Maurice Jones-Drew: Fantasy Running Back on the Rise

As we drift ever closer to the 2009 season, the debate between who to take with the first overall pick in fantasy football drafts remains, much as it did following week 17 of the 2008 season, with owners arguing the upside of both Minnesota Vikings’ running back Adrian Peterson and Atlanta Falcons’ runner Michael Turner. With those two firmly entrenched as the number one and two picks this season, the question now falls to who to take with that tricky third overall selection. Numerous names have been uttered in regards to the spot from the Chicago Bears’ Matt Forte, a rookie who impressed in 2008 with 1,238 rushing yards and 12 total TDs, to DeAngelo Williams of the Carolina Panthers, who erupted for 20 total TDs in 2008, all the way to LaDainian Tomlinson, who still finished sixth among fantasy RBs in 2008 despite a down year. However, despite the merits and credentials of all these runners, the man rising up everyone’s draft sheets is the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Maurice Jones-Drew.

MJD’s ascension has occurred primarily for two reasons. First and foremost, Jones-Drew now seems to be part of a committee of one as the Jaguars officially parted ways with veteran running back Fred Taylor this offseason. The move means Jones-Drew, who has not yet recorded a 200 carry season in his three year NFL career, should be well past that number in 2009. After all, Taylor had 231, 223, and 143 carries in each of his last three seasons with the Jags. In fact, even if you err on the safe side and only pencil Jones-Drew in for 250 carries, that still translates into 1,200 rushing yards, if he matches his career yards per carry average of 4.8. The additional carries should also lead to even more TDs for a guy who has had at least nine in each of his first three seasons of play.

Further strengthening MJD’s case to be the third overall selection in fantasy drafts this coming season is the improvement that is expected to come from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line. For one, the line will be healthy, something that was not the case in 2008, as it seemed simply playing offensive line for the Jags was a sure way to get yourself injured. Secondly, the line will get a boost from two key offseason additions, the first being offensive tackle Tra Thomas, who the Jags acquired via free agency. Thomas, a former pro-bowler, had spent the previous 12 years in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles. While he may be getting a bit long in the tooth, the 335-pounder can still open up holes with the best of them. His experience will also be useful to the Jags as he’ll be able to tutor the Jags’ other big offensive line, Virginia’s Eugene Monroe, the player the Jags took with the eighth overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft. The Jags were so impressed with Monroe and his ability that they even passed on wide receiver Michael Crabtree, despite their need at that position. With a combination of Monroe and Thomas anchoring the line, Jones-Drew should find plenty of holes to burst through in 2009.

The debate will rage on as to who will nab that third overall pick in 2009 fantasy drafts, but one thing is certain: Maurice Jones-Drew definitely belongs in the debate.

John Madden: A Tribute

Last week, commentator John Madden announced his retirement from the broadcasting booth, putting an end to what has been a great career with the game of football.

To many, Madden’s name right now is more synonymous with video games and impressions by comedian Frank Caliendo but for those that don’t know, Madden meant so much more than that to football. We’re going to take a look back at the life and career of Madden and see why he meant so much to the game of football and to fans as he did.

Madden’s career can be traced back to his time Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he was an offensive and defensive lineman on the football team and a catcher on the baseball team.

Madden earned all-conference honors as an offensive tackle and played well enough in college to be selected in the NFL Draft, where he was picked 244th overall by the Philadelphia Eagles.  A knee injury prevented Madden from ever playing a down in the NFL but he quickly got into coaching.

Madden’s first head coaching job came two years after he started coaching when he took over the helm at Allan Hancock College in Santa Monica, California. Two years later, he was hired as a defensive assistant at San Diego State, where he served under the legendary Don Coryell.

Three years later Madden was hired by the Oakland Raiders as a linebackers coach and just two years after that, in 1969, Madden became the head coach of the Raiders. At the time he was 33-years-old, making him the youngest head coach in the history of the league, but team owner Al Davis believed in him and the move would pay off.

Madden served as the Raiders’ head coach for ten years, where he posted an overall record of 103-32-7, won Super Bowl XI, and never had a losing season. His career winning percentage of 76.3 still ranks as the all-time best in the league. At the time, he also became the youngest coach to reach 100 wins.

Upon retiring from coaching in 1978, Madden decided to remain close to the game. He soon began his 30-year broadcasting career that saw him earn a number of accomplishments.

During his time as a broadcaster, Madden worked for all four of the big networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC), was a member of the Monday Night Football crew, and called all types of games ranging from preseason to the Super Bowl. The only game he did not call was the Pro Bowl because his fear of flying prevented him from traveling to Hawaii.

For his work, Madden picked up 16 Emmy Awards and was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2002.

