Running Back Blurb Breakdown: Steve Slaton

Running Back Blurb Breakdown: DeAngelo Williams

 

DeAngelo Williams

Running Back Blurb Breakdown: Maurice Jones-Drew

One of the most divisive backs in fantasy right now, Maurice Jones-Drew is a fantastic athlete whose strength and speed belies his size.

But questions still plague him.

He’s never carried the rock as the featured back, not even in college. As tough as he is, will he wear down if the Jags do use him as the bell cow? Or conversely, will they spell him a bunch with Greg Jones and Rashard Jennings?

MJD should put up nice numbers, especially in a PPR league, but he’s going as the second—in some cases FIRST—running back off the board in some drafts.

I haven’t even gotten to the revamped offensive line, though I think it will be healthy and capable this season. But they’ll be rolling out a pair of rookies and, while some of that could be merely from lack of depth, they really collapsed fast in 2008.

In their defense, you can’t have what they went through happen and not collapse. Once Richard Collier was shot and paralyzed, the fact they even pulled it together when they did is pretty gutty.

The passing attack appears to also be a big question mark at first glance. But Tory Holt alone is better than anyone on the roster last year, save the departed Matt Jones. The two draft picks of Jake Dillard and Mike Thomas have looked good enough in tees and shorts to allow Dennis Northcutt to be traded.

Still, Garrard seemed to plateau last season and if he cannot get a little more going on, MJD might start finding his running lanes clogged.

While I think Jones-Drew has the talent, there are many questions I have about him. Too many to take him earlier than where he is at five.

Running Back Blurb Breakdown: LaDainian Tomlinson

CURVE BALL. Instead of the number three back, I pull out old LT2 who I think is NOT dead yet.

Here’s why:

I always love movies where some guy is counted out—be it in the boxing ring, a classroom, a board room—the comeback story is a favorite.

Maybe that’s why I’m higher on LT than many others. I think Tomlinson has another year, at least, in him. He will put up solid numbers this year.

By all reports he’s healthy, so he won’t be starting the season banged up as he did last year. Staying healthy is the trick though, and at LT’s age it might be no mean feat. Also a question is the play of the offensive line, which was borderline criminal last season. They left LT, Darren Sproles and Phillip Rivers exposed to mad abuse.

That certainly didn’t help Tomlinson’s numbers.

A lack of a pure blocking fullback hurt as well. That also remains a question mark even if  Jacob Hester’s blocking improved as last season wore on.

Still I believe LT has at least one last hurrah in him. He’ll benefit in getting spelled for some carries by Sproles. He’s on the mat, bruised and battered by the pundits, but I think the story ends with him getting up one last time and sending those pundits to the mat.

Fanntasy Football Running Back Breakdown: Adrian Peterson

So while I said I wouldn’t be doing this numerically, I’d be hard pressed to start anywhere than with this guy.

Adrian Peterson

What’s not to like about Peterson? Good runner, great offensive line, decent WRs. All he needs is a few more TDs.

He has few minuses—And now it looks like Brett Favre will be throwing the ball, in which case suddenly Peterson gets someone who can keep the defenses from stacking against the run.

Even Taylor isn’t too much of a threat for AP.

Safe and dependable, you know Peterson will finish in the top 5 every year. He needs to work on his fumble issues, and on occasion, Childress has almost appeared to underuse him – but honestly, these are minor details.

Even a few carries to rookie receiver Percy Harvin won’t hurt Peterson all that much. Aside from injury—and you can’t predict that with real confidence—Peterson is the bottom line, safest running back in your fantasy draft.

2009 Running Back Rankings—6/25/09

So after much shuffling of people and hand wringing, here is the inaugural Blurb top 50 Fantasy Football Running Backs. Over the next day or two, I’ll have player breakdowns of about the top 10 or so on this list—not necessarily in order of where I ranked them.

If there is a guy you want to know about beyond that, drop me a line in the comments or at thunderingblurb@gmail.com and I’ll try to get on it ASAP.

