Fast willie not fast enough in ’09

 

 

Rashard Mendenhall is a better player right now than Willie Parker. Period. Does that mean Mendenhall is Pittsburgh’s new unquestioned feature back? Nah, that would be too easy.

In the constantly changing beast that is NFL backfields, there’s never a clear-cut answer. Three of fantasy’s premier committees are going through issues right now. Here’s a look at each:

Parker’s phase out?

Mike Tomlin emphatically declared before the season Willie Parker was his guy. In Week 3, Tomlin benched Rashard Mendenhall for lack of focus. Everything changed, though, two weeks ago when Parker popped up with a dreaded case of turf toe.

Now what? Tomlin is wavering on what to do. Once Parker gets healthy, expect the veteran to be the one spelling Mendenhall every couple of series. The gap between them is too obvious.


High knees

Mike Bell was really impressive filling in when Pierre Thomas was out with a knee injury. Then Bell went down with a knee injury of his own. As the Saints prepare to come out of their bye, Bell is back. What a mess.

Expect Thomas to hang on to the majority of carries here as long as he’s healthy. Bell is worth a roster spot as a simple handcuff.

Popular backup  

Ahmad Bradshaw has run for 20 more yards than Brandon Jacobs on 42 less carries this season. Normally, that would spell doom for Jacobs, the Pro-Bowl incumbent, but not in this situation.

Jacobs will continue to get his 16-20 carries. The 5-0 Giants have no reason to change things up at this point.