Moving On Without Maroney

I don't usually do this, that is make a post during the game, but I got to say this now: I'm done with Laurence Maroney.

Early in the Monday night telecast, the ESPN crew announced that RB Maroney was placed on injured reserve and won't play for the rest of the season. The timing couldn't be better as RB LaMont Jordan is inactive and former league MVP Shawn Alexander just signed with Washington. The cherry on top is after RB Sammy Morris shredded the Denver defense, he doesn't return for the second half, leaving the ball carrying to rookie free agent BenJarvis Green-Ellis.

Not that mind giving the rookie some run (he's looking alright so far). I'm just tired of a very talented player not performing up to his potential. This was the guy I picked as the break-out player for the team, but instead he just broke down.

Maroney has it all. Great quickness and speed, good hands, and a lack of aggression. Rarely did Maroney just take the ball and hit the hole. If he did so, he'd become a Pro Bowler, regarded as one of the best in the AFC. He played at his best down the stretch and through the AFC playoffs last season. That player showed up for just one game this season. Then it was back to waiting to break every carry into a long gain mode.

It's as if all that dancing behind the line left Maroney open to getting hit instead of taking it to tacklers. Everyone agrees that playing carefully leads to getting hurt. That might had been Maroney's downfall. In a hit or be hit game, he played the victim.

No one will be sorry for him if he's cut from the team after the season. I know I won't miss him.