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Hines Ward isn't a poor man's anybody. Wes Welker is lucky to be mentioned in the same sentence as Hines Ward.And if you had Leon Washington, Darren Sproles, and Chris Henry ranked above Hines Ward then someone needs to smack you.
I somehow skipped over that part of the post. That is crazy.
100% true on both counts.
With Pitt's horrendous run blocking, Parker's lack of burst, Troy Polamalu's injury....Pitt's offense is going to be throwing the ball. I think 40 passes is going to be common.
This is true. Ward, Driver, and Derrick Mason are all always underappreciated and undervalued. I agree that it's the old guy thing. Some people just want to drive the shiny new car, even if the old car is still driving better.And I too don't really get the Hines Ward is a poor man's Wes Welker title. They're two of my favorites, they're both awesome, but they're really not that much alike.I think Holmes emergence may dampen Ward's outlook a bit though. Holmes is the man to have, Ward will be a solid WR2. But I see big things for Pitts passing offense.
This is true. Ward, Driver, and Derrick Mason are all always underappreciated and undervalued. I agree that it's the old guy thing. Some people just want to drive the shiny new car, even if the old car is still driving better.
I almost went back to edit in Mason. Have all three in one league. 
Pitt had horrendous run blocking last year and Parker had a lack of burst last year, too. At least this year they have Mendenhall, too. 40 passes is not going to be common in Pittsburgh. Last year, Ben had as many 40+ pass games as 20- pass games. I expect the same sort of ratio this year. Consider that a 40-pass average means 640 pass attempts in a season, a mark even the Saints fell shy of last season.
Bingo. I would not take this game as an indication of future targets for Ward or Holmes. If I owned Miller I might be guardedly optimistic about his prospects at this point. But other than that the passing stats for Pitt in this game at much more likely the exception than the rule.
Of course it all depends on where you draft him, as Ward in the 7th or 8th should be a bargain. But Hines Ward has not been a great fantasy WR throughout his career, which is obviously what the OP was talking about. This is his 12th season and he's only had 2 good and 3 OK seasons throughout his career fantasy wise. In a PPR league you could throw in his 2001 season as well. But to take offense at Ward being compared to a guy coming off back to back 100+ catch, 1,100+ yards seasons seems a bit silly. Of course a comparison of NFL value is a totally difference story, but I think it was pretty clear the OP was talking about fantasy value.
I'd agree that Holmes won't go for 2096/16 and Ward probably won't reach 1648 yards with 16 fumbles. However, it appears that the Pittsburgh run game may be worse than even last year. If Troy P is out, teams will score against that defense this year. Its a very good defense, but the secondary is weak without him. There's a lot of teams better suited to exploiting that than the Titans. I think this is the first year Big Ben attempts more than 500 passes. 340/525 for 3800 and 25 TDs seems plausible to me.
I agree that this game is probably an aberration, but I do feel more optimistic about Santonio Holmes meeting or exceeding the projection of a middle of the pack WR2 in non-PPR leagues.
I agree that - philosophically speaking - they would love to run the ball all day. The problem is that they can't, either because their line isn't very good or their backs aren't good or a combination of both. Given that they can apparently throw the ball pretty well they may well be forced to sling it a lot this season for the simple reason that if they try to run all day their offensive will not be very good."
Having the best defense in the league will go a long way towards avoiding having to pass. Roethlisberger had 26 turnovers last season on about 550 plays, so I don't think Pittsburgh is too anxious to have him drop back 40 times a game this year. With that defense, Pittsburgh will just want to minimize mistakes. TEN is one of the best teams in the league; against weaker opponents, PIT will be able to throw 20 safe passes and win, IMO.
I generally want to agree with tha, PITT wants to run. But they better show they can, Parker and Mendenhall were awful and it wasnt just the Titans D.
Hines Ward and Wes Welker aren't similar WRs, but your second statement is a bit harsh. Both players are among the elite at what they do.
Welker just hasn't done it for nearly as long as Ward has was the jist I think.
That's what I came on here to say. Except I think a shake would be better than a smack
That's fair enough.
Welker's a system guy. Hines would thrive in any system.
Because there's such a long list of NE WR2's putting up back to back 110+ catch season?
Welker is extremely under appreciated.Guy is lightning quick and tough as nails.He's a very different type of player than Ward, but his last two seasons have been as spectacular as any two of Ward's seasons have been.I don't think he will last as long as Ward (not going out on a limb much saying that) and ultimately won't have the career Ward has to his credit, but he's a great player in his own right.
30 attempts is OK too.
The two stats the stick out with Welker as a Pat are 10.5 yards per catch and a TD every 20 receptions. Got be near league lows in both categories.Welker's great in his role for that O though, short passes in a spread O. The Pats use him like most teams use a running game.
And that's more likely what you'll get. I posted this in the game thread also:Through three quarters, Ben had 25 pass attempts. He then had 7 in the game tying FG drive, 4 in the Ward fumble drive, and 7 in OT.So obviously, if Ward doesn't fumble, Ben has 36 throws.But do you really think the Steelers will be tied or trailing for all but 34 seconds of every game this season?Do you really think the Steelers will average 1.6 yards per rush in every game this season?Ben's prorated three quarter attempts of 33 per game is the highest I can possibly see, and given Tennessee's strengh as a team, defense, and especially run defense, it's more likely to be lower by several attempts into the range Chase mentioned.
on all counts.
