Tag: Edgerrin James (Page 2 of 4)

      Edgerrin James to be released soon – are Texans an option?

      April 27, 2009 /

      After drafting Chris “Beanie” Wells in the first round of the NFL draft on Saturday, the Arizona Republic expects the Cardinals to release running back Edgerrin James soon, possibly even as earlier as this weekend.

      James started clamoring that he wanted out of Arizona last season when he started losing carries to Tim Hightower. James carried the ball only 133 times (his lowest total since an injury-plagued 2001 season) for 514 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games last season. He did rush for 236 yards on 61 carries in the playoffs last year (including the Super Bowl), but even then the writing seemed to be on the wall that he was done in the desert.

      If he is released, James will get what he wants, although his market value will be extremely low now that the draft is over. At 30 years old, he’s at the age where teams stop looking at you as a starter and more as a backup in a platoon.

      This is just speculation on my part, but one team that could be interested in James is the Texans. Steve Slaton emerged as a quality starter last year, but like most backs in the NFL, he wouldn’t be able to sustain the pounding of a full 16-game season. The team also still has Chris Brown and Ryan Moats on the roster, but Brown spent the entire 2008 season on IR due to a back injury and Moats rushed for just 94 yards on 26 carries last season.

      Some speculated that the Texans would pick a running back in the first round of last week’s draft, but they decided to once again address their defense with the selection of linebacker Brian Cushing. Houston then went then entire weekend without taking a running back in any of the seven rounds.

      James wouldn’t get more than a one or two year deal at this point, but he could make a nice complement to Slaton as long as he’s motivated. I know James still wants to be a starter, but at this point he better be willing to take a role in a platoon.

      NFL

      Top 10 active NFL touchdown leaders

      February 14, 2009 /

      Sometimes when deciding who you’re going to pick at your fantasy football draft, it’s easy to be infatuated with yardage and not with touchdowns, but TDs are really where the points are at. With the 2008 season now over, here is a look at the all-time active NFL leaders are in touchdowns, either rushing or receiving. Some names will not surprise you, but a few others might, but either way, you fantasy geeks can file this article away for when you start your preseason research:

      1. Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys (141)—T.O. causes trouble everywhere he goes, but on the field he has a knack for finding the end zone, usually after he’s blown past a defender. And the best part for fantasy GMs is that you don’t have to actually interact with the guy like Jerry Jones does.

      1. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers (141)—The scary thing about LT is he’s only 29. The really scary thing, though, is that he’s gone from a league-record 28 rushing scores in 2006 to 15 in 2007 to 11 in 2008. He probably won’t be drafted first overall again in 2009, but LT is still a first rounder.

      3. Randy Moss, New England Patriots (136)—Moss has had an up and down career, but the one number you can never ignore is 23—the NFL single-season receiving TD mark he set in 2007 when he and Tom Brady were lighting up scoreboards. And Brady should be back in ’09.

      4. Marvin Harrison, Indianapolis Colts (128)—A knee injury ended Harrison’s 2007 season prematurey, and he was not as effective in 2008 usual, scoring only 5 times. Throw in some off the field issues, and while Marvin has put up huge career numbers catching passes from Peyton Manning, you have to believe the end of that career is in sight.

      5. Shaun Alexander, free agent (112)—Has anyone seen a running back’s career decline so sharply? Dude broke the NFL record with 27 rushing TDs in 2005, but an injury limited Alexander to only 20 starts since then with two different teams. 112 might stay at 112.

      6. Edgerrin James, Arizona Cardinals (91)—James reached double digits in touchdowns four times while playing in Indianapolis. And he’s reached double digits in Arizona too—16 scores, but over three seasons. He showed in the playoffs that he still has some juice left, but on a Cardinals’ team focused on the pass, don’t expect James to reach 100 before 2010.

      6. Isaac Bruce, San Francisco 49ers (91)—Fifteen years in the league will give you a chance to put up close to 100 touchdowns, but it’s not like Isaac Bruce doesn’t have skills, even at the ripe old football age of 36.

