Empty the Bench

By: Andrew Thell

- This is the best I’ve seen Adrian Peterson look in two years. There was talk about AP working hard this offseason on two things: ball control and patience. It’s looking like that work is paying serious dividends. AP led the NFL in fumbles over the last three years, and down the stretch last season he struggled to find running room to showcase his trademark speed, power and moves. With season totals of 18 TDs and over 1,800 total yards, it’s easy to forget that he looked downright bad down the stretch in 2009. He was dancing behind the line, getting tackled for losses with regularity, being forced outside far too often and not hitting the seams he usually turns into big gains. Between Week 7 and the NFC Divisional playoff game, a span of 11 games, Peterson topped 100 yards rushing just once and sported a yards-per-carry average over 4.0 in just two contests (at home versus the Lions in Week 10 and with just 9 carries in a Week 17 laugher versus the Giants).

It wasn’t all his fault though. The offensive line was perhaps the best in football three years ago, but in 2009 featured a new, inexperienced and very undersized center in John Sullivan who was often abused by opposing DTs. In fact, the whole line looked a year older and a step slower last season, which was a big part of the reason Brett Favre had to go into gunslinger mode. This year, behind the same line which still doesn’t look especially strong, he’s rocking a 5.6 YPC, which is tied with his rookie season as the best mark of his career, and is churning out 130.7 yards per game, easily the best mark of his career.

Peterson has looked good doing it, too. He’s following his blockers, taking what the defense gives him, making excellent cuts and reads, letting the play develop before him, and then decisively hitting the smallest of creases and seams with authority. And, knock on wood, he hasn’t put the ball on the ground yet. Minnesota will need to lean on him as much as ever this season, especially in the passing game, and the way he’s responding nobody is looking foolish for using the top-overall pick on All Day.

- Sometimes teams have to lower their expectations. Not everybody can have the prototypical franchise running back, there aren’t enough APs to go around, and for some NFL and fantasy teams a guy who can turn in a workman-like effort has to be enough. When that’s the case, a big bruiser who isn’t a home-run threat can get the job done. In Cleveland, Eric Mangini has found that guy in Peyton Hillis, who isn’t going to break any game-changing runs but also isn’t going to hurt his team. Cleveland just needs a guy who can take what the defense gives and churn out modest production with consistency. Hillis can do that. He can also handle goal-line work, blocks well and is a surprisingly good receiver out of the backfield. He’s not a great back, but right now in Cleveland he’s good enough.

Hillis is likely long gone in your league, but his example might be one fantasy owners and NFL coaches can learn from. It’s looking very possible Tampa Bay, Green Bay and New England could follow suit with 250-pound LeGarrette Blount, 250-pound John Kuhn and BenJarvin Green-Ellis, who is only 215 pounds but chugs along like a much bigger back. All three of these teams struggle mightily in the run game and lack anybody who could emerge as an elite option on their roster, but could soon just settle for a big guy who’s good enough. None of these guys have the athleticism or skill set that gets fantasy owners excited, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be useful flex plays on a regular basis.

More observations from the first three weeks after the jump …

- There is a ridiculous volume of productive tight ends this season. It’s a trend that has been brewing for years now, with fewer and fewer teams settling for a blocker who will only contribute a negligible amount in the passing game. Seemingly everybody has an athlete who can catch big passes at TE now, and it’s diluting the value of the position for fantasy purposes. We’re only through Week 3 and already 20 TEs have caught TDs, 23 have double-digit reception totals, and 22 are over 100 yards receiving. With most leagues only requiring teams to start one TE it’s been easy this season for every team in the league to have a quality option, and that means only a small handful of TEs represent a significant statistical advantage for their owners.

