Are you building a dynasty? Fantasy Football is no longer just an August-December thing. Dynasty leagues are becoming more and more popular and all of you year-round nuts are probably starving for some dynasty info. Well, this edition of “Building A Dynasty” will focus on Steelers rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall. Expect more articles like this one as we head toward August.
Rashard Mendenhall is the next big thing. Call it bold, call it a gut instinct with insufficient evidence — call it whatever you want — but the bottom line is that this kid is going to be a star.
The 5-11, 225-pound running back has a perfect combination of size and speed in order to excel at the NFL level. He spit out 1,681 yards and 19 total touchdowns at Illinois last season, and if you haven’t seen any film on this kid, I suggest that you stop reading this article and take a look at this:
Mendy is the perfect mixture of LaDainian Tomlinson and Willis McGahee. Whenever I compare Mendy to Tomlinson, I get a handful of angry emails, but I’m not backing down from my stance. Watch the YouTube clip to your left and skip to 0:26 seconds into the clip… now tell me you don’t see Tomlinson in that run! The Pittsburgh rookie has tremendous patience when running the football, the kind of patience needed at the NFL level. He also has an ability to knife through defenses much like L.T. can - And his acceleration and nose for the end zone are both incredible. Worried about his ability to catch the football out of the backfield? Well, skip ahead in the clip to roughly 1:22 and watch him work that skill. Mendy has it all! If you haven’t watched a ton of Mendy footage, I recommend that you do. I know many fantasy owners are concerned about the presence of Willie Parker, but Pittsburgh wouldn’t have spent their first-round pick (23) on Mendy if they didn’t see the 225-pound back as the future of the Steelers’ rushing attack. It is possible that Parker could delay the Rashard Mendenhall Show for a full season, but I just don’t see that happening. Pittsburgh wants to run the football a ton in 2008, and since Willie Parker only scored two touchdowns last season on 15 starts, it’s safe to say that the Steelers are going to use Mendy in goal line situations. I see no reason that Rashard Mendenhall can’t throw down 1,000+ yards rushing and 7-9 scores in 2008, setting himself up to be a consensus first-round fantasy football pick in just about every 2009 redraft league. |
That Pittsburgh offense is going to eventually make Mendy look like Addai over in Indy - The only thing is, Mendy is more talented than Addai. Here come more angry emails. The point is not that Addai isn’t worthy of a top 5-7 fantasy pick, because he is… the point is that both backs are in unbelievably productive systems… systems that can make a solid running back great. On top of having a tremendously potent offense, Mendenhall has the skills of an elite talent - The combination of talent and system will make Mendy unstoppable in the coming years.
Ready for bold? Barring a huge injury, Rashard Mendenhall will be a top five fantasy running back by the start of his third NFL season. He will also have such a promising rookie campaign, the Pittsburgh rook will end up being a first-round pick in 2009 redraft leagues.
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