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Derrick Ward

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What yall think of ward this year? I'm high on him and lookin to snag him somewhere b/t rounds 4-5. Thoughts?

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What yall think of ward this year? I'm high on him and lookin to snag him somewhere b/t rounds 4-5. Thoughts?

 

 

Why are you high on him? Do you have any inside data, or analysis?

 

Of course, besides the fact TB paid him starter money, they have a young, nasty O-Line, and the WR option there leaves a lot to be desired.

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He's this year's Michael Turner. But at a better price.

 

I took Turner at 3.6 in a 12 teamer last year.

 

I'm targeting Ward in the 5th this year as my sleeper stud.

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Why are you high on him? Do you have any inside data, or analysis?

 

Of course, besides the fact TB paid him starter money, they have a young, nasty O-Line, and the WR option there leaves a lot to be desired.

 

 

 

As a back up he rushed for 1,000 yards last season. I think he is great value between rounds 4-5 and will be a viable #2 rb.

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I don't see him doing what Turner did (unless Freeman can replicate Matt Ryan) but I think he'll be a very solid #2 RB. A lot depends on how the passing game pans out. I like what he does running and catching passes. Graham and Caddy SHOULD only come in as backups, change of pace guys (both are Gruden guys).

 

As has already been stated, the O-line is young and emerging.

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I don't see him doing what Turner did (unless Freeman can replicate Matt Ryan) but I think he'll be a very solid #2 RB. A lot depends on how the passing game pans out. I like what he does running and catching passes. Graham and Caddy SHOULD only come in as backups, change of pace guys (both are Gruden guys).

 

As has already been stated, the O-line is young and emerging.

 

No, he won't do what Turner did. My comparison is that's he's the big free agent RB move this year that was great in spot duty, and is moving on to essentially be the lead back. I don't buy Earnest Graham. Just lik I didn't buy people saying Norwood would interfere with Turner. Last year people were deathly afraid of the superstud Norwood hurting Turner.

 

He's not as talented as Turner, but he's this years Turner. New team, unproven carrying the load, will fall to later rounds. I'm targeting him just like I targeted Turner last year. He'll likely be on my roster. He'll allow me to try drafting WR/WR in round 1 and 2. I may even reach for Ward in round 4 depending on how the draft goes.

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No, he won't do what Turner did. My comparison is that's he's the big free agent RB move this year that was great in spot duty, and is moving on to essentially be the lead back. I don't buy Earnest Graham. Just lik I didn't buy people saying Norwood would interfere with Turner. Last year people were deathly afraid of the superstud Norwood hurting Turner.

 

He's not as talented as Turner, but he's this years Turner. New team, unproven carrying the load, will fall to later rounds. I'm targeting him just like I targeted Turner last year. He'll likely be on my roster. He'll allow me to try drafting WR/WR in round 1 and 2. I may even reach for Ward in round 4 depending on how the draft goes.

 

I get what you mean. Barring injury I see him having a successful season.

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As a back up he rushed for 1,000 yards last season. I think he is great value between rounds 4-5 and will be a viable #2 rb.

 

 

This year's fishwraps are downplaying Ward's value, due to the superiority of the NYG O-line in 2008. I think that is a mistake.

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Major RBBC in TB. Don't under estimate Grudens loyalties to Caddy and Graham

 

I like Ward, and he still has the potential for a 1,200 yfs/ 6-8 TD season if everything falls perfectly........but this is his ceiling.

 

Graham will bang, Caddy will finese, and Ward will be Ward.......Third down and change of pace.....just like always.

 

Gruden is going to have a hard time setting the RB lineups this year in Tampa methinks.

 

I love how nobody knows anything that goes on in Tampa. Its going to allow Ward to drop.

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Major RBBC in TB. Don't under estimate Grudens loyalties to Caddy and Graham

 

I like Ward, and he still has the potential for a 1,200 yfs/ 6-8 TD season if everything falls perfectly........but this is his ceiling.

 

Graham will bang, Caddy will finese, and Ward will be Ward.......Third down and change of pace.....just like always.

 

 

Gruden is no longer the coach in TB so I really don't think any loyalties will apply. Even if he was there, any coach would be an idiot to play a better player less due to some sort of percieved loyalty. I can't think of any coaches that currently do that.

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Gruden is going to have a hard time setting the RB lineups this year in Tampa methinks.

 

I love how nobody knows anything that goes on in Tampa. Its going to allow Ward to drop.

 

Post deleted......whiskey bottle completed. :thumbsup:

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Granted he has taken alot of punishment in his career so far, but the guy will be 29 years old before the season starts. His part time production actually plateaued and even slightly decreased as the season went on last year save the big game against Carolina. Other than being a backup running back last season and going to a new team via free agency, I don't know how you compare him in any way to Turner.