A lot of this list comes down to my feeling after several mocks and early redrafts. In my opinion from the second to the 10th pick, you could make an argument for a number of players. Feel free to make YOUR argument known here or even on next Wednesday’s Blurb podcast.

Assume these will change by the time training camp hits.

Running Backs

1—Adrian Peterson
2—Michael Turner
3—Steven Jackson
4—LaDainian Tomlinson
5—Maurice Jones-Drew
6—DeAngelo Williams
7—Matt Forte
8—Steve Slaton
9—Chris Johnson
10—Frank Gore
11—Clinton Portis
12—Brian Westbrook
13—Brandon Jacobs
14—Marion Barber
15—Ryan Grant
16—Ronnie Brown
17—Knowshon Moreno
18—Chris Wells
19—Pierre Thomas
20—Reggie Bush
21—Willie Parker
22—Kevin Smith
23—Joseph Addai
24—Thomas Jones
25—Darren McFadden
26—Larry Johnson
27—Jonathan Stewart
28—Donald Brown
29—Marshawn Lynch
30—Ray Rice
31—Derrick Ward
32—Jamal Lewis
33—Cedric Benson
34—Rashard Mendenhall
35—Felix Jones
36—Fred Jackson
37—LenDale White
38—Darren Sproles
39—Julius Jones
40—Leon Washington
41—Ahmad Bradshaw
42—Chester Taylor
43—Fred Taylor
44—LeSean McCoy
45—Willis McGahee
46—Earnest Graham
47—LeRon McClain
48—Jerious Norwood
49—Laurence Maroney
50—Justin Fargas

JUST MISSED

Cedric Peerman—Will he take over for McGahee?
Shonn Greene—The future Thomas Jones, but will he get snaps?
Tim Hightower—If Wells holds out, Hightower gets a second chance.
Tashard Choice—Who is spelling Barber? Will Choice get a shot?
Jamaal Charles—LJ isn’t getting younger.
Rashad Jennings—Someone has to spell MJD. Jennings has the talent.
Michael Bush—Looks great in shorts. Will he make it a three headed monster?

Back soon with the first batches of player breakdowns.

ProFootballTalk.com Bought by NBC—Is This Good?

Sunday night, Blurb friend and excellent LA Times scribe Sam Farmer broke the story that Mike Florio’s Web site, ProFootballTalk.com, will be purchased by NBC.

NBC plans to feature it prominently on the NBC Sports site.

For those who don’t know (and if you’re reading this on ThunderingBlurb.com or BleacherReport.com, you probably do know) PFT was begun by Florio about eight years ago as a way for the then-lawyer to riff on the news of the day in the NFL.

Florio has broken quite a few stories over the years—as pointed out by Farmer, most famously the erroneous death of Terry Bradshaw (which should be a book, rock band, or film if it isn’t already).

Take a second and read Sam’s piece at LATimes.com and then come back—it’s worth the read and will give you the grasp of what is going on.

What I want to focus on is the impact of something like this as well as the continuing impact of new media acquisitions.

Like him or hate him, Florio shoots straight about what he thinks. While that drew the ire of many NFL insiders and a ton of NFL fans (who still flock to a site they purport to hate), it also has attracted some pretty high-profile followers.

As mentioned in Farmer’s article, among them is Al Michaels. You have to figure when Michaels is a fan, you’re doing something right.

Heck, he’s not alone. Everyone from casual fans, to guys like myself, to folks like Farmer and Rich Eisen—we all have Florio’s blog bookmarked. Heck, he’s one of only four Twitter people whose Tweets I have sent to my low-tech crappy cell phone.

At various times, he’s been wrong, loud, hypocritical, dead on, right, loud, and first, breaking his own news just as often as he is reacting to someone else’s news.

More than anything else, Florio has been Florio. A firm and unique personality is what builds a good Web site and that’s what has attracted legions of fans and foes alike to his.

It’s also rankled the NFL more than once. You know the NFL—the league is attached to NBC by a huge television deal. The NBC buying PFT.

See what might be an issue here?

Farmer put it best when asked by a Twitter-follower how soon it would be before PFT publishes something the league dislikes, which then causes them to lean on NBC.

