Parker was drafted in the middle of the first round in most leagues last season. And rightly so. 1700 yards and 16 TDs in 2006 vaulted him into a top selection.

His ypc has gone down each season and his TD total last season was a disappointing total of 2. The Steelers then went and drafted Mendenhall.

What are the expectations for Parker in 2008?

Being a Parker owner last year I can say he was a bit disappointing even with his excellent yardage totals. He was a guy most expected to have a couple monster games, with only 2 TDs that just never happened.
With that said, and as good as he is his, hia TD total should only go up. I would think the addition of Mendenhall will help keep him a litter more fresh and hopefully be able to break off some more long ones like he was doing two y ears ago when Bettis was around.

I've read lots of what fantasy owners are saying about Pittsburgh's drafting of Mendenhall. The consensus seems to be that Mendenhall will see most of Pittsburgh's carries by the end of the season. To be accurate most of what I've read included some variation of this, "FWP is done."

Now I've never been a consensus kind of guy so what others say doesn't mean much to me. Pittsburgh was saying all offseason they were going to draft a RB to ease FWP's load. Now that they have drafted one most are making a very big deal out of it. Granted the they drafted a higher ranked RB than most expected but I think the plan will still be the same.

IMO Willie is the starter and will remain for this year anyway. Mendenhall will see playing time and probably more than Bettis did when he was there. But I agree with SG on this one Parker's numbers should be a little better than last year but he'll never see the 16 TDs he did in 2006.

If I had Parker in a dynasty though I'd wait for the first big week and try to pawn him off. Mendenhall will have the longer contract and will be the starter at some point.

If we hearken back to the 2006 season, there was a ton of debate on this site regarding Parker. Ultimately, he had a great season. He followed that up with a good season of yardage production but a massive falloff in TDs. At the same time, we saw a huge surge in Roethlisberger in the passing game. New head coach, new regime... Is a team which has historically been more dominant in the running game moving to an air attack offense?

I go a little overboard there. Successful teams need to do both well, which is what makes the Steelers one of the top teams in the AFC.

We're in a new NFL era where the single featured back offense is being replaced by an RBBC approach. Both Parker and Mendenhall also will be able to contribute to the passing attack.

While Parker may see a dip in his numbers as he shares more time, I'd expect that to be offset by more opportunities to score.

I think there may also be a small concern over his health. I am not sure what to make of that as yet, but NFL teams seem to be more closed-mouthed about them than in the past. I think we'll know more about his situation as the offseason progresses.