I never said Crowell was the starter. I said he's got talent but I acknowledge that Tate is the starter and will be leaned on probably 2/1 over Crowell. What mistake did I make though? I guess I didn't acknowledge that Tate got hurt, is that what you mean? But Foster was leading the competition when the injury happened and Tate has been hurt a lot in his career. That is one of the reasons to like Crowell more than say James Starks or Kadeem Carey.
I never said you said Crowell was the starter. What you said is that Tate got beaten out by an UDFA (Foster) when the reality is he got hurt before the competition was settled. Now it feels like you are try to fall back on the notion that Foster was "leading the competition" and not what you actually said.
Tate didn't simply lose out to an UDFA he was injured while, as it turns out, competing against one of the best RBs of the last five years. That's a lot different and doesn't feel like the precedent you tried to make it out to be.
[SIZE=14.2857141494751px]You never seemed like the type to have a problem admitting admitting when you are wrong.[/SIZE]
When I'm wrong I don't have a problem admitting it. I'm here to learn and try to be flexible in my thinking. Tate was even with Foster for about 2 weeks total. After that, he was the clear backup. He's now the clear starter but this is the first time in his career that he's been a clear starter and he's already missed time. And when he missed that time, another UDFA has made his presence known. There is a pattern there, it's not apples to apples but still. You have to play if you want to keep your job. Especially in the NFL. Especially at RB. Especially when you have a talented backup.
Now maybe he's like Fred Taylor and becomes and iron man for the next two seasons but I doubt it. He's been hurt every year he's been in the league. If he goes down again, it might be just the opportunity Crowell needs to claim the job. But I agree, as long as Tate is playing well, I'd be shocked if he lost the job outright this year. We'll see but I think it's wise to hold onto Crowell for the fantasy playoffs.
Tate's injury history is absolutely a concern and you would have to call it a pattern, but the UDFA thing isn't even a coincidence
because Tate still hasn't lost out to one ever in his career (he broke his ankle on his second carry of the first preseason game although to be fair Foster got the start in that game and he turned out to be a pretty okay RB).
I love Crowell if he is the starter in Cle, actually I really like any back that is starting in Cle because they have a great line and a mentality to feed the lead back, but unless/until Tate gets hurt again the most you can hope for from Crowell is 15 touches/game on a very good day but closer to 8 on a typical day.
Dude, Tate lost out to an UDFA every season he was in Houston other than his rookie season. Because every offseason he had the chance to prove he deserved to play over Foster, who was an UDFA, and never could. It's like you are implying that Foster was enshrined in Canton after his second season and Tate never had a chance to earn the job.
Does that mean much? Not really, because Foster wasn't your average UDFA, obviously. That is unless one tries to argue that a 2nd round talent can't give way to an UDFA on the depth chart.
I don't think people are saying that an UDFA is somehow Ben Tate's kryptonite. What they are saying is that Tate isn't all world and just because Cleveland paid Tate to come over from Houston and just because Crowell wasn't paid until after the drafting was done this spring, those things don't mean anything once the season starts and Cleveland wants to get wins.
Cleveland is paying the same game checks each week. And even if you bring performance escalators into the mix, they will be happy to pay them if it results in wins. So if Crowell starts bringing more to the table than Tate, Crowell will earn the starts. As for trying to divine whether or not he will do so, you just need to focus on what they are doing on the field. Trying to defend one's position with points about who got paid what or got acquired how mean nothing right now because both these guys are on the field and being evaluated and ranked by that staff based on nothing more than what they are doing on the field.
What we know is that where you were drafted means about as much as your college of field issues do once the pads go on and you start producing against NFL competition.
