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RB Joseph Addai, Indianapolis Colts

HT: 6-0, WT: 205, Born: 5-3-1983, College: LSU, Drafted: Round 1, Pick 30

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Addai's season got off to a scary start as he had to come out the game after the first play after getting hit hard trying to make a catch. He returned to the game on the next offensive series. Addai would go on to have a very nice first half, rushing 13 times for 75 yards. This was in large part because the Saints played a lot of cover two zone and kept there safeties deep. This gave Addai a lot of running room between the tackles in the first half. Addai had a nice 12 yard where he was able to cut it back up the middle and get it to the Saints 20 yard line which set up the Colts first field goal in the game. His only catch in the first half was a nice pass in the flat for a 14 yard gain with two minutes left.

Addai got an early touchdown in the second half after QB Peyton Manning and WR Marvin Harrison connected for a long pass that put the ball on the two yard line of the Saints. He easily punched it in from two yards out for his first touchdown of the year. Addai had another nice 14 run in the third quarter to help set up the Colts third touchdown. He finished the game with 118 rushing yards and a very impressive 5.1 yards per carry average. He also added three receptions for 25 yards as Manning looked to Addai often as one of his check down receivers. The Colts running game looked very impressive overall in their debut.

Week 2 - Addai put up solid numbers versus the Titans' defense. He was targeted by Peyton Manning three times, but had a nice eight yard touchdown run in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he took a hard hit from Keith Bullock and was not on the field during the next play. He eventually returned to action.

Week 3 - Addai had an outstanding day running the ball, allowing the Colts to control the flow of the game. The statistics show that he only averaged 3.3 YPC on the day, but that was due to the majority of his runs coming between the tackles. He was able to gain good yardage on plays that went to the outside of the tackles. His first touchdown of the day will be the one that will show up on the highlight films as he was hit while leaping over a defender at the one yard line and flipped into the end zone.

Week 4 - Addai had some nice slashing runs in the first half, before turning to more of a bulldozing style in the second half. His 136 yards rushing could have been much more if he had carried the ball more than twice in the fourth quarter, but what was reported as a "bruised shoulder" kept him out with Kenton Keith taking over. Addai pulled in three receptions on four targets to give him an extra ten yards of offense.

Week 7 - Addai averaged a gaudy 5.3 yards per rushing attempt against the very stout Jaguar front seven. He ran with power and elusiveness, and he did not seem hindered at all by the shoulder injury that had sidelined him since late September. Addai had three red zone carries and just missed scoring a TD in the second quarter when he ran the ball to the goal line (Manning sneaked it in on the next play). He was also involved in the passing game and caught every pass thrown his way. It's hard to tell whether the heavier work load assigned to Kenton Keith in this game was due to concerns about Addai's health, or if was a sign of things to come, or maybe both. Certainly it was not due to Addai's performance, which was rock solid.

Week 8 - Addai ran the ball very well, going for 100 yards on 23 carries. He had two rushing touchdowns and another one on a four yard pass from Manning. Addai caught two passes for nine yards. He caught a short pass and took it in for the score but it was called back due to penalty. He got redemption when the Colts handed off to him on the next play and he scored from the 12 yard line.

Week 9 - Addai was electric against the Patriots. He showed tremendous burst and wiggle on his way to 112 yards on 26 rushes, making New England defenders miss with great footwork. When Addai wasn't busy running the ball, he was busy catching it out of the backfield. He was targeted six times, catching five passes for 114 yards and a 73 yard touchdown. On that play, in particular, he made numerous Patriots defenders look silly and blew past the defense on his way to the end zone.

Week 10 - Addai carried the ball 22 times for 56 yards, while catching all three of his targets for 16 yards. The Chargers went up big early in this game, and the field conditions were wet, which doesn't make for a big game recipe out of a shifty ball carrier like Addai. He had two separate carries of ten yards in the game, but otherwise only had room for a few yards at a time. Encouraging was that the Colts played from behind throughout, though Addai remained involved in the game with 25 total touches. Kenton Keith spelled Addai on a few occasions, as well as at the goalline on a third down, but at no point did it appear there was a timeshare occurring.

Week 11 - Addai had good numbers despite the fact that he was routinely facing pressure in the backfield. He was met with initial contact behind the line of scrimmage in the first half, but was able to use his elusiveness to turn potential short gains into long runs. He showed his value to the offense on the lone touchdown drive by touching the ball on seven of the nine plays. He started the drive by catching two passes in the flat the kept the defense off balance. The drive would end on two strong runs, a quick burst through the middle that would gain 18 yards and a three yard scoring run through an open hole.

Week 12 - Addai missed part of the first half with a minor neck injury, but returned in the second quarter. Kenton Keith had success in his absence and saw playing time throughout the game after Addai came back. Addai scored on a four yard touchdown run, and looked fine despite being hurt earlier in the game.

Week 13 - Addai ran hard but was unable to get into the second level of Jacksonville's defense to use his speed and elusiveness. Nonetheless, he ran with some power and managed to grind forward for a few additional yards after being stopped close to the line of scrimmage on most of his running attempts. He was not used in the passing game.

Week 14 - Addai was contained for the most part by Baltimore's defense. He did contribute in the red zone, though, scoring twice on runs inside Baltimore's twenty yard line. Addai was also a recipient of one of Manning's four touchdown passes.

Week 15 - Addai rushed for 44 yards on 15 carries marking the sixth straight game in which he has failed to gain more than 75 yards. He added five receptions for another 33 yards, but as a team the Colts' rushing attack has tapered off in the second half of this season. Despite having a slim lead through three quarters they only rushed for 58 yards. Addai converted the two point conversion in the fourth quarter.

Week 16 - Thirty yards and a touchdown are probably not the kind of stats Addai owners had in mind for championship week in most fantasy leagues, but they should consider themselves extremely lucky to have even gotten that much. Addai was shaken up following a short run in the first quarter. He seemed fine jogging off the field, but was replaced by Kenton Keith for the next nine plays on the drive. Surprisingly, Addai returned to the game just as the Colts reached the two yard line. He took the second down carry up the middle and scored after breaking two tackles. However, that was Addai's last game action for the day. He remained on the sideline for the rest of the afternoon, so it shouldn't be anything serious at all. More than likely, he'll receive plenty of rest or possibly sit out entirely in Week 17 as the Colts prepare for the playoffs.

Week 17 - Addai saw limited action as the Colts main starters only played until midway in the second quarter. He showed quickness and elusiveness in finding the hole. The Colts line was able to open good running lanes to run through.

Week 19 - It appears that Addai had a huge role in the passing game and that he was Peyton Manning's favorite target. In reality, what happened was that the Colts sort of gave up on a traditional running game and instead opted to use the short passing game as their version of a rushing attack. Addai was the primary recipient of many of those looks, and despite leaving the game briefly with a head injury, he did pick up 110 total yards from scrimmage. Addai was also heavily involved in the late game drives to try and regain the lead, but he wasn't much of a factor down the field even on those plays.