Question guys...involving one of the earlier picks

[Guest The Unknown Soldier]

Smitty, or all of you, I was wondering about your take on Smitty's first round pick of Lewis over George. What did you all think of that? I think I'll have a similar choice to make in another league soon and I was just wondering Smitty's reasoning/other's thoughts about it.

 

I didn't think twice about it when I saw it, but I just wanted to pick your brains about it. Thanks guys. I'll be checking in later to read the thoughts and make my pick - if it makes it back to me..

 

- TUS

[Guest bigbadbuff]

I have thought for years now that Eddie George is perhaps the biggest underachiever in the NFL. Some people rank him with Faulk and Edge which is just ridiculous. I would have taken Lewis over him also but... even though Lewis is in a PERFECT situation in Baltimore I think he is slightly overated also. I wouldn't expect more than 1300 yds, 8-10 TDs from him. Just my .02

[Guest t.j]

The only reason I would consider Lewis over George is George's injury concern. Which is no small concern.

[Guest Tusekan Raiders]

The only legitimate knock ever on George is limited TDs b/c McNair stole them. With McNair banged up last year, he saw those numbers where they should be.

 

Underachiever 3B? What more do you want from the guy? As far as injury concerns, J.Lewis had knee reconstruction in college and started off his only year of pro football injured. I'd be more concerned about Jamal.

[Guest The Unknown Soldier]

So...amongst you 3 it's 2-1 George. And with Smitty it's 2-2....

 

Thx for the opinions. I have a couple of opinions on it myself.

 

McNair wasn't healthy much last year so George was relied on to do more and McNair wasn't around to steal his scores. Now with McNair back (if he stays on the field), that might draw away from Eddie. Eddie's injury isn't that much of a concern, being the ironman he is, but he will miss most of training camp and part of preseason and the Titans said they'd bring him back slowly. Not exactly glowing remarks about his health...

 

Jamal isn't a stranger to injuris either. And he didn't score all that much last year. AND he doesn't have the history of doing well. BUT he did look really good despite his team's anemic offense which surrounded him. He racked up the yardage but his team was hardly ever in the red zone since opposing D's knew to key in on him. Now Grbac is no Joe Montana, but he is a vast improvement over Banks/Dilfer. They will get in the end zone more and spread out the field more, allowing Lewis more scores.

 

So is it Steady Eddie? He can play through pain and gets consistent scores and yardage - though Mcnair could take some of those scores away. And how long until the workhorse breaks down? They've been relying on him to take a ton of carries the past few years. Will he still hold up? Probably.

 

Lewis is in a great situation. Better than Eddie's? Yes. A better running back? Probably not. But we can't be so sure yet. Will Lewis do better than last year (in his stats)? Almost definitely. Better than George? That's what I'm not sure about. I'd venture that he might given how they rely on the D and like ball control- running offense. They now have Grbac to take the pressure off of the running game. Looks like Lewis will get more red zone chances and hence 10+ td's. How many? don't know. But I'd venture to say at this point that his situation could make him a better back than George.

 

If you can't tell, I'm trying to talk myself into taking Lewis. I love the upside with the new offense, but I'm scared to pass on the stud George...

 

So I'd say Lewis, I guess. Any other opinions?

 

:exhausted:

[Guest Canio6]

Take Lewis. George has a healthy McNair and a injured foot to worry about. Lewis didn't score a lot last year because the Ravens as a team went 5 straight games without scoring. I had Jamal last season and cursed everytime they were within the 10 and Banks would f' it up. That won't happen this year. I expect similar numbers from Eddie and Jamal, but think Jamal has bigger upside and more potential to do well.

[Guest RK]

That's a tough call. I would personally go with the safer pick in George. I think injuries are a wash, because Lewis is supposedly injury prone, but George has had only one game-missing injury his entire career.

 

George's TDs have been up the last two years, which is a long enough trend for me to think that they will continue. McNair didn't run much last year, and probably won't in the future, thanks to his own injuries.