Willie Parker Outlook: Fast & Furious or Free Willy? Career Receiving Stats Shed Light
by Kevin Ewoldt on Jul 28, 2010 9:00 AM EDT
in Redskins Analysis
15 comments
It's a travesty I was unable to attend any of the OTAs or minicamps this off-season. Damn weddings. Last year when Ken and I attended, we could clearly see Fred Davis was going to be a breakout player...and, well, that was about all we saw. Making predictions for this camp is a lot more difficult not having that first-hand knowledge of seeing the players run around. However, one of my friends is a coach at Chapel Hill and told me Willie Parker has been has been a workout warrior down there, running sprints, lifting, and running a 4.4 - 40. Sounds like a perfect fit for this squad. Over twitter yesterday when several people said they'd rather have Westbrook than Willie, I made the bold prediction Willie would make this squad.
Rich Tandler from CSNWashington chimed in that Willie did not look good in minicamps. I emailed him for further explanation (since it's tough to tell things without pads), and he replied,
"I just thought he looked slow. No pop through the hole. I also think that Shanny is going to want to keep one young back (probably Torain) so there isn’t room for all three. He certainly could change my mind if he shows something resembling a burst in camp. But, from what I can tell so far, Fast Willie isn’t very fast. We will see."
Eesh. That doesn' sound good. Willie does have a $3 million deal this year, but it's laced with incentives, so he's very expendable. I think it's safe to say Larry will make this squad, so who's left? I still think Willie makes this squad, solely since he's had good seasons catching the ball out of the back-field:
Look at that average yardage per reception the years he caught 18 or more balls. That's up there with Portis and Westbrook's averages in their best years. The counter argument is Fast Willie has seen his time in the body shop. Broken fibula in 2007, knee injury in 2008, and turf toe at the start of 2009. Mendenhall of course shined so Willie, who was in a contract year, was let go. Ryan Torain is a favorite of many people to win the 3rd spot, but he's coming off a knee injury from the 2008-9 season and did not see any action last season...not even on a practice squad.
| Willie Parker Career Stats | |||||||||||||||
| Season | Team | Rushing | Receiving | Fumbles | |||||||||||
| G | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FUM | Lost | ||
| 2009 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 14 | 3 | 98 | 389 | 4.0 | 34 | 0 | 6 | 64 | 10.7 | 27T | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2008 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 11 | 210 | 791 | 3.8 | 34T | 5 | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 5 | 0 | -- | -- |
| 2007 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 15 | 15 | 321 | 1,316 | 4.1 | 32 | 2 | 23 | 164 | 7.1 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 2006 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 16 | 16 | 337 | 1,494 | 4.4 | 76 | 13 | 31 | 222 | 7.2 | 25T | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| 2005 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 15 | 15 | 255 | 1,202 | 4.7 | 80T | 4 | 18 | 218 | 12.1 | 48 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2004 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 | 0 | 32 | 186 | 5.8 | 58 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 12 | 0 | -- | -- |
| TOTAL | 1,253 | 5,378 | 4.3 | 80 | 24 | 84 | 697 | 8.3 | 48 | 5 | 17 | 9 | |||
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Willie is d-o-n-e
Hopefully we keep Torain so we can have SOME youth in the backfield.
"By far the worst performers on the team are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
Even if Willie is marginally better
than Torain at this point, we can’t keep Willie and lose Torain; not just because we need youth, but if Torain is serviceable, it might save us a draft pick on an RB that could be used for other needs whenever we do decide to get younger.
Hope that made sense….no coffee this am.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Makes perfect sense
I get what your saying, if Willie is only marginally better, we want to keep Torain because he will last longer so RB isn’t as urgent a need so quickly.
Torain is coming off acl
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by Kevin Ewoldt on Jul 28, 2010 10:00 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
don't know why people think RB won't be an urgent need quickly
Portis will be 30 next year, and age where very few RBs are productive (and Portis has been run into the ground). LJ will be 31 or 32 next year, and Willie Parker will be 30+ too…
The bottom is falling out, and very soon. If not this year, then definitely next year. Keeping Ryan Torain isn’t going to stop the bottom from falling out- he’s simply not talented enough or healthy enough to be the guy.
My doublestuffed oreos fell on the floor of my mom's basement. Save me swagman!
by SomebodyBuyAustinaSteak on Jul 28, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions
It will be an urgent need, but it's probably the easiest position to fill on short notice, and without using a high pick.
RB might have the shortest learning curve of any position in football.
"By far the worst performers on the team are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
If Ryan Torain is healthy, then he will be 2nd.
1. Portis (15-25 carries)
2. Torain (10-12 carries)
3. LJ (2-3 carries – short yardage)
4. Parker (Inactive)
by Negative Nelly? on Jul 28, 2010 11:09 AM EDT reply actions
Why do you guys believe Ryan Torain is this great player???
Like look at his stats people…where in those stats screams keeper. All of these RBs suck…BWest will come and we will drop all these fools…
Nobody thinks he's great.
I do, however, think he’s more valuable than Willie Parker based on age and potential.
"By far the worst performers on the team are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
Keiland Williams
I seem to remember a sort of exotic background, including fumbling. Fast, but…
Willie Parker at one time did the 40 yard in
4.21 seconds. Portis was about as fast. Maybe both of these guys have something in the tank. Keiland Williams will be on the practice squad and maybe Ryan Torain (depending on his previous playing time. I suspect he still qualifies.).
Torain
Season Team……………………………….Rushing
G GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD
2008……..Denver Broncos …2 ..1 .15 .69 ..4.6 .19 ..1
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