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DeAngelo Williams (1 Viewer)

gianmarco said:
The interesting thing to me is that the possibility of DeAngelo getting MORE carries hasn't been mentioned and I doubt is even considered a possibility by the vast majority here.

One argument is that many people think Stewart is line for more carries. Why can't DeAngelo be in line for more carries? In 5 of the last 6 games of the year, he had 19 carries or more and 21+ in 3 of those 6 games. That works out to 304 carries for 2009. If you look at the entire 2nd half after the bye for a total of 8 games, he had a total of 153 carries. Again, that works out to 306 carries for 2009.
If you were John Fox and you could rest your best player without a big let down in production, wouldn't you do it? Most teams don't do it because there would be a huge let down in production. The argument isn't whether DWill is better then Stewart, it's is he so much better that Fox is forced to keep DWill on the field rather then resting him. Seriously if you have two great backs why wouldn't you want to get both on the field?
So why did Adrian Peterson get 363 carries despite the presence of Chester Taylor? Chester honestly isn't a big let down in production. But I, like many others watching Vikings games last year, thought Childress was an idiot at times with his usage of the 2. Yes, there has to be a balance and there are times you can put the backup in, but in the end, you want your best players with the ball in their hands as much as you can. Stewart is a great RB. We saw that last year. But DeAngelo is that much better. He was phenomenal last year. He put up #'s that have only been put up by mainly HOF'ers. People had the same argument about Peterson at first. Chester was a 1200 yd rusher who did well with the ball in his hands. So sure, they could have split the carries more evenly last year and gotten similar production. But it didn't happen because Peterson deserved the ball more. I'm not trying to say the difference between AP and Chester is the same as the difference between Williams and Stewart, but there is still a difference (at least for now) between the latter. Until DeAngelo either falls off in production or Stewart joins him at that elite level, DeAngelo will remain the starter for Carolina and get the majority of the carries. I personally don't think DeAngelo falls off in production. A RB able to put up the #'s he did last year doesn't isn't a fluke. The talent is there and I think he can come close to replicating what he did. As for Stewart, I just don't see him getting the opportunity to reach that level just yet. Even if he does get that chance, as much as I like him, those are still very huge shoes to fill to be able to do what Williams did last year.
I'm sorry but I think your comparing apples and oranges here. This comparison just does not seem to be a valid comparison without you making the argument that the the let down from AP to Chester is equal to the let down of DWill to Stewart, and I don't think your prepared to make that argument. If you can't make that argument the whole comparison falls apart. We are no longer talking about like things, we are then trying to compare to agreed different scenarios as if they were alike. The argument is that the gap between DWill and Stewart is small enough that it makes sense for Fox to more evenly distribute those carries.
Seems like we've already been over that haven't we? Do you really not know the history of John Fox? Jake Delhomme is still his QB.... Fox is going to stick with his veteran starters. I knew this before the season even started in '09'.
 
2) A RB having an incredibly easy (or hard) predicted SOS this year is just about meaningless;
Are you saying that a stat like defensive yards per carry would be completely uncorrelated from 2007 to 2008?
No, defensive YPC would be slightly correlated from year to year.
Around 0.4 to 0.5 actually. If you take away a bunch of high ypc from a RB's schedule and add a bunch of low ypc to a RB's schedule (even if it's last year's ypc numbers since they are somewhat correlated to the following year), I find it hard to believe that the prediciton is meaningless.
I've looked into this before. There really isn't any correlation.But yes, you should do a rearview SOS analysis -- i.e., his '08 production based on his '08 SOS. That's worthwhile.
 
This is a fun thread. It inspired me to run some quick numbers.

Williams had 18 rushing TDs last year. Here are all RBs with between 16 and 20 rushing TDs, along with how they did TD-wise the following year:

+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+| name | y1 | g1 | td1 | avg_dist | y2 | g2 | td2 |+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+| Jim Brown | 1958 | 12 | 17 | 25.2 | 1959 | 12 | 14 || O.J. Simpson | 1975 | 14 | 16 | 19.0 | 1976 | 14 | 8 || Spec Sanders | 1947 | 14 | 18 | 18.6 | 1948 | 13 | 9 || Ricky Williams | 2002 | 16 | 16 | 18.1 | 2003 | 16 | 9 || Barry Sanders | 1991 | 15 | 16 | 16.8 | 1992 | 16 | 9 || Emmitt Smith | 1992 | 16 | 18 | 12.4 | 1993 | 14 | 9 || Larry Johnson | 2005 | 16 | 20 | 11.4 | 2006 | 16 | 17 || Stephen Davis | 1999 | 14 | 17 | 10.9 | 2000 | 15 | 11 || Earl Campbell | 1979 | 16 | 19 | 10.1 | 1980 | 15 | 13 || Leroy Kelly | 1968 | 14 | 16 | 8.9 | 1969 | 13 | 9 || Shaun Alexander | 2002 | 16 | 16 | 8.5 | 2003 | 16 | 14 || Eric Dickerson | 1983 | 16 | 18 | 8.3 | 1984 | 16 | 14 || Lenny Moore | 1964 | 14 | 16 | 8.0 | 1965 | 12 | 5 || Jim Taylor | 1962 | 14 | 19 | 7.9 | 1963 | 13 | 9 || George Rogers | 1986 | 15 | 18 | 7.8 | 1987 | 11 | 6 || LaDainian Tomlinson | 2005 | 16 | 18 | 7.6 | 2006 | 16 | 28 || Shaun Alexander | 2004 | 16 | 16 | 7.2 | 2005 | 16 | 27 || Chuck Muncie | 1981 | 15 | 19 | 7.1 | 1982 | 9 | 8 || LaDainian Tomlinson | 2004 | 15 | 17 | 4.3 | 2005 | 16 | 18 || Pete Banaszak | 1975 | 14 | 16 | 3.7 | 1976 | 14 | 5 || Marshall Faulk | 2000 | 14 | 18 | 3.5 | 2001 | 14 | 12 || Larry Johnson | 2006 | 16 | 17 | 3.0 | 2007 | 8 | 3 || Greg Bell | 1988 | 16 | 16 | 2.5 | 1989 | 16 | 15 |+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+I included the average TD distance in there, and Williams' was 19.6, which would be second-highest on the list (this was alluded to earlier in the thread).The guys over 9 yards per TD regressed from 1.18 TD/G to 0.76 TD/G, while the guys who were getting shorter TDs regressed from 1.14 to 0.91. Small samples, to be sure, but possibly interesting.

 
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This is a fun thread. It inspired me to run some quick numbers. Williams had 18 rushing TDs last year. Here are all RBs with between 16 and 20 rushing TDs, along with how they did TD-wise the following year:

Code:
+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+| name				| y1   | g1 | td1 | avg_dist | y2   | g2 | td2 |+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+| Jim Brown		   | 1958 | 12 |  17 | 25.2	 | 1959 | 12 |  14 || O.J. Simpson		| 1975 | 14 |  16 | 19.0	 | 1976 | 14 |   8 || Spec Sanders		| 1947 | 14 |  18 | 18.6	 | 1948 | 13 |   9 || Ricky Williams	  | 2002 | 16 |  16 | 18.1	 | 2003 | 16 |   9 || Barry Sanders	   | 1991 | 15 |  16 | 16.8	 | 1992 | 16 |   9 || Emmitt Smith		| 1992 | 16 |  18 | 12.4	 | 1993 | 14 |   9 || Larry Johnson	   | 2005 | 16 |  20 | 11.4	 | 2006 | 16 |  17 || Stephen Davis	   | 1999 | 14 |  17 | 10.9	 | 2000 | 15 |  11 || Earl Campbell	   | 1979 | 16 |  19 | 10.1	 | 1980 | 15 |  13 || Leroy Kelly		 | 1968 | 14 |  16 | 8.9	  | 1969 | 13 |   9 || Shaun Alexander	 | 2002 | 16 |  16 | 8.5	  | 2003 | 16 |  14 || Eric Dickerson	  | 1983 | 16 |  18 | 8.3	  | 1984 | 16 |  14 || Lenny Moore		 | 1964 | 14 |  16 | 8.0	  | 1965 | 12 |   5 || Jim Taylor		  | 1962 | 14 |  19 | 7.9	  | 1963 | 13 |   9 || George Rogers	   | 1986 | 15 |  18 | 7.8	  | 1987 | 11 |   6 || LaDainian Tomlinson | 2005 | 16 |  18 | 7.6	  | 2006 | 16 |  28 || Shaun Alexander	 | 2004 | 16 |  16 | 7.2	  | 2005 | 16 |  27 || Chuck Muncie		| 1981 | 15 |  19 | 7.1	  | 1982 |  9 |   8 || LaDainian Tomlinson | 2004 | 15 |  17 | 4.3	  | 2005 | 16 |  18 || Pete Banaszak	   | 1975 | 14 |  16 | 3.7	  | 1976 | 14 |   5 || Marshall Faulk	  | 2000 | 14 |  18 | 3.5	  | 2001 | 14 |  12 || Larry Johnson	   | 2006 | 16 |  17 | 3.0	  | 2007 |  8 |   3 || Greg Bell		   | 1988 | 16 |  16 | 2.5	  | 1989 | 16 |  15 |+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+
I included the average TD distance in there, and Williams' was 19.6, which would be second-highest on the list (this was alluded to earlier in the thread).The guys over 9 yards per TD regressed from 1.18 TD/G to 0.76 TD/G, while the guys who were getting shorter TDs regressed from 1.14 to 0.91. Small samples, to be sure, but possibly interesting.
Three thoughts:1) I wonder how the projection would look for guys with 9-15 TDs and 13-17 TDs.2) HTH did Jim Brown averaged over 25 yards per TD on 17 TDs?3) Probably should use median TD length.
 
