History Lesson for the Newbie (1 Viewer)

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Doing some research on RBs and wondered what the pool's take on these two players was.

Drafted by the Cleveland Browns shortly after expansion, was suspended for drugs his second season, stabbed during the suspension and never amounted to much afterward.

Biakabutuka never played more than 12 games in a season due to injuries and missed 47 of 96 games in six seasons.

I'm wondering if people think that they'd have been good RBs on better teams/if healthy - or if their career stats actually paint an accurate picture.

 

[Tick]

Bia passed the eyeball test - he just looked like a quality RB. The guy was always broken, though.

 

[Tick]

Biakabutuka

| Year TM | G | Att Yards Y/A TD | Rec Yards Y/R TD |

+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

| 1996 car | 4 | 71 229 3.2 0 | 0 0 0.0 0 |

| 1997 car | 8 | 75 299 4.0 2 | 0 0 0.0 0 |

| 1998 car | 9 | 101 427 4.2 3 | 8 138 17.2 1 |

| 1999 car | 11 | 138 718 5.2 6 | 23 189 8.2 0 |

| 2000 car | 12 | 173 627 3.6 2 | 34 341 10.0 2 |

| 2001 car | 5 | 53 230 4.3 1 | 12 121 10.1 0 |

+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

| TOTAL | 49 | 611 2530 4.1 14 | 77 789 10.2 3 |

Green:

| Year TM | G | Att Yards Y/A TD | Rec Yards Y/R TD |

+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

| 2002 cle | 16 | 243 887 3.7 6 | 16 113 7.1 0 |

| 2003 cle | 7 | 142 559 3.9 1 | 10 50 5.0 0 |

| 2004 cle | 15 | 163 585 3.6 2 | 14 84 6.0 0 |

| 2005 cle | 8 | 20 78 3.9 0 | 5 30 6.0 0 |

+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

| TOTAL | 46 | 568 2109 3.7 9 | 45 277 6.2 0 |

 

[-OZ-]

Bia passed the eyeball test - he just looked like a quality RB. The guy was always broken, though.

Biakabatuka had top notch talent. Not elite, but if healthy, he would have been a productive back

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Thanks all. That was my take after looking at game logs and old clips on both counts.

Anyone want to dig deep for an opinion on Jay Graham?

 

[JPeso]

I never thought William Green had the talent. Bia was a baller though.

 

[candy bar]

Both were talented. Biakabutuka had a 313-yard game against an 11-0 Ohio State in 1995, his 8 carry, 132 yard, 2 TD game followed up by a 12 carry, 142 yard, 3 TD game are the type of things only the most elite running backs could do. At his best, Biakabutuka looked like Reggie Bush did at USC. Of course, he was a change of pace back and often injured, so at his best is realy defined by plays and halves, not games and seasons.

Green was talented in the Eddie George/Jamal Lewis mold. He wasn't a gamebreaker like Biakabutuka, but that doesn't make him any less talented. He was the Lendale White of USC, if you will. The last seven games of the '02 season he had a whopping 172 carries (393 pro-rated), leading his team to a 5-2 record. He was a guy who could take a ton of carries and pick up four yards and a cloud of dust.

 

[Bri]

Green lost his confidence. The rookie back with an upside seemed quite different than the guy that played after that. I remember him being annoyed he didn't break a run into a bigger gain often. It was rookie excitement I guess but I found that a bit amusing, good temporary quality trait wanting to do more too.

Keep in mind that was a poor RB draft and one of the later 1st RBs taken in quite some time. I believe Duckett is far better than his production but still he(the 2nd back taken) isn't too too good.

These two were more Adrian Peterson CHI than Adrian Peterson MIN

The Browns mis-stepped on a few RBs.

Jamel White, James Jackson, Lee Suggs and IIRC this franchise re-started with them thinking Errict Rhett was far better than he was. Jackson or White's name popped up last summer but....

 

[Bri]

Anyone want to dig deep for an opinion on Jay Graham?

Colts guy?

 

[[scooter]]

Probably the closest modern comparison for Biakabutuka is Justin Fargas. When healthy, he was a stud.

Green was a Cedric Benson type. You could see the flashes of talent but he never....quite.....got.....over.....the.....hump.

Jay Graham was just a special teams guy. I have some vague memories of when he caught on with Seattle a few years ago after being out of the league for a while. He didn't do much.

 

[The Man With No Name]

Anyone want to dig deep for an opinion on Jay Graham?

I had him on my fantasy team in 1997 and traded him for a rookie pick.

 

[EBF]

I remember Green looking pretty good running away from people in college, but he just wasn't able to find his groove at the pro level and his physical skills weren't able to make up for his lack of ideal instincts. I was surprised that no one took a chance on him after Cleveland cut him though. He had a spotty background and may have been more of a headcase than we know. That would explain why he disappeared without so much as a second chance.

