13) Laurence Maroney
ADP: 20.8 (2nd round, 9th pick)Value: Over Valued
2008 Finish: Buried in the fantasy graveyard.
Recap: Maroney was yet again a bust. Inconsistent play followed by another injury that eventually put him on IR. He was obviously a good player to avoid.
14) Brandon Jacobs
ADP: 22.8 (2nd round, 11th pick)Value: Appropriately Valued
2008 Finish: 12th
Recap: The Giants were again studly running the football in 2008, and Jacobs led the charge with another very solid season. He missed 2 more games, including week 15, but finished with a monster 3 TD performance in week 16. You pretty much got exactly what you expected when you drafted him.
15) Jamal Lewis
ADP: 24.9 (3rd round, 1st pick)Value: Over Valued
2008 Finish: 25th
Recap: Lewis ran hard all year but missed a few games with injuries, and the offense around him collapsed. He did as much as he could, but he simply isn't a good RB anymore at this point in his career.
16) Maurice Jones-Drew
ADP: 27.0 (3rd round, 3rd pick)Value: Appropriately Valued
2008 Finish: 8th
Recap: MJD turned in a solid season and finished in the top 10, mostly thanks to a 12 TD performance, and the aid of 3 missed games by starter Fred Taylor. He was a bit inconsistent fantasy-wise thanks to the lack of touches, but caught plenty of passes and scored enough to mostly counter that problem.
17) Reggie Bush
ADP: 30.3 (3rd round, 6th pick)Value: Under Valued
2008 Finish: 28th
Recap: Bush was a RB1 for the first 6 weeks of the season, and then disaster struck and another knee injury ruined his season. He only played in 2 more games after week 7, moving from a bigtime 3rd round value to a useless fantasy commodity.
18) Ronnie Brown
ADP: 33.5 (3rd round, 9th pick)Value: Over Valued
2008 Finish: 16th
Recap: Brown's 2008 finish hid his actual value. He peaked in week 3 with a massive 4 TD explosion versus NE, and followed it up with a 125 yard, 1 TD performance the following week. Inexplicably, he received only one game of more than 16 carries the rest of the way as a relatively effective Ricky Williams split time almost evenly with Brown. He showed great explosion in his first year back from a torn ACL, but he just didn't get the touches down the stretch to be a difference maker.
19) Earnest Graham
ADP: 33.9 (3rd round, 10th pick)Value: Over Valued
2008 Finish: 45th
Recap: Graham wasn't very impressive in 2008. He was very good in 3 of the first 4 games, but split time on the field with Dunn, and his YPC crashed after week 5 before a torn knee ligament ended his season in week 11. He didn't come close to recapturing his 2007 magic.
20) Michael Turner
ADP: 36.5 (3rd round, 12th pick)Value: Appropriately Valued
2008 Finish: 2nd
Recap: Rookie QB? No contribution in the passing game? It simply doesn't matter when lead the league in carries and score 17 TDs. Turner showed early on that good defenses could hold him down, but then Matt Ryan proved wise beyond his years, Roddy White dominated the receiving attack, and Turner moved the chains over and over again. He certainly should have been ranked as under valued and taken a round earlier, but who knew?
21) Edgerrin James
ADP: 40.5 (4th round, 4th pick)Value: Over Valued
2008 Finish: 53rd
Recap: Edge proved to be the same player yet again, and found the bench after week 5 while failing to provide any sort of spark to the running game in the early going. He won't start again.
22) Willie Parker
ADP: 45.3 (4th round, 9th pick)Value: Appropriately Valued
2008 Finish: 40th
Recap: Parker exploded out of the gates in the first 2 weeks before suffering a knee injury in week 3 that caused problems until returning in week 9, missing another game in week 10, having another big game in week 11, and then proving mostly worthless the rest of the season. It's entirely possibly that he's breaking down already as he was never built to be the battering ram the Steelers have used him as.
23) Julius Jones
ADP: 49.8 (5th round, 2nd pick)Value: Appropriately Valued
2008 Finish: 50th
Recap: If you followed my advice to draft him, and then followed my advice to sell high in my sell high column after week 4, you likely did very well for yourself. Jones exploded in weeks 2 and 3 with back-to-back 125+ yard games with a TD a piece, and then fell apart shortly after. He couldn't maintain his confidence level and is likely done as anything more than a backup RB in the NFL.
24) Darren McFadden
ADP: 51.6 (5th round, 3rd pick)Value: Appropriately Valued
2008 Finish: 44th
Recap: It wasn't even fair for McFadden owners. Fargas was blocking his path, but after a groin injury in week 2, McFadden took the reins and exploded for 164 yard, 1 TD performance against KC. Unfortunately, that was essentially the end of McFadden as a turf toe injury ruined the rest of his season. Ugh.
RB2 Summary:
Hits: Maroney, Jacobs, Lewis, MJD, Turner, Graham, James, Jones (ONLY if you sold high)
Misses: Bush, Brown, Parker, McFadden - Mostly injuries here, although I should have known better with Bush and Parker. Brown performed better than expected, although faded down the stretch. McFadden suffered a freak injury.
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