Mendenhall Outlook

[Elite 0]

I wasn't able to see the game and was wondering on how he looked and what his value will be the rest of the season.

[swashbuckler 0]

He looked good. Instantly boosted the O. ROS schedule is not too bad either. Pretty good RB2...could turn into a RB1 if he can continue to perform, IMO.

[kmbryant09 1]

He looked good. Instantly boosted the O. ROS schedule is not too bad either. Pretty good RB2...could turn into a RB1 if he can continue to perform, IMO.

Really? Just like that?

 

The same Rashard Mendenhall that averaged 4.0 ypc the last 2 seasons? And he's now arguably running behind a worse O-Line? After an ACL tear? He's never caught a ton of passes, and has 2 season-ending injuries in 4 seasons.

 

One good game automatically makes him an RB2 (let alone a pretty good one), possibly an RB1?

 

He's certainly worth a look in all leagues, and could help fantasy teams the rest of the season who are lacking depth. And who knows, he may ultimately be a #2 from here on out. But let's see more than 16 touches before declaring him as such.

 

There's no way I would take him, right now, straight up over Foster/McCoy/Rice/MJD/Charles/Richardson/Ridley/Morris/Peterson/Bush/Lynch/Forte/Murray/McFadden/Mathews/Ridley/Gore/Turner/McGahee/Spiller/Sproles/Bradshaw.

 

That makes him an RB3/Flex play.

[Serpent 51]

Really? Just like that?

 

The same Rashard Mendenhall that averaged 4.0 ypc the last 2 seasons? And he's now arguably running behind a worse O-Line? After an ACL tear? He's never caught a ton of passes, and has 2 season-ending injuries in 4 seasons.

 

One good game automatically makes him an RB2 (let alone a pretty good one), possibly an RB1?

 

He's certainly worth a look in all leagues, and could help fantasy teams the rest of the season who are lacking depth. And who knows, he may ultimately be a #2 from here on out. But let's see more than 16 touches before declaring him as such.

 

There's no way I would take him, right now, straight up over Foster/McCoy/Rice/MJD/Charles/Richardson/Ridley/Morris/Peterson/Bush/Lynch/Forte/Murray/McFadden/Mathews/Ridley/Gore/Turner/McGahee/Spiller/Sproles/Bradshaw.

 

That makes him an RB3/Flex play.

 

Fair enough, you at least listed players, which other people never do. To me he is comparable to everyone on your list past Peterson, barring Forte, and to varying degrees. Why is Ridley listed twice btw?

 

I'd rather have Mendenhall over Gore, Sproles, Bradshaw, Spiller (right now) for sure. And the rest of those guys look comparable to me because of injury possibilities, benching possibilities, or that they don't score TDs.

[Elite 0]

Would you put Mendenhall over Martin for a better rest of season? I'm looking to trade one for a Welker or Julio package.

[swashbuckler 0]

Really? Just like that?

 

The same Rashard Mendenhall that averaged 4.0 ypc the last 2 seasons? And he's now arguably running behind a worse O-Line? After an ACL tear? He's never caught a ton of passes, and has 2 season-ending injuries in 4 seasons.

 

One good game automatically makes him an RB2 (let alone a pretty good one), possibly an RB1?

 

He's certainly worth a look in all leagues, and could help fantasy teams the rest of the season who are lacking depth. And who knows, he may ultimately be a #2 from here on out. But let's see more than 16 touches before declaring him as such.

 

There's no way I would take him, right now, straight up over Foster/McCoy/Rice/MJD/Charles/Richardson/Ridley/Morris/Peterson/Bush/Lynch/Forte/Murray/McFadden/Mathews/Ridley/Gore/Turner/McGahee/Spiller/Sproles/Bradshaw.

 

That makes him an RB3/Flex play.

 

Yes...just like that.

 

Maybe it's not that the O-line is bad, perhaps the quality of the runners aren't good? The O-line isn't on par with the likes of Houston, but servicable nonetheless. Big Ben is a good, mobile QB and with the addition of Mendy, they'll definitely be putting more points on the board. And I would certainly take him over several of the folks you mentioned, including Bush, Murray, McGahee, Spiller, and Sproles.

 

In many larger leagues, Mendy is at least a RB2. I'll likely be starting him over Turner this week.

 

btw...4.0 ypc isn't too bad... and 81 yds on 14 touches, 5.8 ypc against a philly D that hasnt allowed a 100yd rushing game on his first day back is not too shabby either..to put that into perspective, Redman had 41 yds on 13 touches.

