Verron Haynes: Overlooked sleeper? (1 Viewer)

[No. 16]

I've been targeting Haynes in dynasty leagues as a solid bye week filler as a TD vulture and in reception leagues, who could produce if Parker goes down. Suprised to see him not being talked about more, Staley is old and Humes would need to play out of his mind to unseat Haynes.

Steelers' Haynes prepared for big chanceBy Sarah MeineckeTELEGRAPH STAFF WRITERFORT VALLEY - Pittsburgh running back Verron Haynes was in Florida on June 12 when a news bulletin attracted his attention. The Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had been in a motorcycle accident.Instead of flying back to his hometown of Atlanta, Haynes immediately switched his flights and flew to Pittsburgh to be near his teammate and roommate."Ben comes down to Atlanta and stays with me, so he is a friend above all," said Haynes, a 2001 University of Georgia graduate. "When something like that happens, you care about the person's well-being. It was an unfortunate accident. We're very fortunate it wasn't worse than it was."Haynes said the 23-year-old quarterback is back to lifting weights, and yes, thinking about riding a motorcycle - although a helmet will be involved next time. Losing Roethlisberger would have been a huge hit for the Steelers, who lost longtime running back Jerome Bettis to retirement following their Super Bowl victory."He is doing well," said Haynes as he participated in former teammate Randy McMichael's football camp earlier this month. "He is back lifting weights and in good spirits."The 5-foot-9, 222-pound Haynes has been working in the offseason in hopes of moving up from his role as the third-down running back to being a starter with the Steelers. He is currently second on the depth chart behind Willie Parker, who has 1,202 yards and four touchdowns last season.For Haynes, the first four seasons in the league were frustrating as he waited for his opportunity to contribute. In that time span with the Steelers, Haynes has gained 660 yards on 159 attempts for three touchdowns. On March 27, he signed a two-year contract with Pittsburgh, possibly setting up his anticipated upgraded role."I'm working hard in Atlanta for whenever the opportunity presents itself," Haynes said. "I'm going in there, preparing like I am the starter. This year may be an opportunity for me to showcase my talent as far as getting out there and showing I can take a pounding and carry the load."In order to earn a starting position, Haynes has been working out at a gym in Atlanta, as well as waking up at 4 a.m. to go running on his own. He and his teammates report to camp in Latrobe, Pa. on July 28."As the old saying goes, you have to dress for the job you want, not the one you have," Haynes said. "I can see it and I want it, so I have been preparing harder."

 

[MLBrandow]

Starting to get very high on this guy.

Bad news for Willie Parker?

 

[KCC]

Sssshhhhhhhhh!

He's a guy I'm hoping to steal in redraft leagues. My only fear is a tremendous loss in value as he may be one of those players that ends up on everyone's sleeper lists before those late August/ early September drafts.

 

[Scrooloose]

Another RBBC situation but just like all the other #2s, could be golden is such a run heavy offense.

 

[Brunswick]

I've been targeting Haynes in dynasty leagues as a solid bye week filler as a TD vulture and in reception leagues, who could produce if Parker goes down. Suprised to see him not being talked about more, Staley is old and Humes would need to play out of his mind to unseat Haynes.

Steelers' Haynes prepared for big chance

By Sarah Meinecke

TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER

FORT VALLEY - Pittsburgh running back Verron Haynes was in Florida on June 12 when a news bulletin attracted his attention. The Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had been in a motorcycle accident.

Instead of flying back to his hometown of Atlanta, Haynes immediately switched his flights and flew to Pittsburgh to be near his teammate and roommate.

"Ben comes down to Atlanta and stays with me, so he is a friend above all," said Haynes, a 2001 University of Georgia graduate. "When something like that happens, you care about the person's well-being. It was an unfortunate accident. We're very fortunate it wasn't worse than it was."

Haynes said the 23-year-old quarterback is back to lifting weights, and yes, thinking about riding a motorcycle - although a helmet will be involved next time. Losing Roethlisberger would have been a huge hit for the Steelers, who lost longtime running back Jerome Bettis to retirement following their Super Bowl victory.

"He is doing well," said Haynes as he participated in former teammate Randy McMichael's football camp earlier this month. "He is back lifting weights and in good spirits."

The 5-foot-9, 222-pound Haynes has been working in the offseason in hopes of moving up from his role as the third-down running back to being a starter with the Steelers. He is currently second on the depth chart behind Willie Parker, who has 1,202 yards and four touchdowns last season.

