Player Spotlight: Brodie Croyle (1 Viewer)

[Jason Wood]

2008 Player Spotlight Series

One of Footballguys best assets is our message board community. The Shark Pool is, in our view, the best place on the internet to discuss, debate and analyze all things fantasy football. In what's become an annual tradition, the Player Spotlight series is a key part of the preseason efforts. As many of you know, we consider the Player Spotlight threads the permanent record for analyzing the fantasy prospects of the player in question. Last year, we published more than 140 offensive spotlights covering the vast majority of expected skill position starters. This year will be no different.

Each week we will post a list of players to be discussed. Those threads will remain open for the entire preseason, and should be a central point to discussion expectations for the player in question. Importantly, analysis done in the first week of posting will be part of the permanent record in two ways. 1) At the end of the week, we will tally the projections into a consensus. 2) We will select a number of pull quotes from forum contributors who make a compelling statement or observation. Both the projections and pull quotes will be part of a published article on the main website.

Thread Topic: Brodie Croyle, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

Player Page Link: Brodie Croyle Player Page

Each article will include:

Detailed viewpoint from a Footballguys staff member
Highlighted member commentary from the message board threads
FBG Projections
Consensus Member ProjectionsThe Rules

In order for this thread to provide maximum value, we ask that you follow a few simple guidelines:

Focus commentary on the player in question, and your expectations for said player
Back up your expectations in whatever manner you deem appropriate; avoid posts that simply say "I hate him" or "He's the best"
To be included in the final synopsis and consensus outlook, you MUST provide projections for the playerProjections should include (at a minimum):

For QBs: Passing Yards, Passing TDs, Ints, Rush Yards, Rush TDs
For RBs: Rushes, Rushing Yards, Rush TDs, Receptions, Receiving Yards, Receiving TDs
For WRs & TEs: Receptions, Receiving Yards, Receiving TDsNow let's get on with the conversation! We look forward to your contributions and let me offer a personal thanks in anticipation of the great debate and analysis.

 

[The Jacket]

I expect some increase and improvement. That said, I don't see any fantasy value.

285/475

3100 yards

16 TD

14 INT

20 car., 70 yards

 

[Iwannabeacowboybaby!]

The best thing about Brodie Croyle is he doesn't seem to turn the ball over much. He only had 6 Int's last season, for an inexperienced QB and for a team that couldn't really depend on the run as much as it has in the past, that's pretty good.

The thing is though I just don't see the potential with this guy. He threw the ball 43 times versus the Jets the last game of the season and he didn't even get 200 yards passing. He had over 40 attempts passing a couple weeks prior to that and he ended up with just over 200 yards, so the big play stuff just isn't within KC's grasp right now, making it hard to draft Croyle with any serious thoughts of him holding value.

2600 yards with 10 td's and 10 int's

 

[BigRed]

ie Croyle sucks. Exactly.

We're really getting to the bottom of the barrel on QB spotlights, I guess.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

46 crows frightened. 13 cornfields defended.

 

[travdogg]

He's a good deep sleeper. Bowe and Gonzo will get theirs and they seem to really like Croyle(in interviews at least.)

Teams will be geared to stop the run against KC and the o-line should be slightly better.

2,800 yards

17 Td's

12 INT's

I could see a year similar to Grossman in 06'.

Why he's regarded so far below Tarvaris Jackson and to some extent Trent Edwards is beyond me.

 

[Kevin Ashcraft]

Some of you guys are way more optimistic than I am, but I am a KC homer who is jaded as anyone about the team this season.

2175 Yds.

209/395

12 TDs

18 INTs

I think he starts 12 games and is hurt for one reason or another for four others.

 

[shader]

Question for KC fans, as I didn't watch a single game of theirs last season. Did Croyle throw the deep ball much, and how did it look?

I am a huge Bama fan, and I know Croyle has a rocket arm. So I was wondering if the deep ball wasn't used much last year because of Croyle or the receivers?

Either way, I've never thought Croyle could hold up in the NFL as he is too frail.

200 ypg 7 total TD's, injured in week 9.

 

[The Jacket]

I am a huge Bama fan, and I know Croyle has a rocket arm. So I was wondering if the deep ball wasn't used much last year because of Croyle or the receivers?

Worst O-line in the NFL rendered pass protection for deep balls almost obsolete.

 

[rzrback77]

Not a big Brodie Croyle fan here. There are lots of reasons that he is FBG's QB 30. Due to all the injuries to LJ and some offensive linemen, they threw the ball a lot in 07, but it is not their preference. If they are improved at all and even if they are not improved and LJ is healthy, they will run the ball more in 08.

Croyle averaged a whopping 5.5 ypc last year and completed just over 50%. Two very bad stats. Assuming that he plays all 16 games (which is not likely) I would still not draft him.

Brodie Croyle 240 comp in 465 attempts for 2780 yards 6.0 ypc 13 TDs and 18 ints & 40 rush 0 TDs

 

[Stealthycat]

I actually like Croyle this year for a great value late.