 

Should Mendenhall stay healthy...I say he's an asset to any roster.

[swashbuckler 0]

Would you put Mendenhall over Martin for a better rest of season? I'm looking to trade one for a Welker or Julio package.

 

[jgcrawfish 232]

Yes...just like that.

 

Maybe it's not that the O-line is bad, perhaps the quality of the runners aren't good? The O-line isn't on par with the likes of Houston, but servicable nonetheless. Big Ben is a good, mobile QB and with the addition of Mendy, they'll definitely be putting more points on the board. And I would certainly take him over several of the folks you mentioned, including Bush, Murray, McGahee, Spiller, and Sproles.

 

In many larger leagues, Mendy is at least a RB2. I'll likely be starting him over Turner this week.

 

btw...4.0 ypc isn't too bad... and 81 yds on 14 touches, 5.8 ypc against a philly D that hasnt allowed a 100yd rushing game on his first day back is not too shabby either..to put that into perspective, Redman had 41 yds on 13 touches.

 

Should Mendenhall stay healthy...I say he's an asset to any roster.

 

He's an RB3 until he proves that he and the knee can handle the load. Remember, lots of these guys hurt other parts trying to compensate for the perceived weakness repaired one. Lots get strains in knees and hips on the other side from the body trying to overcompensate to protect it. Peterson has proven he's fairly well recovered although he's clearly not the ADP yet that we remember. Mendenhall will need a few games to prove it too, IMO. After he's done it, he's an RB2 with occasional RB1 upside depending on matchup.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

And he's now arguably running behind a worse O-Line?

[jgcrawfish 232]

And he's now arguably running behind a worse O-Line?

 

Although I like the rest of your logic, I'm not so sure about this part. This is arguably the same line he was behind last year. The difference is that Haley uses Miller more in pass patterns than we've seen previously which takes him out of the in-line blocks. But overall you're correct, one decent game of barely 15 carries doesn't an RB1 make.

[swashbuckler 0]

He's an RB3 until he proves that he and the knee can handle the load. Remember, lots of these guys hurt other parts trying to compensate for the perceived weakness repaired one. Lots get strains in knees and hips on the other side from the body trying to overcompensate to protect it. Peterson has proven he's fairly well recovered although he's clearly not the ADP yet that we remember. Mendenhall will need a few games to prove it too, IMO. After he's done it, he's an RB2 with occasional RB1 upside depending on matchup.

 

Agreed. If he's healthy. He played very well on his first day back. I'm rollin' with him at RB2 this week. For larger leagues this matchup vs TEN gives the possibility of approaching RB1 numbers.

 

To say that he is a RB3/flex play at best is not givin' the guy enough credit.

 

True, AD isn't the AD of old..but Charles is trying proving otherwise for himself.

[jgcrawfish 232]

Agreed. If he's healthy. He played very well on his first day back. I'm rollin' with him at RB2 this week. For larger leagues this matchup vs TEN gives the possibility of approaching RB1 numbers.

 

To say that he is a RB3/flex play at best is not givin' the guy enough credit.

 

True, AD isn't the AD of old..but Charles is trying proving otherwise for himself.

 

Yes, but Charles was injured early last season and has had full year to heal/rehab. Peterson, and Mendenhall in particular, got injured much later in the season. Those 3-4 months of extra time are a tremendous difference. On that note:

 

Per Rotoworld:

 

Rashard Mendenhall - RB - Steelers

 

Despite Rashard Mendenhall's Week 5 breakout game, beat writer Gerry Dulac expects the Steelers to stick with a committee approach "for now."

"Don't expect Mendenhall to become the workhorse back, at least not right away," added Dulac, explaining that OC Todd Haley prefers to rotate "different backs for different situations." We suspect Isaac Redman will be relegated to a third-down role soon, allowing Mendenhall to handle the majority of the early-down workload. Rotoworld's Evan Silva and Chris Wesseling both noted that Mendenhall actually looked better versus the Eagles than he did prior to tearing his ACL late in the 2011 season. Mendenhall is a top-15 fantasy option in an attractive matchup with the Titans.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Shock and awe over the idea that the worst O-Line I've seen in Steeler history has suddenly become worse after their offseason healing and additions aside...

