Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999

All aboard

The Edgerrin James bandwagon is leaving, and I’m driving

By Robert Neely, Associate editor

Edgerrin James is for real.

He’d better be, or else I’m in big trouble. James is a key cog on two of my fantasy teams. But I’m happy with the gamble I took on the Colts rookie.

Here’s why:

All along, I have believed that the only two surefire studs among the RB crop were Terrell Davis and Fred Taylor. The next eight backs or so were pretty much the same in my mind, at least as I began my draft analysis.

But as the season drew closer, I started to grow more enamored with James. Once he inked a deal with the Colts, I started to have visions of him running and catching passes from Peyton Manning and piling up eye-popping yardage totals in the process.

These thoughts disturbed me. I have never been one for taking rookie running backs. I’m typically a play-it-safe drafter, at least in the first couple of rounds. Banking my team on the performance of a rookie runner does not fall into the play-it-safe category.

And there are concerns about James. He didn’t have a full training camp, and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if his tardiness in reporting limits his effectiveness in pass patterns early in the season. Plus, the Colts’ offense is incredibly young, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering the talent of players such as Manning, Marvin Harrison, Tarik Glenn and Steve McKinney. But projected starting C Larry Moore is far from a proven commodity, and projected starting ORG Waverly Jackson was an undrafted defensive lineman just one year ago. That combo does not inspire confidence in the Colts’ short-yardage running game.

But I have visions of James as a Marshall Faulk who can run up the middle. James is the next Roger Craig, and he’ll join Craig in the 1,000/1,000 club. James is this year’s Fred Taylor, so I might as well pencil in 17 TDs now. This much I know about fantasy football.

At least for today.

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1999 - 2000 Season