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The Bandit said 06/26, 04:28 PM
Good choice Hemo.

I'll go w/ Detroit Lions.

1st off, AP needs to be given some time. He has 5 starts in his career, all LY. Here's the 5 teams he's faced as a starter..NYG, WAS, MIN, GB, and NO.

2 of those teams AP has faced are ranked in the top 5 in RUSH D, 3 are in the top 10, and all 5 are in the top 15. So it's not like he's facing an easy competition,not to mention he got 102 yds vs GB

First the team stats.

rush categ.........CHI....................DET

rush att LY..........423 (19th).........324 (32nd) last in league
total yds LY.......1330 (29th)......1288 (31st)
rush att PG....... 26.4 (19th)....... 20.3 ( 32nd) last again
rush yds PG..... 83.1 (30th)....... 80.5 (31st)
YPC...................... 3.1 (32nd)....... 4.0 (19th)

As you can see, DET is more abysmal in the rushing dept. They are ranked dead last and are in the very bottom tier in almost every rushing statistical categories. DET is worst. That's why they're "most in need" of a RB.

Losing KJones and Duckett is detrimental in that it gives them a significant lack of depth. Losing them makes DET more emaciated at the RB position.. more so than CHI losing CBenson.

The Bandit said 06/26, 06:04 PM
Martz took the Rams to the SB as the Off. Coordinator in '00. RB was Faulk...this is key, If Martz did it with STL, why not DET? Reason being DET is in incorrigible shape. The lack of effective rushing attack is manifested..hence a consistent RB is a dire need.

CHI did not need a prominent RB in '06. Who was their RB back then? Thomas Jones, who was a bit of a disappointment LY with the Jets. It only takes a player of his caliber to take CHI to the promiseland. They don't exactly need a Jim Brown. CHI has been a playoff team with FREQUENCY despite the lack of a true RB..so it's not like they are in "most need of one".

When was the last time you've seen DET in the playoffs? It was back in '99. They have been to the playoffs 6 times in the 90's....and it took a high caliber RB to take them there..one of the greatest of all time..Barry Sanders. CHI..all they need is one with Thomas Jones's caliber.

See a disparity here? ...DET needs a consistent RB like Sanders to alleviate their debilitated not to mention non existent rushing attack. Hence, to be competitive...DET must have a high caliber consistent RB while CHI can do without, and a SB appearance can attest to that.

The Bandit said 06/26, 07:18 PM
"THE LIONS WERE LAST IN RUSHING ATTEMPTS LAST YEAR"

-which explains in my favor DET's lack of confidence in the running game. And why is that?...DET doesn't have a consistent, reliable, RB.

AP vs. Bell...each had 5 starts LY. Bell had less success avg. ONLY 36.3 YPG ..AP avg. 64.2 YPG vs. top rush D's. AP will do better.

Pass to rush ratio.

DET.. pass ATT 587 / rush ATT 302...means DET rush 33.9 % of the time
CHI....pass ATT 567 / rush ATT 405...means CHI rush 41.6 % of the time

DETs pass/rush ratio is more lopsided... a true indicator that they can't establish a running game. 2/ 3 of the time, their plays are pass..makes it pretty obvious for the opposing D on what to expect. It's why Kitna is sacked so much. 3rd n long situations that resulted from an ineffective rushing attack on prior downs.

Key losses.

KJones and Duckett account for 916 of DET's 1288 tot. rush yds. LY. That's 71.1 % of rush offense lost.
Benson had 674 of CHI's 1330 tot. RY. Only amounts to 50.6 % lost.

With DET losing KJ and TJD..they are MORE emaciated as far as depth. Bell to compensate? not in DET.Maybe in a Shanahan system.

The draft will help, but DET is more desparate.