This post got me thinking about a Willie other than my own.

I almost won (and would have) a league last year with Willie Parker as the anchor leg of my attack. Willie had a crapload of yards last year, but then Eagleschick pointed out something that just missed me..he had TWO freakin TDs.

With the draft day pick up of Rashad Mendenhall.......is Willie worth that 1st round pick in your draft?

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2008 Black Knights Football - 12 wins isn't enough

No way is Willie Parker worth a 1st round pick. The earliest he should be taken is the middle of the 2nd round. If you're picking in the late 1st round there will definetly be high QB/WR value not to mention the fact that there should be better RBs than him on the board.

Rashard being added isn't everything that scares me though. I think fast Willie is going to have a bum wheel sometime this year. Im not sure why, just call it a gut feeling. He took a ton of abuse last year.

I feel he is now a 3rd round #2 rb at best, and i won't spend that with Mendenhall there. This offense adjusting to Big Bens requests to air it out more, and they are not a run first team now.

FWP is not even on my radar. For some reason I get the same feeling about him that ExperiencedRookie does. I would say earliest on him is third round, a lot of the mocks I have seen he isn't taken until the fourth.

Wouldnt that make Parker bit more valuable in PPR leagues?

The Steelers brought in Moore for third down duty, and then Mendenhall fell to them. I don't know where this leaves Parker, but his time is ticking away in whatever duty he starts the season with.

More than in a regular league with out ppr, but still way lower than last year in both. he caught 31 passes in 2006. i just don't think of him as a receiving threat out of the back field.

WHOA WHOA. Parker dropping to the 4th round?? Thats stretching it out quite a bit. I don't care if my gut says he's going to end up injured. If I see Willie Parker sitting around in the 4th round and I need another starting RB, I'm going to pop a 6 foot hardon with a cheeseburger on the end of it while I pick him up!!

So entering the 5th year of his career, at 27 years old and with no less than 1200 yards rushing in each of the last 3 seasons, your ready to throw him under the bus?

Or are we perhaps talking about a change of scenery?

and wouldnt that receiving number be apt to increase with the fore mentioned "more wide open" offense?

Do you want fries with that? He might make it there. He just went at 3.09 in a draft I am currently in, as a Rb#2.

Not at all........just not my #1 Rb, and not in my first 2 rounds. He wasn't in my first round last year either though. It is not so much him as the loss of Cower and his old offensive coordinator. The offensive scheme has changed.

Good discussion here.

No, because I don't see him involved in that part of it. I see more shots deep to Holmes, and more passing in general, but not much affect for him. That just isn't his thing in my opinion. Moore will see some of that in passing downs.

I have to disagree here. I think the passing will be down from last year. I think the steelers are going to incorporate more carries among more backs.
If I remember correctly, Big Ben threw the ball all over the place last year, especially in the RZ.
I don't believe they will duplicate the same attack as last year.

Sounds to me like your basically just writing off Willie Parker as dead and useless because of a draft pick and a third down back.

He doesn't fit the mold of what I need for a #1 rb. I need td's to go with yards. He already lacks in Td's enough for me not to consider him a #1. Now he is going to play in a sysytem that deemphasizes the running game, and he isn't really a receiving back. Moore was brought in for 3rd downs you know. He was brought in to catch the ball on thrid downs. Mendenhall will get the carries from the 1. Do you think Parker will get those after only scoring twice last year, and he was promised goaline last year. It not so much giving up as never considering hima number 1 fantasy back. Now he has been a great NFL starter for the past three years or so, but that is different. He needs to pull a Tiki and take it in from outside of the 10 more, because they look elsewheres inside of it. Don't you think? He had a huge 2006 season that's for sure. That was Cowher and a different OC. LIke I said it is the Coach and the scheme more than the player.

So will they move him to another team?

No!!! Why? He doesn't fit what I want on a fantasy team as a #1 rb. He is likely a wet dream for a NFL Coach. Mendenhall is the future however, but why move him now?

This is simply my opinion, but that is what you are asking for.

This I knowthis is not the plan. They are going to open it up at the request of their team leader. They won't be a rush first team unless Big Ben fails miserably.