1. In the past, I have been a proponent of NFL teams having one running back who gets nearly all of the carries. But after watching so many games this season and seeing success by players like Ryan Grant, Andre Hall, Kolby Smith, Earnest Graham, and Derrick Ward, I'm now a believer in the idea that running back is probably the least valuable position in the NFL. Sure, some guys like LT or AD may have extraordinary talent but otherwise a running back is just a running back in the NFL. If a guy has the athletisicm, can hold on to the ball, and can stay healthy, he will probably have success if he's given the chance. So my point is that I've changed my mind and now agree with the idea that the feature back is a dying breed in the NFL and (with very few exceptions) there is no point in a team investing a lot of money and years into one RB b/c there are dozens of other guys who could probably do his job just as well as he can. 
2. Although the Packers lost tonight and Brett got hurt, the silver lining for Packers fans has to be the play of Aaron Rodgers. After a few years of sitting on the bench and never getting a chance to play meaningful minutes, Rodgers brought the Pack back from a sizeable deficit and looked like a very good QB in the process. I'll admit this could be chalked up to beginner's luck, but let's not forget that Rodgers was a first round pick (some even had him valued as a top 2 or 3 overall pick) who had been sitting and learning behind perhaps the greatest QB of all time. So it should not be surprising to discover that he is actually an NFL caliber QB. I'm not declaring him the new face of the Packers or even saying he will definitely have a great career, just that based on tonight's game alone, I like where Rodgers is in his development (especially when compared to fellow draftmate Alex Smith). He plays aggressive and fearless, throws a nice ball, and makes good decisions.
3. The other night I was watching a college basketball game and the refs called a walk....Jay Bilas was doing the color for the broadcast and, in his words, he declared that he agreed the player had "shuffled the puppies".....Just saying that I enjoyed that phrase and plan on incorporating it into my everyday basketball speak.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Some random thoughts
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2 comments:
1. I totally agree with you on the multitude of backs that make even the students of college and pro football say, 'Who?' is growing into quite a phenomenom. Why would you pay one back who could get injured at any time $25 million when you could find three solid ones that cost you around 15. Also of Michael Bush, Eric Shelton and Kobly Smith who thought Smith would be the one making the most immediate impact.
2. I do think that out of Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, that Rodgers was less of a system QB than was Smith. That also is one of the reasons that I become increasingly skeptical of Tebow's NFL abilities because of the Urban Meyer factor. And since point number three really needs nothing but a laugh, it reminds of an Aaron Rodgers comment from last season when he spelled Brett during an injury. Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann got the news during the Big Show, that Rodgers who was also injured in that game, would be out for the following week. They immediately went for the easy and funny joke that the Aaron Rodgers consecutive games started streak was thwarted before one.
I would agree on the running back note, for sure. And In all honesty its hard to ever wonder if a one back system was the best idea. Sure you can pull it off if you have an LT, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, even Edge at times, but honestly a 2 back system just works better. Especially if you can get 2 backs with different running styles. That allows you to exploit differences in defenses awesome.
As far as the Aaron Rodgers story, I suppose you could look at it positively if you just want to look at 2 quarters. I still think without a whole season you dont truly see a quarterback. But I would agree in the early running, Rodgers looks like a great move. Maybe that will teach teams that throwing the rookie into the fire right off isnt a great idea everytime.
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