This is a fun thread. It inspired me to run some quick numbers. Williams had 18 rushing TDs last year. Here are all RBs with between 16 and 20 rushing TDs, along with how they did TD-wise the following year:

Code:
+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+| name				| y1   | g1 | td1 | avg_dist | y2   | g2 | td2 |+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+| Jim Brown		   | 1958 | 12 |  17 | 25.2	 | 1959 | 12 |  14 || O.J. Simpson		| 1975 | 14 |  16 | 19.0	 | 1976 | 14 |   8 || Spec Sanders		| 1947 | 14 |  18 | 18.6	 | 1948 | 13 |   9 || Ricky Williams	  | 2002 | 16 |  16 | 18.1	 | 2003 | 16 |   9 || Barry Sanders	   | 1991 | 15 |  16 | 16.8	 | 1992 | 16 |   9 || Emmitt Smith		| 1992 | 16 |  18 | 12.4	 | 1993 | 14 |   9 || Larry Johnson	   | 2005 | 16 |  20 | 11.4	 | 2006 | 16 |  17 || Stephen Davis	   | 1999 | 14 |  17 | 10.9	 | 2000 | 15 |  11 || Earl Campbell	   | 1979 | 16 |  19 | 10.1	 | 1980 | 15 |  13 || Leroy Kelly		 | 1968 | 14 |  16 | 8.9	  | 1969 | 13 |   9 || Shaun Alexander	 | 2002 | 16 |  16 | 8.5	  | 2003 | 16 |  14 || Eric Dickerson	  | 1983 | 16 |  18 | 8.3	  | 1984 | 16 |  14 || Lenny Moore		 | 1964 | 14 |  16 | 8.0	  | 1965 | 12 |   5 || Jim Taylor		  | 1962 | 14 |  19 | 7.9	  | 1963 | 13 |   9 || George Rogers	   | 1986 | 15 |  18 | 7.8	  | 1987 | 11 |   6 || LaDainian Tomlinson | 2005 | 16 |  18 | 7.6	  | 2006 | 16 |  28 || Shaun Alexander	 | 2004 | 16 |  16 | 7.2	  | 2005 | 16 |  27 || Chuck Muncie		| 1981 | 15 |  19 | 7.1	  | 1982 |  9 |   8 || LaDainian Tomlinson | 2004 | 15 |  17 | 4.3	  | 2005 | 16 |  18 || Pete Banaszak	   | 1975 | 14 |  16 | 3.7	  | 1976 | 14 |   5 || Marshall Faulk	  | 2000 | 14 |  18 | 3.5	  | 2001 | 14 |  12 || Larry Johnson	   | 2006 | 16 |  17 | 3.0	  | 2007 |  8 |   3 || Greg Bell		   | 1988 | 16 |  16 | 2.5	  | 1989 | 16 |  15 |+---------------------+------+----+-----+----------+------+----+-----+
I included the average TD distance in there, and Williams' was 19.6, which would be second-highest on the list (this was alluded to earlier in the thread).The guys over 9 yards per TD regressed from 1.18 TD/G to 0.76 TD/G, while the guys who were getting shorter TDs regressed from 1.14 to 0.91. Small samples, to be sure, but possibly interesting.
This is pretty interesting.Of course the other thing to note isn't so much the #'s in this chart (although obviously the point), but to pay attention to the NAMES on this chart.Maybe you can do the same thing for a similar ypc that DeAngelo had (5.5 ypc) with > 200 carries and how they did the following year?
 
DeAngelo Williams YPC has been very high which makes me wonder if he can maintain that?

Similarity scores based on YPC would be interesting to look at. I think there have been a lot of great RB in the league who did not maintain such a high YPC but who are the ones who have? And how long did they maintain say 5 YPC? For how many years?

Barry Sanders is the 1st guy who comes to mind.

Rushing Receiving Year Age Tm Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb 1989*+ 21 DET RB 15 13 280 1470 14 34 5.3 98.0 18.7 24 282 11.8 0 46 1.6 18.8 1752 14 10 1990*+ 22 DET RB 16 16 255 1304 13 45 5.1 81.5 15.9 36 480 13.3 3 47 2.3 30.0 1784 16 4 1991*+ 23 DET RB 15 15 342 1548 16 69 4.5 103.2 22.8 41 307 7.5 1 34 2.7 20.5 1855 17 5 1992* 24 DET RB 16 16 312 1352 9 55 4.3 84.5 19.5 29 225 7.8 1 48 1.8 14.1 1577 10 6 1993* 25 DET RB 11 11 243 1115 3 42 4.6 101.4 22.1 36 205 5.7 0 17 3.3 18.6 1320 3 3 1994*+ 26 DET RB 16 16 331 1883 7 85 5.7 117.7 20.7 44 283 6.4 1 22 2.8 17.7 2166 8 0 1995*+ 27 DET RB 16 16 314 1500 11 75 4.8 93.8 19.6 48 398 8.3 1 40 3.0 24.9 1898 12 3 1996* 28 DET RB 16 16 307 1553 11 54 5.1 97.1 19.2 24 147 6.1 0 28 1.5 9.2 1700 11 4 1997*+ 29 DET RB 16 16 335 2053 11 82 6.1 128.3 20.9 33 305 9.2 3 66 2.1 19.1 2358 14 3 1998* 30 DET RB 16 16 343 1491 4 73 4.3 93.2 21.4 37 289 7.8 0 44 2.3 18.1 1780 4 3 Career 153 151 3062 15269 99 85 5.0 99.8 20.0 352 2921 8.3 10 66 2.3 19.1 18190 109 41 http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandBa00.htmJames Brooks:

Code:
Rushing Receiving   Year Age Tm Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb 1981 23 SDG RET 14 2 109 525 3 28 4.8 37.5 7.8 46 329 7.2 3 29 3.3 23.5 854 6 7 1982 24 SDG RET 9 0 87 430 6 48 4.9 47.8 9.7 13 66 5.1 0 12 1.4 7.3 496 6 4 1983 25 SDG rb 15 5 127 516 3 61 4.1 34.4 8.5 25 215 8.6 0 36 1.7 14.3 731 3 8 1984 26 CIN RB 15 11 103 396 2 33 3.8 26.4 6.9 34 268 7.9 2 27 2.3 17.9 664 4 4 1985 27 CIN RB 16 16 192 929 7 39 4.8 58.1 12.0 55 576 10.5 5 57 3.4 36.0 1505 12 7 1986* 28 CIN RB 16 16 205 1087 5 56 5.3 67.9 12.8 54 686 12.7 4 54 3.4 42.9 1773 9 2 1987 29 CIN RB 9 7 94 290 1 18 3.1 32.2 10.4 22 272 12.4 2 46 2.4 30.2 562 3 0 1988* 30 CIN RB 15 15 182 931 8 51 5.1 62.1 12.1 29 287 9.9 6 28 1.9 19.1 1218 14 1 1989* 31 CIN RB 16 14 221 1239 7 65 5.6 77.4 13.8 37 306 8.3 2 25 2.3 19.1 1545 9 9 1990* 32 CIN RB 16 15 195 1004 5 56 5.1 62.8 12.2 26 269 10.3 4 35 1.6 16.8 1273 9 3 1991 33 CIN RB 15 12 152 571 2 25 3.8 38.1 10.1 40 348 8.7 2 40 2.7 23.2 919 4 5 1992 34 2TM  6 2 18 44 0 13 2.4 7.3 3.0 2 -1 -0.5 0 4 0.3 -0.2 43 0 1   TAM  2 0 5 6 0 4 1.2 3.0 2.5		6 0 0   CLE  4 2 13 38 0 13 2.9 9.5 3.3 2 -1 -0.5 0 4 0.5 -0.3 37 0 1 Career	162 115 1685 7962 49 65 4.7 49.1 10.4 383 3621 9.5 30 57 2.4 22.4 11583 79 51 8 yrs  CIN  118 106 1344 6447 37 65 4.8 54.6 11.4 297 3012 10.1 27 57 2.5 25.5 9459 64 31 3 yrs  SDG  38 7 323 1471 12 61 4.6 38.7 8.5 84 610 7.3 3 36 2.2 16.1 2081 15 19 1 yr  CLE  4 2 13 38 0 13 2.9 9.5 3.3 2 -1 -0.5 0 4 0.5 -0.3 37 0 1 1 yr  TAM  2 0 5 6 0 4 1.2 3.0 2.5		6 0 0
Marshall Faulk had over 5 ypc for 3 years.
 
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The other thing to note is that, while TDs regressed, 17 of the 23 RB's listed had 9+ TDs the following year. 4 of them actually IMPROVED on their #'s.

 
This is pretty interesting.

Of course the other thing to note isn't so much the #'s in this chart (although obviously the point), but to pay attention to the NAMES on this chart.

Maybe you can do the same thing for a similar ypc that DeAngelo had (5.5 ypc) with > 200 carries and how they did the following year?
Happy to oblige.This is an even smaller sampler size. Including DeAngelo Williams, there have only been eleven (11) instances of a RB averaging 5.5 yards per rush with a minimum of 200 carries.

NAME POS YR AGE EXP G RSH RSHYD YD/RSH RSHTD DeAngelo Williams rb 2008 25 3 16 274 1518 5.54 18O.J. Simpson rb 1973 26 5 14 332 2003 6.03 12O.J. Simpson rb 1975 28 7 14 329 1817 5.52 16Barry Sanders rb 1997 29 9 16 335 2053 6.13 11Barry Sanders rb 1994 26 6 16 331 1883 5.69 7Clinton Portis rb 2002 21 1 16 273 1508 5.52 15Adrian Peterson rb 2007 22 1 14 238 1341 5.63 12Eric Dickerson rb 1984 24 2 16 379 2105 5.55 14Jim Brown rb 1963 27 7 14 291 1863 6.4 12Jim Brown rb 1960 24 4 12 215 1257 5.85 9James Brooks rb 1989 31 9 16 221 1239 5.61 7These backs averaged:*** 19.9 carries per game

*** 115.3 yards rushing per game

*** 5.80 yards per rush

*** 0.777 rushing TDs/game

In the following year, here were their numbers

NAME POS YR AGE EXP G RSH RSHYD YD/RSH RSHTD O.J. Simpson rb 1974 27 6 14 270 1125 4.2 3O.J. Simpson rb 1976 29 8 14 290 1503 5.2 8Barry Sanders rb 1998 30 10 16 343 1491 4.3 4Barry Sanders rb 1995 27 7 16 314 1500 4.8 11Clinton Portis rb 2003 22 2 13 290 1591 5.5 14Adrian Peterson rb 2008 23 2 16 363 1760 4.8 10Eric Dickerson rb 1985 25 3 14 292 1234 4.2 12Jim Brown rb 1964 28 8 14 280 1446 5.2 7Jim Brown rb 1961 25 5 14 305 1408 4.6 8James Brooks rb 1990 32 10 16 195 1004 5.1 5The averages:*** 20.0 carries per game

*** 95.66 rushing yards per game

*** 4.78 yards per rush

*** 0.5578 rushing TDs/game

Certainly this shouldn't surprise anyone b/c anytime you're looking at a sample set that approximates to the peak output in history, you should expect a natural regression.