Top picks like Antonio Gates, Dallas Clark and Jermichael Finley are producing for their owners, but they’re joined in the top 12 thus far by newcomers (and likely free-agent pickups) Dustin Keller, Tony Moeaki, and Aaron Hernandez. Unless you nabbed one of those three elite options it really doesn’t matter where you got your TE this year, and that’s hurting everybody who took one in the middle rounds. So far you’d have been better off if you used that pick on another position rather than taking a guy like Jason Witten, Kellen Winslow, Zach Miller, Owen Daniels, Tony Gonzalez, Vernon Davis, John Carlson or Brent Celek.

- The Redskins loss to St. Louis officially puts the NFC East up for grabs. There are no good teams in this division.

- Given the circumstances, the Pittsburgh Steelers look like the best team in football right now and there’s a serious case to be made for Troy Polamalu as NFL MVP. Going into the season I thought the best-case scenario for Pittsburgh was a 2-2 record when Ben Roethlisberger returned in Week 5, and I didn’t read anybody who thought otherwise. They head into this weekend’s slobberknocker at 3-0 and facing a Ravens team that could be without Ray Rice and with a young QB in Joe Flacco that looked easily rattled the first two weeks of the season. Place your bets now, because if they’re 4-0 coming out of the bye with their franchise QB returning to the fold, those Super Bowl odds are going to look a lot less friendly.

- What is going on in Carolina? Jonathan Stewart, their best running back in my opinion, has just 21 rushing attempts through three weeks and they’ve completely abandoned the Jimmy Clausen development project by throwing him onto this season’s funeral pyre. The Panthers aren’t going anywhere this year, but that doesn’t mean you let your QB of the future take a brutal beating for the next 13 weeks – more than a few signal callers have been irreparably damaged in that fashion. And if they aren’t giving up yet, as bad as Matt Moore looked, he’s better than Jimmy Clausen right now. He’s the same guy that threw 8 TDs and 0 INTs in his final four starts last year (three wins).

- Continuing the “what’s going on” in another 0-3 city, what exactly is the game plan in Buffalo? They certainly aren’t going to compete this year, and I don’t really know what they’re building around other than a talented but injury-prone secondary. When is Buffalo actually going to invest in a real QB option? I honestly can’t remember the last time they had a legit quarterback of the future, Rob “Fucking” Johnson is the only name that comes to mind. How can C.J. Spiller, presumably the guy they drafted to be their franchise rusher, only have 12 rushing attempts through three weeks? I just don’t understand what’s going on up there.

- Tennessee is a much, much scarier team with Vince Young under center. When he and Chris Johnson are both on the field at the same time teams have to sell out to seal the edges and matchup headaches abound. Now if they could just land Vince a legitimate receiver or two …

- I’m impressed with Josh Freeman. His tools made him one of my favorite prospects in the 2009 NFL draft, I was really hoping my Minnesota Vikings would make a play for him, but every scouting report I read said he was a 3-4 year project. Three weeks into Year Two he’s sporting a very respectable 4-2 TD-to-INT ratio, 84.6 QB rating, and 7.7 YPC despite a thumb injury and a brutal matchup against Pittsburgh last week. He has a long ways to go and there will be many bumps in the road this season, but the kid hasn’t looked lost out there.

- Atlanta may have won control of the NFC with a fluky missed FG by New Orleans, but this team is no fluke. They can pound the football, they can pass the football, their rush defense is solid, the secondary isn’t a doormat, Roddy White is the real deal, they have two capable backs in Michael Turner and Jason Snelling, Tony Gonzalez looks rejuvenated, Matt Ryan looks ready to take a big leap this season and the schedule is friendly. This team is playoffs-bound.

- Dez Bryant looks fantastic so far. I had my doubts about the guy after spending a year away from football, but I’m on the bandwagon. He had two impressive TD grabs last weak that didn’t count – one called back due to penalty, one an acrobatic catch in the front corner of the endzone where he barely landed out of bounds. So far his body control and strength have both exceeded my expectations, and it’s clear they love him in Dallas. Bryant is going to break out and claim the WR2 gig for the Cowboys and on fantasy teams any week. Buy now if his owner is struggling with the bye week, or next week after the bye makes his his numbers looks depressed next to guys with four full games on their resume.

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