The Rookie Report Paul Agruso, Fantasy Football Staff Writer Aug 7, 2007 | More

Welcome everyone to the first installment to the Rookie Report.   Each week during the preseason and regular season, the report will cover trends and a game by game analysis of notable performances by the NFL’s 2007 Rookie Class to assist in your pursuit of dynasty championship gold.  

During the preseason, I plan to give a tiered analysis of rookies by position each week followed by a break down of each preseason game.   The preseason is crucial for evaluating rookies’ long-term fantasy values as they are given the opportunity to gain valuable playing time and experience they otherwise will not get the opportunity to during the regular season.

So sit back, but don’t get too comfortable because here we go with our first preseason week’s installment of the Rookie Report on Rookie Running Backs…

Tier 1 – Instant Impact

RB Adrian Peterson— Minnesota Vikings

Adrian Peterson is the most complete running back of the 2007 Rookie Class.   The direct comparisons to Eric Dickerson are justified as Peterson has all of the tools to succeed at the next level: size, power, break away speed, and good hands.   The only question mark regarding AP is durability as he suffered through injuries in each of his college seasons.   He will begin his career in the NFL splitting carries with Chester Taylor in the Vikings backfield, but get this kid while you can because he is going to be a fantasy stud towards the end of year one and into the foreseeable future.   If Chester Taylor’s injury early in camp is more serious than the Vikings are letting on, Adrian Peterson could be gathering the majority of the carries early in the season.

RB Marshawn Lynch— Buffalo Bills

Marshawn Lynch enters the NFL with an excellent chance to start from day one.   Due to Lynch playing on the west coast in California, many people are unfamiliar with his college career.   But make no mistake; this guy has talent with a combination of good field vision, toughness, size, and athleticism.   Lynch also possesses good receiving skills.   With only Anthony Thomas in Lynch’s way to cement himself as the primary ball carrier for the Bills in 2007, he has an excellent opportunity to make a fantasy impact from the start and continue contributing for many years to come.

RB Brandon Jackson— Green Bay

Brandon Jackson was drafted in the 2^nd round by Green Bay in this year’s NFL Rookie Draft, and comes to the Packers with quite a bit of fantasy hype.   Brandon Jackson was never a workhorse in college with only his Junior year at Nebraska to base his prospects on.   Jackson carried the ball at Nebraska 188 times for 989 yards and 8 TDs last year.   Despite Jackson’s quickness and burst, he only accounted for roughly 38% of the Corn Huskers’ carries and 40% of the team’s rushing yards.   These college numbers are hardly anything to base a lot of confidence on Jackson’s NFL prospects as he never carried the whole load in college.   Despite the lack of experience, the Packers committed a second round pick to the Jackson, and are willing to give him a chance to win the starting job.   Many believe Brandon Jackson is a natural fit for the Packers system.   Vernon Morency suffered a knee injury early in training camp, and is likely out for the 2-4 weeks.   As a result, Brandon Jackson has an excellent chance of cementing himself as the starter heading into the season; however, thus far in training camp Brandon Jackson has struggled with picking of the blitz in passing situations and not overly impressive.

Tier 2

RB Michael Bush— Oakland Raiders

If Michael Bush’s rehab from his broken leg in the first game of last year college season was further along, Bush would be listed in the first tier of this year’s rookie running back class.   Bush has a combination of great size (240 lbs), good speed, good receiving skills, and the ability to run both inside and outside.   Word out of Raiders camp is that Bush will be limited in training camp, and may even sit out the 2007 season, but watch out for him in 2008 as he has the intangibles to make a significant fantasy impact as the Raiders offense matures.   Michael Bush continues to be on the training camp PUP list.

RB Lorenzo Booker— Miami Dolphins

Lorenzo Booker was a disappointment at Florida State after being one of the top recruits coming out of high school.   Booker is a great athlete with elusiveness and good speed; however, he is a bit undersized.   Booker has the opportunity to win the backup job to Ronnie Brown, and should be able to carve out a good niche in Miami provided the offensive line in Miami doesn’t completely cave in their offense.   Reports out of training camp indicate that Booker has been impressive thus far in practices.   Some of the local writers believe that he will win the backup position to Ronnie Brown and possibly steal third down carries this season.

RB Antonio Pittman— New Orleans

Antonio Pittman enters the 2007 season as third on the Saints depth chart behind Deuce and Reggie Bush; however, by the beginning of the 2008 season he could fill in as a cheaper alternative to Deuce McAllister and take his role in the offense.   Pittman is a strong back with good speed and burst out of the backfield.   His blocking and receiving skills still are a work in progress.   Many fantasy owners could be potentially rewarded for their patience with Pittman as early as 2008.

RB Kolby Smith— Kansas City Chiefs

Kolby Smith is a good athlete with excellent receiving skills, good size, good field vision, and is a good blocker.   With Larry Johnson coming off a season with 400+ carries and continuing to be headed towards a long hold out along with often injured Michael Bennett as the backup, Kolby Smith is in a good position to get significant carries possibly now and in the future. Priest Holmes is another wildcard in the Kansas City RB situation this year if LJ holds out, so this will be an interesting situation to monitor.

RB Tony Hunt— Philadelphia Eagles

Tony Hunt is a big back with good receiving skills.   He has an excellent opportunity to fill in as the primary backup to Brian Westbrook by the end of the 2007 season and receive short-yardage-goal line carries and well as third down looks.  