But I also think this is a case where the numbers have to be matched up against empiricism.

Take a look at the other backs to have accomplished what D-Will did last year.

*** Four Hall of Famers [simpson, Sanders, Dickerson, Brown]

*** The consensus best young runner in the game today [Peterson]

*** Portis [5 top-10 fantasy seasons and another where he ranked 11th]

*** James Brooks is the least heralded on this list and he made 4 Pro Bowls and was a top 10 fantasy back FIVE times

There isn't a whiff in this group. Yes, it's a very small sample size. But this is an ELITE group of comparatives and there isn't one back on this list that once a one-year wonder. They all were elite fantasy RB1s for good chunks of their careers.

So is it reasonable to expect D-Will to drop off? OF COURSE.

But is he also shaping up to be one of the safest 'high floor' backs in the 2009 draft? ABSOLUTELY.

 
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Thanks, JW.

I've already posted in a couple other threads the list of RB's who scored 20+ TDs and who had > 5.4 YPC. The list is exclusive of top-notch, mostly HOF talent. Of those 2 lists, only 4 guys have appeared on both. M. Faulk, Dickerson, Jim Taylor, and DeAngelo. The 1st 3 are HOF'ers (well, Faulk isn't officially yet, but will be) and then there's DeAngelo.

Maybe to give us a slightly larger sample size, you can knock it down to a 5.2 ypc or even 5.0 ypc?

ETA--I also hope you didn't use DeAngelo's #'s from 2008 in those calculations since we don't have his N+1 year results to compare.

 
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Thanks, JW.

I've already posted in a couple other threads the list of RB's who scored 20+ TDs and who had > 5.4 YPC. The list is exclusive of top-notch, mostly HOF talent. Of those 2 lists, only 4 guys have appeared on both. M. Faulk, Dickerson, Jim Taylor, and DeAngelo. The 1st 3 are HOF'ers (well, Faulk isn't officially yet, but will be) and then there's DeAngelo.

Maybe to give us a slightly larger sample size, you can knock it down to a 5.2 ypc or even 5.0 ypc?



ETA--I also hope you didn't use DeAngelo's #'s from 2008 in those calculations since we don't have his N+1 year results to compare.
C'mon now good buddy. :goodposting:
 
Thanks, JW.

I've already posted in a couple other threads the list of RB's who scored 20+ TDs and who had > 5.4 YPC. The list is exclusive of top-notch, mostly HOF talent. Of those 2 lists, only 4 guys have appeared on both. M. Faulk, Dickerson, Jim Taylor, and DeAngelo. The 1st 3 are HOF'ers (well, Faulk isn't officially yet, but will be) and then there's DeAngelo.

Maybe to give us a slightly larger sample size, you can knock it down to a 5.2 ypc or even 5.0 ypc?



ETA--I also hope you didn't use DeAngelo's #'s from 2008 in those calculations since we don't have his N+1 year results to compare.
C'mon now good buddy. :lmao:
:goodposting:
 
But I also think this is a case where the numbers have to be matched up against empiricism.

Take a look at the other backs to have accomplished what D-Will did last year.

*** Four Hall of Famers [simpson, Sanders, Dickerson, Brown]

*** The consensus best young runner in the game today [Peterson]

*** Portis [5 top-10 fantasy seasons and another where he ranked 11th]

*** James Brooks is the least heralded on this list and he made 4 Pro Bowls and was a top 10 fantasy back FIVE times

There isn't a whiff in this group. Yes, it's a very small sample size. But this is an ELITE group of comparatives and there isn't one back on this list that once a one-year wonder. They all were elite fantasy RB1s for good chunks of their careers.

So is it reasonable to expect D-Will to drop off? OF COURSE.

But is he also shaping up to be one of the safest 'high floor' backs in the 2009 draft? ABSOLUTELY.
This = GOOD STUFF :wall:
 
Seems like we've already been over that haven't we? Do you really not know the history of John Fox? Jake Delhomme is still his QB.... Fox is going to stick with his veteran starters. I knew this before the season even started in '09'.
FOX during his coaching career AVG top RB gets 53.16%Fox may favor veterans but he has also split carriers. I am not suggesting he won't give DWill the majority of carries or that he doesn't favor veterans. I think Fox will stay consistent with the carries he has historically given to his top RB. Since he has always favored veterans and he has only given his top RB 53% of the carries, if you take that he favors veterans as a fact it does not itself suggest a reason that DWill will have his carries increased because that would be inconsistent with what he has already done. So there would have to be some change? I don't believe that it's talent because the gap of in talent is not large enough to suggest that. So then what why would Fox change his distribution upwards for DWill? He was still favoring veterans last year under your argument.
 
Seems like we've already been over that haven't we? Do you really not know the history of John Fox? Jake Delhomme is still his QB.... Fox is going to stick with his veteran starters. I knew this before the season even started in '09'.
FOX during his coaching career AVG top RB gets 53.16%Fox may favor veterans but he has also split carriers. I am not suggesting he won't give DWill the majority of carries or that he doesn't favor veterans. I think Fox will stay consistent with the carries he has historically given to his top RB. Since he has always favored veterans and he has only given his top RB 53% of the carries, if you take that he favors veterans as a fact it does not itself suggest a reason that DWill will have his carries increased because that would be inconsistent with what he has already done. So there would have to be some change? I don't believe that it's talent because the gap of in talent is not large enough to suggest that. So then what why would Fox change his distribution upwards for DWill? He was still favoring veterans last year under your argument.
I think this is a misleading statistic.The Panthers under Fox have not really had a feature RB stay healthy for the whole season except for in 2003 and 2008.Stephen Davis in 2003 had 318 carries with Foster getting 113. Then of course the distribution last year.In 2004 both Davis and Foster were hurt and Nick Goings led the team with 200 some carries.In 2005 with both Davis and Foster healthy Fox stuck with Davis for 180 carries at 3.1 ypc even though he had Foster averaging 4.3. Foster ended up the year with barely more carries than Davis (205) and pretty much because Davis was not getting it done. Davis did score 12 TD that year.2006 and 2007 were the Foster Williams splits. Foster started over Williams even though Williams was clearly outperforming Foster. Mainly because Williams struggled with his blocking.So really the only decent examples we have from the past on the current situation are last year and 2003.
 
Seems like we've already been over that haven't we? Do you really not know the history of John Fox? Jake Delhomme is still his QB.... Fox is going to stick with his veteran starters. I knew this before the season even started in '09'.
FOX during his coaching career AVG top RB gets 53.16%Fox may favor veterans but he has also split carriers. I am not suggesting he won't give DWill the majority of carries or that he doesn't favor veterans. I think Fox will stay consistent with the carries he has historically given to his top RB. Since he has always favored veterans and he has only given his top RB 53% of the carries, if you take that he favors veterans as a fact it does not itself suggest a reason that DWill will have his carries increased because that would be inconsistent with what he has already done. So there would have to be some change? I don't believe that it's talent because the gap of in talent is not large enough to suggest that. So then what why would Fox change his distribution upwards for DWill? He was still favoring veterans last year under your argument.
Right, so let's look at it from that standpoing. In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.53% of 528 is 280 rushes (279.84).Assuming DWill's YPC drops to about 4.8 (his career average is 5.1), that gives him 1344 rushing yards. Let's look at TDs. For his career, Williams has averaged one TD for every 23 rushes. However, in 2009, Williams averaged one TD for (approximately) every 15 rushes. Let's split the difference and say one TD for every 20 rushes. That means he "should" score 14 rushing TDs.Receiving stats, he has averaged 26 catches, a 7.8 YPR, and a TD every 20 catches. Lets give him 24 catches (@ 7YPR), with 1 TD.Predictions for 2009: 280 rushes, 1344 yards, 14 TD, 24 catches, 168 yards, 1 TD1512 total yards, 15 total TDs. I'll take those numbers.
 
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Predictions for 2009: 280 rushes, 1344 yards, 13 TD, 24 catches, 168 yards, 1 TD1512 total yards, 14 total TDs. I'll take those numbers.
I haven't done my 2009 projections as of yet, but I'm thinking that what I will come up with for Williams will be very similar to this. I've currently got him ranked as the #2 RB behind MJD. I guess I'll have to see how those numbers pan out vs. all the other RBs in my projections but I'd say those are good enough for top 5 no matter how you slice it.
 
This is pretty interesting.

Of course the other thing to note isn't so much the #'s in this chart (although obviously the point), but to pay attention to the NAMES on this chart.

Maybe you can do the same thing for a similar ypc that DeAngelo had (5.5 ypc) with > 200 carries and how they did the following year?
Happy to oblige.This is an even smaller sampler size. Including DeAngelo Williams, there have only been eleven (11) instances of a RB averaging 5.5 yards per rush with a minimum of 200 carries.

NAME POS YR AGE EXP G RSH RSHYD YD/RSH RSHTD DeAngelo Williams rb 2008 25 3 16 274 1518 5.54 18O.J. Simpson rb 1973 26 5 14 332 2003 6.03 12O.J. Simpson rb 1975 28 7 14 329 1817 5.52 16Barry Sanders rb 1997 29 9 16 335 2053 6.13 11Barry Sanders rb 1994 26 6 16 331 1883 5.69 7Clinton Portis rb 2002 21 1 16 273 1508 5.52 15Adrian Peterson rb 2007 22 1 14 238 1341 5.63 12Eric Dickerson rb 1984 24 2 16 379 2105 5.55 14Jim Brown rb 1963 27 7 14 291 1863 6.4 12Jim Brown rb 1960 24 4 12 215 1257 5.85 9James Brooks rb 1989 31 9 16 221 1239 5.61 7These backs averaged:*** 19.9 carries per game

*** 115.3 yards rushing per game

*** 5.80 yards per rush

*** 0.777 rushing TDs/game

In the following year, here were their numbers

NAME POS YR AGE EXP G RSH RSHYD YD/RSH RSHTD O.J. Simpson rb 1974 27 6 14 270 1125 4.2 3O.J. Simpson rb 1976 29 8 14 290 1503 5.2 8Barry Sanders rb 1998 30 10 16 343 1491 4.3 4Barry Sanders rb 1995 27 7 16 314 1500 4.8 11Clinton Portis rb 2003 22 2 13 290 1591 5.5 14Adrian Peterson rb 2008 23 2 16 363 1760 4.8 10Eric Dickerson rb 1985 25 3 14 292 1234 4.2 12Jim Brown rb 1964 28 8 14 280 1446 5.2 7Jim Brown rb 1961 25 5 14 305 1408 4.6 8James Brooks rb 1990 32 10 16 195 1004 5.1 5The averages:*** 20.0 carries per game

*** 95.66 rushing yards per game

*** 4.78 yards per rush

*** 0.5578 rushing TDs/game

Certainly this shouldn't surprise anyone b/c anytime you're looking at a sample set that approximates to the peak output in history, you should expect a natural regression.

