Survivor I - Deuce McAllister Commentary

NOTE: this draft was completed on 7/24

Recent Stats

YR	RSH	RSHYD	RSHTD	REC	RECYD	RECTD	FPT	RANK
2002	325	1388	13	47	352	3	270.0	6
2003	351	1641	8	69	516	0	263.7	7
2004	269	1074	9	34	228	0	184.2	17

Positives - Big. Strong. Fast. When Deuce McAllister was healthy in 2003, he ran for 1,600 plus yards on 350 some odd carries with 8 TD's. He also caught 69 passes for 515 yards. He missed time last year due to an ankle injury, but still managed a 1,000 yards in a struggling Saints offense that was always playing from behind and Deuce was not always the first option; and this playing dinged up most of the season. His three year average as a starter is still 300/1,300/10 rushing and 50/350/1 receiving. That's pretty solid numbers from a "not that highly rated" offense. With Deuce healthy, news that the Saints will try to rely more on the running game this season, and an offensive line that looks to have improved, Deuce could be poised to put up numbers close (if not beyond) those of 2003.

Negatives - Since it appears that “hold out” rumors have pretty much abated, the only negative I see for McAllister is one of the things that hurt him last year - the Saints get behind early and often because of a bad defense and are forced to abandon the run. But oddly enough, due to the particular scoring system of this Survivor League, even this negative could turn into a positive as Deuce could catch more passes.

Draft Strategy - The question here might be “Why not Shawn Alexander whose ADP is 1.02?” The answer for me is that he just doesn’t catch enough passes, and with some uncertainty over a possible “hold out”, Deuce is the safer pick. In fact, after LT, Priest, and Edge were off the table, more logical choices might have been Westbrook or D. Davis. But I did not want to rely too heavily on receptions from Westbrook and I still do not feel that Davis is as durable as Deuce. A stud RB with this pick would free me up to pursue whatever the draft brought my way with my remaining picks and not force me to necessarily lock in on RBs in the next two rounds.