For Haynes, the first four seasons in the league were frustrating as he waited for his opportunity to contribute. In that time span with the Steelers, Haynes has gained 660 yards on 159 attempts for three touchdowns. On March 27, he signed a two-year contract with Pittsburgh, possibly setting up his anticipated upgraded role.

"I'm working hard in Atlanta for whenever the opportunity presents itself," Haynes said. "I'm going in there, preparing like I am the starter. This year may be an opportunity for me to showcase my talent as far as getting out there and showing I can take a pounding and carry the load."

In order to earn a starting position, Haynes has been working out at a gym in Atlanta, as well as waking up at 4 a.m. to go running on his own. He and his teammates report to camp in Latrobe, Pa. on July 28.

"As the old saying goes, you have to dress for the job you want, not the one you have," Haynes said. "I can see it and I want it, so I have been preparing harder."

What newspaper is this story in, the local Fort Valley Ga paper? All the depth charts I have seen have Haynes as the 3rd down back and Staley as the short yardage back with Staley listed 2nd.

Of course the only one that counts is the Steelers site and that's not going to be posted until after training camp.

Also remember he didn't get the starting job last year when Staley and Bettis went down, Parker did. So unless something happens to Parker I expect he'll be the starter, Cowher loves speed.

 

[Slinger]

Bad news for Willie Parker?

Why?

 

[No. 16]

I am no way implying that he will overthrow Parker, but I love his stash value compared to other stash RBs because he will assume Bettis goal line duties (Bettis had 9 tds last year) and will see the field on 3rd downs as well.

He should assume the 100+ carries the Bus had and adding in how he was used last year, he should see around 200 carriers and numerous goal line oppourtunities.

I see him getting around 700 yards (3.5 avg w/200 carries) and 8 TDs WITH Parker healthy. If Parker goes down for a game or two, Haynes could top 1000 yards.

 

[Kleck.]

Haynes is one of my big time sleeper RBs and someone I have already been targeting late in a couple of drafts (14.08 in No Mercy Hammerhead). I don't see him pushing Parker for the #1, but I don't see Parker as much more than a 260 carry back. For a team that could get around 500 carries, that leaves quite a bit for Haynes and Staley.

Since Staley has battled a few injuries and has been replaced a couple of times throughout his career, along with being 31, I don't see him making any kind of significant comeback. He was doing well in the early part of 2004, but even when healthy last year, Staley was inactive for a few games while Haynes suited up. So I believe Haynes will atleast keep that 3rd down role and possibly see even more of the leftover RB workload.

 

[No. 16]

Haynes is one of my big time sleeper RBs and someone I have already been targeting late in a couple of drafts (14.08 in No Mercy Hammerhead). I don't see him pushing Parker for the #1, but I don't see Parker as much more than a 260 carry back. For a team that could get around 500 carries for RBs, that leaves quite a bit for Haynes and Staley.

Since Staley has battled a few injuries and been replaced a couple of times throughout his career, and now 31, I don't see him making any kind of significant comeback. He was doing well in the early part of 2004, but when healthy last year, Staley was inactive for a few games while Haynes suited up. So I believe even more of the RB workload could be put on Haynes.

Agreed.Haynes downside is 700 yards and 8 TDs, IMO. A Parker injury here or there or improvement in his running (projection based on 3.5 avg per carry vs. carreer avg of 5.0) and Haynes will be gold.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Haynes downside is 700 yards and 8 TDs, IMO.

What do you think his upside is? I think you're being pretty optimistic

 

[coolnerd]

Haynes downside is 700 yards and 8 TDs, IMO.

What do you think his upside is? I think you're being pretty optimistic

As person who is pretty high on Haynes and have him in multiple leagues, I will do flips if gets 700 yards (total) and 8tds.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Haynes downside is 700 yards and 8 TDs, IMO.

What do you think his upside is? I think you're being pretty optimistic

As person who is pretty high on Haynes and have him in multiple leagues, I will do flips if gets 700 yards (total) and 8tds.

that seems like a resonable upside to me (maybe even a little higher), but not a reasonable downside.

 

[coolnerd]

Haynes downside is 700 yards and 8 TDs, IMO.

