Bob Magaw
Footballguy
johnson, peterson & MJD are (or will be) 25, rice 23
rice could put up westbrook-like, pinball receiving numbers going forward (78-702 receiving played a key role in his 2,000+ total yards in '09). he had 8 TDs (?), and the ravens re-upped mcgahee. he is somewhat reminiscent of westbrook & MJD in terms of build, deceptive power, surreal contact balance, suddenness/burst/instant acceleration, great receiving skills and overall well rounded skill set... in how his career has unfolded so far, as well, westbrook and MJD were in RBBCs when younger, but rice has evolved into a feature RB even sooner. could get better, and may have upside, despite his already impressive (albeit short) pro resume. while soph RBs forte & slaton stumbled badly, like chris johnson, rice exploded in his second year, looking like one of the most talented RBs and playmakers in the league. BAL looks stable with a talented, young QB & OL. boldin (& stallworth) could take receptions away. they could also loosen up the run defense, and allow rice to do more damage in the run game. a more talented and balanced offense could mean more sustained drives (& touches) and red zone visits (scoring opps).
probably not much needs to be said about peterson... he did well with and without favre, so i'm not worried his success is heavily linked to the serial unretirer
. he set a career high in receptions (edit/add - 43), but still fell a few hundred yards short of rice (& about 700 yards short of chris johnson - about same as MJD - approx. 1,800) in combined yards... only one career receiving TD in three seasons... led the NFL in TDs (18). he has averaged about 1,500 rushing yards and 13 TDs per season. very good OL (& defense), though hutchinson must be getting up there in age. came into the league with injury concerns, but has been durable so far. does have a violent running style, which could shorten his career. as far as his build, he is also higher cut than johnson (dickerson a good comp in many ways), and especially the mighty-mite, munchkin-like MJD & rice, which could make him more susceptible to kill shots (almost impossible to get low on and a leverage advantage against MJD and rice when they are at about waist level of the defender when in a crouch 
). but peterson is a freak and a physical specimen. in terms of pure running ability, and well rounded RUSHING SKILLS (peterson is not just bigger and stronger but also i think faster with better long speed than MJD and rice... he also has underrated elusiveness, if not as good as his peers at the top)... i think all these guys have exemplary work ethics. peterson is often cited as the hardest working player on his team, dating back to college... coupled with the physical skills and natural talent to be one of the best RBs in league history, that is a potent combo. MIN appear to have one of the most talented, young WR corps in the NFL, with rice, harvin & berrian, which should make it harder to key on peterson.
MJD had a career year after taylor was dealt to NE. he had 53 receptions (edit/add) and 16 TDs (same as chris johnson). the jags were starting two rookies at OT, and (probably related), the offense in general & garrard specifically struggled at times (especially on the road, i think?). garrard has regressed badly from his outstanding '07 campaign (got a pass in '08 when the entire interior OL got blown up before the season even started), and probably needs to be more consistent and help lead the team to more wins (fairly or not to put so much on one player) to remain in the franchise's future plans. del rio is presumably on thin ice, but i have to think a prospective new coaching staff would find a way to get the ball in the hands of their best player. with the OL being so young and with the potential to develope and get better with physical maturation and technical refinement, this might also be viewed as a cause for optimism and upside for MJD. unlike rice, who cedes goal line duty to mcgahee, peterson and MJD are clearly their teams top options there. unlike peterson and like rice, he has good hands and is a more dangerous weapon in the passing game. in a way, MJD has some of the best attributes of peterson and rice (without some of their respective weaknesses). he has the most NFL tenure as a fifth year player, but should have relatively fresh legs, with under 200 carries his first three seasons. he has been very consistent, with less than 10 TDs just once (9), and a career high 15 rushing TDs last year. he has never had less than 40 receptions (career high 62-565 in '08). MSW may be the only functional WR/TE weapon in the passing game, so an upgrade could help MJD (& garrard... or whoever succeeds him?)...
are peterson and MJD clearly better than rice and no brainers (and how do they rate relative to each other)?
if close, does the two year age difference (rice compared to the other three top four RBs) factor in at all?