Why ?

Gonzo and Bowe will get 160-170 or more catches between them for what, 14-16 YD's combined? Toss in 50-70 dumps maybe to LJ and Kolby Smith, a few to the other WR's and I can easily see

280 completions, 3200 yards with maybe 20 TD's and 10 INT's, 40 rush negligle yards/TD

For a very last pick, or a very cheap salary league QB I'll take him over BAL's QB, BUF, ATL, CHI, MIN and MIA's QB's - maybe WAS and TBB's QB's too !!

 

[Kevin Ashcraft]

One thing I will say is that the OL cannot be worse. In fact, with Albert, McIntosh and Waters, you have three nice starters. People write-off Waters now because his play has suffered by having to help out old-man Weigmann (who is gone) and guys like Welbourn, Svitek, etc.

There are ?s @ C and RT...most think Wade Smith or Rudy Niswanger will be the C and Adrian Jones could start @ RT.

 

[JKL]

One thing I will say is that the OL cannot be worse. In fact, with Albert, McIntosh and Waters, you have three nice starters. People write-off Waters now because his play has suffered by having to help out old-man Weigmann (who is gone) and guys like Welbourn, Svitek, etc.There are ?s @ C and RT...most think Wade Smith or Rudy Niswanger will be the C and Adrian Jones could start @ RT.

I've heard that the plan is to start Branden Albert at Left Tackle from day one, and that's where he was lining up at mini-camp, with Damion McIntosh moving to Right Tackle. Niswanger is probably going to start at Center, and the open battle will be for the Right Guard spot.

 

[JKL]

I don't think Croyle makes it through the season as the starter. Lots of young quarterbacks who had middling or below average completion percentages, or high interception rates early in their careers have gone on to have at least solid careers. I can't find anyone, though, who started off their career with anything in the range of 5.5 yards per attempt, and went on to success. The lowest are guys who started straight out of college as true rookies, guys like Aikman and George, who posted ypa's of about 6.0 in their true rookie seasons.

But Croyle was not a true rookie, and there is a difference. He was entering his second year in the league and, despite the coaching staff all but wanting to hand him the starting job at the start of the 2007 season, he lost it due to his play in preseason. He then came in and had difficulty staying on the field, and even worse, underwhelmed when he played. I saw no signs of a quarterback who is going to make plays, even in flashes.

The offensive line was brutal last year. In my opinion, they were actually worse at getting a push in run blocking than they were in pass protection, though they were certainly no great shakes at either. The receiving corps, when you consider Gonzalez and Bowe, was solid overall. I know people will say that his surrounding cast was so bad that we can't judge based on last year's numbers. They were not good, but I think Croyle was part of the problem. There have been plenty of young qb's who have played on bad teams early in their careers. The eventual successes didn't necessarily light the world on fire, but they made more out of a bad situation than Croyle. The biggest indictment was getting solidly outperformed by Huard. Eventual players don't get solidly outplayed by 34 year old journeymen at age 24. The difference was most glaring in the Detroit game.

Unfortunately, I see Thigpen or Huard getting some starts by mid-season. I honestly hope I'm wrong, and those saying he is a deep sleeper are right. I was the biggest advocate that Croyle needed to start from week 1, so the Chiefs would have a full season to find out what they had, despite the poor pre-season. I was disappointed that they waited until halfway through the season to make the move, because though I like Huard, that team wasn't making the playoffs and needed to make decisions based on fielding the best team in 2009-10.

I'll go with the following: 10 total games played, 145 for 240, 1440 pass yards (6.0 ypa), 7 Pass TD's, 11 INT's, 20 rush attempts, 80 yards, 0 TD's.

 

[Duckboy]

Croyle has three decent weapons in Gonzo, Bowe and LJ, but will the line be able to keep him upright and relieve some of the pressure? Personally, I think Larry will be healthy and Herm will ride him into the ground, reducing Brodie to second fiddle in a secomd-rate offense.

227/335, 2275 yards, 13 TDs/13 INTs, 14/21 rushing - QB28

Enough upside to draft late with a top QB, but not dependable at all.

 

[Jon_Moore]

Brodie Croyle will fight with 3-4 other QBs from around the NFL for the title of worst starting QB. Only 5.5 Y/A is scary bad. The offensive line was in a transition stage, and may well still be---meaning plenty of pressure for him again. Pressure on a mediocre QB=recipe for disaster.

He does have Gonzalez, who's arguably the best tight end in the league, Bowe should be a 1,000 yard reciever this year---he's got the talent, but his QB may well hold him back. Larry Johnson returning should mean a drastic improvement in the running game and the entire offense. Defenses will stack to stop Johnson, because he's one of the best and Croyle just doesn't scare them. So, Croyle will have a little bit of a plus in terms of secondary.

That said, unless you're in a deep league, or start QBs, I wouldn't touch him

273/464

2830 Yards

13 TDs

18 INTs

20 Rushes

35 Yards