What do you think his upside is? I think you're being pretty optimistic

As person who is pretty high on Haynes and have him in multiple leagues, I will do flips if gets 700 yards (total) and 8tds.

that seems like a resonable upside to me (maybe even a little higher), but not a reasonable downside.

Exactly, for him to get those kinds of numbers, willie Parker is probably hurt for a few weeks or I have a total misread on the Steelers and how they will use thier RBs.

 

[Bri]

They kept Staley for a reason

 

[AB in DC]

Haynes downside is 700 yards and 8 TDs, IMO. A Parker injury here or there or improvement in his running (projection based on 3.5 avg per carry vs. carreer avg of 5.0) and Haynes will be gold.

Haynes career high in total yards (2004): 414Haynes career high in TDs (2005): 3

 

[No. 16]

Those career highs were with a smaller role due to Jerome Bettis being active. The Steelers are a running team and are dedicated to the run.

I value Haynes because Bettis is gone and someone has to pick up the slack for his 400 yards and 9 TDs he produce last year. That person I believe will be, Haynes and not Staley.

Haynes was active for the season and the teams 3rd down RB. Staley was inactive for most of the season, even when healthy. Haynes is younger than Staley and in a contract year, so it would benefit the Steelers to give him more responsibility.

If Haynes gets 200 carriers, 700 yards is fairly easy to attain. It's a measly 3.5 ypc, well lower than his 4.0 ypc career average and in 2004 he posted 4.9 ypc carrying 55 times, not a large sample but a decent amount of carriers to judge that he is a fairly effective runner.

 

[chris1969]

Haynes Value this year is the same as it was last year. The only reason he was even activated over Staley last year was because he is a fantastic special teams player. It will take an injury to improve his numbers.

 

[Brunswick]

They kept Staley for a reason

 

[SteelerMurf]

I do not believe that Haynes is above Duce on the depth chart. This article is the first I have ever heard of this.

However, Haynes may be the goalline back....both Cowher and Wiz have eluded to that. Haynes runs very tough despite his size.

 

[King of the Jungle]

I do not believe that Haynes is above Duce on the depth chart. This article is the first I have ever heard of this.

However, Haynes may be the goalline back....both Cowher and Wiz have eluded to that. Haynes runs very tough despite his size.

Despite being 225?

 

[coolnerd]

I do not believe that Haynes is above Duce on the depth chart.  This article is the first I have ever heard of this.

However, Haynes may be the goalline back....both Cowher and Wiz have eluded to that.  Haynes runs very tough despite his size.

Despite being 225?

Confusing relatively short (5'9 ish) with small...then again Steelers fans have quite a few years of the huge BUS running around, so he might be small in that team's eyes.

 

[The Jerk]

They kept Staley for a reason

A sizable portion of that reason is that cutting Staley would have resulted in a salary cap hit. Staley was under contract for 2006, initially for $2.5 million. The contract was restructured during the CBA negotiations and I am not sure what the current value is.A better reason to keep him around is that he is a veteran presence both in the RB core and in the locker room, and he was unselfish and accepting of his reduced role last year, albeit it was instigated by his injury.

I think Staley will initially be the goal line back, but Haynes is a close second in this capacity and is also leading the backup to Parker competition.

So Haynes is at worst the 3rd down back, but could move in to either or both roles currently held by Parker or Staley due to injury or ineffectiveness.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Staley will get injured getting a sip from the water fountain in week 3.

 

[cracKer]

Haynes had 10+ carries five times over four seasons. In those five games he's averaged 3.5 yards per carry.

Signed,

Haynes owners since the beginning, hoping for another late round Georgia RB surprise.

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

Haynes had 10+ carries five times over four seasons. In those five games he's averaged 3.5 yards per carry.

Signed,

Haynes owners since the beginning, hoping for another late round Georgia RB surprise.

To be fair, though...most of those cases (I'm going from memory here, not data, so correct me if I am wrong) were in late game blowouts where Bettis or Parker was benched and every person in the entire stadium knew a run was coming. That average has to go up if you put him in situations where defenses also have to worry about the passing game.

 

[No. 16]

Haynes had 10+ carries five times over four seasons. In those five games he's averaged 3.5 yards per carry.

Signed,

Haynes owners since the beginning, hoping for another late round Georgia RB surprise.

To be fair, though...most of those cases (I'm going from memory here, not data, so correct me if I am wrong) were in late game blowouts where Bettis or Parker was benched and every person in the entire stadium knew a run was coming. That average has to go up if you put him in situations where defenses also have to worry about the passing game.

