James Starks had a nice playoff run last season and did his best Shonn Greene impersonation, and of course we all know what happened to our man Greene. But will the same thing happen to Starks? Last season there was a good chance that Greene would take over the #1 RB slot for the Jets after Thomas Jones left, but LT came in and was all effective and stuff, while Greene could never get on track. Starks is a more skilled player than Ryan Grant, but Grant is no slouch and will be returning from injury. All indications are that Starks will get a chance to compete for the job and should at the very least get significant looks. This makes drafting either precarious, but for now I am leaning Starks way. I usually go with upside when I have the choice and I like his more than Grant’s.
Before we move onto the rest of the news I’d like to invite you to track my and some other ‘perts progress during our Draftmaster Invitational. It should be an interesting and helpful look at draft trends heading into next season.
Joseph Addai: It looked like Joe would blow after last season, but Donald Brown just never put his shizz together. I don’t think the Mannings will give up on Brown, but I also think they want the insurance of Addai as well. I don’t love Addai, but I have to choo choo choose him over D. Brown unless a team really wants Joe and overpays for him, which I don’t see happening.
Jeremy Shockey: Ding Dong The Douche Is Gone! But somebody will pick him up, if they can hold onto him with all that grease in his hair. The Dolphins are looking at him pretty hard, but a little too hard because he just strained something.
DeAngelo Williams: DWilly was extended a restricted free agent tender, which is not nearly as satisfying as a chicken tender. Right now this move is absolutely meaningless since the CBA is only a gleam in Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith’s eyes, we just don’t know if the tenders will be binding and you really don’t want to get your tenders all bound up.
Cam Newton: The entertainment icon is coming off as an ignorant douche right now, but there is a decent chance the Bills and Chan Gailey will want to take a risk on him. I’m not a scout and I defer to draftniks most of the time, but the Bills need some excitement, it’s Buffalo for crud’s sake! Pair him with Spiller and Stevie “Wonder” Johnson (he had to be visually impaired to drop that pass against the Steelers) and you might have the start of something.
Felix Jones: He is back down to 210 el bees after ballooning to 220 last season. He believes he lacked his explosiveness because of the bulk. I like Jones in PPR leagues and as a bounce back candidate if you can get him at value, but he will always be an injury risk and inconsistent.
Jason Campbell: Coach Jackson, Hue if your nasty, said that Campbell is their no doubt starter and that they won’t look at quarterbacks in the draft. Well, have fun with that.
Austin Collie: There is no doubt that Collie will return next season and at the very least do everything he can to play. I believe he will be back and his upside is great, but you can’t discount the fact that one concussion and he is done. High risk, high reward.
Arian Foster: He had his knee scoped, but nobody seems too worried about it. It’s more fun to worry, but I’ll let this one pass.
Jimmy Graham: The release of Shockey moves Graham way up the tight end boards. I don’t see how he doesn’t end the season in the top 10 or better.
