Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2001

To keep or not to keep

Michael Bennett has done nothing for your fantasy team, but he plays for the offensive-minded Vikings …

By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor

Thus far, Tomlinson simply leads the league in rushing with 412 yards and is tied for first in the league with six rushing touchdowns. Not too shabby.

But this is a column about Bennett. Bennett and his 251 yards of total offense so far. Bennett and his zero touchdowns. Bennett and his 48 carries. Likely, if you’re a Bennett owner, you know this, and there’s no reason to pound it into your head. It will only make it hurt more. You’d be better served with answers to the big Bennett question: When do I officially give up on Bennett?

Well, I can’t tell you that you should give up on him, because I don’t know your specific situation. But I can give you some interesting things to absorb prior to making the decision.

First, let’s look at Bennett’s performance thus far. Bennett is averaging 3.5 yards per carry — nothing to get excited about from a fantasy perspective, really, and far below what was expected of him. Likely, when you drafted Bennett, you were hoping to get the 5.4 yards per carry he had in college his senior year. You were hoping that his ten rushing touchdowns would tag along.

But Bennett hasn’t had a tremendous amount of opportunities to make things happen. If you read my columns regularly, you will know that I’m a big proponent of giving running backs rhythm. The way that happens is giving the ballcarrier a chance to run 20-25 times or more in the game. Thus far, Bennett has averaged 12 carries per game. That’s barely enough time to read the NFL logo on the ball.

Bennett needs to carry the ball more in a game. The Vikings must devote themselves to running the ball more. Yes, it’s very difficult for them, at times, to ignore their stellar receivers (who aren’t the greatest blockers in the world either), but if Bennett’s season is to be saved, you’d better hope and pray that Dennis Green and Sherman Lewis slow the pace down a bit and involve Bennett more.

Lewis said this very thing in today’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the running game. So, as a Bennett owner, you should be happy to know that at least the offensive coordinator is interested in improving Bennett’s game. But Lewis also points out a significant problem that ought to give any Bennett owner pause. The Vikings have fallen behind so many times in the first four games that they are forced to take it to the air to get back points.

You may look at the stats and see that the Vikings’ offense has shown signs of life in the past few weeks after stumbling terribly out of the gate. They are not yet where they were before the retirement of Robert Smith this offseason (the reason they got Bennett), and they won’t reach that stage until Bennett matures as a runner.

My advice to you (and it’s easy for me to give, since I don’t have Bennett on a team) is this: If you’re in a big keeper league, you have a tough choice. I’d say keep Bennett and stow him away on a taxi squad or deep on your roster. That way, you can at least put the decision off until the end of the season. If you’re in a league that doesn’t keep players, it may be time to cut the cord. The determining factor could be the size of the league in which you play. If you’re in a big league, you’d like to cut the cord, but there may not be any other viable options. However, if you’re in a smaller league, dump Bennett and sign the hottest hand in the league that’s available.

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