He simply replied “that’s the test.”

And it’s a big one. Trust me; I really don’t expect Florio to tone it down. But I also worked in Hollywood long enough to have seen network pressure first-hand.

It gets contentious. It gets loud. People start pulling rank and checkbook rank. “We’re footing your bill” is a phrase I heard more than once.

In Florio’s corner are his super-lawyer powers. My assumption is he’s prepared for such an eventuality. But who knows? What if he loses that battle? What happens to a site that—again like it or hate it—is a source of unvarnished opinion and more than a few scoops?

The real question here may be not how much a thing like this is to be celebrated—but if it should be at all.

On the one hand, any time a site that started from nothing online and was built into a powerhouse is bought by a major like NBC, ESPN, or CBSSports.com, it is a step toward legitimizing online work in a way that is harder to blow off than the odd scoop by a smaller site.

You can try to ignore it and continue dismissing us as people in our parent’s basement, but that’s just head-in-the-sand thinking when this happens, or NFLDraftscout hooks up with CBSSports and NFL.com.

It’s not sweeping proof, but it helps. It shows that we can be just as hungry, accurate, successful, and hardworking as anyone in “traditional media.”

But one of the strengths of sites like Florio’s or DraftDaddy or any of the small sites like mine is the agility that comes with being a small, independent entity.

What scares traditional media—that we don’t have giant editors looking over us—can really be a source of strength. We can often react faster and speak our minds with less red tape than many in traditional media.

Why do you see so many good mainstream writers on Twitter? Well, among many reasons, the ability to reach their audience immediately. To throw out a reaction as something happens.

Of course, that’s new media’s kryptonite as well.

I’ve seen firsthand how a bad story, unsupported and improperly followed up on or researched can sink a writer (and no, it wasn’t me). So we have to be more on-point and take it even more seriously because we are our own safety net and it’s our rep on the line.

But back on point—if what attracts a company like NBC to a site like PFT is also what scares it…

Well, you have to wonder if that’s a marriage destined to end well or happily. It sure wouldn’t be the first time I saw an edgy project go to a conservative home and then get static for being what it was.

Let’s be honest though.

While you may love a site like PFT for the content, a large portion of the reason NBC likes it is because of the audience it can reach. They may love the writing, content, instant reaction, and Florio’s nice suits, but audience numbers often factor in there above all else.

Trust me, sometimes a corporation—especially an entertainment entity—jumps into bed with a project because of the pure, raw numbers of the audience.

If PFT breaks a few stories the NFL isn’t crazy about and they mention that to NBC in a not-so-casual-way, someone, somewhere is going to want something to change.

And then we’ll see how adaptable either side is.

If for some reason Florio backs off, even a little—well what does that mean for the rest of us? What makes online content? Is it the same if it gets watered down to be more mainstream? Does that defeat the point?

All things to consider as we watch this unfold.

One last thought though.

Perhaps when Sam said “that’s the test,” he was speaking about more than the purchase of PFT by NBC. Maybe the test is about how both new media and traditional media as a whole might struggle to coexist.

If that’s the case, I can think of no better “first-adopter” than Florio and PFT. They’ve made no bones about how they work in the past. I trust that they will continue to be “who we thought they were” in the future as well.

If anyone can make it work, I have a feeling the lawyer from West Virginia might just be the guy.

2009 NFL Running Back Battles to Watch: Part 2

Welcome to part two of the 2009 NFL Running Back Battles To Watch.

Yesterday, we looked at a bunch of great backs including, but not limited to, the Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers.

Today, we’ll be looking at some more interesting backfield situations and seeing what they might mean for their respective teams.

We’ll start off with a team that has a clear-cut number one back, but also some questions as to what to do if he cannot carry the full load over the course of the 2009 season.

Jacksonville

We all think Maurice Jones-Drew, aka “The Human Bowling Ball,” aka “The Bad Little Man,” will be the bell cow here and get most, if not all the work. The man can do it all and despite his size, usually stays healthy.

With no Fred Taylor, he should get every carry Freddy used to get, right?

Well, yes and no.

