Who's No. 1?
I’ll get into this and more in Friday’s column, where I break down my own first round of a mock draft, but the big question this year is, who’s No. 1?
It comes down to three players: Shaun Alexander (Seattle-RB), LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego-RB) and Larry Johnson (Kansas City-RB).
Popular opinion had Johnson as the easy choice immediately after last season ended. After all, he had averaged 181 total yards and scored 17 touchdowns after being named the Chiefs’ starting RB for the final nine games.
It was an incredible run that propelled many of his fantasy owners to the championship.
But there are questions this season. KC lost two offensive linemen, including left tackle Willie Roaf, who is among the best of all time. The coaching staff is different as head coah Dick Vermeil retired and offensive coordinator Al Saunders took the same job in Washington. Now, Herm Edwards takes over. Plus, Johnson has never played an entire season and who knows how his body will react.
Tomlinson, last year’s No. 1 guy, is a worry because Drew Brees (NO-QB) moved on and is being replaced by Philip Rivers (SD-RB), who has yet to prove himself in any way. And we all saw how JP Losman’s (BUF-QB) awfulness killed Willis McGahee (BUF-RB) last year. Defenses will stack the line against LT and force Rivers to beat them. Until he does, LT could be in some trouble.
Alexander, meanwhile, is the oldest of the bunch. And while 28 isn’t exactly over the hill, he does have some miles packed on at this point. Plus, he lost a stud run blocker when guard Steve Hutchinson signed with Minnesota.
That said, I’m still going with Alexander. The reigning NFL MVP has a good quarterback (Matt Hasselbeck) to keep defenses honest and a great offensive-minded coach (Mike Holmgren) who will give him the ball early and often.
Check out the first column tomorrow along with a new blog entry. See you then.
It comes down to three players: Shaun Alexander (Seattle-RB), LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego-RB) and Larry Johnson (Kansas City-RB).
Popular opinion had Johnson as the easy choice immediately after last season ended. After all, he had averaged 181 total yards and scored 17 touchdowns after being named the Chiefs’ starting RB for the final nine games.
It was an incredible run that propelled many of his fantasy owners to the championship.
But there are questions this season. KC lost two offensive linemen, including left tackle Willie Roaf, who is among the best of all time. The coaching staff is different as head coah Dick Vermeil retired and offensive coordinator Al Saunders took the same job in Washington. Now, Herm Edwards takes over. Plus, Johnson has never played an entire season and who knows how his body will react.
Tomlinson, last year’s No. 1 guy, is a worry because Drew Brees (NO-QB) moved on and is being replaced by Philip Rivers (SD-RB), who has yet to prove himself in any way. And we all saw how JP Losman’s (BUF-QB) awfulness killed Willis McGahee (BUF-RB) last year. Defenses will stack the line against LT and force Rivers to beat them. Until he does, LT could be in some trouble.
Alexander, meanwhile, is the oldest of the bunch. And while 28 isn’t exactly over the hill, he does have some miles packed on at this point. Plus, he lost a stud run blocker when guard Steve Hutchinson signed with Minnesota.
That said, I’m still going with Alexander. The reigning NFL MVP has a good quarterback (Matt Hasselbeck) to keep defenses honest and a great offensive-minded coach (Mike Holmgren) who will give him the ball early and often.
Check out the first column tomorrow along with a new blog entry. See you then.
1 Comments:
Jim...you KNOW I'm the biggest Seattle fan alive...in this time zone, anyway. You know I'm a huge Alexander fan. I know you're talking reality here, but there are two little words that I have to drop that you forgot to mention...
Madden
Jinx
By House, at 6:44 AM
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