Writers of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

printable version

Extra Points

Articles from around the Web

Need Help with KUBIAK or Premium?

blog advertising is good for you


25 Aug 2009

UPDATE: Seahawks Sign Edgerrin James, Release T.J. Duckett

And the Julius Jones projection comes crashing down -- the Seahawks have signed Edgerrin James to a one-year, $2 million deal.

UPDATE: Or, maybe it doesn't come crashing down. ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that the player who will be released to make room for James is T.J. Duckett. So much for that Julius Jones touchdown-vulturing issue.

Posted by: Bill Barnwell on 25 Aug 2009

28 comments, Last at 26 Aug 2009, 7:37pm by Brendan Scolari

Comments

1
by HostileGospel :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 5:42pm

Unless he's going to play o-line, does this help the Seahawks much?

2
by asp_j2 (not verified) :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 5:43pm

I like James, so good for him. Hopefully he'll bounce back and show us that he's not as washed up as he seemed in Arizona.

3
by ipcellon :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 5:59pm

Agreed. Would think a O-line man would be a touch higher on the priority list.

Lets Roll!

4
by Montlake Cutter (not verified) :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 6:15pm

Arent they the same player?

The Montlake Cutter

P.S. can the CAPTCHA stop having 20 letter words for me to write out ...

5
by Wide_Right :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 6:36pm

Son of a b**ch!!!!!!!!!

This is why I was pushing for our league's draft to be held the Wednesday before the season starts.

6
by drobviousso :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 6:49pm

I know in the past, Edge was a fantastic pass blocker. Anyone know if this is still true? If so, could be the reason for the signing.

7
by tally :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 8:44pm

Yeah, so much for JJ.

8
by sad julius jones owner (not verified) :: Mon, 08/24/2009 - 9:45pm

wow. now my #4 RB (Jamal Lewis) became way more important than i ever wanted him to be. this will have a much bigger impact on fantasy (if not real) football than the Hamlet/Favre signing.

9
by Dan :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 12:01am

Now they cut Duckett. Is there still hope for JJ as the goalline back?

And where does Duckett end up? I'll say Houston.

10
by tally :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 2:56am

Unless JJ went on LenDale's tequila diet, I don't understand making him a goal line back. Edge is more versatile in that situation anyway.

18
by Bobman :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 3:23pm

Edge is versatile, but he's never been a huge TD machine. For a guy who is 11th all time in rushing (or thereabouts) he's had maybe one season with more than 15 TDs rushing, and that's been a while. Part of it was the Colts O philosophy, the OL, and Manning, but every Colts fan can recall more than one goal line stand where a couple attempts came up dry, or (I am hitting my head on the desk now) he fumbled at the three. That might have only happened twice, which is why I can picture them, but it DID happen.

His greatest statistical attribute, as far as FO's stats tracked, was success rate and consistency. He may have been a Ferrari once, and then evolved into a Porsche Cayenne, but now he's an Accord or Camry. Nothing wrong with those cars, especially when you have a driving record like Edge. They may not turn heads, but they'll always get you where you're going.

21
by Theo :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 7:46pm

Edge right now is not getting you where you're going.
He is now a spare tire. But when the spare tire is on, you still need to go to the garage, because in 750 miles, the tire will be flat and will need to be replaced.

27
by Mr Shush :: Wed, 08/26/2009 - 7:02pm

As a Texans fan, I'm certainly hoping Houston is it. I don't trust Chris Brown to handle more than four games without breaking down, I don't trust Ryan Moats not to suck, I don't trust Andre Hall not to break down or not to suck, and Arian Foster is a UDFA with a bad injury history. Also, for all Slaton's excellence last year, he was not good in go-to-goal situations. Duckett's no-one's idea of a panacea, but he was pretty effective the last time he was running behind an Alex Gibbs offensive line, and he is precisely the type of complementary back Slaton needs. For the veteran minimum, I'd love to have him on board - at least until such time as Josh McDaniels loses whatever marbles he has left and axes Peyton Hillis.