 

[candy bar]

Anyone want to dig deep for an opinion on Jay Graham?

I had him on my fantasy team in 1997 and traded him for a rookie pick.

I had Scottie Graham, and he rode me to a fantasy title in '93. In weeks 16 and 17 (there were 18 weeks that year) he had 139 and 166 rushing yards.

 

[Boston]

I don't know this for a fact (I've heard plenty of rumors) but my guess is Green didn't put himself in the best position to be successful. He's a kid who had some legit issues off the field and never really seemed focused on being the best player he could be. There seemed like there was always some issue/distraction going on with him and I don't think he ever really grew up. Talentwise he was a big time player at BC (he had 1,559 yards and 17 TDs his last year). He could really play and seemed to have a little something extra that would translate well to the NFL. He also had some decent size as he was in that 6', 220 ballpark. Yet, he really never was able to get it together in the pros. He had some flashes but ended up being an underachiever who never came close to being worthy of his draft status.

 

[ninerfanatic492000]

being a michigan fan i remember touchdown timmy coming into the league around the same time fred taylor did and thinking the same thing about both. if they could just stay healthy they could be something special as they both had primo talent. i can still remember keith jackson goin on and on about timmy's fast choppy steps. his steps were like textbook technique.

i was one of those guys who were psyched for william green's soph nfl season after his late surge his rookie year. kept him as cheap keeper thinking i had one of the great steals for years to come-who'd have thunk i'd have to worry about freak'n lee suggs.

some other guys that fell into same class(injury or drugs/headcases) in my veiwing era were bam morris, the myth the legend-kijauna,living in IL the daily reminders of salaam-Autry-enis-benson, wasn't leland mcelroy suppose to be somebody with his 'great' speed,a guy i luv'd to watch in college years ago-JR Redman,Tavian Banks-bad bad injury,

 

[candy bar]

being a michigan fan i remember touchdown timmy coming into the league around the same time fred taylor did and thinking the same thing about both. if they could just stay healthy they could be something special as they both had primo talent. i can still remember keith jackson goin on and on about timmy's fast choppy steps. his steps were like textbook technique. i was one of those guys who were psyched for william green's soph nfl season after his late surge his rookie year. kept him as cheap keeper thinking i had one of the great steals for years to come-who'd have thunk i'd have to worry about freak'n lee suggs.some other guys that fell into same class(injury or drugs/headcases) in my veiwing era were bam morris, the myth the legend-kijauna,living in IL the daily reminders of salaam-Autry-enis-benson, wasn't leland mcelroy suppose to be somebody with his 'great' speed,a guy i luv'd to watch in college years ago-JR Redman,Tavian Banks-bad bad injury,

You can add John Avery to the list.The Bears at least had James Allen before he tried to become the next Dr. Dre instead of the next Walter Payton.

 

[DinkinFlicka]

William Green had a fumbling problem early in his career, but he showed some promise. He played very well for a stretch and actually was a huge part of why the Browns made the playoffs under Butch Davis. He had some drug issues he got busted with like 3.2 grams or something like that. A little less than an 8th I believe, so he either just smoked or got ripped off. He was banging Kevin Johnson's girl I believe also, or at least rumored to be. I think that had something to do with the stabbing. I believe he almost died or was seriously ill from colitis too. Both of his parents died of Aids before he was in the NFL. He didn't have the best speed, but Browns fans at the time loved to say that he never got caught from behind in college. I think he and TJ Duckett were the prized backs of that draft and nobody else was in the running. I think Portis went in the second round that year and he turned out alright. I may be off on some of the details and I know that isn't the right order of things happening. He now plays for the Philadelphia 76ers.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Don't know much about Graham, but found this ...

His first NFL start was a doozy. Ten years ago, Ravens rookie Jay Graham rushed for 154 yards, slashing through the defense in an effort he'll never forget.

"I'd like to have done that for 10 straight games, but ... stuff happens," Graham said.

Injured in that game, he was never the same. Graham's three seasons in Baltimore were marred by ankle and knee problems, and he never lived up to the media hype.

A third-round draft pick in 1997 out of Tennessee, where he teamed with Peyton Manning, Graham spent five seasons in the pros.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Ninerfanatic ... Darnell Autry and Leland McElroy are two other guys I'm interested in ... why'd they flop out? Lack of talent, or 'other' stuff.

 

[-OZ-]

i was one of those guys who were psyched for william green's soph nfl season after his late surge his rookie year. kept him as cheap keeper thinking i had one of the great steals for years to come-who'd have thunk i'd have to worry about freak'n lee suggs.

Considering Green went top 15-20 in startup dynasty drafts going into his 2nd year, you aren't alone.

 

[Tick]

May as well throw De'Mond Parker into the discussion. As I remember it, he started one game, was an absolute monster, but fumbled, then disappeared.