Survivor I - Duce Staley Commentary

NOTE: this draft was completed on 7/24

Recent Stats

YR	RSH	RSHYD	RSHTD	REC	RECYD	RECTD	FPT	RANK
2002	269	1029	5	51	541	3	205.0	15
2003	96	463	5	36	382	2	126.5	28
2004	192	830	1	6	55	0	94.5	37

Positives - Duce is the #1 RB on the #1 rushing offense in the NFL. The Steelers will run the ball, and Staley will be the primary back. In the first eight weeks of 2004, Staley had four 100+ yard games and two 90+ yard games. Duce can also catch the ball out of the backfield, and with the departure of Plaxico Burress, should see far more passing targets this year. With Bettis in his last year as a pro, the Steelers should start working Staley into their Goal Line packages.

Negatives - Staley killed a lot of fantasy owners last year due to his multitude of injuries and The Bus vulturing 13 rushing TDs last year, the majority of which were less than two yard runs after Staley got the ball inside the five. While Staley was healthy coming into camp this year, there is no guarantee that either or both of the crippling factors from last year will not arise again this year.

Draft Strategy - At this point I was looking for another WR or my starting TE. Todd Heap was temping, but with the addition of Derrick Mason in Baltimore I felt his numbers could suffer, so I figured I’d wait a round and hope Heap, Alge Crumpler, or Dallas Clark were still available. Jimmy Smith was taken off the board a few picks before me, which was the last receiver on my short list. Duce is an incredible value in the 6th round of the draft. Even missing six games last year he put up almost 900 combined yards. Carnell Williams (rookie sharing backfield with Pittman and Alstott), Lamont Jordan (unproven as a starter), J.J. Arrington (rookie on a horrible team), Kevan Barlow (disappointment last year on a horrible team), Ronnie Brown (rookie on a horrible team), Thomas Jones (to be replaced by Cedric Benson), Chris Brown (RBBC), and Travis Henry (RBBC), were all drafted before Staley. If Staley stays healthy and gets a few goal line looks, he’ll outperform them all.