rice could put up westbrook-like, pinball receiving numbers going forward (78-702 receiving played a key role in his 2,000+ total yards in '09). he had 8 TDs (?), and the ravens re-upped mcgahee. he is somewhat reminiscent of westbrook & MJD in terms of build, deceptive power, surreal contact balance, suddenness/burst/instant acceleration, great receiving skills and overall well rounded skill set... in how his career has unfolded so far, as well, westbrook and MJD were in RBBCs when younger, but rice has evolved into a feature RB even sooner. could get better, and may have upside, despite his already impressive (albeit short) pro resume. while soph RBs forte & slaton stumbled badly, like chris johnson, rice exploded in his second year, looking like one of the most talented RBs and playmakers in the league. BAL looks stable with a talented, young QB & OL. boldin (& stallworth) could take receptions away. they could also loosen up the run defense, and allow rice to do more damage in the run game. a more talented and balanced offense could mean more sustained drives (& touches) and red zone visits (scoring opps).
probably not much needs to be said about peterson... he did well with and without favre, so i'm not worried his success is heavily linked to the serial unretirer
. he set a career high in receptions (edit/add - 43), but still fell a few hundred yards short of rice (& about 700 yards short of chris johnson - about same as MJD - approx. 1,800) in combined yards... only one career receiving TD in three seasons... led the NFL in TDs (18). he has averaged about 1,500 rushing yards and 13 TDs per season. very good OL (& defense), though hutchinson must be getting up there in age. came into the league with injury concerns, but has been durable so far. does have a violent running style, which could shorten his career. as far as his build, he is also higher cut than johnson (dickerson a good comp in many ways), and especially the mighty-mite, munchkin-like MJD & rice, which could make him more susceptible to kill shots (almost impossible to get low on and a leverage advantage against MJD and rice when they are at about waist level of the defender when in a crouch ). but peterson is a freak and a physical specimen. in terms of pure running ability, and well rounded RUSHING SKILLS (peterson is not just bigger and stronger but also i think faster with better long speed than MJD and rice... he also has underrated elusiveness, if not as good as his peers at the top)... i think all these guys have exemplary work ethics. peterson is often cited as the hardest working player on his team, dating back to college... coupled with the physical skills and natural talent to be one of the best RBs in league history, that is a potent combo. MIN appear to have one of the most talented, young WR corps in the NFL, with rice, harvin & berrian, which should make it harder to key on peterson.MJD had a career year after taylor was dealt to NE. he had 53 receptions (edit/add) and 16 TDs (same as chris johnson). the jags were starting two rookies at OT, and (probably related), the offense in general & garrard specifically struggled at times (especially on the road, i think?). garrard has regressed badly from his outstanding '07 campaign (got a pass in '08 when the entire interior OL got blown up before the season even started), and probably needs to be more consistent and help lead the team to more wins (fairly or not to put so much on one player) to remain in the franchise's future plans. del rio is presumably on thin ice, but i have to think a prospective new coaching staff would find a way to get the ball in the hands of their best player. with the OL being so young and with the potential to develope and get better with physical maturation and technical refinement, this might also be viewed as a cause for optimism and upside for MJD. unlike rice, who cedes goal line duty to mcgahee, peterson and MJD are clearly their teams top options there. unlike peterson and like rice, he has good hands and is a more dangerous weapon in the passing game. in a way, MJD has some of the best attributes of peterson and rice (without some of their respective weaknesses). he has the most NFL tenure as a fifth year player, but should have relatively fresh legs, with under 200 carries his first three seasons. he has been very consistent, with less than 10 TDs just once (9), and a career high 15 rushing TDs last year. he has never had less than 40 receptions (career high 62-565 in '08). MSW may be the only functional WR/TE weapon in the passing game, so an upgrade could help MJD (& garrard... or whoever succeeds him?)...
are peterson and MJD clearly better than rice and no brainers (and how do they rate relative to each other)?
if close, does the two year age difference (rice compared to the other three top four RBs) factor in at all?
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)...i think the choice will be between peterson and MJD... still undecided, possibly leaning towards MJD (#2 in this scoring system last year... peterson and rice a notch below, and close together, within a few points of each other)...i didn't check, but is MJD (& possibly rice?) more consistent than peterson? if the latter has a bad rushing game, he probably has a bad game (luckily, not too many of those)... whereas MJD more likely to counterbalance a poor rushing effort with some numbers in the passing game?