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Granted he has taken alot of punishment in his career so far, but the guy will be 29 years old before the season starts. His part time production actually plateaued and even slightly decreased as the season went on last year save the big game against Carolina. Other than being a backup running back last season and going to a new team via free agency, I don't know how you compare him in any way to Turner.

 

:dunno:

 

Michael Turner had a few huge runs, games on a very limited basis in San Diego. Ward has already shown what he can do and it's nothing like what Turner did last year.

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I'm a bit reluctant to draft him right now. He's going around the same time as McFadden, Stewart, and Moreno....all of whom have higher upside than Ward does in my opinion.

 

I think if given plenty of opportunity, he'll put up solid RB2 numbers. But will he get such an opportunity? How will QB play affect his touches? Will the defense sag more in '09.....like it did at the tail end of '08....and force the offense to air it out more?

 

I trust Ward as a player. I just don't trust his team right now.

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As an admitted MTurner slappy, I don't think Ward will approach a spectacular season like Turner did last year. But, I do think Ward has the skillset to outplay his ADP if he can achieve 3-down back status in Tampa... and I believe this is quite possible. Though I will be monitoring E Graham's workload / duties in camp... (I'm not worried about Caddy's sub 4 ypc being a threat to Ward)

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Tampa Bay has been like the Broncos the past couple years. No name guys getting stats, injuries galore, changing depth charts, ect.

 

If we knew Ward was gonna get the lions share of carries I would be all over the guy as he has a pretty good skill set. I just can't say I know what is gonna happen. This has a 'wait and see what happens in the pre-season' plot written all over it.

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I don't think anyone is saying he's going to have Turner's potential. I'm merely stating he's this years Turner in terms of situation. And I believe he has value considering where he is being drafted. 5th round. Just as Turner had huge value last year in the 3rd and 4th rounds where he went.

 

I can see many teams landing Ward as their 3rd back taken, which could be huge.

 

I recently watched a Giants game and Ward look surprisingly speedy too. Guy could be the steal of the draft. Like Turner was last year.

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I am also thinking about taking ward in round 4 or 5 as my rb#2 and going wr-wr rounds 1 and 2. I tihnk there could be some great value with ward in those rounds....

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I agree with the OP. What I must be missing is those who basically agree but say they are targeting Ward in the 5th round. Even if it's the 4th round I don't see him being there. I rate him between 15th and 20th RB and in every league I know of, he'll be gone b4 the 3rd round ends.

 

Is this just me?

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the pass catching is what's so intriguing about Ward.

I'm constantly on my soap box around here with pass-catching RBs.

 

Whether it's McCown or Leftwich at QB, Ward makes for a nice safety valve/dumpoff.

E Graham made a lot of fantasy owners happy with the amount of catches he piled up... Ward is a LOT faster than Graham and could likely do a LOT more with those dumpoffs.

 

To me, the only question is what kind of playing time will he get. If he gets playing time, he'll be a very nice RB 2/3 to have, especially in PPR leagues.

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I agree with the OP. What I must be missing is those who basically agree but say they are targeting Ward in the 5th round. Even if it's the 4th round I don't see him being there. I rate him between 15th and 20th RB and in every league I know of, he'll be gone b4 the 3rd round ends.

 

Is this just me?

 

I really like Ward this year, obviously, but not at that price.

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there are too many questions surrounding Ward for my taste.

 

Is he really good or more of a product of the Giants awesome running game?

 

How much play does Earnest Graham get (he's solid and a pretty good pass receiver too)?

 

How bad do the Buccaneers suck this year?

 

I would feel ok with him as my #3 RB but no way would I have him as my #2.

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Reports out of Bucs camp have both Graham and Caddy lookin surprisingly good so far.

 

Will Caddy get hurt again? Very possible.

 

Will Graham play backup? Probably.

 

BUT even still, these are two talented backs for Ward to compete with. Graham is strong at the goalline. Also, my guts are tellin me that Caddy is workin on puttin together one of those incredible comeback story type of seasons that the media latch onto.

 

The Bucs have a strong O-line and it looks to me like their offensive philosophy will be to pound the ball as hard as they can. The passing game will be weak so they will need to run.

 

It really looks to me like it will be a three headed platoon between these guys. Sure, Ward will get the bulk of the work - but will it be enough to justify a 4th rounder?

 

I would say no. Id prefer some of the other backs that are going around his ADP.

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keep in mind that he would come into the game and put up numbers againts defences that had been worn down by Jacobs last year

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as was mentioned last year, Ward ran for 1000 yds as the backup last year.