      8. Joey Galloway, Tampa Bay Bucs (83)—Galloway is another guy who has sipped from the fountain of youth, but he missed most of the 2008 season.

      9. Tony Gonzalez, Kansas City Chiefs (76)—Gonzalez caught 96 passes for 1058 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2008, one of his best seasons yet, to earn first team All Pro at the age of 32. He may not be back in KC in 2009, but no matter where he lands, he’s always a good fantasy tight end.

      10. Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins (76)—With 76 career rushing and receiving touchdowns, Portis is a solid fantasy player, but no LT. Then again, LT is no LT anymore either.

      Source: Pro Football Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Cardinals to cut Edgerrin James?

      February 5, 2009 /

      Fresh off their Super Bowl XLIII appearance, the Cardinals are apparently set to release running back Edgerrin James this offseason.

      From Rotoworld.com:

      Edgerrin JamesAccording to the Arizona Republic’s Dan Bickley, Edgerrin James is “already gone” from the Cardinals.

      Edge reportedly did not return to Phoenix with the Cardinals after the Super Bowl. James’ release, which cannot become official yet, will save Arizona $5 million under the cap, increasing the team’s spending limit to roughly $47M. It also creates a need area at tailback. J.J. Arrington is a free agent and the Cardinals will have to find a complement for Timmy Hightower.

      This makes sense. Edge already stated throughout the regular season that he wanted out of Arizona, so why should the Cardinals keep him? They’ll save $5 million in cap space, and cut ties with a player that doesn’t want to be there. Plus, the draft is loaded with solid running back prospects this year so they don’t even have to use a first round pick on the position if they wanted to address other needs.

      It’s not worth speculating at this point what teams will be interested in Edge, but considering he’s already hit the dreaded age of 30 he probably won’t receive more than a two-year offer.

      Fantasy Football, NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Official Super Bowl XLIII Prediction Thread

      February 1, 2009 /

      The moment every TSR reader has been waiting for is finally here: It’s time for me to hand out my Super Bowl pick.

      I know, I know – you guys have been dying for this blog to come out since the Super Bowl XLIII matchup was set, but I wanted to take my time. I decided to go back and re-watch every single Arizona Cardinal and Pittsburgh Steeler game from this season in order to figure out each teams’ tendencies and therefore make the ultimate prediction.

      But when I turned on my DVR to begin re-watching all the games I saw I had a couple of “Reno 911” episodes saved and I got lost in all the hilarity. (That Jim Dangle is one funny S.O.B.)

      Needless to say, I didn’t re-watch one game, didn’t find one tendency and therefore my “ultimate prediction” is just going to be a flat out guess. Either way…

      This is how I see Sunday’s big game playing out. The game will be tight for almost the entire first quarter, with both defenses playing well earlier on. The Steelers will strike first with a touchdown, then add a field goal to go up 10-0 midway through the second quarter. But thanks to the “don’t prevent the score” defense that every team seems to use right before halftime, Pittsburgh gives up a score right before Bruce Springsteen starts warming up, which in turn gives the Cardinals hope.

      Your halftime score: an uneventful 10-7 Pittsburgh lead.

      But the second half is where the action starts to heat up. All of a sudden the Steelers begin drumming up pressure and Kurt Warner has zero time to throw. Pittsburgh’s front seven starts suffocating Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower, all the while moving the pocket back so Warner can’t step up and deliver passes in a timely manner.

      This leads to multiple sacks for the Steelers, which they turn into great field position. The Arizona defense, which in the first half had played damn near perfect football, starts to cave. Willie Parker starts finding open running lanes, which opens up the passing game for Ben Roethlisberger, who converts several third down conversions that essentially takes the life out of the Cards’ defense. Pittsburgh strikes twice for touchdowns in the third quarter, taking a 24-7 lead into the fourth.

      Early in the fourth, Arizona offensive coordinator Todd Haley takes advantage of an overly aggressive Pittsburgh front seven and the Cardinals start attacking the edges and seams of the Steeler defense. All of a sudden, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breatson start to make plays in the open field and Warner gets into a rhythm. The Cards reach paydirt on a 1-yard James touchdown run and with still 11 minutes to play in the game, ‘Zona is still very much alive at 24-14.

