DEBATE TIME. How much better is Maroney over Addai for next year (1 Viewer)

[Biabreakable]

Monster game by Addai. I have had my doubts about him but they keep being dismissed by his performance. I don't know what happened to the Eagles defense this game. I'm interested to hear what people have to say about that and what they saw from Addai's running and the Colts blocking in this game.

I am just looking at the stats here. Addai never had a run longer than 15 yards yet he had 24 carries for 171 yards 7.1 ypc 4TDs. It just doesen't get any better than that. The Colts must have really worn the Eagles defense down.

Rhodes had similar success 15 carries 68 yards 4.5 ypc but the difference between the 2 seems clear that Addai has somthing special. That should translate into good performance against a better defense and under less ideal situation.

Last week in the Colts only loss this year against the Cowboys Addai had 13 carries 50 yards 3.9 ypc. Makes me wonder if they shouldn't have used Addai more in that game. It could have made a difference in a close game against a better defense. A rb getting 3.5 ypc or more is doing thier job in terms of getting 1st downs. Rhodes had 9 carries 30 yards 3.3 ypc in that game.

Addai's performance today has caused him to jump into the top 10 rbs in my league. And he doesen't have 200 combined touches yet. He has been a pretty steady performer throughout most of the season even though the RBBC has been holding him back.

Even if this ends up being a career game for him you have to like his prospects moving forward.

As a dynasty owner of Maroney and DeAngelo Williams who could have taken Addai instead of either of them I am definitly thinking I may have made a mistake. I like both of thier prospects a lot as well. But Addai's situation and the Colts offense moving forward is about as stable as any in the NFL.

As far as where he fits in ranking him for dynasty with all the other Rbs now?

I'm not sure yet but he is definitly a Rb 1 imo moving forward.

 

[THE UNDERCOVER BROTHA]

Monster game by Addai. I have had my doubts about him but they keep being dismissed by his performance. I don't know what happened to the Eagles defense this game. I'm interested to hear what people have to say about that and what they saw from Addai's running and the Colts blocking in this game.I am just looking at the stats here. Addai never had a run longer than 15 yards yet he had 24 carries for 171 yards 7.1 ypc 4TDs. It just doesen't get any better than that. The Colts must have really worn the Eagles defense down. Rhodes had similar success 15 carries 68 yards 4.5 ypc but the difference between the 2 seems clear that Addai has somthing special. That should translate into good performance against a better defense and under less ideal situation.Last week in the Colts only loss this year against the Cowboys Addai had 13 carries 50 yards 3.9 ypc. Makes me wonder if they shouldn't have used Addai more in that game. It could have made a difference in a close game against a better defense. A rb getting 3.5 ypc or more is doing thier job in terms of getting 1st downs. Rhodes had 9 carries 30 yards 3.3 ypc in that game.Addai's performance today has caused him to jump into the top 10 rbs in my league. And he doesen't have 200 combined touches yet. He has been a pretty steady performer throughout most of the season even though the RBBC has been holding him back. Even if this ends up being a career game for him you have to like his prospects moving forward.As a dynasty owner of Maroney and DeAngelo Williams who could have taken Addai instead of either of them I am definitly thinking I may have made a mistake. I like both of thier prospects a lot as well. But Addai's situation and the Colts offense moving forward is about as stable as any in the NFL.As far as where he fits in ranking him for dynasty with all the other Rbs now?I'm not sure yet but he is definitly a Rb 1 imo moving forward.

 

[Futeki]

Monster game by Addai. I have had my doubts about him but they keep being dismissed by his performance. I don't know what happened to the Eagles defense this game. I'm interested to hear what people have to say about that and what they saw from Addai's running and the Colts blocking in this game.

I am just looking at the stats here. Addai never had a run longer than 15 yards yet he had 24 carries for 171 yards 7.1 ypc 4TDs. It just doesen't get any better than that. The Colts must have really worn the Eagles defense down.

Rhodes had similar success 15 carries 68 yards 4.5 ypc but the difference between the 2 seems clear that Addai has somthing special. That should translate into good performance against a better defense and under less ideal situation.

Last week in the Colts only loss this year against the Cowboys Addai had 13 carries 50 yards 3.9 ypc. Makes me wonder if they shouldn't have used Addai more in that game. It could have made a difference in a close game against a better defense. A rb getting 3.5 ypc or more is doing thier job in terms of getting 1st downs. Rhodes had 9 carries 30 yards 3.3 ypc in that game.

