Ryan Grant

[SterlingSharpeFan!]

I totally think most people blow the Grant/Jackson issue out of proportion.

Jackson is not a starting back in the NFL. He is a great change of pace/3rd down guy and does it well. I would like to see GB use him more as a change of pace, rather than the 3rd down only scenarios they seem to only use him in now.

As for Grant, it's not the big contract, he missed all of training camp and pre-season. Plain and simple. It takes 6 games to get that same work in. And he did put up over 1,000+ yards this year on a team that had a 4,000 yard passer. That's still a nice yardage total. I do think Grant needs to work on hanging on to the ball, too many fumbles for a starting RB in the NFL. And I think he needs a complete off-season workout and training camp. Hasn't had one yet in the 2 years with GB.

And I do believe we need some consistency on the O-line to really help out the running game. Seemed like every week, someone else was playing a different position than the week before on the O-line. That never bodes well in the NFL.

Thanks for letting me post, long live your Sterling Sharpe memories!!!

 

[PackAttackUK]

As much as I like and rate Grant, I would like to see Jackson get a few more carries, you know, to just change it up a bit and keep the opposition D guessing. I think having a good 1-2 punch at the RB position could work wonders. Both backs are capable of big things.

Here's to the 2009 season :beer:

 

[UncleMeat]

Grant is a good enough RB. I'd give him 70% of the carries no problem, maybe more. I agree with most of what gpac said, it's not all Grant's fault. Grant hit most of the right holes when there were any. I saw at least 3-4 plays each game where Grant would have one of his own linemen driven into him behind the line of scrimmage. You can't be a good running back when on 20% of your carries you're getting hit almost instantly after getting the ball. Barry Sanders is the ONLY back in the last 20 years who could recover from that. Also, you could tell for at least the first 8 weeks that Grant hadn't recovered from the hamstring injury. Those things usually hurt backs all year because they get rushed back on the field before they are 100% and they keep re-injuring it.

A healthy Grant next year will be better than this year. However, they still need to do something about the blocking. We could get any running back in the NFL right now (Turner, Tomlinson, Chris Johnson, Brandon Jacobs) and they wouldn't do well on our team because there is no place to run on the majority of plays.

 

[Killazach]

I think we should to a kind of Giants type of running back scheme. Have Grant ground and pound and have jackson be the speed. Once Grant has trucked and hurt the Defense a little let Jackson run them out. It works for the giants, why can't it work for us? Granted Brandon Jacobs is bigger than grant pretty sure after the bears game where he plowed over the corner back that was replacing mike brown anyone can see grant can truck.

 

[UncleMeat]

Grant isn't really a guy to pound the defense with. Brandon Jacobs over in NY has about 50lbs on Grant. However, they could definitely benefit from spreading the carries a bit as I don't think Grant can do it for 25+ carries a game.

 

[Aaron rodgers is god]

I would Love to see Jackson get more carries instead of just 3rd down screen passes. Jackson is much better then his rookie year and he looked pretty good when i seen him run against the bears when grant got hurt for a couple poesessions. But Dont give up on grant hes still good. He had 1200 yards this season. he even said to himself hes not happy with it hed expect 1500 yards from himself. He had the entire new contract problem with him. He had a hurt hammy until about week 6. Then After the Bye we hit 2 hard rush def teams titans and vikings back to back. Then he broke out in the bears game and then did solid throughout the rest of the year. If he gets all rested and trains hard in training camp doesnt get Hurt we get some new o line in draft. And he start to break the 20 yard runs he did this year. To them 80 yard runs you all saw him in 07 in the playoff run . WATCH OUT! Go pack

 

[NormalSizedMidget]

First off, I don't think we need to change our running back situation right now. That being said, only reason it seems like people are ******* Grant is that he doesn't really past the "eye test." He's not that flashy it's not often he wows you, he just gets it done. Jackson on the other had is a little more shifty, an agile type of guy. But at the end of a game or season you look at Ryan's stats and go "wow he's up there in yards with those guys?" Especially with the poor line play and those guys getting shifted around so much as well. Either way, he can't block or do anything in the pass game which is why I'm down on him. But there's room to improve on those things. Either way, there isn't any sensational FA backs and I'd hope we don't waste valuable picks on anything but the trenches or absolute playmaking BPA type guys.

 

[oldnflnut444]

grant is a good runner i remember when Walter Payton (RIP) got a huge contract that year he sucked at running grant will be fine over a 1,000 this season with a somewhat suspect "O" line for blocking. what we need is a good blocking back to help a little more on the hole and grant would prolly go for 1500 easy.

 

[wiseone]

I will say give Grant another year, they need to start using Brandon Jackson more. He has only gotten better and better each week. Now he just needs to get healthy and show what he can really do

 

[pacman5252]

I'm not a huge fan of Grant. There just isn't anything special about him. He doesn't finish runs or powers through tackles. The only good thing about him is that he doesn't dance around in the backfield, like Jackson does...