While MJD is a stud and the offensive line is much healthier and better than 2008’s version, the Jaguars will by no means risk burning out Jones-Drew before the playoffs. I expect one of the backs behind him to get a fair share of carries as well.

Note that I am not saying they will cut significantly into his totes, but that it will factor in, and probably in a good way.

Former USC tailback Chauncey Washington patiently waited for his shot, but now has to hold off former Liberty stud Rashad Jennings, a guy who improbably fell to the Jags in the seventh round—something I still can’t figure out.

Both players have the ability to fill in for MJD, but despite being a USC homer, I like Jennings better. He can catch, he can slide into holes, but he has decent size. Matt Waldman of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio and footballguys.com said it best: “What you should know about Jennings is that he’s a bigger back with finesse.”

That size combined with the skills Waldman alludes to make him a very attractive compliment to Jones-Drew and a guy to watch for long term on his own as well.

Jennings has some issues finishing a run and will need to improve that if he wants to catch Washington.

And lest we forget, Greg Jones has been occasionally stud-like when he has had a shot in the past and is a great third down back. Jones has never quite been the same since a knee injury and is often hurt.

Who ends up spelling MJD could have some real value for fantasy owners and Jags fans. It should be a horse race between these three.

New Orleans

Will Reggie Bush stay healthy? Will Pierre Thomas? Who gets the ball on third downs and at the goal line?

Big questions for an offense that needs to improve its run game to take some pressure off the pass game. It looks like Thomas has the between-the-tackles work locked down while Bush will continue to play scat-back.

But both Bush (legs) and Thomas (wrist) have some injury questions, so the Saints have journeyman Mike Bell, second year player Lynell Hamilton, and undrafted free agents P.J. Hill and Herb Donaldson.

Bell has played well in camp so far, but don’t discount the rookies. The Saints went hard into the street free agent market post-draft so they clearly have some concerns with the tailback position.

Bell has played well before and then faltered. Hill has some serious character concerns, but seems to realize he screwed up and is motivated to prove he has the ability and maturity to make an impact. All three are big backs, something the Saints lost when they let Deuce McAllister go.

It will be interesting to see if any can make ground on Thomas, and given the injury issues (for both Thomas and Bush) and Thomas’ size, one of these guys could see action this season.

Philadelphia

With Brian Westbrook banged up again (What? Stop lying Garda! NEVER!) every Eagles fan—and many, MANY fantasy football owners—want to know who to grab for this year’s version of Westbrook Insurance.

Aside: Should Westbrook and/or the Iggles talk to Geico about a sponsorship? I mean, in these troubled economic times, shouldn’t a club be looking for cash wherever they can?

I’m not saying, but I am just saying is all.

But all shenanigans aside, who backs Westy up resonates hard and long amongst the NFL community of fans and it goes beyond fantasy football folks. As much as I like the receivers and the passing offense this year, they need the run game hitting on all cylinders.

With the very real possibility that the last two 15-game seasons might have been an illusion in terms of Westy’s health, the Eagles need to know they can throw another guy in there and crank out the yards effectively.

Which leaves you with this question: LeSean McCoy or Lorenzo Booker?

Booker was a guy who I had high hopes for coming to Philadelphia last season after being virtually ignored by Miami previously. With his ability to catch the ball and his general shifty running style, I thought Lo-Book was finally going to get some traction, but sadly that didn’t happen.

Booker barely saw the field and then the team went and drafted LeSean ‘Shady’ McCoy, who plays very similarly to Westbrook’s game. And while a tad undersized, McCoy plays tough and isn’t afraid of contact.

It will be a battle in the most literal sense and no other fracas may impact the whole offense of a team like this one. If they cannot move the ball on the ground—and lack a player at the RB spot who can catch the ball as effectively as Westy—defenses could key heavily on the pass game.

San Francisco

I spent a lot of time the past few months looking over the 49ers and there are a ton of questions surrounding this run game and what it could be.

New offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye keeps saying this will not be a run heavy playbook, but if you look at his resume, he’s definitely developed some very strong rushing attacks. So does that mean Raye is tossing some disinformation out there?