Addai's performance today has caused him to jump into the top 10 rbs in my league. And he doesen't have 200 combined touches yet. He has been a pretty steady performer throughout most of the season even though the RBBC has been holding him back.

Even if this ends up being a career game for him you have to like his prospects moving forward.

As a dynasty owner of Maroney and DeAngelo Williams who could have taken Addai instead of either of them I am definitly thinking I may have made a mistake. I like both of thier prospects a lot as well. But Addai's situation and the Colts offense moving forward is about as stable as any in the NFL.

As far as where he fits in ranking him for dynasty with all the other Rbs now?

I'm not sure yet but he is definitly a Rb 1 imo moving forward.

I know this may sound strange, but Addai only looked very solid.The Eagles were just daring the Colts to run. They were playing two deep, with the corners out way wide. They kept two more players playing well outside. The wideouts were effectively triple teamed. As a result, the Eagles often only had 5 "in the box". The five lineman plus a TE had little trouble handling four of the remaining five guys. He basically only had to beat one player coming from way out of position five yards down field.

Addai did look good finding the holes. There was always one there, albeit not necessarily huge or where it was expected to be. He showed decent change of direction beating the lone LB each time. But as I said, they were always way out of position and doing everything they could to just get to the play. Being able to make a solid attempt at a tackle was a different story.

He benifits significantly from the Colts offense. If you expect teams to dare the Colts to run every game, the appearance of greatness might be expected.

 

[avoiding injuries]

I heard Michaels and Madden comment on how Wayne and Harrison would be double teamed and that the Eagles priority was to stop the pass. That still doesn't take away from what Addai did. There were a few runs I thought Addai was going to get stopped in the backfield and waited for holes to open and bursted through them once they did. Especially on runs to the sideline. I also saw him take some good hits and continue to drag players for 4-5 yard gains. He looked good last night, real good.

 

[messinwithu]

This is a great debate that got more interesting with the great game by Addai.

I own Maroney and Addai in different leagues and not sure that I would trade Addai for Maroney or Maroney for Addai in either league. It would be hard to know that you traded one of these guys away if he becomes a stud for the next 6 years. Not knowing if you could have made the trade would make it easier.

 

[djcolts]

This is a great debate that got more interesting with the great game by Addai.

I own Maroney and Addai in different leagues and not sure that I would trade Addai for Maroney or Maroney for Addai in either league. It would be hard to know that you traded one of these guys away if he becomes a stud for the next 6 years. Not knowing if you could have made the trade would make it easier.

I have Maroney on my keeper league team, and early in the season the Addai owner offer me Addai for Maroney straight up. I said no. Of course, this was the week I played the Addai owner so I got whipped. But, who could entirely blame me early in the season? This is what Bill Simmons wrote after week 1:

COLTS (-13.5) over Texans

Biggest mistake of the 2006 Draft: The Colts not moving up to make sure they got Laurence Maroney, who's about two more big runs away from convincing me to buy a #39 Pats jersey online. On the bright side, everyone who picked Manning, Harrison or Wayne in a fantasy league is ready to throw a keg party. Good times

Obviously this looks stupid now - even if you think Maroney is better than Addai, clearly the Colts are getting enough value from Addai so far that it wasn't worth trading up to get Maroney (and certainly waiting for Addai wasn't the worst move in the 2006 draft).

 

[my man otis]

IIRC the Eagles came out in nickel to start the game b/c the Colts hurry-up wouldn't have allowed them to change personnel between plays. That by definition will open up some running lanes.

That said, the Colts OL manhandled the Eagles front. There were HUGE holes to run though.

Comparing Addai and Rhodes:

- Rhodes hits the correct hole fast, but when he cuts he's more of a dancer than a downhill runner. There were times when he's come up to a LB or S, dance a bit, then get tackled. Rhodes was knocked backwards on a couple of occasions when tackled.

- Addai, OTOH, hit the hole only slightly faster, but when he cut he kept moving downhill. Once past the line he made the correct cut to the open lanes most times. Even when he was wrapped up he wriggled for another yard or two. Basically handoff, hit the hole hard, hard cut, few more yards, get wrapped up and wriggle for another yard or two. Very impressed with his game on Sunday.

Where does he fit among the top RBs going forward?