11
by E :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 9:42am

Maybe this ultimately helps JJ's numbers? Instead of sharing a backfield with Duckett - who would vulture all goal line but probably not much else - he'll probably split something like 65/35 with Edge, which is similar to many other starting RBs. KUBIAK already pegged JJ for only 230 carries (leaving 150 for Duckett). Hard to imagine Edge getting more than 150 carries. At least he won't get 90% of the goal line carries.

As someone who drafted Jones, I'm holding on. I think

12
by rdy4thefiesta :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 10:30am

Are they definately going to cut Duckett? They are paying him too much money to be a goalline back, but neither James nor Jones is a great candidate for that role.

I'm glad I didn't draft Jones, but there's a chance he still may be all right. If they do cut Duckett, give Jones' carries to James, and Duckett's carries to Jones, then Jones is not a total waste. He won't accrue too many rushing yards but he'll get some recieving and a couple extra TDs even if he isn't a full time goal line back in this scenario.

From a real football standpoint this makes a lot of sense, as Jones really isn't all that good, and even if James isn't much better, its better to have two mediocre backs than one.

13
by tonic889 (not verified) :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 11:17am

Just drafted Jones as my 4th string back last night, but
I honestly don't understand why everyone's freaking about JJ's fantasy appeal. Are people forgetting that Edgerrin James is on the wrong side of 30 and was relegated to 3rd string on a team with a mediocre-at-best running game?

Maybe he will steal some easy TDs from JJ, but to me it seems like that is any different from what Duckett would have done. What am I missing?

14
by MilkmanDanimal :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 11:47am

James had fewer carries than Hightower last year, and Hightower had what, 2.8 ypc? Yeah, I don't see Edge having a huge impact here.

15
by tally :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 1:18pm

I think the concern, prior to Duckett being released, was that in addition to Duckett vulturing JJ's TDs, Edge would be on the field as the 3rd down back due to his history as a superior pass-blocker. Splitting the pie three ways can't be better than splitting it two.

16
by S :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 1:19pm

At this point, I think Edge's greatest assest is as a 3rd-down back. Plus, he'll need some time to work back into shape, learn the offense, etc. JJ should be fine for the first few weeks, if not the whole season.

17
by Displaced Cane :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 2:23pm

If Edge was so washed up, then why did ARI start him over Hightower at the end of the season and into the playoffs?

How was Edge in power situations last year for ARI? Duckett had 8 TDs last year (even with SEA's awful OL injury situation); are those opportunities going to Edge or JJ?

26
by MilkmanDanimal :: Wed, 08/26/2009 - 11:52am

"Better than Hightower" does not equal "good".

19
by Zheng :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 3:35pm

Edge was still fresh towards the end of 2008 since he hadn't played much up until then. He also seemed to up his game in the playoffs. I think that's mentioned in the almanac. But even in the playoffs, watching him, I thought he looked really slow. He did build up some yardage because the Cards would be up by 500 points at the half and wanted to eat clock.

20
by Telamon :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 6:43pm

Seahawks are denying that Duckett was cut:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp09/news/story?id=4422263

22
by anonymiss (not verified) :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 9:55pm

So I should still use pick No. 15 on Julius Jones? I want to buy KUBIAK for all of my opponents.

23
by Brendan Scolari :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 10:15pm

I hope your joking. There's no way you can even consider picking Jones before the 5th or 6th round.

24
by anonymiss (not verified) :: Tue, 08/25/2009 - 10:33pm

Well, the FO book ranks Jones 15th overall. Not at RB, overall.

25
by mattymatty :: Wed, 08/26/2009 - 8:17am

That may be true, but depending on who you are playing against it would be unwise to pick him that early simply because there will be players available then that won't be later while he likely will be available later.

If that makes any sense...

28
by Brendan Scolari :: Wed, 08/26/2009 - 7:37pm

It doesn't matter, you can get an elite player at 15 and still get Jones much, much later. I'm telling you, especially with the Seahawks O-line injuries, there is just no way you can pick Jones before the 5th or 6th round. It would be a gigantic blow to your team to select Jones at 15, even if he is the 15th best player.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options