Fantasy Football Scouts


Some Week #1 Observations

4for4.com Exclusive
 By Dale Lolley
Courtesy of the Observer-Reporter
09/11/06

The story of Thursday night's season-opening game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins was running back Willie Parker.

Throughout training camp, I told you Parker would perform like a No. 2 fantasy running back as he would take the bulk of the carries for the Steelers with Jerome Bettis retired. I also told you he would become more of a factor in the passing game as the Steelers tried to get him out on the edge where he could get one-on-one with defenders and try to make somebody miss to take advantage of his speed.

I was right on all counts, as Parker got all but one carry given to the Steelers' running backs against the Dolphins, pounding out 115 yards on 29 carries. He added three receptions for 13 yards. The carries were a career-high, while the receptions were one below his regular season career best.

Even better was the fact that Parker was left in the game in most of the short-yardage situations and even converted a fourth-and-one play by taking a pitch and picking up three yards around end against Miami's goal-line defense.

Parker did come out of the game on the one occasion when the Steelers got the ball down to the 1 early in the fourth quarter, but that was only because he was gassed after pounding the ball down to the 1.

That was the good news from the night for Parker owners.

The bad news was that Friday, the Steelers signed Najeh Davenport because head coach Bill Cowher was a little wary of giving Parker that number of touches every game.

Davenport could take some short-yardage carries away from Parker down the road. That likely won't happen Monday night at Jacksonville, but could in the near future as Davenport gets more familiar with the Steelers' offense.

Still, Parker is going to be the man for the Steelers and will get his 20 to 25 touches every game as the Steelers try to take advantage of his game-breaking speed.

Backup running back Verron Haynes spelled Parker on some third-and-long passing situations, but dropped the only pass thrown his way. Haynes got just one carry, picking up three yards. But at least he fared better than Duce Staley.

Staley was active for the game, but played just a couple of downs Steelers have no confidence in his ability to do much of anything.

If Davenport is available in your league, you may want to pick him up. He'll likely take over as at least a part-time goal-line back, stealing some carries from Haynes in that role.

Miami's Ronnie Brown didn't fare as well as Parker as an every-down back, though he did score a couple of short touchdowns. Still, Brown owners had to be somewhat disappointed that their star back picked up just 30 yards on 15 carries with a long gain of eight yards. Pittsburgh's run defense is among the best in the league, but Brown never got much going and many times was stacked up behind the line of scrimmage as Miami's offensive line just didn't open up many holes.

Brown was a factor in the passing game, catching three balls for 32 yards. He also saw plenty of action on obvious passing downs, which is a plus.

The star of the Miami offense on the night was No. 3 receiver Wes Welker, who had four catches for 64 yards working out of the slot. But before you run out and pick Welker up, realize he was the hot receiver on at least three of those catches as the corner lined up on him was blitzing and Daunte Culpepper recognized that and hit Welker.

Steelers corner Ike Taylor shadowed No. 1 receiver Chris Chambers and held him in check until very late in the game. Chambers went without a reception in the first half, but finished with five catches for 59 yards, most of which came in the fourth quarter. Chambers will fare better down the road, especially as he and Culpepper get better acquainted with one another.

With Chambers getting so much attention, Marty Booker had some success, getting free for three catches for 64 yards. Fifty-two yards of that came on one play, however, so don't get too fired up about Booker.

I thought going into the game that tight end Randy McMichael would be more of a factor, but McMichael spent a lot of time blocking, as the Steelers blitzed Culpepper on nearly every play. McMichael finished with just one catch for 10 yards, but had a few other balls thrown his way. He just couldn't connect with Culpepper. That will come down the road and I still think McMichael will have a huge season.

Backup tight end Justin Peele caught one pass for 16 yards, but isn't much of a fantasy option at this point. The same could be said of No. 4 wideout Derek Hagen. The rookie had one catch for 14 yards, but don't expect a lot from him this season unless there's an injury ahead of him.

As for Culpepper, he will have better days than his 18-for-37 day for 262 yards with two interceptions. Both interceptions came late in the fourth quarter, but both came because Culpepper made bad reads. The Steelers will do that even to the best quarterbacks.

Culpepper moved around OK in the pocket and though he didn't exactly look like the Daunte Culpepper of old, he's still working his way back into shape. This was his first full game back from his devastating knee injury from last year, so overall it wasn't an awful effort, though it certainly was not Culpepper's best.