Tier 3

RB Kenny Irons— Cincinnati Bengals

Kenny Irons possesses decent speed, lacks size and strength; however, he has good vision and is a good north/south runner in a similar style to Rudi Johnson.   With Rudi Johnson not getting any younger, Irons has the opportunity to get carries as a backup to keep Johnson fresh.   He will compete with Kenny Watson this year for the backup role, but keep an eye on this guy in the future.   The real question is whether we will see the great Kenny Irons that we saw in 2005, or the average one we saw during the 2006 campaign.   Early training camp reports indicate Irons has been impressive in early scrimmages.   Despite making an impression in the open field, Kenny Irons has struggled with short yardage situations due to his smallish size.

RB Garrett Wolfe— Chicago Bears

With the departure of Thomas Jones from the Bears this offseason, Garrett Wolfe will get the opportunity in training camp to battle Adrian Peterson for the backup position to Cedric Benson.   This small school product is very explosive with good instincts and vision; however, he is undersized standing only at 5’7” and 186 lbs.   Wolfe has missed early time in training camp with a minor hamstring injury, which hurts his chance of winning the role as primary backup to Cedric Benson.  

RB Dwayne Wright— Buffalo Bills

Wright is a tough, downhill runner that lacks great speed; however, he has good vision of the field and instincts.   By the end of the 2007 season, Wright has an opportunity to take over the backup role from Anthony Thomas, and could potentially vulture short yardage touchdowns from projected starter Marshawn Lynch.

RB Brian Leonard— St. Louis Rams

Leonard is a tweener between fullback and running back.   He is a powerful runner with decent speed and good agility.   He is currently listed as the backup fullback on the Rams’ depth chart; however, he could end up as the backup running back to Jackson with a strong training camp.   So far in training camp, Leonard has received practice time at both tailback and fullback.

Tier 4

Darby struggled in his senior season after two solid years at the University of Alabama in 2004 and 2005.   He is a strong runner with good vision and instincts; however, he only has average speed.   Darby will be competing for the third roster spot in training camp behind Cadillac Williams and Michael Pittman.

RB Ahmed Bradshaw— New York Giants

Bradshaw impressed the Giants coaching staff in OTA practices with his receiving skills and quickness.   Bradshaw is a smaller back suited best for third down passing situations.   With a strong camp, Bradshaw could compete with Ruben Droughns for carries in third down situations.

RB Jason Snelling— Atlanta Falcons

With Warrick Dunn having surgery for a herniated disc that is expected to keep him out for the preseason.   Snelling has a chance to become Jerious Norwood’s primary backup in camp.   If Dunn struggles to recover from his surgery, Snelling could be a big sleeper if Norwood goes down at any point this season.

RB Chris Henry— Tennessee Titans

Chris Henry was drafted by the Titans in the 2^nd round of the NFL draft after a strong workout at the combine.   He has excellent speed and is a good athlete; however, he lacks the vision, power, and natural feel for the game that is necessary to succeed NFL or even the college level.   This is evident by Henry’s mediocre college career.   Henry struggled in the OTA workouts.   Henry’s struggles have continued in training camp with fumbling problems to the point that some local Nashville writers indicated that they would not be surprised if Henry did not making the Week 1 Roster.   Despite all of his faults, Henry will likely be given the opportunity to succeed with the Titans due to being taken as an early round draft pick.   However, failure is almost certain as the Titans wasted a draft pick on this workout warrior.

Other Mentionables

RB Selvin Young— Denver Broncos

RB Deshawn Wynn— Green Bay Packers

RB Thomas Clayton— San Francisco 49ers

RB Justise Hairston—New England Patriots

RB LeRon McClain— Baltimore Ravens

RB/FB Deon Anderson— Dallas Cowboys

RB Gary Russell— Pittsburgh Steelers

RB Pierre Thomas—New Orleans Saints

The following section of the rookie report will recap performances by rookies each week for each game.   Normally, this section of the weekly report will be in summary form, however, due to there only being one game in the NFL this week, additional detail is given.

Hall of Fame Game Rookie Recap—New Orleans Saints vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

New Orleans Notables:

RB Antonio Pittman—Pittman showed good burst to the outside and off tackle.   He seemed to get lost when running in between the tackles in this game.    Pittman looked very adept to picking up the blitz, which could help him get on the field sooner.   He finished the game with 7 carries for 20 yards.

RB Pierre Thomas—Was used in the third on kick returns.   He received some carries in the late third and fourth quarters.   Thomas looks to have good hands on receiving out of the backfield and good speed.   One thing I noticed is that if there wasn’t a clear running lane, he liked to dance a little bit in the backfield.   He ended the game with 4 carries for 17 yards and 2 catches for 35 yards.

QB Tyler Palko—Palko looked rushed on most of his throws.   He tried to force the ball into coverage several times, and hung his WRs out to dry by leading them into waiting defenders ready to deliver a big hit.   One thing Palko did well was scramble and move around the move.   He appears to have pretty good speed.   Palko finished the game 4 for 8 for 53 yards and an interception.   Also, he had 1 rush for 13 yards.

WR Robert Meachem—Meachem received his welcome into the NFL by getting jacked up in the fourth quarter.   He later returned to the field a couple plays later; however, he was quiet for the remainder of the game.   Meachem had 1 catch for 6 yards in this NFL debut.

Pittsburgh Steelers Notables:

RB Gary Russell—Russell showed good feet, burst and patience in his NFL debut.   At 5-11 and 215 lbs, he appeared to rush with more power than his size would indicate.   Russell finished the game with 8 carries for 41 yards.