What are your thoughts on Westbrook this year?

[eaglesrule]

well, first of all, moats was drafted to be westbrook's replacement, because he was still unsigned. Considering his stats and his ability, I don't think its a stretch to say that he can catch.

Second of all, saying "every year" is something of a misnomer.
I think people really need to look at the stats instead of common perceptions. Andy has always been a pass first kind of guy, and considering the team's overall record, recent super bowl appearance and string of playoff appearances which other than last year, seemed to always result in an appearance in the nfc championship game, I might be inclined to agree with him. Other than Cowher and Bellicheck, I don't really see deferring to any other opinions, considering no other active coach in the salary cap era has equaled his output.

In 2002, the Eagles were tied for fifth place in rush attempts, 7th in rush yards, 8th in rush average, 7th in rush yards per game, and 14th in rush td's.

In 2003, considering the two absoloute blowouts in the first two games (they still made the championshio game with hoem field advantage mind you) they did the following with the rush:

9th in rush yards, 4th in average per carry, 9th in rush yards per game, 2nd in rush tds. Granted, the amount of rush calls made was really low, 25th. BUT, a lot of that can be attributed to two early blowouts and some weird games on the offesnive games. Here are th boxscores for rushing, minus the wipeout early games:

vs buffalo (game three) 37 carries for 177 yards, 5.2 yp, mcnabb 9 carries, buckhalter and westbrook 22 carries, 121 yards, 2 td's W)

vs skins 30 carries, 127 yards, 1 td, 4,7 ypc (W)

vs dallas 31 carries, 127 yards, 3.9 ypc, 1 td (W)

vs jets 32 carries, 194 yards, 6.1 ypc, 2 tds (W)

vs falcons 28 carries, 128 yards, 4.6 ypc, 1 td (W)

vs Green Bay (weird game to anyone who saw it) 30 carries, 92 yards, 3.1 ypc, 1 td) W

vs giants (mcnabb on fire) 21 carries, 62 yards, 3.0 ypc, 2 tds (buckhalter had one for less than a yard, westy with one, 5.3 ypc, so probably close--Eagles passed all over them, no need to rush) W

vs saints 32, 201, 6.3, 2 tds. (mcnabb had 54 of those) (total rushing display, both teams basically ran for 200) W

vs panthers 28, 124, 4.4, 1td (another weird game, carolina missed three field goals, normally an incentive for andy to pass)

vs dallas (mcnabb big td game, semi low passing) 23, 175, 7.6, 1td--(key eagles win, blowout because of the rush) W

vs miami 28 carries, 140 yards, 5.0, 3 tds (huge monday night game with playoff positioning on the line, Win)

vs niners (crap game) 19 carries, 88 yards, 4.6 ypc, 2 tds. Should be said that the timing of the niner scores posed a problem. Weird game, loss

vs washington (blowout) 25 carries, 83, 3.3, 1 td. No need to do anything fancy, Win.

They went 12-1 down the stretch after everyone wrote them off for losign the first two. And he ultimately did it with running, even if thge individual lines don't suggest it. the team stats do.

2004--Eagles basically demlosih everyone, save the Steelers because of the ridiculously diffiult to defend mcnabb, owens, westbrook, smith alignment. Andy not rushing obviously was the right call, as for all intents and purposes ran the table in the nfc (third stringers almost beat the rams, no need to even play that game or the bengals game, controverys ensued. Bears mentioning that the pats didn't "stop" the eagles passing attack, the game came down to three points with several donovan miscues) I can't fault reid's playcalling here at all.

2005-lost season. forgotten is the fact that the eagles were still playoff contenders, even with spotty performance, and dealing without mcnabb, owens, westbrook, and several key defensive injuries.

What all of this tells me, is that while andy believes in the pass to set up the run, I believe his record speaks for itself. When given certain types of personnel, despite his preferences, he will play to it. when he had crummy receivers, but good backs, he ran westrbook, duce, and buckhalter. When he had tons of passing weapons, he went with those. Ultimately, he wants to win. Obviosuly, he won't ever run 30 plus times per game again, but I think the 22 to 25 times is withing reach. Remember pass to rush ratios only amount to a few plays a game to tilt.

If andy is one dimensional, it is because he will continue an attack that has had success until it no longer has success--a fault that bears its head in playoff games because the adjustments need to come quicker. That said, there aren't a lot of caoches who have much on him in this new era right now, so I think if he is gonna rededicate to the run, and he says he will (borne out with his draft picks), I think he will.

[steelerfan513]

with TO gone, i dont see how Reid cant put more into the run, but who knows how much more he commits? i like the idea that westbrook gets the same workload and moats picks up the extra carries. anyone drafting westbrook will get a great #2 back in PPR leagues, but drafting moats to handcuff him is basically a necessity.

[Stelly]

with TO gone, i dont see how Reid cant put more into the run, but who knows how much more he commits? i like the idea that westbrook gets the same workload and moats picks up the extra carries. anyone drafting westbrook will get a great #2 back in PPR leagues, but drafting moats to handcuff him is basically a necessity.

I wuold think that Westy is a great #2 back in non-PPR leagues as well. He piles on the yardage and gets good TD production.

[Dan Lambskin]

well, he definately has more value in PPR leagues, still a 2nd/3rd rounder in any other league, BUT, you have to worry about his fragility. not really a guy i'm targeting, but would settle for him at the right point in the draft

[The_Dude]

Basically, there are two looming questions in my mind...

1) How many touches will Moats see?

2) Will Westy start at least 14 games?

If the answer to 1 is 10-15 carries a game or less and the answer to 2 is yes, Westy will put up top 10 RB numbers.

Westy owners should want Moats to get some touches because the likelihood of Westbrook going a whole season without an injury increases markedly if he gets 10-15 carries a game and adds 5-10 catches --- that should be good for 100 yards more weeks than not, and when he breaks a long one, much more.

In a PPR, I would take Westy at the 11th running back off the board, behind: LT, LJ, SA, Tiki, Portis, Edge, Jackson, Jordan, Brown, Rudi... In non-ppr or keeper leagues, I'd move Caddy ahead of him. Either way, I love him in the 2nd round this year as a #2 RB (for those old school fellas who still draft RB/RB/RB/RB/RB/RB/RB/else)

[ds209]

For some reason I have never liked Westbrook. Don't ask me why but there is something about him that has steered me clear of him. I think he's fragile, inconsistent, and unreliable. The fact that he doesn't consistently get carries kind of scares me. But I dont know thats just my opinion, there are a lot of people that love him also.