Placekicker Olindo Mare was his usual reliable self, while Miami's defense was a little shaky at times. Miami was banged up in the secondary and though the defensive line got after Pittsburgh backup quarterback Charlie Batch a little at times, picking up three sacks, it didn't get its hands on too many passes.

Welker, however, was a factor in the return game and nearly took one punt back for a score.

After a slow start, Batch got better as the game went on filling in for Ben Roethlisberger, who had an emergency appendectomy last Sunday. But this will probably be the only game Batch starts at this point, as Roethlisberger should be back for next Monday night's game at Jacksonville.

Still, Batch showed some moxie and down the road if he has to play for Roethlisberger again, he showed he could be a capable fill-in, completing 15-of-25 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing seven times for 17 yards. Batch was likely not played in many leagues, but certainly performed better than a lot of star quarterbacks.

Coming back from a hamstring injury that kept him out of all four of the Steelers' preseason games, Ward told me after the game that he was still probably only 90 percent healed and that the hamstring did tighten up at times on him. But considering he'll have had 11 days between games, the hamstring should be nearly 100 percent by the time the Steelers play again.

Even at 90 percent, Ward was still a factor, catching five passes for 53 yards and a touchdown. And that was with Miami doubling him quite a bit.

A few weeks ago, I wrote that while Cedrick Wilson would hold off Nate Washington for the starting job opposite Ward, Washington would probably finish the season with more receptions than Wilson.

Thursday's game showed why. Washington finished with two catches for 32 yards and a touchdown and also ran an end around for another eight yards. The Steelers like Washington's speed and will keep trying to find ways to get the ball in his hands.

Wilson got shut out in this game, but on the two deep passes that were thrown his way, he appeared to be interfered with on the first and did draw an interference penalty on the second. Keep in mind as well that Wilson is serving as the Steelers' No. 3 QB at this point and if the team runs any gadget plays, it will probably be Wilson throwing the ball.

Rookie Santonio Holmes wasn't much of a factor, catching just one pass for six yards.

I wrote throughout the offseason that the Steelers wouldn't miss Antwaan Randle El as a receiver because he wasn't even the Steelers' second-leading receiver last season. That honor went to tight end Heath Miller last season and Miller should again hold down that spot this season.

Miller caught three passes against the Dolphins for 101 yards and a touchdown, an 87- yard catch and run that was the longest play by a tight end in the NFL in over 30 years. That's big-time stuff.

Miller will continue to put up those kind of numbers - thought don't expect 100-yard games every week - as he joins the upper-tier of NFL tight ends this season.

Miller will be even more valuable when Roethlisberger returns as those two worked long and hard during the offseason to build a bond. That will prove valuable for the rest of this season.

The Steelers defense showed why it remains one of the strong plays in fantasy football, picking up three sacks and a pair of interceptions while shutting down Miami's running game. That's been the Steelers' MO for years, stop the run, forcing the opposing quarterback into second and long and third and long and then unleashing the dogs. That added up to a pair of interceptions, one each by Troy Polamalu and linebacker Joey Porter, who also had two sacks.

Porter also returned an interception for a touchdown, showing the big-play ability of this defense.

Placekicker Jeff Reed had a tough day, missing his only field goal attempt.

Looking ahead, the Steelers will show off their more open offense next week at Jacksonville. That will be especially necessary against the Jaguars, who held Dallas to 88 yards in its win over the Cowboys Sunday.

Dallas did, however, have some success throwing the ball against the Jaguars and that will likely be the Steelers' main mode of moving the ball. Parker will get his 20 to 25 carries, but look for a little more wide open offense with Roethlisberger at the reigns.

Miami, meanwhile, will host Buffalo, which gave New England all it could handle in its 19-17 loss to the Patriots Sunday.

Though Tom Brady didn't have a big day throwing the ball against Buffalo, but the Pats ran all over Buffalo, as Laurence Maroney gained 86 yards on 17 carries and Corey Dillon had 73 yards on 16 attempts.

That should bode well for Brown, who should put up much better numbers against Buffalo than he did against the Steelers.

Culpepper should be better now as well now that he's got a full game under his belt. Buffalo doesn't have the capability to get after him like the Steelers did and he and Chambers should have some success getting the ball down the field.