Keeper outlook for Brian Westbrook? (1 Viewer)

[Underachievers]

With Westbrooks's maddening history of nagging injuries and the approach of father time (30 years old going into next season)...what are your thoughts on his keeper value at this point? Does he have 2, 3, 4, productive years left in him? Would a manager be making a wise move to explore trade options for him at this point?

Westy has been a huge part of my success in my keeper league since I grabbed him off of free agency back in 2003. But I am getting the uneasy feeling that now may be the time to move him. If I could get a young potential stud RB ( Chris Johnson, Lynch, Smith, Forte, etc.) for Westy in trade...would it be a wise decision or am I overeacting? Hell...do I even need to be concerned at this point if he does have 2-3 years of fantasy relevance left in him?

I am in 2 keeper leagues and have been very very successful in both. BUT the leagues itself are young enough (oldest is 7 years) that until now I have never actually had to be overly concerned with the long term outlook of key players. So in that regard I guess you could say I am a "rookie" keeper fantasy manager.

Any thoughts on Westy?

 

[Zaphod]

Hard to say. I don't think 30 has as much bearing on Westbrook as it might traditionally for a RB. However, he does seem to be injured at some point almost every season. I think if you can deal with that, you shouldn't be as worried about his age. To your question, if you could get a strong young RB it wouldn't be a bad move. I would be very careful in getting a true talent over a RB in a temporarily good situation.

 

[Underachievers]

Hard to say. I don't think 30 has as much bearing on Westbrook as it might traditionally for a RB. However, he does seem to be injured at some point almost every season. I think if you can deal with that, you shouldn't be as worried about his age. To your question, if you could get a strong young RB it wouldn't be a bad move. I would be very careful in getting a true talent over a RB in a temporarily good situation.

Well that is just it. Westy is "only" in his 6th season as the feature RB in Philly. So it is not as if he has a lot of wear and tear on his body due to an 8-9 year NFL career at RB. You look at LT who will also be 30 next season...but he has a full 2 more seasons at RB than Westy. How many young RB's are true talents and not just in a good situation right now? I think Johnson falls into the talent category and I have a good feeling about Smith also (but then again I am not the msot knowledgeable person when it comes to judging the little things that make a RB a standout).

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Westbrook's career trajectory thus far follows more like Tiki Barber than a traditional workhorse back like LT/LJ, and Tiki was very effective at 32 and 33 years old. Westbrook has more of an injury history than Tiki so four more years of top-level production may be asking a lot, but 2 more years (through age 31) seems like a reasonable prediction.

 

[Da Guru]

I traded Westbrook after last season..too brittle for my taste.

 

[barista]

I traded Westbrook after last season..too brittle for my taste.

me too... Bush now has me in the same mode. Ugh.

 

[Nate]

I think Westbrook will be great for another couple years but I expect the numbers to start declining after that.

FWIW, I traded him away in my keeper this season. I think his value this season is as high as it's going to be in a keeper league.