Not to long ago, the Broncos traded for semi-draft bust Laurence Maroney, who was the 21st overall pick for the Patriots back in 2006. Maroney was never the factor at tail back the Pats envisioned he'd be, and in many ways he has been outplayed by Colts running back Joseph Addai who, like Maroney, was also drafted in 2006.
Leading up to that 2006 NFL Draft, many thought the Colts could possibly trade up and take Maroney. He had all the skill sets the Colts looked for in backs, and he played ball at the University of Minnesota; the old college stomping ground for former-Colts head coach Tony Dungy and offensive assistant Tom Moore. However, despite rumors that's move up to get Maroney, they didn't. The Pats picked Maroney at #21 overall. Six picks later, the Colts took Addai.
Since that draft, Addai's rushing yards, yards per day, touchdowns, and reception numbers have all eclipsed Maroney's. Needless to say, Bill Polian was smart and stayed put in that draft. His reward was getting the better back.
But, what does all this have to do with Knowshon Moreno?
Well, for starters, Moreno is similar to Maroney in that, in his first two seasons (thus far) he has underwhelmed despite his draft stock. Behind an excellent offensive line last year, and coached by a supposed 'genius' in Josh McDaniels, Moreno averaged 3.8 yards a carry ran for only 947 yards. As we all know, running back is the easiest position in football for rookies to transition to. For a players drafted 12th overall in 2009, 947 yards sniffs of potential draft bust.
This Sunday, Moreno will not have an opportunity to climb his way out of his early season slump (averaging 2.8 yards a carry in two games). He's been ruled out for the game. Instead, he'll likely be replaced by (you guessed it) Laurence Maroney.
Also out for this game is Broncos right tackle Ryan Harris.
For the Colts, they might be without Charlie Johnson, Clint Session, and Pierre Garcon. Johnson and Session did not practice at all this week, and Garcon only saw limited practice on Wednesday.
More news after the jump...
This is just an update on something for the community: Someone posted a FanPost today announcing that Joe Baker (aka shake n bake) was a new writer at 18to88. We had planned to make a post announcing this move ourselves, but after seeing some of the comments in the FanPost, Stampede Blue opted not to post anything. We also deleted the original announcement FanPost because, seriously, we're all just tired of the constant bickering between blogs.
For comments in this article, I will ask that they focus solely on football. Comments about other Colts blogs or anything not related to the main point of this article will get deleted. Part of moving on is actually, you know, moving on. Like so many of you, I want to talk football, not bicker at or about other blogs that don't like us.
Many thanks. Go Colts!
Tip to TXColts and emiller17 for Knowshon Moreno info