Madden became familiar to a new audience in 1988 when he decided to lend his name to a football video game produced by EA Sports. The game gained popularity in the 1990s, but saw most of its innovation occur after 2000 when it appeared on the Playstation 2 and Xbox consoles. Over 21 years, the game has sold more than 40 million copies and in 2006 it grossed more $100 million the first week after its release.

What endeared Madden as a broadcaster to the viewers and fans was his ability to relate to the average person. Madden was not trained or educated in broadcast journalism or broadcasting.

He often used words like “boom” and “bang” to illustrate his point and his use of a telestrator left a lot to be desired. But it didn’t matter because he was able to relate the game in a way nobody before him had. He created the All-Madden team, which is a list of players he felt accentuated the way the game was supposed to be played.

In recent years, it has become common for people to make fun of Madden for the way he speaks on air, including his “Maddenisms” and constant references to former quarterback Brett Favre.

Most notably it is Caliendo, whose impression of Madden is accurate and funny, that most fans recognize. But while poking fun at Madden can be enjoyable we must not forget the lasting impression the man had on the game of football.

A former player, Super Bowl winner and Hall of Fame broadcaster, Madden was always at the pinnacle of the game. His presence will no doubt be missed.

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For more football analyst and insight, click the link below…

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Fantasy Football Breakdown: The Dangers of Drafting Eli Manning

The pressure that comes with the NFL Draft is no secret. Making the wrong selection can not only set a franchise back years, but it can also cause those making the decisions to lose their jobs. Luckily as fantasy owners, our draft day decisions do not hold the same kind of importance. That said however, making a crucial draft day mistake can lead to a long and painful season.

With that in mind, Kyle Smith, a newbie to the Bruno Boys, takes a look at the dangers of drafting Eli Manning of the New York Giants.

There were six games in the 2008 season where Eli Manning actually helped his fantasy owners notch a victory. It could be argued there were less, depending on scoring formats. I’m assuming anyone who reads this has passed the first grade, so you should know that means there were 10 contests in which Manning was a non-factor, or worse, a detriment.

Eli shooting up fantasy draft boards last season after winning the Super Bowl was easier to predict than a Lions game last season, even though he was coming off a year where he completed just 56.1 percent of his throws with 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

His total numbers did improve in 2008, as he completed more than 60 percent of his passes, 60.3% to be exact. It was the first time in his career that he surpassed that mark, while also tossing 21 scores and only 10 interceptions.

Even though he improved across the board, you will not see Eli Manning on any of my teams in 2009. Why? Because of the inconsistency we mentioned above. One of the more underrated aspects of winning fantasy leagues is having players perform at a reasonably consistent level week-to-week. In fact, of the six games I mentioned that Manning actually benefited his fantasy owners, three of them took place in New York’s first four games, and none were after Week 12. Which means another thing, he absolutely bombed in the fantasy playoffs.

Here were Manning’s numbers from Weeks 14-16: 48-for-89 (53.9 percent), 495 yards (163.0 per game average), two touchdowns, and two interceptions. So, unless you had DeAngelo Williams on your squad to go with Manning, you likely didn’t win anything.

This season, I like Manning even less than previous years. The reason is simple: Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg, causing the Giants to release him. I don’t care if they do acquire, the man who led the NFL in drops last season, Braylon Edwards to be the new Plaxico. Manning’s inaccuracy simply does not lend itself to fantasy success. In the 12 games the Giants after Week 7, including the playoffs, Manning completed less than 60 percent of his passes nine times. On top of that he only had three multiple touchdown games, which incidentally equals the amount of times he failed to throw a score.

To be clear, I’m not saying Manning is utterly undraftable, even though personally I’d rather have Cooper Manning on my fantasy team than Eli, but he’s not the type of player fantasy owners can rely on. 

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Fantasy Football Top 20 (Pre-NFL Draft)

2009 Fantasy Football Breakout Players: AFC West

Every year there are multiple players at each position that have breakout seasons and put their name on the fantasy football map. In 2008 we saw players like Matt Cassel, Aaron Rodgers, Michael Turner, Derrick Ward, Antonio Bryant, and Dwayne Bowe put together what is considered breakout season and because of this they will be highly targeted in 2009 fantasy football drafts.

With it never being to early to start planning for your fantasy football draft, the Bruno Boys offer you their opinion on what players will flourish in 2009 and have a breakout season. In our first installment of 2009 Fantasy Football Breakout Players we bring to you the AFC West division.

