My Week 8 Vibes

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:33 am

If you draft injury-prone players the blame (for lack of a better word) falls on the owner if the player gets hurt. While Brown suffering a season-ending injury was clearly extreme, him getting hurt was not. He's had durability issues since he entered the league. Same with Westbrook as another example. That's the deal when you draft players like that. You assume the risk because you're hoping the reward outweighs it. But you can't deny the risk.

A player like Rudi getting hurt, though, is what I would call bad luck given how he's been incredibly durable and productive. But s**t happens and you move on.

As far as Maroney, he's another guy with durability issues. What's worse for him, though, is the Patriots clearly don't need to run the ball to dominate people. So they don't need Maroney at all, thus there's no need to give him a lot of work when he's able to play. As good as their offense obviously is he's not a guy I'd feel comfortable starting right now.

KOTRAX · Post by **KOTRAX** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:37 am

Originally posted by SNAKE:
quote:Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
I disagree with RotoWorld's assessment of Watson vs. Rudi. Watson doesn't have a better all-around game. He's a better receiver but I don't think he matches up at all as a runner with a healthy Rudi Johnson.

But again, the problem is Rudi isn't healthy and he may not be healthy for the remainder of the season. We're now five weeks out since his injury. If he sits again this week it will be a major blow to his prospects for the remainder of the season.

Just for fun, this was my bench last week in my Main League either because of injuries or byes:

Rudi Johnson
Steve Smith
Deion Branch
Javon Walker
Kellen Winslow

Toss in Julius Jones who I sat because of the matchup and that's not a bad team right there on my bench. On top of that, Matt Schaub got hurt.

I love this game sometimes.

...SNAKE realizes that you opened this thread by directly referencing the unprecedented amount of injuries AND underperforming top players this season but the two categories should NOT be lumped together as they are distinctly different ISHO...when an owner selects a player who underperforms the onus is SOLELY on the owner and can clearly be defined as a bad pick (ie ability-related)...however, conversely when a player is injured for a significant time period the onus is NOT on the owner but rather is attributable to a circumstance that was NOT within the owner's control as the said player never had the chance to underperform (or not) in the first place (ie luck-related)...and this season is simply ludicrous with the amount of injuries to players at the skill positions...but what is with Baloney Maroney this season, TK?...is his injury legit or is Bill Belechick saving him for the NFL playoffs or what?...SNAKE [/QUOTE]HEY SNAKE I AGREE WITH MOST OF WHAT YOU SAID EXCEPT THAT IF AN UNDERPERFORMING PLAYER IS A BAD PICK BAD THE OWNER. THIS IS WHY. LETS TAKE ADDAI FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THIS SEASON. NOW WHEN THE SEASON STARTED ADDAI WAS GOING TO BE AN EVERY DOWN BACK. NOW KEITH HAS PROVEN HE CAN TAKE SOME THE LOAD OFF ADDAI HENCE HIS FANTASY NUMBERS WILL SUFFER. NOW WAS ADDAI A BAD PICK? NOT IN MY OPINION BUT THE "SCHEME" CHANGED AND ADDAI STATS FALL AS A RESULT.

KOTRAX · Post by **KOTRAX** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:42 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
If you draft injury-prone players the blame (for lack of a better word) falls on the owner if the player gets hurt. While Brown suffering a season-ending injury was clearly extreme, him getting hurt was not. He's had durability issues since he entered the league. Same with Westbrook as another example. That's the deal when you draft players like that. You assume the risk because you're hoping the reward outweighs it. But you can't deny the risk.

A player like Rudi getting hurt, though, is what I would call bad luck given how he's been incredibly durable and productive. But s**t happens and you move on.

As far as Maroney, he's another guy with durability issues. What's worse for him, though, is the Patriots clearly don't need to run the ball to dominate people. So they don't need Maroney at all, thus there's no need to give him a lot of work when he's able to play. As good as their offense obviously is he's not a guy I'd feel comfortable starting right now. GREAT POINTS TOM BUT IN MY OPINION YOU HAVE TO WEIGH UPSIDE VS INJURIES WHICH IS A DIFFICULT THING TO DO. EXAMPLE EDGE VS WESTBROOK. NOW SINCE EDGE CAME BACK FOR THE ACL SURGERY A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO HE HASN'T MISSED A GAME. WELL THE ONLY GAME HIS MISSED IS WHEN THE COLTS SAT THEIR PLAYERS BUT NOT DUE TO INJURY. NOW EDGE AS LITTLE UPSIDE BUT HAS SHOWN DURABILITY BUT IS HE MORE VALUABLE THAN WESTBROOK WHO MAY GET HURT BUT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO HAVE A GAME LIKE HE HAD IN WEEK 3 WHILE EDGE PEAK IS ABOUT 125 AND 2TD. WHICH HAS MORE VALUE?

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:44 am

I'd rather have Westbrook than Edge. Not even close. But when Westbrook gets hurt I wouldn't lament having bad luck. I'd expect him to miss at least one game and maybe more when I did my projections going into the season. This season, for example, we projected Westbrook to play in 15 games so we took his injury history into account when we did our projections.

renman · Post by **renman** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:47 am

I think Maroney was the one 1st rounder I was down on most who was in my area of the draft board. I worry about RB's with shoulder injuries. If an RB can't take a hit on the shoulder that is a problem. Of course I had the same worry about Peterson and how did that work out? The Pats have so many weapons and I could picture Maroney having games where he carried it less than 15 or even 10 times when healthy. Of course nobody predicted that Brady and company would be running it up and throwing for TD's on the one yard line like they are...

KOTRAX · Post by **KOTRAX** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:52 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
I'd rather have Westbrook than Edge. Not even close. But when Westbrook gets hurt I wouldn't lament having bad luck. I'd expect him to miss at least one game and maybe more when I did my projections going into the season. This season, for example, we projected Westbrook to play in 15 games so we took his injury history into account when we did our projections. O.K. THAT MAKES SENSE. IN SAYING THAT THOUGH IT IS A TOUGH TASK TO MANAGE AN HIGH INJURY RISK PLAYER WITH HIGH PRODUCTION VS THE LOW INJURY RISK MEDIOCRE PLAYER. SO I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY IT IS NOT A CORRECT ANSWER.

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 9:41 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
I'd rather have Westbrook than Edge. Not even close. But when Westbrook gets hurt I wouldn't lament having bad luck. I'd expect him to miss at least one game and maybe more when I did my projections going into the season. Well said Tom!

renman · Post by **renman** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:42 am

With the schedule Edge James has I think I would rather have him the rest of this season... I know he has not been overly productive over the last couple weeks. But they are using him a ton and are better on the offensive line than last year...

BillyWaz · Post by **BillyWaz** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:11 am

Originally posted by renman:
With the schedule Edge James has I think I would rather have him the rest of this season... I know he has not been overly productive over the last couple weeks. But they are using him a ton and are better on the offensive line than last year... While I was not as high on Edge as you and RC, I too believed he would be a nice value this year.

HOWEVER, as much as they want to change they are STILL the same ole Cardinals. They seem to be behind a lot, and still throw a bunch.

Problem with Edge, is he isn't catching any of those balls!

Westbrook is a top 3 talent when healthy, and Edge can't even come close IMO.