Exactly. If he can get a steady stream of carries, I think he'll be gold.

 

[cracKer]

Haynes had 10+ carries five times over four seasons. In those five games he's averaged 3.5 yards per carry.

Signed,

Haynes owners since the beginning, hoping for another late round Georgia RB surprise.

To be fair, though...most of those cases (I'm going from memory here, not data, so correct me if I am wrong) were in late game blowouts where Bettis or Parker was benched and every person in the entire stadium knew a run was coming. That average has to go up if you put him in situations where defenses also have to worry about the passing game.

I left you a softball to break out the Reuben Droughns comparison. 40-97 (2.4) during his first three seasons. 584-2472 (4.2) over the next two.

 

[No. 16]

FOund this ina Q & A with Cowher after the NFL draft...

Cowher Q&A

Is Staley the best option to fill in Jerome Bettis' role?

Coach Cowher: We'll see. I think Verron Haynes is a guy that you can't overlook. I think Verron is a guy that has been waiting in the wings. You watch even last year in some of those games when we took Jerome out, [Haynes] wasn't too bad. We're going to let that thing unfold. I don't have any preconceived thoughts going in. I'd like to let it play out and see where it goes from there.

Seems like Cowher is leaning towards Haynes to fill for Bettis!

 

[coolnerd]

FOund this ina Q & A with Cowher after the NFL draft...

Cowher Q&A

Is Staley the best option to fill in Jerome Bettis' role?

Coach Cowher: We'll see. I think Verron Haynes is a guy that you can't overlook. I think Verron is a guy that has been waiting in the wings. You watch even last year in some of those games when we took Jerome out, [Haynes] wasn't too bad. We're going to let that thing unfold. I don't have any preconceived thoughts going in. I'd like to let it play out and see where it goes from there.

Seems like Cowher is leaning towards Haynes to fill for Bettis!

Okay, I want Haynes to be the guy, but that bolded statement is not Cowher leaning towards Haynes in Bettis' role.

 

[David Yudkin]

FOund this ina Q & A with Cowher after the NFL draft...

Cowher Q&A

Is Staley the best option to fill in Jerome Bettis' role?

Coach Cowher: We'll see. I think Verron Haynes is a guy that you can't overlook. I think Verron is a guy that has been waiting in the wings. You watch even last year in some of those games when we took Jerome out, [Haynes] wasn't too bad. We're going to let that thing unfold. I don't have any preconceived thoughts going in. I'd like to let it play out and see where it goes from there.

Seems like Cowher is leaning towards Haynes to fill for Bettis!

I've read and seen interviews on tv where Cowher laid it out that Staley is #2 and if things didn't work out there was always Haynes. I never got the impression that Haynes was really in competition for the #2 slot. Maybe things have changed, but I haven't seen anything other than the article in this thread to make it seem like Haynes was a legit candidate for the #2 job.

 

[Brunswick]

FOund this ina Q & A with Cowher after the NFL draft...

Cowher Q&A

Is Staley the best option to fill in Jerome Bettis' role?

Coach Cowher: We'll see. I think Verron Haynes is a guy that you can't overlook. I think Verron is a guy that has been waiting in the wings. You watch even last year in some of those games when we took Jerome out, [Haynes] wasn't too bad. We're going to let that thing unfold. I don't have any preconceived thoughts going in. I'd like to let it play out and see where it goes from there.

Seems like Cowher is leaning towards Haynes to fill for Bettis!

I've read and seen interviews on tv where Cowher laid it out that Staley is #2 and if things didn't work out there was always Haynes. I never got the impression that Haynes was really in competition for the #2 slot. Maybe things have changed, but I haven't seen anything other than the article in this thread to make it seem like Haynes was a legit candidate for the #2 job.

The article was in the Macon Ga local newspaper. UGA hometown, local hometown boy makes good angle, from my viewpoint. Based on an interwiew with Haynes from what I can see.

 

[No. 16]

FOund this ina Q & A with Cowher after the NFL draft...

Cowher Q&A

Is Staley the best option to fill in Jerome Bettis' role?

Coach Cowher: We'll see. I think Verron Haynes is a guy that you can't overlook. I think Verron is a guy that has been waiting in the wings. You watch even last year in some of those games when we took Jerome out, [Haynes] wasn't too bad. We're going to let that thing unfold. I don't have any preconceived thoughts going in. I'd like to let it play out and see where it goes from there.