 

If we are conservative and add 10-15% to those numbers and give him a few extra receiving yards, I think he is a reasonable #2 RB with some pretty good upside.

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as was mentioned last year, Ward ran for 1000 yds as the backup last year.

 

If we are conservative and add 10-15% to those numbers and give him a few extra receiving yards, I think he is a reasonable #2 RB with some pretty good upside.

 

 

I like Ward as an RB3 with potential high upside.... but, also keep in mind... the offense he is going to may be 10-15% worse than his previous employer... :music_guitarred:

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I think he'll grab a lot of yards, but don't know how much he'll score. For one, Tampa kinda sucks and won't put up a lot of points. For two, Graham has shown himself to be a pretty solid goal-line guy and an effective all-around back. I don't know how much use he'll get as a Gruden guy, but it's worth watching in camp. Graham's role could be the difference between a 1200 yds/10 TD year for Ward, and an 1100 yd/4 TD year.

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Guest John_Rizzio

Ward is a valuable reserve Rb who will get roughly 900 yards and 5-6 tds

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The guy, albeit not alot of career carries, will be 29 years old before the season starts, has never started a full season before and has two guys not new to the roster to compete with-Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams. Their new head coach is also not new to the roster and knows those two players. To think Ward comes in and takes a majority of the work hands down is a pretty big leap in my opinion.

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as was mentioned last year, Ward ran for 1000 yds as the backup last year.

 

He ran behind the Giants O line, don't like him that before 4th round, too many RBs in the mix.

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Gruden is no longer the coach in TB so I really don't think any loyalties will apply. Even if he was there, any coach would be an idiot to play a better player less due to some sort of percieved loyalty. I can't think of any coaches that currently do that.

John Fox

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I am seeing on this thread that Ward had 1400 yards as a "backup" last year. He also touched the ball 223 times in an offense that averaged 5.0 ypc. Tampa Bay had 3RBs last year carry the ball 381 times and combined for 67 receptions. Dunn had 49% of the carries and 61% of the receptions. TB was always a two headed monster as Graham and Williams never played in the same game due to injury

 

This year TB has a 3 headed monster....Why should I assume that Ward gets more touches this year than Dunn did last year? (which is 233 10 more than Ward had in NY). He is also now on a team that had less YPC and less touchdowns. I think for total yards his numbers last year 1400 are the maximum and I expect that to be closer to 1200 due to the lower YPC and the fact that both Graham and Caddy are healthy (for now)

 

Ward has struggled in short yardage situations....I expect that Caddy or Graham will get that role, so Ward's TD potential is limited (I am guessing 6 is about the ceiling).

 

I do not play in a PPR league so Ward is in the 1200-1400 yard with 4-6 TD range for a total of 144-176 point range. I have him as the 22nd ranked RB on my board, but there are a number of guys below him who have more upside potential.

 

If Ward is my #2 back in the 4th-5th round I sure want to pick up a #3 in the next round while the likes of (McFadden, L Johnson, Benson & White could still be there)

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The guy, albeit not alot of career carries, will be 29 years old before the season starts, has never started a full season before and has two guys not new to the roster to compete with-Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams. Their new head coach is also not new to the roster and knows those two players. To think Ward comes in and takes a majority of the work hands down is a pretty big leap in my opinion.

 

I think the best thing about Ward is the fact that the other two guys are Earnest Graham and Cadillac Williams. Those guys aren't exactly studs. Williams is coming off how many operations now? And a recent one? If he touches the ball over 50 times this year I'll be stunned.

 

Graham is so good they raced to bring in Ward.

 

Lets not pretend Graham and Williams are any good, thanks.

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Count me in as a believer for the following reasons...

 

Tampa Bay has a young and nasty O-line. They run a zone blocking scheme that is essentially a perfect fit for Ward--he's a one cut and bolt kind of RB. He's getting paid as a starter and he looked good almost every time he got the ball when on the Giants.

 

Granted he's got competition and will share some caries, but he's a big guy (5'11''; 230), he's relatively quick, and he catches the ball well...meaning he could easily be a 3-down back and won't necessarily lose all the goal line caries. They are lacking in receivers but also did acquire Kellen Winslow this year, who I suspect will be a bigger factor than people think and definitely could be considered a sleeper TE.

 

I may reach for Ward in the 4th round and would be thrilled to get him in the 5th. I expect he'll produce as a very reliable RB2 and could be a stud by season's end if he stays healthy. I have him in the same tier as Kevin Smith, Pierre Thomas, and Chris Wells, a tier above McFadden, Moreno, and Stewart.

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