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Mendenhall: Locked in at 13 cpg (1 Viewer)

Clifford

Clifford

Footballguy
Pittsburgh passed 37 times and rushed 20 times as a team against Baltimore, and lead back Rashard Mendenhall got 13 carries for the third week in a row. In the past four weeks the results have been:

JAC 23-146-1 W

@ARI 13-32 W

NWE 13-70 W

BAL 13-52-1 L

Is this enough of a trend to say that Pittsburgh will be leaning heavily on the pass from here on out, or did losing to Baltimore and stalling several drives give Tomlin any pause? Can we expect anything more from Mendy or is his only chance Pitt getting out to a big lead and running out the clock? Can we even hope for that?

 
Watching last night, the Pitt OL looked pretty decent at pass blocking, and not that good at run blocking. Mendy didn't look anything special at all last night either....maybe that has something to do with Baltimore's D though.

 
Pittsburgh's offense is MUCH better when it passes the ball. They just don't have the road graders up front that they used to. And the NFL is a different game than it was even just a few years ago. Passing offenses rule the day.

 
They arent going to be playing playoff teams every week like the last 2. Outside of SF, BYE, and maybe CIN, his schedule very nice and Id expect him to get 15+ in more than half of his remaining games.

 
The problem is Pitt's O-Line is just not that good at run-blocking and Mendy isn't good enough to make them look better.

 
Over the last two games he's got 122 yds and a TD on 26 carries. That's about 4.7 ypc against the Pats (bad defense overall - but it's mostly pass, not terrible against the run) and the Ravens (REALLY good against the run).

I'll take that for a RB 2. These next couple of weeks are the real test to see if you can depend on Mendy for the playoffs.

 
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Cleveland and STL weeks 14 and 16 look pretty good. He isn't involved enough at times to be a consistent FF starter. He does get some goal-line love, but his production isn't there.

 
They rushed at least 20+ times as a team in each of those game, and out rushed all the opponents they faced during those weeks.

Prob more has to do with Moore and Redman

 
Not last night. They rushed 20 times as a team, and Ben got 3 of those carries, leaving only 3 carries for Redman and one for Cotchery.

Also Ravens rushed 27 times that game, and the lowest average in the league is 21 carries per game for a team.

Seems and sounds like Pittsburgh is no longer a running team and Mendy likely won't eclipse 20 carries in another game this year.

Has Tomlin been asked about this in the press?

 
'Clifford said:
Not last night. They rushed 20 times as a team, and Ben got 3 of those carries, leaving only 3 carries for Redman and one for Cotchery.Also Ravens rushed 27 times that game, and the lowest average in the league is 21 carries per game for a team.Seems and sounds like Pittsburgh is no longer a running team and Mendy likely won't eclipse 20 carries in another game this year.Has Tomlin been asked about this in the press?
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good catch. unless they are up he prob wont with all those options. Herm Edwards did talk about the different PIT offense we're seeing the past few weeks, saying they switched to a quick drop pass offense to get the ball out of Ben's hands faster.
 
This thread is depressing. Most optimistic post thus far is 15+ in about half the remaining games. Jeez.

 
I find this thread pretty funny. I've been as down on Mendenhall as anyone for the last 2 years. Now, I find myself more optimisic about him than most. He's on a high-powered offense, that figures to be leading most games, playing on a team in the coldest and windiest division in football (Minnesota, Miami, and Dallas DQ those divisions AFAIAC). He's a mediocre talent and doesn't get 3rd down work, but take a look at the rest of the RBs in the league. People are starting Jackie Battle as a RB2.

 
True dat. He definitely outplayed Battle. Maybe if Hillis comes back they can combine their mediocrity into one good RB2 for my team.

 
I dont know what to think about the playcalling and usage especially late in games with leads. Seems ever since Ben started crying about going motr no huddle and passing more they went away from what got them to the SB the last few visits. Maybe its the line, maybe its to get the ball away from ben so he doesnt take hits, maybe its Mendy's over use last year and looking sluggish or his twitter comments about 9-11. I dont know, but Mendy is not the sure fire starter he should have been.

Been starting Shonn Greene over him and may be switching to Helu!

 
:blackdot:

mendy's schedule down the stretch looks tempting. i am thinking about trading for him since he can be had fairly low right now.

 
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'footballnerd said:
They rushed at least 20+ times as a team in each of those game, and out rushed all the opponents they faced during those weeks.

Prob more has to do with Moore and Redman
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That's part of it, but there's a bigger problem at present: The Steelers have become a passing team(and a pretty good one, FWIW), but Arians seems to take an almost childlike delight in NOT throwing the ball to Mendenhall.It's puzzling, since he's a pretty decent receiver. That was actually one of the things that Arians loved to crow about back when they were scouting/drafting Rashard. "He's an everydown back!!" Maybe so, but you don't use him like one, Bruce.

So, it's basically a Catch-22. The Steelers passing game has become good enough that teams can't stack the line to limit their run game, even with suboptimal run blockers currently manning 3 of the 5 OL spots, and they've been more successful of late when they run, but they're also guilty of semi-abandonig it altogether for long stretches. Since they don't involve Mendenhall as a receiver much, his production is mitigated in games like that where he doesn't score.

 
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Anyone who owned him last year knew that he was overrated in mocks coming into this season, especially in PPR. Picking him in the first round would have been pretty risky, given who else you could take. I don't think he has much upside, but there are few true workhorses now anyway and you're lucky if you have one of them. He's still a solid RB2 as long as he's getting the goal line carries.