 

[catchpatch]

I'll agree that Grant is mediocre as a number one RB, but let's not go overboard. If we "pull the plug" on him, who are we going to go get? Who's out there just waiting to be scooped up who's better than Ryan Grant? And by the way, how on earth could the Sizzler justify spending time, money and effort looking for a new number one rusher while his defensive line is in shambles and his offensive line is a revolving door?

 

[NelsonsLongCatch]

2-back system... DO IT!

 

[catchpatch]

I do want to see more of Wynn and Jackson, particularly on short passing plays. But Grant is still the clear number one of this group.

 

[Aaron rodgers is god]

Why does every one give up on grant he had the explosive year when we first got him then the next year he does alright and every one says trade him or get rid of him?

 

[c_mac]

This board really does prove the fact that "fan" is short for "fanatic."

 

[oomparific]

I got tired of reading all of the bashing on Grant, so if this has already been said sorry lol... Grant held-out, so he essentially had no practice until his first game. I'm NOT a fan of holdouts - I believe if you sign a contract, be a man and honor it. Obviously you should be able to negotiate if you don't feel you're making enough, but holding out is ridiculous, ESPECIALLY when you consider the fact you're getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to play a GAME that you supposedly love and at one point in time played for free.

He ALSO had an injury (hamstring I believe) that hampered him. Think about this: Manning had an injury and missed the same amount of time as Grant and didn't turn it on until right around the midpoint of the season, so he should be cut too, right?

 

[Aaron rodgers is god]

I got tired of reading all of the bashing on Grant, so if this has already been said sorry lol... Grant held-out, so he essentially had no practice until his first game. I'm NOT a fan of holdouts - I believe if you sign a contract, be a man and honor it. Obviously you should be able to negotiate if you don't feel you're making enough, but holding out is ridiculous, ESPECIALLY when you consider the fact you're getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to play a GAME that you supposedly love and at one point in time played for free.

He ALSO had an injury (hamstring I believe) that hampered him. Think about this: Manning had an injury and missed the same amount of time as Grant and didn't turn it on until right around the midpoint of the season, so he should be cut too, right?

well said my friend, well said

 

[TheStone]

Grant is a team orrinated player team first for him always in his mind hard nose good potentially great football player who is going to have a long and very productive carrear with the packers....

We dont need to draft a back!!!! we need a fing line.

It's fun to rush for over 1.500 yards when everyone in front of you is already pinned to the ground.
Just ask Turner "The Burner"......1.699 yards and a 4.5 avg - great........offensive-line-play

He burned himself out quite quickly, when Arizona had a good gameplan against the run.
42 yards and a 2.3 avg - :clap:

Therefore: Draft O-Line!!!

 

[PackersRS]

I agree taking a RB in the Draft. IF THE RB IS BARRY SANDERS. He could play without a O-Line.
If the back isn't Barry Sanders, I disagree.
OK, Grant is not the best RB in the league, but NO BACK in the league can run without a O-Line. Thomas Jones was an average back, then the Jets picked up Alan Faneca and BOOM.
It's simple: Grant + Good O-line = Good running game
Any RB + Bad O-line = Bad running game

We can have a better RB, but we need better O-Line first.

 

[greenbaypacker80]

Why are alot of people not happy with Ryan Grant? He's a good back.

 

[doughsellz]

I got tired of reading all of the bashing on Grant, so if this has already been said sorry lol... Grant held-out, so he essentially had no practice until his first game. I'm NOT a fan of holdouts - I believe if you sign a contract, be a man and honor it. Obviously you should be able to negotiate if you don't feel you're making enough, but holding out is ridiculous, ESPECIALLY when you consider the fact you're getting paid a ridiculous amount of money to play a GAME that you supposedly love and at one point in time played for free.

He ALSO had an injury (hamstring I believe) that hampered him. Think about this: Manning had an injury and missed the same amount of time as Grant and didn't turn it on until right around the midpoint of the season, so he should be cut too, right?

It's hard to "hold out" when you're not under contract. Grant's '07 deal was a one-year type. He was a FA in '08. He was earning nothing at the time his agent & the Packers were negotiating. If what the team was offering wasn't agreeable to Grant then he had every right to wait until they ante'd up a fair amount for an NFL starter.

I don't think Grant was at fault at all. The team dragged their feet hoping to get him to hastily sign a lesser offer once camp opened, believing they could convince him that it was in the best interest of his career & the team as a whole to get him in the mix even without a deal. That strategy back-fired when Grant's agent went public with the news of how the negotiations had been stone-walled by the team.

I would have thought it was just a cheap attempt by another low-life agent to squeeze the most $$$ possible for his client until the team quiickly upped their offer to avoid further embarrassment.

 

[billv]

Grant wasn't a free agent in 2008, the Packers had his rights and couldn't be a free agent for 2 years.

If one person ruined the team's season it was Grant. The contract came late, he pulled his hamstring and then after that didn't run hard. If the same Grant shows up next year, the Pack's only hope is Brandon Jackson.

 

[Eclipse612]

You mean that pulling his hamstring was his fault??

 

[Pugger]

Brandon Jackson doesn't seem to be hale enough to withstand the rigors of being an every down back either. He got banged up last season again.