 

The most promising things about Mendy are as follows:

 

1) Arians is gone, and Haley appears (with admittedly a very small sample size) willing to use him in the passing game. We're talking about a guy who gets 20 receptions and 200 yards a season through the air, traditionally. But he CAN catch. And even though he only had 2 catches in his first game back, that alone is 32 pace. BUT, he played less than full time his first game back, AND the places where Haley got him the ball in space made sense within the context of the offense. Moving forward, 3-4 receptions a game seems perfectly logical, and would add a crapton to his value.

 

2) The leg looked fine while he was playing, and I've seen no reports of any setbacks, so I think it's reasonable to assume he'll be back to a full workload sooner rather than later.

 

3) Colon is back, and is probably their best and most natural run blocker. He was missed last year. Pouncey is healthy, which he wasn't much of Mendy's 2011. And DeCastro is looking healthy, walking fine, and should be back in short order once his IR stint ends. He's a rook, and has developing to do, but he's going to be a HUGE improvement over the last couple years if he's even a tenth the prospect everybody anticipates.

 

I'm not sure why we're bagging on 4.0 ypc. As a Steeler fan, I'll happily take that number, together with a heavy workload, a handful of receptions that make sense every game, and goalline work. Mendy stands to get all that, since his replacements clearly weren't cut out for any of it. He'll have to prove it for a week or two before that workload comes, but all signs point forward.

 

I don't think there's a shot in hell he'll produce like a RB1 from here on out, but I think less than RB2 type performance would be disappointing, and borderline shocking, barring setbacks with the knee.

[swashbuckler 0]

Those 3-4 months of extra time are a tremendous difference.

 

 

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Just to be clear, when you take camp and preseason efforts into account, plus the fact that Mendenhall is JUST NOW back in action, he actually did have 2-3 months more rest than AP.

[jgcrawfish 232]

Just to be clear, when you take camp and preseason efforts into account, plus the fact that Mendenhall is JUST NOW back in action, he actually did have 2-3 months more rest than AP.

 

Agree, I thought they rushed Peterson back too quickly.

[bigmark3333 11]

In terms of rushing him back as well, he's been practicing with the team since the beginning of the season. It seems he maybe could have played in one of the first couple of weeks, but that the Steelers wanted to bring him along slowly and have him fully healthy with their early bye week. Early indications appear that their plan worked out very well, as he looked good on Sunday. Agile, fast, light(er) on his feet (than in the past). Here's a clip from his TD Sunday (at the bottom).

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/steelers/2012/10/08/rashard-mendenhall-return-pittsburgh-steelers/1620541/

[kmbryant09 1]

Just to be clear, when you take camp and preseason efforts into account, plus the fact that Mendenhall is JUST NOW back in action, he actually did have 2-3 months more rest than AP.

Yes and no.

 

First off, AP is an absolute freak. Don't care what anyone says, this guy is unlike any athlete I've ever seen.

 

But it's not like Mendenhall was sitting on his couch for the 2-3 months that AP was rehabbing/practicing. In fact, A.P. wasn't involved in contact drills until a few days before week 1.

[Bruce Benedict 0]

Yes and no.

 

First off, AP is an absolute freak. Don't care what anyone says, this guy is unlike any athlete I've ever seen.

 

But it's not like Mendenhall was sitting on his couch for the 2-3 months that AP was rehabbing/practicing. In fact, A.P. wasn't involved in contact drills until a few days before week 1.

As to the first part, complete nonsense. There's a reason Peterson isn't the most prolific running back of all time, or even the most prolific of today. It's because he's NOT an athlete unlike any other the world has ever known. He's a man. Plain and simple. He's a hard worker, sure. He's in great shape, sure. He's an elite athlete, sure. But there's nothing about him that goes way outside the bounds set by other elite, world-class athletes. There's just not. Let's quit deifying the guy. I'm not sure he's a top 5 rb in the league right now, much less a god among men. His rehab is a great success story, but he's an 80 yard a game plodder right now.

 

As to the second, nobody's suggesting that Mendenhall was frozen in some kind of cryogenic stasis for 2 or 3 additional months while Peterson was taking helmets to the knee. But he was rehabbing and doing those things, and ONLY those things, designed by physical therapists to best rehab his repaired knee. And in this, what Peterson did or didn't do is completely irrelevant. Because we're talking about Peterson's risk THEN vs. Mendy's NOW. Right now, Mendahall's risk level is 2 or 3 months less than AP's was then, because he's just now putting himself at risk. I'm glad it worked out for Peterson, but that's irrelevant to the risk at the time these guys' respective seasons are starting. Fact is, there's reason to believe Mendenhall is in better shape, knee-wise, right now than Peterson was in week one. There's no reason to believe his knee is better than Peterson's NOW, but that's irrelevant.