 
'RushHour said:
Anyone who owned him last year knew that he was overrated in mocks coming into this season, especially in PPR. Picking him in the first round would have been pretty risky, given who else you could take. I don't think he has much upside, but there are few true workhorses now anyway and you're lucky if you have one of them. He's still a solid RB2 as long as he's getting the goal line carries.
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Care to support this statement? He was a 24yr old clear starting RB in a great offense with a great schedule this year coming off of a great year.

 
Anyone dumped him recently? Honestly wondering if I could get McGahee or even Blount for him. I think both those offers would get laughed at.

Does he have any name value?

 
'Clifford said:
Anyone dumped him recently? Honestly wondering if I could get McGahee or even Blount for him. I think both those offers would get laughed at.Does he have any name value?
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I mentioned in the McGahee thread I think I might offer Mendy/Laurent Robinson for McGahee (he has Austin who is out 2-4 weeks)..I think I'll probably do it, but Id hate to do it and see Mendy blow up after the bye which I still think he can.
 
Are you guys down on his situation or his skills? Your making me nervous about relying on him in my dynasty league. If they address the O-Line in the offseason will his prospects improve? Or are they a passing team from here on out? Waldman had him as his #19 RB prospect in his write up IIRC. Has his skills diminished?

 
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His skills aren't helping him make the coaches use him more. Other than that I'd put this completely on a marked shift in offensive philosophy, and that shift is working for them so I see no reason to expect it to change anytime soon.

 
'Kenny Powers said:
'RushHour said:
Anyone who owned him last year knew that he was overrated in mocks coming into this season, especially in PPR. Picking him in the first round would have been pretty risky, given who else you could take. I don't think he has much upside, but there are few true workhorses now anyway and you're lucky if you have one of them. He's still a solid RB2 as long as he's getting the goal line carries.
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Care to support this statement? He was a 24yr old clear starting RB in a great offense with a great schedule this year coming off of a great year.
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Well I owned him last year and maybe you did too. At no point last season did I feel like I owned an elite fantasy back, even though he had some very good game statistically. To me it just felt like he had a fantasy ceiling that was much lower than some of the guys being drafted around him. Don't get me wrong, he is a good back, but I saw him going in the first round of some mocks, which seemed silly. Just my opinion.
 
I can't believe people still believe Pittsburgh is a smashmouth offense. They have been a pass 1st team for a long time now, and as long as Ariens and Ben are there, it will remain that way. That said, I've thought Mendenhall has looked pretty good lately given how many touches he's had, and how average (at best) his run blocking has been. On top of that, PItt seems to have remedied many of their O line issues after resigning Starks and finding spots for some of their young guys to flourish.

I tried to sell him in every league this offseason due to the HUGE # of carries he had last year going all the way into February. I'm now wondering if the gameplan was to use him sparingly during the early part of the season because of last year's large workload in order to have him down the stretch with a pair of fresh legs. Either way, with the upcoming schedule I've gone from sell-sell-avoid, to hold-hold-buy. His value is well below his worth going forward, IMO.

 
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'Cookiemonster said:
I tried to sell him in every league this offseason due to the HUGE # of carries he had last year going all the way into February. I'm now wondering if the gameplan was to use him sparingly during the early part of the season because of last year's large workload in order to have him down the stretch with a pair of fresh legs. Either way, with the upcoming schedule I've gone from sell-sell-avoid, to hold-hold-buy. His value is well below his worth going forward, IMO.
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:goodposting: Couldn't agree more, I've road the same rollercoaster and now feel the same way about the rest of this season.
 
The reason I drafted him from the 9th spot in a 12 team PPR league is because I wanted somebody who was consistant and not an injury concern. I could have had DMC, SJAx or Turner, but decided to go with Mendy. I know he has been somewhat of a bust, but I think he turns it on the second half when the weather starts getting cold. I think the Steelers will start running more. The last game vs the Ravens, there were some nice holes.

 
'Kenny Powers said:
They arent going to be playing playoff teams every week like the last 2. Outside of SF, BYE, and maybe CIN, his schedule very nice and Id expect him to get 15+ carries in more than half of his remaining games.
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16 carries today..Not a lot of yards, but I didnt realize CIN was actually the #3 rush D.Oh yeah, Mendy got 2 TDs as well.
 
'Xue said:
Sell if you can.
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Seriously? What are you going to sell him for? I offered him and Laurent Robinson for McGahee this week and it wasnt accepted (thankfully)His schedule looks awesome right now and he will get more GL looks than any RB you could trade him for12 @ KC13 vs CIN14 vs CLE15 @ SF16 vs STL17 @ CLE
 
'Kenny Powers said:
'Xue said:
Sell if you can.
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Seriously? What are you going to sell him for? I offered him and Laurent Robinson for McGahee this week and it wasnt accepted (thankfully)His schedule looks awesome right now and he will get more GL looks than any RB you could trade him for

12 @ KC

13 vs CIN

14 vs CLE

15 @ SF

16 vs STL

17 @ CLE
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Hence the reason the sharks went after him 3 months ago. It's time for that high pick to pay off
 
'workdog3 said:
Pitt's run game would be a lot better if Mendenhall knew how to bounce to the outside. Countless times I see this clown run straight into a jammed up line when there's plenty of room to the left and right. He should watch some tape of Lesean McCoy.
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Id be happy with that. I hate when he all to frequently quits moving his feet, quits driving his legs, and just braces for impact.

Look at his dandy TD run yesterday, he needs to do that all the time.

 
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