But I also think this is a case where the numbers have to be matched up against empiricism.

Take a look at the other backs to have accomplished what D-Will did last year.

*** Four Hall of Famers [simpson, Sanders, Dickerson, Brown]

*** The consensus best young runner in the game today [Peterson]

*** Portis [5 top-10 fantasy seasons and another where he ranked 11th]

*** James Brooks is the least heralded on this list and he made 4 Pro Bowls and was a top 10 fantasy back FIVE times

There isn't a whiff in this group. Yes, it's a very small sample size. But this is an ELITE group of comparatives and there isn't one back on this list that once a one-year wonder. They all were elite fantasy RB1s for good chunks of their careers.

So is it reasonable to expect D-Will to drop off? OF COURSE.

But is he also shaping up to be one of the safest 'high floor' backs in the 2009 draft? ABSOLUTELY.
:goodposting: Excellent point, plus you get an extra kudos for mentioning James Brooks :lmao:

Seriously, it's hard for me to believe Williams '08 was a fluke and as much as I like Stewart, he has to earn the opportunities. He had flashes of excellence, but it will take more than that for coach Fox to take the lion's share of the carries away from Williams, a back they were thrilled to get in the '06 draft and picked him over Shanny's favorite guy, Maroney.

 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
As long as Delhomme is playing QB Car would be wise to run the ball 500+ times.....
 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
As long as Delhomme is playing QB Car would be wise to run the ball 500+ times.....
Yet he's been there since 2003 and last year's 475 was the highest total of RB rushing attempts for any season since he joined the Panthers.YR TEAM RSH RSHYD YD/RSH FD RSHTD FANT PT 2003 CAR 465 2015 4.33 101 8 326.10 2004 CAR 392 1488 3.80 77 9 287.60 2005 CAR 449 1632 3.63 79 15 324.70 2006 CAR 389 1546 3.97 92 5 267.30 2007 CAR 404 1631 4.04 73 7 258.60 2008 CAR 475 2381 5.01 113 28 438.90 Granted, they didn't have the RBs and OL in the first 5 years that they have now, but the fact remains that 500+ RB rushing attempts for one team in a single season is extremely rare. There are too many circumstances that have to come together to make it possible - health of RBs, OL, QB, etc.; playcalling; game situations; quality and strengths of opponents; etc.
 
Seems like we've already been over that haven't we? Do you really not know the history of John Fox? Jake Delhomme is still his QB.... Fox is going to stick with his veteran starters. I knew this before the season even started in '09'.
FOX during his coaching career AVG top RB gets 53.16%Fox may favor veterans but he has also split carriers. I am not suggesting he won't give DWill the majority of carries or that he doesn't favor veterans. I think Fox will stay consistent with the carries he has historically given to his top RB. Since he has always favored veterans and he has only given his top RB 53% of the carries, if you take that he favors veterans as a fact it does not itself suggest a reason that DWill will have his carries increased because that would be inconsistent with what he has already done. So there would have to be some change? I don't believe that it's talent because the gap of in talent is not large enough to suggest that. So then what why would Fox change his distribution upwards for DWill? He was still favoring veterans last year under your argument.
I think this is a misleading statistic.The Panthers under Fox have not really had a feature RB stay healthy for the whole season except for in 2003 and 2008.Stephen Davis in 2003 had 318 carries with Foster getting 113. Then of course the distribution last year.In 2004 both Davis and Foster were hurt and Nick Goings led the team with 200 some carries.In 2005 with both Davis and Foster healthy Fox stuck with Davis for 180 carries at 3.1 ypc even though he had Foster averaging 4.3. Foster ended up the year with barely more carries than Davis (205) and pretty much because Davis was not getting it done. Davis did score 12 TD that year.2006 and 2007 were the Foster Williams splits. Foster started over Williams even though Williams was clearly outperforming Foster. Mainly because Williams struggled with his blocking.So really the only decent examples we have from the past on the current situation are last year and 2003.
Even if that statistics isn't truly representative(which is reasonable to argue), how do you explain last year. DWill was a veteran last year and Stewart was a rookie and had injury issues. If Fox favors veteran and he gives DWill 274 or 54%, why then does he change that distribution in 09? It can't be because he favors veterans b/c he still favored veterans last year and Stewart was more raw last and had injury issues. I am not saying there isn't an argument, but him favoring veterans certainly doesn't hold up to this point.
 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
My post was a reply to the poster who said that DWill should expect to only get 53% of the carries b/c Fox will only give 53% of the rushes to his lead RB. To assume that, you have to believe that Stewart is very talented to take more carries away from the #1RB in the league. If you have two RBs of that caliber, it is reasonable to predict a small increase of 4 carries/game.Personally, I'm more likely to believe that the carries might not go up, but that DWill will get more than 53% of the carries: Either way, I feel that 1500 yards and 15 TDs is very possible for him this year.
 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
My post was a reply to the poster who said that DWill should expect to only get 53% of the carries b/c Fox will only give 53% of the rushes to his lead RB. To assume that, you have to believe that Stewart is very talented to take more carries away from the #1RB in the league. If you have two RBs of that caliber, it is reasonable to predict a small increase of 4 carries/game.Personally, I'm more likely to believe that the carries might not go up, but that DWill will get more than 53% of the carries: Either way, I feel that 1500 yards and 15 TDs is very possible for him this year.
So Stewart has gotten less talented since last year? Or has Fox or Carolina done something to suggest they like him less or will use him less? What's changed?
 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.

Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.

Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
My post was a reply to the poster who said that DWill should expect to only get 53% of the carries b/c Fox will only give 53% of the rushes to his lead RB. To assume that, you have to believe that Stewart is very talented to take more carries away from the #1RB in the league. If you have two RBs of that caliber, it is reasonable to predict a small increase of 4 carries/game.Personally, I'm more likely to believe that the carries might not go up, but that DWill will get more than 53% of the carries: Either way, I feel that 1500 yards and 15 TDs is very possible for him this year.
No... it's not reasonable... that was the point of my post. If you want to stick to 1500/15 even if the carries stay at 475 are below, fine, it's just not supported by the logic as you presented it.
 
Seems like we've already been over that haven't we? Do you really not know the history of John Fox? Jake Delhomme is still his QB.... Fox is going to stick with his veteran starters. I knew this before the season even started in '09'.
FOX during his coaching career AVG top RB gets 53.16%Fox may favor veterans but he has also split carriers. I am not suggesting he won't give DWill the majority of carries or that he doesn't favor veterans. I think Fox will stay consistent with the carries he has historically given to his top RB. Since he has always favored veterans and he has only given his top RB 53% of the carries, if you take that he favors veterans as a fact it does not itself suggest a reason that DWill will have his carries increased because that would be inconsistent with what he has already done. So there would have to be some change? I don't believe that it's talent because the gap of in talent is not large enough to suggest that. So then what why would Fox change his distribution upwards for DWill? He was still favoring veterans last year under your argument.
I think this is a misleading statistic.The Panthers under Fox have not really had a feature RB stay healthy for the whole season except for in 2003 and 2008.Stephen Davis in 2003 had 318 carries with Foster getting 113. Then of course the distribution last year.In 2004 both Davis and Foster were hurt and Nick Goings led the team with 200 some carries.In 2005 with both Davis and Foster healthy Fox stuck with Davis for 180 carries at 3.1 ypc even though he had Foster averaging 4.3. Foster ended up the year with barely more carries than Davis (205) and pretty much because Davis was not getting it done. Davis did score 12 TD that year.2006 and 2007 were the Foster Williams splits. Foster started over Williams even though Williams was clearly outperforming Foster. Mainly because Williams struggled with his blocking.So really the only decent examples we have from the past on the current situation are last year and 2003.
Even if that statistics isn't truly representative(which is reasonable to argue), how do you explain last year. DWill was a veteran last year and Stewart was a rookie and had injury issues. If Fox favors veteran and he gives DWill 274 or 54%, why then does he change that distribution in 09? It can't be because he favors veterans b/c he still favored veterans last year and Stewart was more raw last and had injury issues. I am not saying there isn't an argument, but him favoring veterans certainly doesn't hold up to this point.
All I am saying is that the only reasonable models to look at are 2003 and 2008. So distribution stays pretty much the same or Williams might see a slight increase in carries to the 300 mark like Stephen Davis did. Obviously 2008 is more relevant.I do not see total rushing attempts going down unless the running game is less effective and results in fewer 1st downs.
 
