wells does seem to be an extremely divisive & polarizing player... must be one of the bigger ones leading up to the 2009 season...
below was my write up for the FBG staff value play article (for the record, bloom & maurile tremblay also gave a thumbs up)...
"The former Ohio State phenom and prodigy is endowed with a freakish combo of size (6-foot-1, 235 pounds) and speed (legit 4.4), and his constellation of traits and game is eerily reminiscent of Steven Jackson. Landing with the RB starved Cardinals may be the most fortuitous convergence of ability with opportunity in the RB class of 2009. What a RB with potential Pro Bowl tools might be capable of within the Cards explosive aerial attack is off the grid, falling into uncharted fantasy territory. Injury (an admitted risk given his checkered medical history during a star-crossed Ohio State career) is the only thing that can prevent Wells from being in the thick of the Offensive Rookie of the Year race. While there is downside if the nagging injuries resurface at the next level, the upside is getting the rare talent and ability that once elicited comparisons to a young Jim Brown during his stunning freshman debut with the Buckeyes. If the Cards retain Pro Bowler Anquan Boldin, Wells may NEVER see eight men in the box, and should be the beneficiary of plenty of room with which to operate and flash his imposing size/speed combo, and formidable array of pure rushing skills."
while i do acknowledge some of the questions & concerns cited above, i think the positives outweigh the negatives (& some of the concerns may be misplaced)...
it is true that the cards pass the ball as much as anybody... but they haven't had a RB as talented as well before... if wells represents a difference in kind & not just degree of RB talent on the roster, it could be misguided to extrapolate to literally from prior trends... with due respect to edge, he was past his prime, & hightower's 2.8 YPC average last year doesn't inspire a lot of confidence (in fairness, a disproportionate amount of short yardage situations could contribute to that, but he wasn't always in short yardage, other short yardage backs have fared better with similar opportunity)...
the plus here is that the situation presented could be simlar to a colts RB in recent years, where they get to run through gaping holes with the defense distracted by the passing attack... also, the cards move the ball well, could be in the red zone a lot, & present more scoring opportunities for wells...
big question marks are the distribution of carries between wells & hightower, who will be the goal line RB & will wells be relegated to being a two down RB, if deficiencies in pass pro & catching the ball out of the backfield surface...
personally i think, even if he doesn't begin the season as the de facto "starter", he could get his share of carries right away, and the disparity in talent should become more & more apparent as the season wears on... if he isn't starting immediately, i expect him to before midseason (sometime in october?)...
maybe hightower will be the goal line back, which could really hurt wells value, as it doesn't look like he will be heavily involved in the pass game... but wells is bigger, stronger, quicker, faster, more elusive than hightower, which increases the possibility they don't use hightower solely in this capacity (CAR disn't use just williams or stewart in goal line situations)... some of this is indeterminate... if hightower is stuffed a few times & wells starts punching it in with regularity, naturally they will tend to go with the hot hand...
as to the pass heavy attack, former OC haley is gone... grimm was one of the hogs in WAS & came from PIT with whisenhunt... since they have a better RB than they have had before, maybe we can take at face value earlier statements that they would like to have a more balanced attack...
he gets dissed for being injury prone, but just missed three games in his career (all last season)... his toughness has been questioned, but two years ago with played with a bone spur in his ankle (?) & a broken wrist... not to compare him to peterson, but in retrospect sopme of the same concerns at this point appear to have been overblown...
as to questions about ability to cath, it could be a case of conflating ability with opportunity... during the draft mayock said scouts & personnel types were raving about his hands in drills at his pro day... i saw him make a one handed catch, catch the ball away from his body, & he looked like a natural to me...
his ability to block will be key, but i expect him to be coached up in this respect...
as to comp players, he reminds me of a faster eddie george... when i see him on film, i see a player much like steven jackson, maybe faster & more powerful (on NFL channel, he compared his game to jackson, & michael lombardi echoed that sentiment)... there aren't may backs with his blend of size/strength/power, speed/athleticism...
i think he may start year at about 12-15 carries once he assumes starting job... later maybe 15+
if defense improves, he could be in positioin to ice games on the ground during end game...
due to passing game, & his unusual explosiveness & long speed, some long TDs & a 4.5 YPC average...
about 1,200-1,200 yards rushing, 20-25 receptions, 10+ combined TDs...
I ain't the biggest Wells fan in the world, but it isn't that hard for me to believe that Hightower and James (still a free agent) simply aren't that good.
I ain't the biggest Wells fan in the world, but it isn't that hard for me to believe that Hightower and James (still a free agent) simply aren't that good.
Every couple of years, there is always a rookie who people seem to criticize because of the "injury history". Adrian Peterson comes to mind as a recent example. Football is a physical sport, a running back takes a pounding. Take a look at injury reports each week in the NFL.
