DeAngelo Williams or Rashard Mendenhall?

Question

I'm dropping GB's D and Steve Smith (NYG) to pick up another back and a diff. D. Which back do you think will have a better season??

Answer 1

mendenhall will. he is on the steelers they are known for good oline and are a running back type offense and he will get a good amount of touches compared to williams and i think mendenhall will have a better year

Answer 2

Hi ZHOUZHOUBEAST,

This is a bit of a toss-up because both RBs will have some competition in 2008.  Williams will have the rookie Jonathan Stewart breathing down his neck, while Mendenhall will have to try to unseat Willie Parker who piled up over 1300 yards in 07.

These two players actually represent two different sides of the coin: Williams is a veteran who is trying to hold off competition from a rookie while Mendenhall is a rookie trying to unseat a veteran.  If you dig below the surface though, you have to consider what these teams were trying to accomplish by selecting a rookie RB in the early rounds.  Teams don't normally do this unless they have an objective, so you have to think that both teams are looking eventually supplant their rookies into the starting roles.

When you consider this fact, I think Mendenhall makes the most sense.  The guy got great reviews out of college and chances are he'll get the lions-share of goalline carries, an area where Willie Parker struggled in 2007.

I currently have Mendenhall ranked 32rd overall among RBs with Williams coming in at 34th.  If you want to see my full rankings, check out the link in my source list.  On my site you can also create your own player rankings using drag and drop, then generate a printable sheet to take to your fantasy draft.  It's free!

Good luck.

Answer 3

The answer to your question depends directly on how you league is scored. If you get 6 pts per TD, you want Rashard Mendenhall. If you get more points for yardage and/or number of carries, you want DeAngelo Williams.

Willie Parker is going to run a lot between the 20s but Mendenhall is the new "Bus" in Pittsburgh.

DeAngelo Williams is the tried and true veteran and will get the lion's share of the carries (remember when Reggie Bush showed up in the league and everyone thought Deuce McAllister was washed up?)

TD League = Mendenhall

Yardage League = Williams