Maybe not.

The 49ers often run a game where a strong rushing attack sets up a vertical passing attack. It hasn’t worked well for many reasons—not the least of which is the lack of a permanent solution at quarterback.

So it isn’t far fetched that Raye is being truthful—a rarity in today’s NFL it seems. With the weapons at both running back and wide receiver, the Niners are set up to have an effective attack from either direction.

We know Frank Gore is the stud, bell cow, big dawg—whatever you call it in the backfield. But he cannot do it alone, as we saw when he wore down last season.

So who is the backup who could share in his carries? A great question, as the backs behind him all have questions.

Michael Robinson has functioned more as a fullback and special-teamer and while Thomas Clayton tends to shine in preseason games, he hasn’t played worth a tinker’s damn during the season. Neither of them have quite been able to give the team a consistent and safe backup to Gore in the past few years.

Two rookies—third round pick Glenn Coffee and street free agent Kory Sheets—have a shot at spelling Gore. Coffee is a solid one cut runner with great vision who can aggressively attack the hole. He’s a powerful runner who could help the short yardage game, something that the 49ers occasionally struggled with in 2008.

Sheets has great acceleration and burst and is a very good receiver out of the backfield. He can be very elusive and shows patience behind the line with good vision and instincts. I think he could emerge as a nice compliment to Gore in the vein of a Leon Washington or Reggie Bush.

Adding Sheets as an extra weapon is nice, but ultimately the 49ers need to get someone to consistently and reliably spell Gore to save him for a potential run at a playoff spot this year.

Seattle

Somehow the Seahawks ended the draft without a replacement for the long departed Shaun Alexander, instead relying on Julius Jones and TJ Duckett for a solution at the running back position.

I can’t say I am enthusiastic about that, however I am cautiously optimistic.

With a healthy pass game, which they lacked from the get-go last season, the Hawks could find themselves in possession of a consistent, though not spectacular rushing attack.

Julius Jones has shown some skills in the past and will probably make a good two-down runner for the team, getting a lift from a new zone-blocking scheme that he fits into well. However, even though he was the top running back for Seattle last season, he was pretty inconsistent and must correct that if the team is to depend upon him.

People talk each season about how this is TJ Duckett’s time to shine, but I haven’t heard a lot of that yet this offseason. Maybe that bodes well for the former Falcon/Redskin/Lion. He has always possessed a nose for the end zone and he’ll get most of the redzone/end zone looks in my opinion—at least when the team isn’t throwing the ball to Houshmandzadeh or second year tight end John Carlson.

The question I am asking—aside from will Edgerrin James or Duece McAllister sign prior to the season—is where do guys like Justin Forsett end up? If Duckett is more suited to the short yardage/goal line role, will Forsett, a second year man out of California, end up as Jones’ backup? Or will he be relegated to special teams?

I want to watch this battle closely as teams all know the Seahawks are gearing up to throw the ball a lot. So who ends up running the ball is of paramount importance. If they cannot move the ball on the ground, the wide receivers may find it very tough to get room to work in the secondary.

That’s it for now. If you don’t hear from me in a few days, have someone send a cop to check on me. I might be buried under an avalanche of moving boxes.

2009 NFL Running Back Battles To Watch: Part 2

Welcome to part two of the 2009 NFL Running Back Battles To Watch. Yesterday we looked at a bunch of great backs including—but not limited to—the Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, and the Carolina Panthers.

Today we’ll be looking at some more interesting backfield situations and seeing what they might mean for their respective teams.

We’ll start off with a team that has a clear-cut No. 1 running back but also some questions as to what to do if he cannot carry the full load over the course of the 2009 season.

Jacksonville

We all think Maurice Jones-Drew aka “The Human Bowling Ball’ or “The Bad Little Man” will be the bell cow here and get most of, if not all, the work. The man can do it all and despite his size, he usually stays healthy. With no Fred Taylor, he should get every carry Freddy used to get, right?

Well, yes and no. While MJD is a stud and the offensive line is much healthier and better than 2008’s version, the Jaguars will by no means risk burning out Jones-Drew before the playoffs. I expect one of the backs behind him to get a fair share of carries as well.