[eaglesfan1980 0]

If u have mendenhall then hang onto him. He's got upcoming games against Tennessee, Cincinnati, and Washington...should see plenty of action/pts the next few weeks. Heck, I'd hang on to him all year. His last 2 games are against the Bengals and Browns. Exactly the kind of matchup you want in fantasy football playoffs.

[Ray_T 591]

Yes...just like that.

 

Maybe it's not that the O-line is bad, perhaps the quality of the runners aren't good? The O-line isn't on par with the likes of Houston, but servicable nonetheless. Big Ben is a good, mobile QB and with the addition of Mendy, they'll definitely be putting more points on the board. And I would certainly take him over several of the folks you mentioned, including Bush, Murray, McGahee, Spiller, and Sproles.

 

In many larger leagues, Mendy is at least a RB2. I'll likely be starting him over Turner this week.

 

btw...4.0 ypc isn't too bad... and 81 yds on 14 touches, 5.8 ypc against a philly D that hasnt allowed a 100yd rushing game on his first day back is not too shabby either..to put that into perspective, Redman had 41 yds on 13 touches.

 

Should Mendenhall stay healthy...I say he's an asset to any roster.

well, he has a way of seeing holes that other RB's dont see. I've noticed this about him early in his career. While I havnt seen him in his first game back, I grabbed him to be a backup. If he gives me starting potential, I am good with that.

[plasma george 52]

He's an RB3 until he proves that he and the knee can handle the load. Mendenhall will need a few games to prove it too, IMO. After he's done it, he's an RB2 with occasional RB1 upside depending on matchup.

So which is it Captain obvious? RB3, RB2, RB1 ?.....3 if his knee can't handle the load ? genius thoughts.

 

I've seen enough watching the whole game, dude is electric, making tacklers miss that Redman and Dwyer can't do. He's got vision to see the holes, speed to get around the corners, and shirftiness to make tacklers miss. NO WAY coaches watch the film and decide to bring in Clipboard Redman on crucial 3rd downs. Mendenhall can make the moves to get the extra yards, to keep the chains moving.

 

Guys that missed him are pissed. Owners need to get on the wagon, I'm playing him over Mcgahee without question. He and Foster will take me to the Playoffs !

[jgcrawfish 232]

So which is it Captain obvious? RB3, RB2, RB1 ?.....3 if his knee can't handle the load ? genius thoughts.

 

I've seen enough watching the whole game, dude is electric, making tacklers miss that Redman and Dwyer can't do. He's got vision to see the holes, speed to get around the corners, and shirftiness to make tacklers miss. NO WAY coaches watch the film and decide to bring in Clipboard Redman on crucial 3rd downs. Mendenhall can make the moves to get the extra yards, to keep the chains moving.

Guys that missed him are pissed. Owners need to get on the wagon, I'm playing him over Mcgahee without question. He and Foster will take me to the Playoffs !

 

I'm not sure what else you want. I was pretty clear, I said he's an RB3 until he proves for a few games that his knee and he can handle a bigger load. At that point he's an RB2 with occasional RB1 updside depending on matchup.

 

I'm not sure what you're seeing that the rest of us didn't, but at best he's the same back he was last year, which was RB2 material behind a suspect offensive line. Oh, except that he's only going on 16 touches this year and hasn't proven anything yet. I posted a quote from Rotoworld from the Pittsburgh coaches, so you choose to believe or not, since you're obviously smarter than all the rest of us. He looked good this past week but I swear I still saw Rainey and Dwyer in the game.

[runpuddrun 0]

I also didn't see the game, but his stats looked good. To get a estimate of his value, I was just offered C. Newton, S. Smith, and Hartline for Mendy and Peyton. I'm solid at QB with RG3, Flacco and Manning and am thinking of doing it.

[plasma george 52]

I also didn't see the game, but his stats looked good. To get a estimate of his value, I was just offered C. Newton, S. Smith, and Hartline for Mendy and Peyton. I'm solid at QB with RG3, Flacco and Manning and am thinking of doing it.

I'd do that in a heartbeat.

Peyton should/would be your starter, and Mendy will too.....the garbage your giving up are bye week fillers.

[Ray_T 591]

Well, Mendy has a very good matchup this week. I'm even debating starting him ahead of DMC who has a tougher matchup.

 

Still on the fence on this, but leaning strongly towards this outcome.