Seems like we've already been over that haven't we? Do you really not know the history of John Fox? Jake Delhomme is still his QB.... Fox is going to stick with his veteran starters. I knew this before the season even started in '09'.
FOX during his coaching career AVG top RB gets 53.16%Fox may favor veterans but he has also split carriers. I am not suggesting he won't give DWill the majority of carries or that he doesn't favor veterans. I think Fox will stay consistent with the carries he has historically given to his top RB. Since he has always favored veterans and he has only given his top RB 53% of the carries, if you take that he favors veterans as a fact it does not itself suggest a reason that DWill will have his carries increased because that would be inconsistent with what he has already done. So there would have to be some change? I don't believe that it's talent because the gap of in talent is not large enough to suggest that. So then what why would Fox change his distribution upwards for DWill? He was still favoring veterans last year under your argument.
I think this is a misleading statistic.The Panthers under Fox have not really had a feature RB stay healthy for the whole season except for in 2003 and 2008.Stephen Davis in 2003 had 318 carries with Foster getting 113. Then of course the distribution last year.In 2004 both Davis and Foster were hurt and Nick Goings led the team with 200 some carries.In 2005 with both Davis and Foster healthy Fox stuck with Davis for 180 carries at 3.1 ypc even though he had Foster averaging 4.3. Foster ended up the year with barely more carries than Davis (205) and pretty much because Davis was not getting it done. Davis did score 12 TD that year.2006 and 2007 were the Foster Williams splits. Foster started over Williams even though Williams was clearly outperforming Foster. Mainly because Williams struggled with his blocking.So really the only decent examples we have from the past on the current situation are last year and 2003.
Even if that statistics isn't truly representative(which is reasonable to argue), how do you explain last year. DWill was a veteran last year and Stewart was a rookie and had injury issues. If Fox favors veteran and he gives DWill 274 or 54%, why then does he change that distribution in 09? It can't be because he favors veterans b/c he still favored veterans last year and Stewart was more raw last and had injury issues. I am not saying there isn't an argument, but him favoring veterans certainly doesn't hold up to this point.
All I am saying is that the only reasonable models to look at are 2003 and 2008. So distribution stays pretty much the same or Williams might see a slight increase in carries to the 300 mark like Stephen Davis did. Obviously 2008 is more relevant.I do not see total rushing attempts going down unless the running game is less effective and results in fewer 1st downs.
53.16% the Average is not reasonable but 54% 2008 numbers are reasonable? I think your splitting hairs there. Your talking about a 1% difference or about 5 carries.
 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
My post was a reply to the poster who said that DWill should expect to only get 53% of the carries b/c Fox will only give 53% of the rushes to his lead RB. To assume that, you have to believe that Stewart is very talented to take more carries away from the #1RB in the league. If you have two RBs of that caliber, it is reasonable to predict a small increase of 4 carries/game.Personally, I'm more likely to believe that the carries might not go up, but that DWill will get more than 53% of the carries: Either way, I feel that 1500 yards and 15 TDs is very possible for him this year.
So Stewart has gotten less talented since last year? Or has Fox or Carolina done something to suggest they like him less or will use him less? What's changed?
No, but neither has DWill, has he? In fact, Stewart got a higher percentage of the carries early in the season last year. As the year wore on, and DWill was putting up HUGE numbers, he began to get a higher % of the carries. Going into last year, DWill had been a solid COP back to Foster. It wasn't known that he could be the lead RB. As he proved that he could, he earned a higher % of the carries. So, to answer your question, nothing has really changed, but those who are suggesting that Stewart will get a higher % of the carries this year are implying that something has.
 
I am not splitting anything here.

Your statistic isn't useful to this situation.

A repeat of 2008 for total rushing attempts and distribution seems the most likely thing to happen here. That has nothing to do with your flawed stat.

 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.

Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.

Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
My post was a reply to the poster who said that DWill should expect to only get 53% of the carries b/c Fox will only give 53% of the rushes to his lead RB. To assume that, you have to believe that Stewart is very talented to take more carries away from the #1RB in the league. If you have two RBs of that caliber, it is reasonable to predict a small increase of 4 carries/game.Personally, I'm more likely to believe that the carries might not go up, but that DWill will get more than 53% of the carries: Either way, I feel that 1500 yards and 15 TDs is very possible for him this year.
No... it's not reasonable... that was the point of my post. If you want to stick to 1500/15 even if the carries stay at 475 are below, fine, it's just not supported by the logic as you presented it.
Yes, it is-you're not looking at this as a reply to another post, but as a separate post of its own.To ASSUME that Fox will only give DWill 53% of the carries, you have to ASSUME that Stewart is a very talented RB, because he will be taking carries away from the best RB from 2008.

If you make both of those ASSUMPTIONS, then it is perfectly reasonable to go on to ASSUME that Carolina will try to run more, and 4 more carries a game aren't a huge increase.

 
Top RB team carries, 2002-2008:

Code:
YR	  TEAM   RSH	RSHYD   YD/RSH  FD	 RSHTD FANT PT1	 2004	PIT	534	2249	4.21	115	14	366.802	 2008	BAL	523	2084	3.98	112	17	376.803	 2008	ATL	489	2197	4.49	115	21	410.204	 2005	PIT	483	2022	4.19	103	17	355.005	 2003	BAL	479	2450	5.11	104	18	390.906	 2005	DAL	479	1803	3.76	 92	10	288.907	 2005	SEA	476	2338	4.91	137	28	438.208	 2008	CAR	475	2381	5.01	113	28	438.909	 2004	 NE	473	2094	4.43	108	15	368.9010	2005	DEN	473	2233	4.72	122	22	442.3011	2006	CHI	472	1912	4.05	100	14	317.1012	2006	 KC	471	2042	4.34	 99	17	369.4013	2003	DEN	471	2237	4.75	106	17	399.2014	2003	 GB	470	2523	5.37	126	18	503.9015	2004	NYJ	470	2224	4.73	119	14	393.5016	2008	TEN	469	2087	4.45	104	24	416.4017	2008	NYG	469	2482	5.29	124	18	419.5018	2005	WAS	469	2057	4.39	103	15	389.5519	2005	 KC	468	2244	4.79	128	26	469.0020	2003	CAR	465	2015	4.33	101	 8	326.1021	2008	MIN	465	2157	4.64	101	14	374.9022	2005	CHI	461	2030	4.40	 94	11	310.0023	2006	 SD	461	2480	5.38	127	31	528.7024	2004	DEN	458	2060	4.50	112	12	361.5025	2007	PIT	452	1906	4.22	 88	 7	293.0026	2004	 KC	450	2069	4.60	128	31	499.6027	2005	CAR	449	1632	3.63	 79	15	324.7028	2004	 SD	449	1910	4.25	104	20	374.7029	2007	OAK	448	1887	4.21	 95	 8	309.7030	2006	SEA	448	1662	3.71	 99	 8	240.4031	2007	JAX	445	2118	4.76	101	17	382.6032	2007	WAS	444	1671	3.76	 86	14	337.8533	2002	MIA	444	2110	4.75	107	19	423.2034	2007	 SD	440	1987	4.52	 96	18	392.5535	2003	JAX	440	1934	4.40	105	10	348.9036	2004	BUF	440	1694	3.85	 91	15	294.80
Williams and Stewart combined for 457 carries last season. I would say the over/under for them this year should be no higher than 450. With 20 carries going to FBs and other RBs, that puts them in line with the top 3 teams each year.
 
I am not splitting anything here.Your statistic isn't useful to this situation.A repeat of 2008 for total rushing attempts and distribution seems the most likely thing to happen here. That has nothing to do with your flawed stat.
Then we agree DWill should not surpass 54% of the team's carries. :lmao:
 
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Top RB team carries, 2002-2008:

Code:
YR	  TEAM   RSH	RSHYD   YD/RSH  FD	 RSHTD FANT PT1	 2004	PIT	534	2249	4.21	115	14	366.802	 2008	BAL	523	2084	3.98	112	17	376.803	 2008	ATL	489	2197	4.49	115	21	410.204	 2005	PIT	483	2022	4.19	103	17	355.005	 2003	BAL	479	2450	5.11	104	18	390.906	 2005	DAL	479	1803	3.76	 92	10	288.907	 2005	SEA	476	2338	4.91	137	28	438.20[b]8	 2008	CAR	475	2381	5.01	113	28	438.90[/b]9	 2004	 NE	473	2094	4.43	108	15	368.9010	2005	DEN	473	2233	4.72	122	22	442.3011	2006	CHI	472	1912	4.05	100	14	317.1012	2006	 KC	471	2042	4.34	 99	17	369.4013	2003	DEN	471	2237	4.75	106	17	399.2014	2003	 GB	470	2523	5.37	126	18	503.9015	2004	NYJ	470	2224	4.73	119	14	393.5016	2008	TEN	469	2087	4.45	104	24	416.4017	2008	NYG	469	2482	5.29	124	18	419.5018	2005	WAS	469	2057	4.39	103	15	389.5519	2005	 KC	468	2244	4.79	128	26	469.00[b]20	2003	CAR	465	2015	4.33	101	 8	326.10[/b]21	2008	MIN	465	2157	4.64	101	14	374.9022	2005	CHI	461	2030	4.40	 94	11	310.0023	2006	 SD	461	2480	5.38	127	31	528.7024	2004	DEN	458	2060	4.50	112	12	361.5025	2007	PIT	452	1906	4.22	 88	 7	293.0026	2004	 KC	450	2069	4.60	128	31	499.6027	2005	CAR	449	1632	3.63	 79	15	324.7028	2004	 SD	449	1910	4.25	104	20	374.7029	2007	OAK	448	1887	4.21	 95	 8	309.7030	2006	SEA	448	1662	3.71	 99	 8	240.4031	2007	JAX	445	2118	4.76	101	17	382.6032	2007	WAS	444	1671	3.76	 86	14	337.8533	2002	MIA	444	2110	4.75	107	19	423.2034	2007	 SD	440	1987	4.52	 96	18	392.5535	2003	JAX	440	1934	4.40	105	10	348.9036	2004	BUF	440	1694	3.85	 91	15	294.80
Williams and Stewart combined for 457 carries last season. I would say the over/under for them this year should be no higher than 450. With 20 carries going to FBs and other RBs, that puts them in line with the top 3 teams each year.
It is nice to see it in this perspective.I highlighted 2003 and 2008 which are both in the top 20 all time for rushing attempts. Both under Fox. I think it is safe to say he is commited to running the ball.I was also looking at KC being up here several times and this situation could be similar to when they had Priest and Johnson both performing well. Except Williams is much younger than Priest was and also healthy.hmm bolded tags won't work inside coded text I guess.
 
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I am not splitting anything here.Your statistic isn't useful to this situation.A repeat of 2008 for total rushing attempts and distribution seems the most likely thing to happen here. That has nothing to do with your flawed stat.
Then we agree DWill should not surpass 54% of the team's carries. :rolleyes:
Maybe. If all goes well.This was a career season so you have to expect some regression.If the Panthers end up running less running plays this season then the distribution may look more like 2003 with Williams getting the majority of the carries.
 
