| The message continues to ring loud and clear
down in Georgia. From all indications, Falcons featured back Jamal Anderson looks like
he’s regained the form he showed in 1998. If that is indeed the case, you might
consider moving Anderson up more than just a little on your RB draft board. For those of
you with short memories, Anderson’s ’98 season was one for the ages — a
club-record 1,846 rushing yards on an NFL-record 410 rushing attempts, with 16 TDs (14
rushing, two receiving) and 12 100-yard rushing performances thrown into the mix.
Anderson missed practically the entire ’99 season, however, after tearing his
right anterior cruciate ligament in the first quarter of a 24-7 Monday-night loss at
Dallas in Week Two. In short order, the Falcons’ season went down the tubes faster
than a Sammy Sosa home run in Wrigley Field with the wind blowing out.
Anderson was back in business last season, just managing to crack the 1,000-yard
barrier. But he registered only two 100-yard rushing performances all season and clearly
showed the lingering effects of the previous campaign’s season-ending injury.
In addition, as was the case with the majority of his teammates, Anderson was hardly a
happy camper on a team that showed very little enthusiasm and cohesiveness, especially on
the offensive line.
Anderson has seen limited action this preseason, sharing time with backup Maurice
Smith, who leads the team in preseason rushing yards by a narrow margin. But when he has
carried the ball this preseason, the super fluid stop-and-go moves that made him such a
force in ’98 have been clearly evident. Last year Anderson looked slower and rather
tentative on occasion. Not so this year. If anything, sources say, he looks quicker than
ever.
Perhaps most importantly, Anderson appears to be really high on the team’s
revamped offensive line, despite the fact it is very unproven and inexperienced. With
fiery Pete Mangurian having replaced relatively mild-mannered Art Shell as Atlanta’s
OL coach, the unit appears a lot quicker across the board and a lot more cohesive —
despite the fact its interior remains very unsettled at this writing in terms of the
actual starters.
Put simply, Anderson thinks he can definitely strut his stuff behind this year’s
OL contingent and carry the load as the team’s offensive centerpiece. He also should
get more relief this season from reserves Smith and Rodney Thomas — a free-agent
acquisition who most recently toiled for the Titans — than he did last season, when
the team’s offense seemed uninspired in almost every game.
In the most recent Pro Football Weekly fantasy draft board, we have Anderson
ranked 17th among running backs.
But based on what I continue to hear out of Atlanta, I think he definitely deserves to
be in the top 10.
If you have a shot at landing him as a No. 2 RB on your team, you won’t be
sorry.
"In Our Opinion" fantasy columns have now resumed for the 2001 season.
Columns will appear daily, Tuesday through Friday, throughout the regular season. The
Fantasy Doctor has returned with your pigskin prescriptions, so send your fantasy
questions to the Doc's attention at fantasydoctor@pfwa.com |