Seems like Cowher is leaning towards Haynes to fill for Bettis!

I've read and seen interviews on tv where Cowher laid it out that Staley is #2 and if things didn't work out there was always Haynes. I never got the impression that Haynes was really in competition for the #2 slot. Maybe things have changed, but I haven't seen anything other than the article in this thread to make it seem like Haynes was a legit candidate for the #2 job.

The article was in the Macon Ga local newspaper. UGA hometown, local hometown boy makes good angle, from my viewpoint. Based on an interwiew with Haynes from what I can see.

The quote from Cowher is right after the NFL Draft and is from the teams website not Macon Ga.To me it seems the team is favoring Haynes as the question asked about Staley, but Cowher responded with Haynes. Had Staley been the favorite you would think he would mention the guy in his reply.

 

[Franknbeans]

Starting to get very high on this guy.

Bad news for Willie Parker?

Parker's for real. Bad news for Staley.

 

[No. 16]

Agreed. Parker and Haynes will be the feautred RBs.

Now the quetsion is.. does Parker have durability issues? college?

 

[David Yudkin]

Just read last week's Sporting news, and the Pittsburgh beat writer once again reports that Staley will be taking over Bettis' role this season and Haynes was not even mentioned in the discussion.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

Those career highs were with a smaller role due to Jerome Bettis being active. The Steelers are a running team and are dedicated to the run.

I value Haynes because Bettis is gone and someone has to pick up the slack for his 400 yards and 9 TDs he produce last year. That person I believe will be, Haynes and not Staley.

Haynes was active for the season and the teams 3rd down RB. Staley was inactive for most of the season, even when healthy. Haynes is younger than Staley and in a contract year, so it would benefit the Steelers to give him more responsibility.

If Haynes gets 200 carriers, 700 yards is fairly easy to attain. It's a measly 3.5 ypc, well lower than his 4.0 ypc career average and in 2004 he posted 4.9 ypc carrying 55 times, not a large sample but a decent amount of carriers to judge that he is a fairly effective runner.

Why on earth do you think he'll get anywhere near 200 carries?And where is all this extra yardage coming from?

 

[No. 16]

Those career highs were with a smaller role due to Jerome Bettis being active. The Steelers are a running team and are dedicated to the run.

I value Haynes because Bettis is gone and someone has to pick up the slack for his 400 yards and 9 TDs he produce last year. That person I believe will be, Haynes and not Staley.

Haynes was active for the season and the teams 3rd down RB. Staley was inactive for most of the season, even when healthy. Haynes is younger than Staley and in a contract year, so it would benefit the Steelers to give him more responsibility.

If Haynes gets 200 carriers, 700 yards is fairly easy to attain. It's a measly 3.5 ypc, well lower than his 4.0 ypc career average and in 2004 he posted 4.9 ypc carrying 55 times, not a large sample but a decent amount of carriers to judge that he is a fairly effective runner.

Why on earth do you think he'll get anywhere near 200 carries?And where is all this extra yardage coming from?

Last year:Haynes had 74 carries in 14 games. (5 carries per game) as the 3rd down RB.

Bettis had 110 carries in 12 games. (9 carries per game)

If i expect Haynes to the Bettis role and keep his role from last year as 3rd down RB that roughly projects to 224 carries per game. Haynes career rushing average is 4.0, and last year it was 3.7 ypc with Bettis at 3.3.

Just to be on the safe side and assuming more carries he becomes even slighty less effective and better than Bettis (which isnt too hard), I'll use for my projections 3.5 yards per carry. So simply... 200 carries * 3.5 yards equals = 700 yards.

I expect Haynes to take over the Bettis role and producing 700 yards and 8 TDs seems very reasonable to me.

 

[Brunswick]

FOund this ina Q & A with Cowher after the NFL draft...

Cowher Q&A

Is Staley the best option to fill in Jerome Bettis' role?

Coach Cowher: We'll see. I think Verron Haynes is a guy that you can't overlook. I think Verron is a guy that has been waiting in the wings. You watch even last year in some of those games when we took Jerome out, [Haynes] wasn't too bad. We're going to let that thing unfold. I don't have any preconceived thoughts going in. I'd like to let it play out and see where it goes from there.

Seems like Cowher is leaning towards Haynes to fill for Bettis!

