mattb47]

I dont buy the jail excuse for Jamal. He couldnt get over jail time ALL year? I just dont think thats it. Im not saying his horrid performance is all on him, his line and QB play sucked, and I think that is more what affected his play. Unfortunately neither of those things have really improved. I think Jamal will be better this year, because he is very talented and just cant repeat a performace like least year. Im not expecting a huge bounce back though.

didn't he have ankle surgery before the season? i don't think he was comfortable running on his ankle that had just been repaired.

Nice... I missed that

Maybe, but thats not usually the excuse you hear.

Either way, I think the problem is more the supporting cast than anything.

I think it's all of the above. Remember...he did make the comment that he was afraid of getting hurt because he was in a contract year.

Jail time + ankle surgery + no passing game + tentative running / fantasy value =

You also have to remember Terp that the time during a season is not ideal for getting yourself into football shape. If you come into the season not fully recovered because of a poor offseason, the practices they do each week aren't enough to get you into football shape. Not to mention he's taking hits all season which generally doesn't help your ability to perform.

People don't remember that Mike Anderson was a former Fullback, alot of problems arose last year when their FB was hurt for a lot of the season. Anderson was brought in to be there if they needed him at that spot and after Chester left they needed a backup for Jamal. I am not scared at all of Mike Anderson being signed on there. I have been getting Jamal in the 3rd and 4th rounds of drafts and I couldn't be happier with his value there. After a full offseason, I think he can really get back to where he has been for most of his career.

[skibrett15]

I think they brought in Mike Anderson because he is a good football player and is great in the locker room. He accomplishes a lot of things for an organization that is in shambles. He brings a high character ex-marine's attitude to a place where supposedly the players were out of control. He also can line up at FB and at RB and will push Jamal to do better. He can catch passes as well.

As far as Thomas Jones, he could very well end up starting the season and Lovie has said that there will be a camp battle, and there will be a feature back. Even if they do something like last year where Adrian Peterson gets 1 out of 4 series, then there is still ample time for Thomas Jones to get his yards considering how the Bears love to run the ball. If the Bears keep winning, they aren't going to change the starter too quickly, no matter how much they're paying someone. I like Thomas Jones as a backup RB. A no. 3 or no. 4 or flex guy at the very worst.

Corey Dillon should produce, but wait on this prediciton until after the draft. If they bring in a rookie I'd expect some competition, but I have a feeling that they'll try to ride Dillon for at least another year.

[Infidel]

Can't agree on TJ. Bensen will get his carries this year. But, I don't like either due to lack of TD production.

[Sixxgunn]

I think they brought in Mike Anderson because he is a good football player and is great in the locker room. He accomplishes a lot of things for an organization that is in shambles. He brings a high character ex-marine's attitude to a place where supposedly the players were out of control. He also can line up at FB and at RB and will push Jamal to do better. He can catch passes as well.

As far as Thomas Jones, he could very well end up starting the season and Lovie has said that there will be a camp battle, and there will be a feature back. Even if they do something like last year where Adrian Peterson gets 1 out of 4 series, then there is still ample time for Thomas Jones to get his yards considering how the Bears love to run the ball. If the Bears keep winning, they aren't going to change the starter too quickly, no matter how much they're paying someone. I like Thomas Jones as a backup RB. A no. 3 or no. 4 or flex guy at the very worst.

Corey Dillon should produce, but wait on this prediciton until after the draft. If they bring in a rookie I'd expect some competition, but I have a feeling that they'll try to ride Dillon for at least another year.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Everyone and their mother knows the Bears are always pushing to play the rookie, the future, whatever you want to call it. That's why freakin' Rex Brokeback keeps getting the starting job every season when he clearly isn't going to be the guy. He was drafted to be the guy, so they are going to make him the guy. Same with Benson. He started in the doghouse, but that all changed in the offseason. Clean slate. Now the Bears have a winning season under their belt, they will be more than happy to slip back into mediocrity. That's been their MO, and I can't see it changing until McCaskey dies. Now it's possible they prove me wrong for one more year, but IMO it's too much a risk to take banking on a team with such shoddy decision making at the top.