Note that I am not saying they will cut significantly into his totes—but that it will factor in and probably in a good way.

Former USC tailback Chauncey Washington patiently waited for his shot, but now has to hold off former Liberty stud Rashad Jennings, a guy who improbably fell to the Jags in the seventh round—something I still can’t figure out.

Both players have the ability to fill in for MJD but despite being a USC Homer, I like Jennings better. Not only can he catch and slide into holes but he has decent size too. Matt Waldman of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio and footballguys.com said it best when he stated, “What you should know about Jennings is that he’s a bigger back with finesse.”

That size combined with the skills Waldman alludes to make him a very attractive compliment to Jones-Drew and a guy to watch for long term on his own as well.

Jennings has some issues finishing a run and will need to improve that if he wants to catch Washington.

And let’s not forget, Greg Jones has been occasionally stud-like when he has had a shot in the past and is a great third down back. Jones has never quite been the same since a knee injury and is often hurt.

Who ends up spelling MJD could have some real value for fantasy owners and Jags fans. It should be a horse race between these three.

 

New Orleans

Will Reggie Bush stay healthy? What about Pierre Thomas? Big questions for an offense which needs to improve its run game to take some pressure off the pass game. It looks like Thomas has the between-the-tackles work locked down while Bush will continue to play scat-back.

But both have some injury questions (Bush’s legs and Thomas’ wrist) so the Saints have journeymen Mike Bell, second year player Lynell Hamilton, and undrafted free agents P.J. Hill and Herb Donaldson.

Mike Bell has played well in camp so far but don’t discount the rookies just yet. The Saints went hard into the free agent market post-draft so they clearly have some concerns with the tailback position.

Bell has played well before and then faltered. Hill has some serious character concerns but seems to realize he screwed up and is motivated to prove he has the ability and maturity to make an impact. All three are big backs, something the Saints lost when they let Deuce McAllister go.

It will be interesting to see if any can make ground on Thomas and given the injury issues (for both Thomas and Bush) and Thomas’ size, one of these guys could see action this season.

 

Philadelphia

With Brian Westbrook banged up again (What? Stop lying Garda! NEVER!) every Eagles fan—and many, MANY fantasy football owners—want to know who to grab for this year’s version of “Westbrook Insurance.”

Aside: Should Westbrook and/or the Iggles talk to Geico about a sponsorship? I mean, in these troubled economic times, shouldn’t a club be looking for cash wherever they can?

I’m not saying, but I am just saying is all.

But all shenanigans aside, whoever backs Westy up resonates hard an long amongst the NFL community of fans and it goes beyond fantasy football folks. As much as I like the receivers and the passing offense this year, they need the run game hitting on all cylinders.

With the very real possibility that the last two years of 15 games might have been an illusion in terms Westy’s health, the Eagles need to know they can throw another guy in there and crank out the yards effectively.

Which leaves you with this question: LeSean McCoy or Lorenzo Booker?

Booker was a guy who I had high hopes for coming to Philadelphia last season after being virtually ignored by Miami previously. With his ability to catch the ball and his general shifty running style, I thought Lo-Book was going to get some traction finally but sadly that didn’t happen.

Booker barely saw the field and then the team went and drafted LeSean “Shady” McCoy who plays very similarly to Westbrook’s game. And while a tad undersized, McCoy plays tough and isn’t afraid of contact.

It will be a battle in the most literal sense and no other fracas may impact the whole offense of a team like this one. If they cannot move the ball on the ground—and lack a player at the RB spot who can catch the ball as effectively as Westy—defenses could key heavily on the pass game.

 

San Francisco

I spent a lot of time the past few months looking over the 49ers and there are a ton of questions surrounding the run game and what it could be.

New offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye keeps saying this will not be a run-heavy playbook, but if you look at his resume, he’s definitely developed some very strong rushing attacks. So does that mean Raye is tossing some disinformation out there?

Maybe not.

The 49ers often run a game where a strong rushing attack sets up a vertical passing attack. It hasn’t worked well for many reasons—not the least of which is the lack of a permanent solution at quarterback.

