RB Tiki Barber (NYG)
High Side by David Dodds
I defer to the numbers:
Barber 2000: 1,725 total yards and 9 TDs (4.7 ypc rushing average) -
13th best RB
Barber 2001: 1,433 total yards and 4 TDs (5.1 ypc rushing average) - 15th
best RB
Some point to Ron Dayne taking away carries, but again I defer to the
numbers:
Dayne 2000: 228 carries
Dayne 2001: 180 carries
And during Dayne's stellar pro career, he has averaged a whopping 3.6
yards per carry. Hard to figure out what part of Thunder and Lightning
sucks.
Tike Barber should finish with about 1,600 total yards and 6-7 TDs. This
will put him around the 14th best RB again.
Low Side by Tony Holm
I like the attitude and talent Tiki Barber brings to the game.
I am in fact a big Tiki Barber fan for who and what he is. But to rank
him any higher than the low to mid twenties this season in fantasy football
is sheer foolishness. I'm surprised to see him much higher than this on
other lists as Tiki Barber shares time with Ron Dayne. There are 31 teams
in the NFL so Tiki ranked 25 ranks him as one the better backs that shares
time in the league. That seems to fit exactly what Barber is. To rank
him 14th puts him in the Antowain Smith, Travis Henry, Jerome Bettis,
feature back class, which he is not. The Giants have a harrowing schedule
against good run stop defenses and their offensive line is in complete
shambles this season. Most are predicting the Giants to flop almost completely
due to their offensive line woes. Tiki Barber is a great receiver, which
pads his yardage totals, but he is not a scoring machine. You'll want
to draft Barber late in your draft for his yardage numbers but that is
all you're going to get. If you're in a TD only league, scratch him off
your list.
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