In 2008, Carolina rushed 475 times (RBs-excludes Delhomme and S Smith rushes). That averages to about 29 rushes/game.

Assuming that they will try to utilize the strength of their team (their 2 RBs), lets add 4 rushes a game to that mix. That is 33 rushes a game, or 528 for the season.
Your analysis breaks down right here. Their 2 RBs were the strength of their team last year, yet they couldn't get them 33 rushing attempts per game. Why would things be different this year? Especially given that their schedule appears to be more difficult, and, thus, there is a reasonable chance they will be in favorable running situations less often.IMO it is much more likely their RB rushing attempts per game will drop than increase. There is still room for debate on what that means for Williams, but I think there is very little chance that he and Stewart will split 528 carries this year. According to the Data Dominator, only 1 team in the past 5 years has had that many rushing attempts for its RBs - Pittsburgh in 2004 with 534. Only one other team has been over 500 - Baltimore last year, with 523. In fact, within the past 5 years, only 6 teams have had more than Carolina's 475 RB rushing attempts last season.

Now, I still think there is room for Williams to be a great fantasy RB. I just don't think your assumption here was valid. You should rework your numbers with a more reasonable base of rushing attempts.
My post was a reply to the poster who said that DWill should expect to only get 53% of the carries b/c Fox will only give 53% of the rushes to his lead RB. To assume that, you have to believe that Stewart is very talented to take more carries away from the #1RB in the league. If you have two RBs of that caliber, it is reasonable to predict a small increase of 4 carries/game.Personally, I'm more likely to believe that the carries might not go up, but that DWill will get more than 53% of the carries: Either way, I feel that 1500 yards and 15 TDs is very possible for him this year.
No... it's not reasonable... that was the point of my post. If you want to stick to 1500/15 even if the carries stay at 475 are below, fine, it's just not supported by the logic as you presented it.
Yes, it is-you're not looking at this as a reply to another post, but as a separate post of its own.To ASSUME that Fox will only give DWill 53% of the carries, you have to ASSUME that Stewart is a very talented RB, because he will be taking carries away from the best RB from 2008.

If you make both of those ASSUMPTIONS, then it is perfectly reasonable to go on to ASSUME that Carolina will try to run more, and 4 more carries a game aren't a huge increase.
Dude, your reading comprehension needs work.I responded solely to your first assumption in your post. I didn't address whether a 53% split is appropriate or not. I didn't address Stewart's talent. The bottom line is that there is about a 0.1% chance that Carolina will have 528 RB rushing attempts this season. Look at Chase's post. It's not happening. That's what I responded to, period. Given that was your first assumption, it invalidates your analysis.

Now if you want to CHANGE your analysis and say that Williams is getting his 1500/15 come hell or highwater, then give him a higher ypc or ypr or more catches or a greater split of the carries than you used the first time. I didn't offer a comment on any of that.

HTH

 
I am not splitting anything here.Your statistic isn't useful to this situation.A repeat of 2008 for total rushing attempts and distribution seems the most likely thing to happen here. That has nothing to do with your flawed stat.
Then we agree DWill should not surpass 54% of the team's carries. :shrug:
Maybe. If all goes well.This was a career season so you have to expect some regression.If the Panthers end up running less running plays this season then the distribution may look more like 2003 with Williams getting the majority of the carries.
I don't understand this. the Panthers ran more 522 times in 2003 then the 504 times in 2008. So why does running less make the running distribution more comparable to 2003 then to 2008?
 
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Dude, your reading comprehension needs work.I responded solely to your first assumption in your post. I didn't address whether a 53% split is appropriate or not. I didn't address Stewart's talent. The bottom line is that there is about a 0.1% chance that Carolina will have 528 RB rushing attempts this season. Look at Chase's post. It's not happening. That's what I responded to, period. Given that was your first assumption, it invalidates your analysis.Now if you want to CHANGE your analysis and say that Williams is getting his 1500/15 come hell or highwater, then give him a higher ypc or ypr or more catches or a greater split of the carries than you used the first time. I didn't offer a comment on any of that.HTH
Without resorting to childish insults (which you felt the need to use), my reading comprehension is fine, but I feel like yours is a little off. Where did I say that you addressed whether the split is appropriate or not? Where did I say that you addressed Stewart's talent? I challenge you to show me, because I NEVER DID. I wasn't making a projection for 2009, but a prediction of what could happen, IF YOU USE THE ASSUMPTION FROM THE ORIGINAL POSTER that DWill would only get 53% of the touches.My original post was in response to another poster who ignored the fact that DWill was the best RB in the NFL last year. He stated that DWill would get 53% of the carries, period, because that is what Fox has done in the past. I replied "Let's look at it from that standpoint." THE ENTIRE POINT OF MY POST WAS THAT YOU CAN'T LOOK AT ONE STAT, AND IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE! <HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario> If Stewart is good enough to take almost half of the carries away from the best RB from 08, then Carolina's rush attack will have to be great. If it is that great, 4 carries more a game isn't a stretch.<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>So, I'm not actually predicting more carries a game for Carolina, but that is one way I could see the split occuring like the 1st poster stated.<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>I do believe that DWill will come down some from last year (he almost has to), but I fully expect 1500 yards, 15 TDs, which should definitely place DWill in the top 10, possible top 5.BTW-In case you missed the subtlety, I don't actually think the Panthers will rush a lot more in 2008, but if Stewart is good enough to take almost 1/2 the carries, they would almost have to run more.
 
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Bayhawks said:
Dude, your reading comprehension needs work.I responded solely to your first assumption in your post. I didn't address whether a 53% split is appropriate or not. I didn't address Stewart's talent. The bottom line is that there is about a 0.1% chance that Carolina will have 528 RB rushing attempts this season. Look at Chase's post. It's not happening. That's what I responded to, period. Given that was your first assumption, it invalidates your analysis.Now if you want to CHANGE your analysis and say that Williams is getting his 1500/15 come hell or highwater, then give him a higher ypc or ypr or more catches or a greater split of the carries than you used the first time. I didn't offer a comment on any of that.HTH
Without resorting to childish insults (which you felt the need to use), my reading comprehension is fine, but I feel like yours is a little off. Where did I say that you addressed whether the split is appropriate or not? Where did I say that you addressed Stewart's talent? I challenge you to show me, because I NEVER DID. I wasn't making a projection for 2009, but a prediction of what could happen, IF YOU USE THE ASSUMPTION FROM THE ORIGINAL POSTER that DWill would only get 53% of the touches.My original post was in response to another poster who ignored the fact that DWill was the best RB in the NFL last year. He stated that DWill would get 53% of the carries, period, because that is what Fox has done in the past. I replied "Let's look at it from that standpoint." THE ENTIRE POINT OF MY POST WAS THAT YOU CAN'T LOOK AT ONE STAT, AND IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE! <HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario> If Stewart is good enough to take almost half of the carries away from the best RB from 08, then Carolina's rush attack will have to be great. If it is that great, 4 carries more a game isn't a stretch.<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>So, I'm not actually predicting more carries a game for Carolina, but that is one way I could see the split occuring like the 1st poster stated.<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>I do believe that DWill will come down some from last year (he almost has to), but I fully expect 1500 yards, 15 TDs, which should definitely place DWill in the top 10, possible top 5.BTW-In case you missed the subtlety, I don't actually think the Panthers will rush a lot more in 2008, but if Stewart is good enough to take almost 1/2 the carries, they would almost have to run more.
You are the one who said the Panthers would give 4 more carries to their RBs per game. Not the other poster. Thus, you are the one that is wrong on that point, since that was a base assumption you based the rest of your post on. Why is this so hard for you to understand? That (4 more rushing attemps per game to the Panthers RBs) is not going to happen. If you didn't think this would happen, what was the point of your post? Just a waste of space?
 
Bayhawks said:
Dude, your reading comprehension needs work.

I responded solely to your first assumption in your post. I didn't address whether a 53% split is appropriate or not. I didn't address Stewart's talent. The bottom line is that there is about a 0.1% chance that Carolina will have 528 RB rushing attempts this season. Look at Chase's post. It's not happening. That's what I responded to, period. Given that was your first assumption, it invalidates your analysis.

Now if you want to CHANGE your analysis and say that Williams is getting his 1500/15 come hell or highwater, then give him a higher ypc or ypr or more catches or a greater split of the carries than you used the first time. I didn't offer a comment on any of that.

HTH
Without resorting to childish insults (which you felt the need to use), my reading comprehension is fine, but I feel like yours is a little off. Where did I say that you addressed whether the split is appropriate or not? Where did I say that you addressed Stewart's talent? I challenge you to show me, because I NEVER DID. I wasn't making a projection for 2009, but a prediction of what could happen, IF YOU USE THE ASSUMPTION FROM THE ORIGINAL POSTER that DWill would only get 53% of the touches.

My original post was in response to another poster who ignored the fact that DWill was the best RB in the NFL last year. He stated that DWill would get 53% of the carries, period, because that is what Fox has done in the past. I replied "Let's look at it from that standpoint." THE ENTIRE POINT OF MY POST WAS THAT YOU CAN'T LOOK AT ONE STAT, AND IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE!

<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>

If Stewart is good enough to take almost half of the carries away from the best RB from 08, then Carolina's rush attack will have to be great. If it is that great, 4 carries more a game isn't a stretch.

<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>

So, I'm not actually predicting more carries a game for Carolina, but that is one way I could see the split occuring like the 1st poster stated.

<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>

I do believe that DWill will come down some from last year (he almost has to), but I fully expect 1500 yards, 15 TDs, which should definitely place DWill in the top 10, possible top 5.

BTW-In case you missed the subtlety, I don't actually think the Panthers will rush a lot more in 2008, but if Stewart is good enough to take almost 1/2 the carries, they would almost have to run more.
You are the one who said the Panthers would give 4 more carries to their RBs per game. Not the other poster. Thus, you are the one that is wrong on that point, since that was a base assumption you based the rest of your post on. Why is this so hard for you to understand? That (4 more rushing attemps per game to the Panthers RBs) is not going to happen. If you didn't think this would happen, what was the point of your post? Just a waste of space?
OK, because you appear to be having trouble, I tried to make the point of my post very, very clear. Look at it again, please. It should jump out at you.And where did I say that the Panthers would give 4 more carries to their RBs? It was a hypothetical situation, based on the assumption made by the 1st poster. Furthermore, I have (SEVERAL TIMES) posted since that I don't believe this would happen, but that if the 1st poster's hypothetical occured, then these hypothetical 4 carries could occur.