      Thanks to the offensive resurgence, the Cardinal defense forces a three and out and with the Pittsburgh defense still tired, Warner hits Fitzgerald on a reverse, pitch-back bomb to get the score within a field goal at 24-21 with seven minutes left to play.

      But that’s as close as the Cards get to victory. Thanks to Parker, the Steelers drive into Arizona territory, eating up most of the clock. Big Ben then finds Heath Miller in the back of the end zone on a broken 3rd and 7 play to put Arizona away.

      Super Bowl XLIII Final: Steelers 31, Cardinals 21.

      Not that it matters because everything I just wrote will happen exactly as I laid it out, but feel free to post your score prediction for the game. Remember, only the people who don’t post a prediction are wrong…and those who predict the losing team to win.

      Free Picks, NFL, Super Bowl

      Falcons outplayed and out coached in playoff loss to Cardinals

      January 3, 2009 /

      Michael TurnerIn my recap of the Cardinals’ 30-24 playoff win over the Falcons on Saturday, I wrote that Arizona played their best game of the season. If that’s the case, then the Falcons played their worst.

      Atlanta turned the ball over three times (leading to 14 points), committed six penalties and had their game plan shoved directly up their asses. They clearly didn’t have a plan for what would happen if Michael Turner got shut down (which is exactly what happened) and it was absolutely inexcusable for the coaching staff to use Jerious Norwood as little as they did.

      The three times Norwood touched the ball, he gained 12 yards on 2 carries and caught a huge 28 yard pass that kept the game alive in the fourth quarter. Every time he was on the field he did something positive, yet Mike Smith kept him tucked away on the sidelines like they were saving him for next week. It was ludicrous why Norwood wasn’t more involved in the offense, especially since Turner was so ineffective. I realize you have to feed the horse that got you there, but clearly the Cardinals were executing their game plan to stop Turner to perfection, so Atlanta should have adjusted.

      This loss can’t solely be pinned on the coaches though, because the Falcon players were brutal, too. For the first time all season, Turner tiptoed around defenders instead of bowling them over, while Matt Ryan’s two interceptions were out of desperation in trying to force the action. Not that you can fully blame Turner and Ryan though, because Atlanta’s offensive line was absolutely abused by the Cardinals’ defensive front the entire game. They acted like a revolving door to the Falcons’ backfield and really, Ryan was the only reason the game was close in the end because he led the Falcons on a couple of nice drives.

      Defensively, the Falcons didn’t play that bad. But where was John Abraham? I know he wasn’t 100%, but 90-year old Mike Gandy made him invisible. And how bad did veterans Keith Brooking and Lawyer Milloy (I know he wasn’t 100% either) look? Milloy took a horrible angle on a 71-yard Anquan Boldin touchdown in the second quarter, while Brooking dropped an easy interception and simply blew his assignment on the most crucial play of the game when Kurt Warner found tight end Stephen Spach for a 23-yard first down conversion that allowed Arizona to run out the remainder of the clock. The Falcons’ three top defensive players were non-existent and the team has a huge decision to make on whether or not Brooking and/or Milloy will be back next year, despite the outstanding leadership that they proved such a young defense with the entire season.

      But regardless of the way the season ended, this was a great season for the Falcons. Nobody expected them to be playing in the playoffs at the start of the year and if Matt Ryan continues to develop, we’ll be seeing him in more playoff games in the near future. They have a solid offensive core in Ryan, Turner and Roddy White, a great young coach in Mike Smith, and a couple of young, emerging defensive players like middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, Jonathan Babineaux and Chris Houston (if he can ever put it all together). In the offseason, GM Thomas Dimitroff will hopefully focus on the defensive side of the ball (they lack major depth at corner, could use a playmaker at safety and might need two new outside linebackers) and get Ryan a big receiving target at tight end.

      It was a great season for the Falcons and they truly have something great brewing in Atlanta. It was just a bad ending to such a fun ride.

      To read the Cardinals’ recap, click here.

      NFL

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