2009 Draft Guide: Back from the injury report

August 21 2009 3 Commented

(photobucket.com)

(photobucket.com)

Adam Helbling researched four of the most prominent players coming back from injury-plagued seasons. Here’s his take on where they stand heading into the 2009 campaign.

TOM BRADY (QB New England) – From 2004-07, Brady averaged 252 yards passing per game with 128 touchdown passes and 48 interceptions. After a record-setting season in 2007, Brady owners were excited to see an encore performance – but all they got was seven passing attempts after a Week 1 knee injury forced Brady to the sidelines for the remainder of the season. Other than having to wear a brace, all signs point to Brady being 100 percent to open the 2009 season and he’s looked fine thus far in the pre-season. With wide receivers Randy Moss, Wes Welker and the newly-acquired Joey Galloway, Brady should have no problem getting to his levels from 2005-07. Another 50 touchdown performance from a player coming back from a major knee injury is expecting too much, but a top-3 scoring season is not out of the question.

CARSON PALMER (QB Cincinnati): It was a disappointing season for Palmer owners in 2008. In four games, Palmer passed for 731 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions – before his season ended due to an elbow injury In the three years prior to his injury, Palmer averaged 250 yards passing, 1.7 touchdowns and 0.9 interceptions per game and never missed a start. All reports point to Palmer being healthy, but even better news is that No. 1 wide receiver Chad Ochocinco has kept the drama to a minimum this off-season. While the team will miss wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, free-agent signee Laveranues Coles should help pick up the slack. If Chris Henry can become more consistent, the team will have three players capable of making big plays at the WR position. Palmer’s current ADP is in the middle of the 9th, round making him the 12th quarterback off the board. That is good value for a quarterback capable of putting up top-10 production.

EARNEST GRAHAM (RB Tampa Bay): Graham was unable to build off his impressive 2007 season, and his season ended when he landed on the IR with an ankle injury after Week 11. All reports indicate that Graham is healthy and ready for the 2009 season, however, the offseason signing of running back Derrick Ward has Graham falling down draft boards. It doesn’t help that in 2008 Graham had just 563 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Initial reports that Graham would be used more at fullback are not true, according to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com. While it’s still early, Graham is listed as the team’s No. 1 running back and can be had much later in drafts than Ward. Graham could be used as a solid flex or bye-week sub in deeper leagues and his ADP in the middle of the 12th round is solid value.

MATT HASSELBECK (QB Seattle) – A bad back limited Hasselbeck to just seven starts last season but he appears to be fine for 2009 after the Seahawks passed on Mark Sanchez in the draft. Hasselbeck is typically the 15th quarterback off the board being drafted early in the 11th round. This is good value for a quarterback who averaged 248 yards passing, 1.8 touchdowns and 0.8 interceptions per game in 2007, and now has T.J. Houshmandzadeh to his arsenal. Still, we want to see how Hasselbeck’s back holds up to a couple of hits before we draft him. For now, we’ll pass – unless your draft goes well beyond the 11th round and he is still there.

3 Responses to “2009 Draft Guide: Back from the injury report”

  1. [...] at each position. Rookies To Watch – How should you view the future generation of players? Back from the Infirmary: – Scared of Tom Brady’s knee or Carson Palmer’s elbow? We’ll tell you what to expect [...]

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