This year - below the RBs that get the majority of touches, but at the top of the list of RBs that split time. Probably in the 10-15 range.

Next year - A lot can change from now until then honestly. At worst I see him staying in that 10-15 range, which would put him in the mid 2nd to mid 3rd rounds in most drafts.

 

[baronson]

I think they are both in ideal situation to succeed.There's a great chance we are looking at the birth of two future perrenial top-5 fantasy RBs.

Nothing that's happened the last few weeks - and nothing I've read in this thread - makes me think my comment from then is any less true.For next year (and beyond) they are both in ideal situations.

i'm inclined to agree with this. maroney def needs dillon to snap a hammy first, but in the meantime, i think they're both progressing well. i'm not putting as much weight into one enormous game the way others are (for addai), but it's hard to ignore the progress of each. i think these are 2 of the top 4 backs in 2008 for sure. 2007 may be a bit tumultuous for each, in my opinion.i say this because i see [rhodes] and dillon still having roles next year. i think each of the young guys will have the top spot, but dillon will likely still see a lot of GL work, and i see the colts signing some short-yardage guy in the off-season. the league is migrating AWAY from the 1 back system, so each may see their share of huge games and lackluster ones next year. but by the end of 07, they'll be firmly entrenched as top 5 guys (along with KJones, LT2, and brandon jacobs in my opinion - LJ will be worn thin by then).

 

[djcolts]

This is from Colts GM Bill Polian's weekly radio show on Monday:

A: No. 1, it depends what the game is like. On games such as Sunday night, when they’re saying, ‘You’re going to have to run the ball,’ then you have to have two backs. One back can’t carry the ball 39 times as we did Sunday. He won’t stand up. As you saw Sunday night, there were times when Joseph needed a blow. The one drive where we went 13 straight running plays, you had to give him a blow. That’s one thing. In another game, where you may have a different defensive set that dictates you do different things, he might or might not get more snaps. It would depend largely upon what you saw as the blocking situation. He’s a little bit stouter blocker than Dominic is. It also would depend whether or not you’re in the red zone a great deal, because he’s the principle red-zone player, as you know. On Sunday night, we converted a 3rd-and-1 with (defensive tackle Dan) Klecko in the backfield and nobody was happier than I. We were jumping up and down because I’ve said time and again, ‘We need to be able to do that if we’re going to be a really good team.’ We’ve got all those big Kahunas and we attacked the corner and made four yards. That’s his (Addai’s) strength. The short answer is they’ll continue to share time and the game situation will dictate how many carries he gets. Sunday night, Joseph had 24 carries and Dom had 15-to-18. That’s probably about the right ratio, but again, it will depend upon the game. Q: Is there any truth to talk that the Colts also had interest in Laurence Maroney, the Minnesota running back selected in the first round last April by New England? A: We had those backs rated side by side. (Colts Owner and Chief Executive Officer) Jim Irsay came in on draft-day morning, as he often does because he’s so clued in to what we do and because he’s a football man. He asked the question, ‘Do you want to try to trade up to get one of the backs?’ We said, ‘Let’s think about it. We don’t think anybody’s willing, but we’ve been exploring possibilities.’ I said, ‘Let’s see how the draft develops.’ Lo and behold, we started to get interest around No. 18 to 24 and people said, ‘We’ll think about doing it with you,’ then as we got to that area, everybody backed out and nobody wanted to trade. I think New England took Maroney around 20, if I’m not mistaken. At that point in time, Tony – who is always Mr. Positive – turned to Jim and said, ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to get our guy. We’ll be fine.’ I started pacing at that point, because we had no trade possibilities, but then the way things developed, when we hit about No. 27, we were pretty sure we were going to get him and we did. We really had the two backs rated side by side and I think their performance this year would indicate that that was the correct rating. Maroney’s a great back, too. Make no mistake about it. He was a great pick by New England, but we’re just as happy we have Joseph.

There was some press that Polian was pissed when NE took Maroney - and that's probably true. So, how true was Polian's answer to the Maroney/Addai question and how much is spin? I don't really know - I'd guess that Maroney was 1a and Addai was 1b on their board - and he was afraid he'd lose out on both of them. That would fit the most pieces - Polian being upset when Maroney was picked, Peyton telling Tom Brady the Pats "got their guy" - AND the Colts taking about 2 seconds to take Addai when they were up to draft at #30.