Maybe, instead of picking 1 line out of a single post from a thread, you should try reading the entire thread, and taking the posts, I don't know, IN CONTEXT?

The original post of the thread is questioning why DWill is at #8 by FBG. Many posters have replied giving reasons why they feel he is ranked where he is (Stewart, RBBC in Carolina, regression to the mean, etc). I have posted several times that I feel he will regress (1500/15 area), but I don't buy the fact that Stewart is so talented he'll take more carries, or that Fox will use a even split RBBC. Instead of taking my post as a response to an assumption made by another player, you insist on looking at it as a single, solitary comment that is not related to other comments, or even to this thread. Try to understand, I didn't start a thread and say "Carolina will rush 33 times a game in 2009-book it." Rather, I replied to another poster's statement (that I felt was not a valid reason to downgrade DWill) with my comment. You don't seem able to understand that-that's too bad.

 
Bayhawks said:
Dude, your reading comprehension needs work.

I responded solely to your first assumption in your post. I didn't address whether a 53% split is appropriate or not. I didn't address Stewart's talent. The bottom line is that there is about a 0.1% chance that Carolina will have 528 RB rushing attempts this season. Look at Chase's post. It's not happening. That's what I responded to, period. Given that was your first assumption, it invalidates your analysis.

Now if you want to CHANGE your analysis and say that Williams is getting his 1500/15 come hell or highwater, then give him a higher ypc or ypr or more catches or a greater split of the carries than you used the first time. I didn't offer a comment on any of that.

HTH
Without resorting to childish insults (which you felt the need to use), my reading comprehension is fine, but I feel like yours is a little off. Where did I say that you addressed whether the split is appropriate or not? Where did I say that you addressed Stewart's talent? I challenge you to show me, because I NEVER DID. I wasn't making a projection for 2009, but a prediction of what could happen, IF YOU USE THE ASSUMPTION FROM THE ORIGINAL POSTER that DWill would only get 53% of the touches.

My original post was in response to another poster who ignored the fact that DWill was the best RB in the NFL last year. He stated that DWill would get 53% of the carries, period, because that is what Fox has done in the past. I replied "Let's look at it from that standpoint." THE ENTIRE POINT OF MY POST WAS THAT YOU CAN'T LOOK AT ONE STAT, AND IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE!

<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>

If Stewart is good enough to take almost half of the carries away from the best RB from 08, then Carolina's rush attack will have to be great. If it is that great, 4 carries more a game isn't a stretch.

<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>

So, I'm not actually predicting more carries a game for Carolina, but that is one way I could see the split occuring like the 1st poster stated.

<HINT-I don't think this is what will happen, but I was portraying a possible scenario>

I do believe that DWill will come down some from last year (he almost has to), but I fully expect 1500 yards, 15 TDs, which should definitely place DWill in the top 10, possible top 5.

BTW-In case you missed the subtlety, I don't actually think the Panthers will rush a lot more in 2008, but if Stewart is good enough to take almost 1/2 the carries, they would almost have to run more.
You are the one who said the Panthers would give 4 more carries to their RBs per game. Not the other poster. Thus, you are the one that is wrong on that point, since that was a base assumption you based the rest of your post on. Why is this so hard for you to understand? That (4 more rushing attemps per game to the Panthers RBs) is not going to happen. If you didn't think this would happen, what was the point of your post? Just a waste of space?
OK, because you appear to be having trouble, I tried to make the point of my post very, very clear. Look at it again, please. It should jump out at you.And where did I say that the Panthers would give 4 more carries to their RBs? It was a hypothetical situation, based on the assumption made by the 1st poster. Furthermore, I have (SEVERAL TIMES) posted since that I don't believe this would happen, but that if the 1st poster's hypothetical occured, then these hypothetical 4 carries could occur.

Maybe, instead of picking 1 line out of a single post from a thread, you should try reading the entire thread, and taking the posts, I don't know, IN CONTEXT?

The original post of the thread is questioning why DWill is at #8 by FBG. Many posters have replied giving reasons why they feel he is ranked where he is (Stewart, RBBC in Carolina, regression to the mean, etc). I have posted several times that I feel he will regress (1500/15 area), but I don't buy the fact that Stewart is so talented he'll take more carries, or that Fox will use a even split RBBC. Instead of taking my post as a response to an assumption made by another player, you insist on looking at it as a single, solitary comment that is not related to other comments, or even to this thread. Try to understand, I didn't start a thread and say "Carolina will rush 33 times a game in 2009-book it." Rather, I replied to another poster's statement (that I felt was not a valid reason to downgrade DWill) with my comment. You don't seem able to understand that-that's too bad.
OK... so even though you suggested in your post that Carolina would give its RBs 4 more rushing attempts per game... and YOU did that, no one else... you didn't really MEAN it... because you were just going along with another poster's assumptions on another point (percentage of carries). :moneybag: So what is the point of your post, if you don't stand behind it? Let us know when you want to post something you believe and want to stand behind.

I haven't said that your conclusion (1500/15) is wrong, just that the way you arrived at it is wrong. The way you arrived at it is based on the assumption I showed is wrong. If you want to revise it, great. You are the one that seems unwilling to budge off the stupid assumption.

 
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Not to me really. I don't think 2001 team rushing TD totals have a lot of predictive power for 2009. The very best correlation (which obviously isn't perfect, but it is the best), is previous year performance. Every year removed from that gets progressively more worthless in terms of what you can glean from it. Again, his (and the team's) TDs will very likely go down and his total stats will likely go down. I think we all agree on that. The question is how much they are likely to go, and how many guys are better bets than he is for fantasy performance.I just don't think the "He was really great last year, so he will probably suck this year" line of reasoning makes any sense.JMO.
I think that is an oversimplification of the argument to downgrade DWill. I think there is more to this discussion then that. Unfortunately I doubt I can restate it any better then has already been done. I don't think anyone is suggesting to avoid him at all cost, and saying he is #8 is far from sucking in my book. Honestly, I think on a per touch basis DWill should be considered in the discussion for the best running back in the league, but you can't ignore that fantasy success is completely dependent on the aggregate. In the end if you spot your competitors extra carries and more involvement in the passing game you mitigate your advantage.
Excellent points, and my statement IS an oversimplification. There are legit reasons once could downgrade Dwill. Some of them I agree with and some of them I don't.But I DO get the feeling sometimes that SOME people are downgrading him PRIMARILY on the fact that he had a great "or career" year, and what I am trying to say is that he doesn't have to have the SAME year he just had to have a very nice year. No individual RB is ever LIKELY to have a year like that in any given year, even the biggest of big guns. It's a little more likely that someone in the "field" will do it, but to predict any specific RB to have a year like that is difficult to do. To me, it's more about who is a good bet to have a very good year, with a chance to have a GREAT year, and Dwill is certainly in that category. For me, having seven guys as better fits in that category is too many, but I do get the arguments to the contrary.
I think the biggest reason to downgrade his stats this year can be found in the schedules of last year versus this year. This year, he gets the NFC and AFC East. Last year, he had the NFC Central and the AFC West. Accounting for similar teams, the difference is this:
Code:
2008			  2009      Chi			   Dal   Det			   Was   GB				Phi   KC				NYJ   SD				Mia   Den			   NE   Oak			   Buf
The 7 rushing defenses for those team in 2008 averaged 30 rpg for 4.55 ypc and gave up 21.6 TDs for the year. The 7 defenses that will replace those in 2009 averaged 25.7 rpg for 3.97 ypc and gave up about 11 TDs for the year. This can easily explain a decrease in the number of rushes by Carolina along with a decrease in ypc and a decrease in rushing TDs.
So we're relying on 2008 defensive numbers to repeat so we can justify not relying on a RB's 2008 numbers to repeat?
 
I am not splitting anything here.Your statistic isn't useful to this situation.A repeat of 2008 for total rushing attempts and distribution seems the most likely thing to happen here. That has nothing to do with your flawed stat.
Then we agree DWill should not surpass 54% of the team's carries. :excited:
Maybe. If all goes well.This was a career season so you have to expect some regression.If the Panthers end up running less running plays this season then the distribution may look more like 2003 with Williams getting the majority of the carries.
I don't understand this. the Panthers ran more 522 times in 2003 then the 504 times in 2008. So why does running less make the running distribution more comparable to 2003 then to 2008?
If you look above you see that RB carries for Carolina, not total carries RB carries were 10 less in 2003 than 2008. RB averared 4.3 ypc compared to 5.0 significantly less right? And the Panthers also had 12 less 1st downs in 2003 than 2008.A difference in 10-20 1st downs running the ball over a season could lead to anywhere from 10-40 less RB carries depending on the teams situation at the time. The Panthers are on this list twice in the top 20 however so to me that is pretty convincing about the Pathers under Fox being commited to running the ball more often than most teams. Even in less that ideal situations. The difference in the 18 total running plays from 2003 (when running game was much less effective) was Delhomme running the ball 22 more times and Steve Smith getting 6 more carries.I think these 2 seasons are relevant because these were the seasons where the starting RBs were healthy.I am not saying I think the Panthers running game will decline a lot. I think it is clear that Fox wants his team to run the ball 500+ times and both Williams and Stewart are more talented RB than they have ever had before (They had Williams but carries were limited). But if there is a decline in effectivness (and thus less rushing attempts for the RB) I don't expect the distribution between Williams and Stewart to stay the same as 2008 and would likely fall back towards 2003 distribution. That is if Williams and Stewart are both healthy.The way Fox split carries last year was to give Stewart every 3rd series. That is a lot easier to do when it is working and your team is ahead. But it is also kind of a luxury. If the team struggles more this season. The defense is on the field too much and the Panthers are playing from behind I would expect Fox to keep his best RB in more often and that might look more like the 2003 distribution.You do not have to agree. But I hope you at least understand what I am saying.
 
OK... so even though you suggested in your post that Carolina would give its RBs 4 more rushing attempts per game... and YOU did that, no one else... you didn't really MEAN it... because you were just going along with another poster's assumptions on another point (percentage of carries). :mellow:

So what is the point of your post, if you don't stand behind it? Let us know when you want to post something you believe and want to stand behind.