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Oakland Raiders:  As bad as the Oakland Raiders(5-11) performed in 2008 and are expected to be in 2009, they have three or four players that are on the cusp of having breakout seasons. If these players perform at a high enough level, it could mark the first time since 2005 that Raiders franchise has a key contributor on a fantasy football roster, when running back Lamont Jordan finished with 11 total touchdowns. The one guy who continues to get better and should be able to trend upwards is tight end Zach Miller. In ’08, Miller lead all Raiders receivers with 56 receptions and 778 receiving yards, but it was his lack of touchdowns that prevented him from being a top-5 fantasy football tight end option. Despite scoring 77 fantasy points, the lack of efficiency in the Raiders offense prevented Miller from getting red zone targets and he could only muster 1 TD.

Entering his third year in the NFL, Miller has established himself as the favorite target of quarterback JaMarcus Russell and as the Oakland offense matures so should his overall statistics. With some of the premier tight ends starting to blend in with the rest of the field, expect Miller to take the torch and put himself towards the top of the totem pole at the position. How does 65+ receptions, 850+ receiving yards and 4-6 TD’s sound?

Also Consider:RB Darren McFadden, QB JaMarcus Russell, WR, Johnnie Lee Higgins,WR Chaz Schillings

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San Diego Chargers: Call it cliché if you’d like, but after watching running back Darren Sprolesrun wild during the postseason how can he not make our list of 2009 potential breakout players? Some people might consider Sproles 256 total yards and 3 touchdowns during the 2008 playoffs as breaking out, but unless you played in a fantasy football playoff league you weren’t fortunate enough to reap the benefits of his success. Therefore, the the Bruno Boys still consider him as a breakout option because he has to produce when it counts in the eyes of fantasy football players, which is from week 1 to17.

Heading into 2009, Sproles will once again backup All-Pro RB Ladainian Tomlinson, but with Tomlinson showing signs of breaking down expect the Chargers to try and keep him fresh, which should lead to the speedy Sproles’ seeing a consistent amount of touches. If you combine the ’08 regular season and playoffs, Sproles totaled 928 yards and 9 TD’s on just 133 touches. For those of you number crunchers, that’s 6.97 yards per touch and a TD every 14.78 touches. Despite this being a small sample size, it’s obvious that Sproles is a play-maker and look for the Chargers to try and give him 10 touches per game, which would be a 56% increase from last regular season. Snag him as a RB3 and if you are an L.T. owner, don’t be afraid to grab Sproles and use him as a Flex option.

 
Also Consider:WR Malcom Floyd,

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Denver Broncos:  If there is one phrase that can sum up the Denver Broncos off-season thus far it should be “what a mess.” After tanking at the end of last season the Broncos proceeded to fire head coach Mike Shanahan, hire 32-year-old Josh McDaniels, trade franchise quarterback Jay Cutler and still enter training camp with no clear cut choice to be the primary running back. Think this is what GM Pat Bowlen would have thought heading int week 15 when his Broncos had a three games lead with three to play? Probably not, but that’s the beauty of the NFL and that’s why Bowlen chose to mix things up in 2009.

Now looking at the Broncos from a personnel standpoint, both Kyle Orton and Chris Simms are battling it out for the starting QB job and the winner has the supporting cast in wide receiver Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal to post career numbers. Consider the winner a QB2 with Orton being the favorite to win the job heading into training camp.

When taking a look at the running back options in Denver you will notice a lot of mediocrity but nothing that is set and stone to emerge as the RB1 option. The list includes free agent signees Correll Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan, J.J. Arrington and current Broncos players Peyton Hillis, Selvin Young and Ryan Torain. Even with fantasy football hater Mike Shanahan out of Denver you can expect a revolving door at the position all season long. Our advice, stay clear of all options until you know their roles and what the new age of the Broncos offense has in store for the fantasy junkies.

Also Consider:  TE Tony Scheffler (can he put together a complete season)

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Kansas City Chiefs: Out of all the teams in the division, the Kansas City Chiefs roster is the most depleted and lacks upside. Quarterback Matt Cassel broke out in a big way last season, but that was as a member of the New England Patriots and he doesn’t have the fire power surrounding him in Kansas City. We know this article is about breakout players but we want to warn you that Cassel will be overvalued heading into your fantasy football draft.

The one guy on the current roster that stands out as a breakout candidate is running back Jamaal Charles but even he needs to overcome a few obstacles before you can consider him a fantasy football option. A large part of his success has to do with the status of Larry Johnson. If Johnson sticks with the team through training camp and enters the season as the RB1, Charles will need to wait his turn, or wait for Johnson to have another run-in with the law. What Charles brings to the table that no other Chiefs skill player has is breakaway speed. Out of his 94 touches he had in 2008, 10 of them went for 15 or more yards and in his only game with double-digit carries Charles had 106 rushing yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry. As you can see the potential is there for Charles to breakout, but he needs to see an increase in playing time before we get to confident.  

Also Consider:  None (It’s that bad in Kansas City)

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TO READ ABOUT BREAKOUT PLAYERS FROM OTHER DIVISIONS CLICK BELOW…

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