Griffin Doubts

[Plindsey88]

OK, so Q-tip played a less than stellar run D in KC (although a much improved one), and he's coming up against a VERY talented Jacksonville D... I look for him to come back to earth this week... Especially since Shanahan will play Bell and Hearst a little more (to no avail) when Griffin struggles early, BUT if Q-tip can put up 30+ fantasy points on crappy rush D's, then I am liking his schedule this year, take a look at this:

Easy Games:

Sun 9/12 Kansas City W 34-24 (156 yards rushing, 2 rush TD, 1 rec TD)
Sun 9/26 San Diego 4:05 pm
Sun 10/17 at Oakland 4:15 pm
Mon 10/25 at Cincinnati 9:00 pm
Sun 10/31 Atlanta 4:05 pm
Sun 11/7 Houston 4:15 pm
Sun 11/21 at New Orleans 1:00 pm
Sun 11/28 Oakland 8:30 pm
Sun 12/5 at San Diego 4:05 pm
Sun 12/19 at Kansas City 4:15 pm
Sun 1/2 Indianapolis 4:15 pm


Harder Games:

Sun 10/3 at Tampa Bay 4:15 pm (ranked 13th aganist the run in '03)
Sun 10/10 Carolina 4:15 pm (ranked 11th against the run in '03)


Hard Games:

Sun 9/19 at Jacksonville 1:00 pm (ranked 2nd against the run in '03)
Sun 12/12 Miami 4:05 pm (ranked 5th against the run in '03)
Sat 12/25 at Tennessee 8:30 pm (ranked 1st against the run in '03)

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Those 2 Oak games I might be a bit concerned with. With the additions to their DLine, they might need a couple weeks to jell, but OAK has the makings of a pretty solid D.

[tc]

doubt all you want....

i've been preaching q-griff and the denver o-line since i heard he locked up the starting position. i even went as crazy as to NOT draft a rb until my 4th round (griffin of course) and went R.Moss, T. Owens, H. Ward, and then griffin.

i'll be a dumbass and even predict q-griffin make top 5 backs this year. and jax will get tourched, cause their offense will be 3 and out over and over again, while their def. is stuck chasing q-griffn all over the field.

so far i've been right. and if you saw last years game against the colts, q-griffn will make a believer outta ya. this guy has some serious cutting/ and dodging/ and b.sanders'esk speed.

[BigMusky]

The guy I played this week did that same stradegy and almost beat me. Holmes and Thomas Jones were too much for his punk ass Anyhow...I started this thread to say that he is not going to be Shawn Alexander, Priest Holmes, Amahn Green....etc. But he is obviously going to be a solid #2 guy most weeks, especially early in the season. . My concern is what will he give you by time the fantasy playoffs role around? I suspect people that trade Gonzolez, Randy Moss, or some other first, second or maybe third rounder for him will be disappointed.

[Fast Eddy]

All the above posts are right about small backs being injury prone and not making it in the league. Here's a quick list of soon to be shoe shiners in the league under 6'0, 220 lbs.:

Ladanian Tomlinson
Priest Holmes
Clinton Portis
Marshall Faulk

Don't worry if you haven't heard of these guys, they'll be out of the league soon anyway. By the way, shortest guy on the list? Priest, at 5'9". But, I'm sure those 2 inches are what's made him the best RB in the league. Keep waiting on Griffin though, I'm sure an injured rookie is gonna take his spot reeeeeeal soon. And one of the posts mentioned making the KC DB look like a PS mistake? Do you see that a lot out of NFL defensive players? You don't think the guy putting on the move should get any credit for making a guy look stupid, like the guy just forgot which way to turn or something? Jeez, give Q his credit. He's one bad little mofo. How big was Barry Sanders, by the way?

I believe Barry Sanders (the most talented running back ever) was 5' 8", 200 lbs. Q. Griffin should be more durable because of his size, quickness and running style. I never saw Barry Sanders get hit hard in all those years of running the ball.

[Plindsey88]

The guy I played this week did that same stradegy and almost beat me. Holmes and Thomas Jones were too much for his punk ass Anyhow...I started this thread to say that he is not going to be Shawn Alexander, Priest Holmes, Amahn Green....etc. But he is obviously going to be a solid #2 guy most weeks, especially early in the season. . My concern is what will he give you by time the fantasy playoffs role around? I suspect people that trade Gonzolez, Randy Moss, or some other first, second or maybe third rounder for him will be disappointed.

One possible downside is the fact that he has Tennessee in week 16, which is typically FF Superbowl week... BUT, the good news is that he has KC again in week 15 which is typically the first or second week of the playoffs... Now, I think if you have a little depth at RB, and can afford to bench him for Superbowl week in favor of someone else with a decent matchup (like, for example, Tyrone Wheatley who plays KC in week 16) you could be alright....

[Ek]

True, but since only 2 out of the 10 teams in a league get to the super bowl, you can't really be building your roster for the super bowl or even the playoffs in week 2, since waaaaay too much can happen, i.e., injuries, benchings, reduced production, or one of your sleepers earning their way into the lineup.

[Lionsinsider]

Anyone that has any question about his durablity needs to look at how many times he ran the ball in College.
The Fact of the matter is, you have an outstanding running back in a proven Broncos running system and there is no doubt that he will put up big numbers.
I also don't think the jag's will be able to slow him down.

[kmac]

I love how there are so many doubters and the threads immediately come up expressing it. In the cafe, everyone falls into one of these categories:

1. You passed on him in your draft and are now trying to justify it.

2. You expressed your doubt early here at the cafe and aren't about to flip anytime soon.

3. You own Portis and want to think he's more special than he actually is.

4. You hate Denver.

5. You own Griffin and while you express optimism, you're a little nervous. Thank God you have him as your #3 RB.

I'm in #4 and #5.

I can't help but notice the brilliant system they have there. On top of that, Denver plays Oakland (Duce Staley got 91 yds) and San Diego twice this year, as well as KC's poor run defense. That's 5 games that already look pretty good.

I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic, but still semi-bash the doubters unless they are actually proven right. No use in trying to tell anyone "this is the best game he'll have this year" or even "he'll break 1500 yards" because the only way you're going to know is by watching the damn season.

Just thought I would bump this for fun.