So it isn’t farfetched that Raye is being truthful—a rarity in today’s NFL it seems. With the weapons at both running back and wide receiver, the Niners are setup to have an effective attack from either direction.

We know Frank Gore is the stud-bell, cow-big, dawg-whatever you call it in the backfield. But he cannot do it alone as we saw when he wore down last season. 

So who is the backup who could share in his carries? This is a great discussion as the backs behind him all have questions.

Michael Robinson has functioned more as a fullback and special-teamer and while Thomas Clayton tends to shine in preseason games, he hasn’t played worth a tinker’s damn during the season. Neither of them has quite been able to give the team a consistent and safe backup to Gore in the past few years.

Two rookies—third round pick Glenn Coffee and street free agent Kory Sheets—have a shot at spelling Gore. Coffee is a solid one cut runner with great vision, who can aggressively attack the hole. He’s a powerful runner who could help the short-yardage game, something that occasionally struggled in 2008.

Sheets has great acceleration and burst and is a very good receiver out of the backfield. He can be very elusive and shows patience behind the line with good vision and instincts. I think he could emerge as a nice compliment to Gore in the vein of a Leon Washington or Reggie Bush.

Adding Sheets as an extra weapon is nice, but ultimately the 49ers need to get someone to consistently and reliably spell Gore to save him for a potential run at a playoff spot this year.

 

Seattle

Somehow the Seahawks ended the draft without a replacement for the long departed Shaun Alexander, instead relying on Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett for a solution at the running back position.

I can’t say I am enthusiastic about that. However, I am cautiously optimistic.

With a healthy pass game—which they lacked from the get-go last season—the Hawks could find themselves in possession of a consistent though not spectacular rushing attack.

Julius Jones has shown some skills in the past and will probably make a good two-down runner for the team, getting a lift from a new zone-blocking scheme which he fits into well. However, even though he was the top running back for Seattle last season, he was pretty inconsistent and has to correct that if the team is to depend upon him.

People keep talking each season about how this is TJ Duckett’s time to shine, but I haven’t heard a lot of that yet this off-season. Maybe that bodes well for the former Falcon/Redskin/Lion. He has always possessed a nose for the end zone and he’ll get most of the red zone/end zone looks in my opinion—at least when the team isn’t throwing the ball to Houshmandzadeh or second year tight end John Carlson.

The question—aside from will Edgerrin James or Duece McAllister sign prior to the season—I am asking is where do guys like Justin Forsett end up? If Duckett is more suited to the short yardage/goal line role, will Forsett a second year man out of California, end up as Jones’ backup? Or will he be relegated to special teams?

I want to watch this battle closely as teams all know the Seahawks are gearing up to throw the ball a lot. So who ends up running the ball is of paramount importance. If they cannot move the ball on the ground, the wide receivers may find it very tough to get room to work in the secondary.

That’s it for now – if you don’t hear from me in a few days, have someone here at BleacherReport send a cop to check on me. I might be buried under an avalanche of moving boxes.

2009 NFL Running Back Battles To Watch: Part 1

While OTA’s are winding/have wound down, the NFL does not sleep. While the players get what passes for a vacation, media does not, especially since Brett Favre can’t make up his damned mind.

In perfect universal symmetry, neither can the Vikings. Marriage made in heaven or hell? We’ll find out soon enough.

In order to get you prepped for tons of football goodness at the end of July, I’ve decided to break down some of the more interesting running back battles to watch in July and August.

This is what happens when you drive cross country folks. You fill time.

This is also not to say that there won’t be battles we don’t see as important now, emerging down the pike as intriguing. But for now, these are ones that stand out as important immediately.

Without further ado (or more ado than usual at least) here are the 2009 NFL Running Back Battles To Watch: Part 1.

 

Carolina: There is a ton of assumption going on here after DeAngelo Williams went off in 2008. We know John Fox loves to hang with his long term vets and you have to figure Williams earned some consideration. Still, Jonathan Stewartwas able to score 10 TDs even with Williams numbers, so Fox is willing to work him in. Where this gets interesting is behind Stewart with Mike Goodson.

