What’s The Deal With Maroney?
September 12, 2008 at 1:08 pm | Article by Paul Hickey |
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For nearly three years now, fantasy owners have been baffled by the saga of Laurence Maroney. He has the skill set to easily be the featured back for the New England Patriots. When given the opportunity towards the end of last season, Maroney played extraordinarily, as he was the primary reason the Pats were able to move the ball in their last seven games. However, Maroney found himself in splittsville with veteran Sammy Morris in Week 1. What gives?
The 23 year old Maroney played well in Week 1 against the Chiefs, gaining 51 yards on only 10 carries, as Morris gained 53 yards and a TD on 10 carries, while also catching five balls for more than 30 yards. Should fantasy owners give up on Maroney? Our sources say absolutely not. While it’s certainly hard to get a handle on anything Bill Belichick may be thinking, our sources believe that the Patriots will employ a massive ground game effort to win ball games with Tom Brady out for the season and youngster Matt Cassel at the helm. This means Maroney - despite the presence of Morris - will see plenty of touches. Although tricky to predict, Belichick definitely loves Maroney and will get him the rock often the rest of the way. Even though Morris had the better Week 1 in the stat column, our sources still expect good things from Maroney.
Seasonal Owners Need To Be Patient With Mendenhall - Even though Pittsburgh Steelers first round pick (10 carries, 28 yards) didn’t put up impressive numbers in Week 1, like other rookie backs, our sources believe that seasonal owners absolutely need to show faith in him. While he’s a phenomenal dynasty prospect, he’s also capable of panning out in 2008. Willie Parker had a great Week 1, but may have trouble making it through a full season without 10-15 touches a game from the rookie. Seasonal owners, don’t drop him yet!
Justin Smith Comeback Defensive Player of the Year? - Our sources are extremely high on former fourth overall pick, 28 year old Justin Smith, who signed a free agent deal with the 49ers in the off-season. We’ve heard nothing but great things about how he’s adjusted to Mike Nolan’s hybrid 3-4/4-3 scheme, as he played seven different positions (all front seven spots) in Week 1 against the Cardinals. We highly recommend IDP owners in leagues that require two starters at defensive line to go snag him right away and insert him into their line-ups. Mark our words, Smith will put up huge numbers the rest of 2008.
Torain Not Out Of The Picture In Denver - Although we all saw Andre Hall, Selvin Young and Michael Pittman basically evenly split the rushing load in Denver in Week 1, our sources are telling us that Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan is actually licking his chops to get rookie Ryan Torain (elbow) healthy and back on the field by mid-season to try and steal the starting gig from all the aforementioned backs. Bottom line - nobody’s job is safe in Denver’s backfield. Dynasty owners with patience should consider Torain a nice project.
Felix To Be Featured More - Our sources tell us that Cowboys RB Felix Jones will only see more and more reps as the season goes on. He looked phenomenal in his NFL debut, rushing six times for 62 yards and a TD. He will be a great flex option in deep leagues the rest of the way.
Give Cincy Until Week 4 - I know how hard it is to have patience with star players when they’re not performing well. And, so far, that’s been the case with the Cincinnati Bengals, namely Carson Palmer, Chad Ocho Cinco, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Perry. Fantasy owners want to know how long to wait on all of them. Our sources believe that if the Bengals don’t begin to get their act together and put up solid numbers by Week 4 against the Browns, that it may be time to cut your losses and sell. Progress should be made by then, and the usual Ohio shootout should take place, but if it doesn’t the schedule doesn’t get any easier for Carson’s crew, as they face the Cowboys, Jets and Steelers prior to their bye week.
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