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Keenan McCardell career statistics

I don't much care for Keenan McCardell. As I've pointed out elsewhere, I have acute upside-itis and rarely find guys as bland as McCardell on my fantasy teams. Still, he's ranked #17 and #19 among WRs the last two seasons, and I'm probably doing my opponents a favor by writing him off because he bores me.

Let's check out how #2 receivers have fared on Jon Gruden-coached teams. Here's Gruden's NFL coaching resume:

Year   Tm   Job
----------------------------------
1990  sfo   Offensive assistant
1992  gnb   Offensive assistant
1993  gnb   Receivers coach
1994  gnb   Receivers coach
1995  phi   Offensive coordinator
1996  phi   Offensive coordinator
1997  phi   Offensive coordinator
1998  oak   Head coach
1999  oak   Head coach
2000  oak   Head coach
2001  oak   Head coach

Almost all those teams have had a great wide receiver. Possibly unfortunately for Keenan McCardell, all those teams have had a great wide receiver -- as in, just one. Only a few of Gruden's teams have had even a serviceable #2. Here's the complete rundown; discussion follows.

Year   Tm     #1 Wide Receiver     Rank     #2 Wide Receiver     Rank
-----------+-----------------------------+---------------------------
1990  sfo  |  Jerry Rice              1  |  John Taylor            21
1992  gnb  |  Sterling Sharpe         1  |  Robert Brooks         101
1993  gnb  |  Sterling Sharpe         3  |  Mark Clayton           68
1994  gnb  |  Sterling Sharpe         2  |  Robert Brooks          44
1995  phi  |  Calvin Williams        43  |  Fred Barnett           44
1996  phi  |  Irving Fryar            5  |  Chris Jones            30
1997  phi  |  Irving Fryar           10  |  Freddie Solomon        61
1998  oak  |  Tim Brown              15  |  James Jett             28
1999  oak  |  Tim Brown              11  |  James Jett             61
2000  oak  |  Tim Brown              11  |  Andre Rison            43
2001  oak  |  Tim Brown               9  |  Jerry Rice             10

I sincerely doubt that Gruden had much influence into the play-calling in San Fran or Green Bay, so I don't know if we should read anything into those four years (except perhaps that Gruden may have been influenced by what he saw there). In his seven years as an OC and head man, though, his #2 WRs have, with only one exception, had very little fantasy value.

Of course, there are two things working in McCardell's favor: (1) Gruden's most recent team featured a very valuable #2, and (2), except for Rice, Keenan is probably better than any of the other #2 WRs Gruden has had available to him.

As always, make of this whatever you want.