I've read and seen interviews on tv where Cowher laid it out that Staley is #2 and if things didn't work out there was always Haynes. I never got the impression that Haynes was really in competition for the #2 slot. Maybe things have changed, but I haven't seen anything other than the article in this thread to make it seem like Haynes was a legit candidate for the #2 job.

The article was in the Macon Ga local newspaper. UGA hometown, local hometown boy makes good angle, from my viewpoint. Based on an interwiew with Haynes from what I can see.

The quote from Cowher is right after the NFL Draft and is from the teams website not Macon Ga.To me it seems the team is favoring Haynes as the question asked about Staley, but Cowher responded with Haynes. Had Staley been the favorite you would think he would mention the guy in his reply.

The original newspaper article that started this was from the Macon paper.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

Those career highs were with a smaller role due to Jerome Bettis being active. The Steelers are a running team and are dedicated to the run.

I value Haynes because Bettis is gone and someone has to pick up the slack for his 400 yards and 9 TDs he produce last year. That person I believe will be, Haynes and not Staley.

Haynes was active for the season and the teams 3rd down RB. Staley was inactive for most of the season, even when healthy. Haynes is younger than Staley and in a contract year, so it would benefit the Steelers to give him more responsibility.

If Haynes gets 200 carriers, 700 yards is fairly easy to attain. It's a measly 3.5 ypc, well lower than his 4.0 ypc career average and in 2004 he posted 4.9 ypc carrying 55 times, not a large sample but a decent amount of carriers to judge that he is a fairly effective runner.

Why on earth do you think he'll get anywhere near 200 carries?And where is all this extra yardage coming from?

Last year:Haynes had 74 carries in 14 games. (5 carries per game) as the 3rd down RB.

Bettis had 110 carries in 12 games. (9 carries per game)

If i expect Haynes to the Bettis role and keep his role from last year as 3rd down RB that roughly projects to 224 carries per game. Haynes career rushing average is 4.0, and last year it was 3.7 ypc with Bettis at 3.3.

Just to be on the safe side and assuming more carries he becomes even slighty less effective and better than Bettis (which isnt too hard), I'll use for my projections 3.5 yards per carry. So simply... 200 carries * 3.5 yards equals = 700 yards.

I expect Haynes to take over the Bettis role and producing 700 yards and 8 TDs seems very reasonable to me.

So they'll only be using 2 backs this year?

 

[No. 16]

Those career highs were with a smaller role due to Jerome Bettis being active. The Steelers are a running team and are dedicated to the run.

I value Haynes because Bettis is gone and someone has to pick up the slack for his 400 yards and 9 TDs he produce last year. That person I believe will be, Haynes and not Staley.

Haynes was active for the season and the teams 3rd down RB. Staley was inactive for most of the season, even when healthy. Haynes is younger than Staley and in a contract year, so it would benefit the Steelers to give him more responsibility.

If Haynes gets 200 carriers, 700 yards is fairly easy to attain. It's a measly 3.5 ypc, well lower than his 4.0 ypc career average and in 2004 he posted 4.9 ypc carrying 55 times, not a large sample but a decent amount of carriers to judge that he is a fairly effective runner.

Why on earth do you think he'll get anywhere near 200 carries?And where is all this extra yardage coming from?

Last year:Haynes had 74 carries in 14 games. (5 carries per game) as the 3rd down RB.

Bettis had 110 carries in 12 games. (9 carries per game)

If i expect Haynes to the Bettis role and keep his role from last year as 3rd down RB that roughly projects to 224 carries per game. Haynes career rushing average is 4.0, and last year it was 3.7 ypc with Bettis at 3.3.

Just to be on the safe side and assuming more carries he becomes even slighty less effective and better than Bettis (which isnt too hard), I'll use for my projections 3.5 yards per carry. So simply... 200 carries * 3.5 yards equals = 700 yards.

I expect Haynes to take over the Bettis role and producing 700 yards and 8 TDs seems very reasonable to me.

So they'll only be using 2 backs this year?

Yah pretty much, between Parker and Haynes thats all they would need. With only 1 decent WR.... the Steelers may pound the ball some more. Meaning Duce would get more looks... he had 38 carriers last year in a very limited role... he'll probably end up with 60-70 touches.

 

[Captain Quinoa]

How many true backup RB's get 14 carries/game?

ALso Willie only had 255 carries last year, a total he's sure to eclipse if healthy.