Stewart has been hurt during Mini’s and OTA’s and Goodson is a guy the team wants involved. Why does this matter? Because if Goodson gets a shot to shine and does so, this could become a three headed monster which might be great for Panther fans, though hurt the overall numbers of all three guys. Carolina runs a ton (504 pass attempts versus 414 passing according to footballguys.com) so there could be work for all, but that might be offset a tad by three running backs.
Baltimore: Will last year’s Thundering Blurb Mr. Glass Award Winner (TM) Willis McGahee, ever be healthy? My guess is no, sure as heck not coming off of two off-season surgeries. Both his knee (the one that has been hurt since…. um…. 1942?) and his ankle went under the knife. Stick a fork in him (or a scalpel), the man is DONE. The Ravens may not agree and we’ll get a sense of that in Training Camp. That could mean the start of the Ray Rice Ruckus (also (TM)).

Rice showed some skills last season when he was healthy and should get a ton of the carries. He won’t do it alone, however and whether the teams sticks with rookie Cedric Peerman, moves Le’Ron McClain back from fullback (where he went during OTA’s) or adds some work for Jalen Parmele. How the backs behind Rice shake out could impact his numbers very  significantly.

Buffalo: With Marshawn Lynch suspended the first few games of the season, Fred Jackson will get his time to shine again. Jackson looked great in limited (sometimes not-so-limited) action last season. But the Bills acquired journeyman Dominic Rhodes this offseason to protect themselves and he’ll duke it out for lead bell cow while ‘Dis Muh Son’ Lynch is in Goodell’s pokey.

This battle, mostly between Jackson and Rhodes is critical because whomever wins the top spot might not relinquish it when Lynch comes back and could factor in with what the Bills do with the troubled back long term if he can’t get his head straight.

Cincinnati: I know the Bengals think they have some sort of hidden gem in Cedric Benson, and I’m happy for them but remain unconvinced. Benson did well behind a tragic offensive line, which will not be the case if rookie Andre Smith can get his act together. But I can’t help but recall all the problems Benson had in Chicago, so I am not anointing him anything and neither should Cinci. Brian Leonard and Bernard Scott are both good short yardage backs who can catch the ball and could make some noise.
Scott will have to overcome some maturity issues and they will both have to shine in camp to wrest carries away from Benson. That’s completely possible in my opinion so I will be interested to watch this camp closely.

Denver: There are three sure things in football right now – Brett Favre will be considering and waffling about a comeback in the spring and early summer, the Raiders will make decisions based on logic only they can comprehend and the Broncos running back situation will be a cloudy mess.

But have we lost one of those sure things? Surprising everyone in this April’s Draft, the Donks took Knowshon Moreno, the talented back from Georgia and the interwebs is all a-twitter (or all twittering) about Moreno carrying the whole load.

For sure, he can do it all – block, run, catch. But will Head Coach Josh McDaniels truly rely on one back? His former team, the Patriots, didn’t. Of course, you can argue they lacked a back like Moreno.

All I know is Moreno has the ability to do it. But with recent additions Correll Buckhalter, Lamont Jordan and Darius Walker, along with impressive 2008 rookie Peyton Hillis, this is a camp battle you have to watch. Considering they no longer have Jay Cutler slinging the ball, the run game is of paramount importance this year.

Indianapolis: It wasn’t that long ago that Joseph Addai was the answer in Colt-land at running back. A few injury-plagued seasons later, Donald Brown is drafted and Addai is poised to lose most of his carries.

Brown can do pretty much everything Addai can do, and might have the size to stay healthy as well. Most analysts feel it is only a matter of time before Brown takes over the higher percentage of carries in this obvious running-back-by-committee.

What I want to know is, what percentage does he start the season off with? A good camp by Brown could give him a large role in this prolific offense.

That’s it for today’s installment. I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at some more teams, including who might be backing up MJD in Jacksonville, what Philadelphia is looking at if Westbrook stays hurt and who will be the top dog in the mess that is the Seahawks’ run game.

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