I haven't said that your conclusion (1500/15) is wrong, just that the way you arrived at it is wrong. The way you arrived at it is based on the assumption I showed is wrong. If you want to revise it, great. You are the one that seems unwilling to budge off the stupid assumption.
You've asked me several times: what's the point of my post. I don't know how to say it, but I have to ask, seriously: CAN YOU READ? I capitalized, bolded, underlined, and enlarged the point of my original post! Here it is again:THE ENTIRE POINT OF MY POST WAS THAT YOU CAN'T LOOK AT ONE STAT, AND IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE!

The original poster was implying that Williams will lose carries b/c Fox only gives his lead RBs 53% of the carries. THIS IS THE ONE STAT HE WAS LOOKING AT & HE WAS IGNORING EVERYTHING ELSE. I don't agree with that premise, and specifically said, "Let's look at it from that standpoint." I was not suggesting that I thought Carolina would rush 4 more times a game, rather that IF Stewart was good enough to get almost 1/2 the carries from Williams, he would have to be pretty darn good. If you have the best RB in the NFL (2008) AND you have a RB good enough to take 1/2 the carries from him, then you would expect them to run more. So, even if that posters premise was valid (which I don't think it is), then Williams would still do all right.

It's not an assumption I'm making-that's what you don't get. I don't expect Carolina to add 4 carries/game this year. I was extending the original poster's premise that Williams would only get 53% of the carries. I don't expect that to happen either. I was merely saying that if it did happen, then the 4 extra carries a game COULD happen as well, and Williams numbers would still be pretty good.

 
I give up. You win. Your post was the post of the year. :tinfoilhat:To everyone else, sorry for clogging up the thread.
 
great thread to the OP...

i was the only staffer to choose williams in the upcoming magazine's value play article...

i was hesitant to pick a player already ranked so high (ADP RB6 on my working list), & am pretty sure i have never done this before...

this thread prompted a few thoughts...

as i worked through it, i saw a few variations on a theme of something that also occurred to me... williams had a historic scoring outburst, with nearly 1,000 yards & 15 TDs in EIGHT games... the number of RBs that have done this has to be small, & of those that populate the small sample group, there aren't any flukes in the bunch (jason put this well, paraphrasing)... its possible that williams has historically good talent, but i get the feeling there is a lag in the aggregate perception of him... imo, rankings much below RB5 may involve a complex of factors, including the presence of stewart, a regression to the mean in yards & TDs... but ALSO that he may not be commonly viewed as an extremely rare talent... i think he is, & that isn't just based on history or the numbers, but i'll return to that in a moment...

i liked chase's cogent query (which went unanswered as far as i could tell)... how many other RBs do you have pegged for a higher TD floor than deangelo?

great list by doug... i noticed that no RB on the list dropped more than 5 TDs in the next season (jim brown at #1, & one other time, i think)... many times the drop was in the 2-4 range... yes, last year was an amazing, & seemingly extremely difficult year to replicate... historically & statistically... yet this admittedly very small sample group suggests that if 2009 falls somewhere within the previous curve, he may be looking at between 16-18 TDs... there have been a lot of excellent arguments made back & forth from several viewpoints... i just find that it interesting that his projection is so polarizing, with some very sceptical he could get 15 TDs in a season again... WHEN HE DID IT IN EIGHT GAMES! :hifive:

a few other points, which addresses matters other than historical/statistical...

what did my eyeballs tell me last year... like matt, last year reminded me of williams' highlight reel film from memphis, which seems like a long time ago... in his first two seasons (really two & a half), he seemed more lethargic... this itself could have been from a couple factors... transitioning to the NFL (RB is notoriously one of the positions that SOME backs can hit with a running start best, so reliant is it on innate skills like, for lack of a better word, instinctiveness, but not all backs do)... but also, he didn't get a chance to be the lead RB for much of that time... so perhaps he never got the opportunity to get into a groove & show what he was capable of?

last year i saw a return to what made him look like such a rare & special talent a few years ago... i thought it was laughable at the time that some seemed to view him as a munchkin & somehow lacking requisite feature RB size... yet i think at his combine (off the top of my head), he was listed at about 5'9" 217... pretty sure emmitt was smaller than that when he entered the league... at any rate, he is plenty big... emmitt may be built differently, but its not like deangelo has small legs...

in terms of how he moves, he is in some ways reminiscent of barry sanders (how good would sanders have been behind the CAR OL circa '08? it would make today's defenses shudder :) )... not in the sense that sanders could make cuts at full speed at the extreme range of human possibility, and his superhuman COD ability made him look like a cartoon character at times... but in the sense that both have very low centers of gravity, powerful lower bodies, shocking contact balance and ability to stay on their feet (smith had this, payton & jim brown, who was obviously bigger, were legendary for their power, contact balance & ability to stay on their feet & keep the play alive)... also deceptively powerful upper bodies to help fend off would be tacklers... like sanders, deangelo also has electric burst, suddenness & instant acceleration... the CAR OL is so good right now that williams gets to the second level almost untouched a lot... if the defense doesn't maintain consistent gap discipline, he is a horrific quickness mismatch for LBs, & he is off to the races... plus he is stronger than most CBs & faster than most safeties, so a mismatch even in the last line of defense (it isn't an accident that he busted so many long TD runs, improbable or statistically unlikely or not)... none of this would matter if he didn't have the vision & instincts to make it work, & like sanders, he seems to have that spooky sixth sense to see not just where 21 other players on the field, running at different speeds, are NOW, but where they WILL BE a split second from now... basically, being able to see how the play will unfold before it has... the great ones have it, deangelo seems to...

the folks that are imo lowballing williams based on trends & regression to mean (BTW, i expect some form, just not as pronounced as many seem to fear/expect) may not be fully appreciating his rare physical traits & attributes... he doesn't have too many weaknesses that i can see... can run inside & outside, tacklers bounce off of him, sick burst, world class elusiveness & breakaway speed... what's not to like? but if you think he is going to lose his burst, contact balance, moves, long speed all of a sudden (he is 26 but used sparingly first two seasons, he would seem to have fresh legs... the flip side to stewart being bad for him is that if he gets even 45% of the carries, it will keep williams fresher... this can seemingly only INCREASE the chance he has the fresh legs to break more long runs?), than by all means downgrade him accordingly... :)

sheerly (don't call me sheerly) & purely on TALENT alone, i would rephrase chase's question & ask, how many RBs are more talented than williams... peterson is the only one right now i would tentatively profer... & even he wouldn't be completely unequivocal... you could make a case that deangelo looked more dangerous & explosive than even peterson in the second half of the season...

i'm in the minority, but peterson is probably the only RB i would take over him in a redraft this season...

stats & history are critically important ELEMENTS of an OVERALL vetting of prospects (they make for good slaves but poor masters), but don't clearly take into account everything... for instance...

williams by his own admission was not in the greatest shape & condition to start his career... he actually credited vinnie testaverde with helping him to realize he needed to apply himself more & work harder if he wanted to fulfill his potential... assuming last year taught him this lesson powerfully, maintaining his work ethic should increase the possibility that last year wasn't a fluke... not saying he is a lock to get 1,000 yards & 15 TDs in eight games again, but that he could in fact be well positioned to do better than in his first two seasons, if he wasn't preparing in the same way before...

stats don't consider (& don't get me wrong, i'm not a quantitative equivalent to a luddite, we just shouldn't ask of them what they are not capable of providing... that is the fault of the person using a tool wrongly, not the tool itself), fox may have a newfound appreciation of williams talents after seeing him tear NFL defenses to shreds in the last 8 weeks & put together one of the historically greatest stretches for a RB in NFL history... empirically, he flashed talent & skills which deserve to be in the conversation with the top few RBs in the game, peterson included...

stats don't take into account that fox, WHO LOVES TO RUN THE BALL, is in a much different position to appreciate & understand what he has on his hands with the OL as we lead up to 2009, than he did this time last year (he knows how good otah is, for instance)...

they don't take into account the fact that the CAR coaching staff has had a full offseason to think of creative ways to get the ball in his hands... why not toss 2-3 screens per week to him, and see what he can do behind the OL, & creating in the open field?

other factors...

stewart is big & fast, & entering last season, was assumed to be the logical candidate to get the lion's share of the goal line carries... but this would sell short the fact that williams is an exceptional goal line RB...

blocking used to be a question with williams, but i believe he has improved... willing (no doubt made aware of the correlation between becoming more adept in pass pro & opportunity to get on the field more) & now more technically proficient after being coached up...

BTW, how is stewart in the blocking department, specifically his development relative to williams both now & at a comparable stage in his career (for longer term forecasting purposes)?... he is no doubt bigger... if he is still raw in this area, that would be a data point to factor into expected carries split by williams/stewart this season...

as to the liklihood of the panthers going 12-4 again (& therefore being able to run as much in 2009 as they did in 2008), it would be remiss of us to not examine defense... they were a fraction of a point away from being a top 10 defense last season, & they have stars at every level... peppers on the DL, beason at LB (thomas davis may be an ascendant player) as well as gamble & marshall at CB (not sure if harris is a star, but a pretty good safety)... they are good... that will help them to get leads, run a lot & win...

this has been an incisive thread, & would like start several spinoff threads (unprecedented for me) to drill down further into what i find a keenly interesting subject...

 
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Great post Bob and I agree that Williams now has to be considered amoung the elite RB in the NFL right now. I of course want to see another season from him getting 200+ carries before sealing that deal but I believed he had that talent as a rookie prospect and my opinion on that hasn't changed.

If Stewart were not on the team and DeAnglo had burst onto the scene as a rookie I don't think we would be having this conversation. Williams would be consensus top 3.

But we still don't have enough of a sample size for Williams to put those ghosts to bed yet. I think we will by seasons end.

Many people believe in Stewarts talent and with good reason. I think he is a high quality RB who would likely start for most teams in the league if he were on them. But lets just say for arguments sake that Stewart is good enough to start for 28 teams in the league. He still wouldn't start for Carolina because Williams is just that good.

We also wouldn't be having this argument if Stewart were backing up AD in Minnesota.

Jacksonville would be more sketchy as there is a role for another RB in that offense besides MJD. I doubt Stewart would get GL over the bowling ball however.

 
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