Yesterday, I talked about the CTVGlobemedia football draft coming up in a couple of weeks and how I'm going to use the first overall pick of the draft to take Adrian Peterson from the Minnesota Vikings ('cause there is another Adrian Peterson in the league that plays for the Bears)
So, my good buddy, JT the Brick has the second pick of the draft and is having a lot of trouble trying to figure out which of the three running backs he's going to take with the second pick....now normally, I wouldn't offer advice to my competition on what to do, but I'm sort of curious myself as to who I would choose....
Alright, without further ado, let's take a look at the three choices:
1) Michael Turner, RB - Atlanta Falcons
He had a terrific season last year running for 1699 yards last season and scoring 17 touchdowns....but most importantly for fantasy owners, he had 377 carries during the season, which averages to about 24 carries a game....the offense will be a year older and have an extra year of experience.....but can he take that much of a workload two years in a row?
2) Matt Forte, RB - Chicago Bears
He has all the tools since he can run the ball, catch it out of the backfield and block as well....so he has several ways of scoring points for you....the problem is that he doesn't have the big-play capability that the other elite running backs have....there's also the Jay Cutler factor....that should make the Bears more of a passing team, so will that affect Forte positively or negatively?
3) Maurice Jones-Drew, RB - Jacksonville Jaguars
If you just look at the numbers from last year, you would wonder why a running back that only ran for 824 yards last year would be so highly regarded, but there's a couple reasons for his high stature....he's got the job all to himself now instead of sharing with Fred Taylor....and he's unbelievable in the red zone, especially near the goal line despite his small stature...the only problem is whether the small back can handle a full load for a full season....
Alright, so, we've looked at the pros and cons of all three of the running backs, but I have a favourite of the three and it's Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jaguars....I've always been a fan of the small running back and I've waited to see what this guy could do when he wasn't sharing the workload....
I, for one, do not think that he's going to have problems with the increased workload....I perfer him over Turner because of his ability to catch passes out of the backfield and I prefer him over Forte because of his experience edge.....Forte was great last year, but it was only one year and there still is the danger of a sophmore jinx for Forte...
Luckily, I don't have this debate to run through....have fun with this one, JT! :-)