Wednesday Audible: 49ers, Raiders differ in handling of backs
By Paul Gutierrez - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Terrell Davis had seen this kind of thing before. It's just that the former Denver running back great could not believe the wattage of star power that was being discarded and recycled during a frenzied nine-day period in March, when eight running backs switched teams.
The latest game of Running Back Roulette, an annual offseason event in which rushers jump from one team to the next, set up a domino effect that shook the NFL while lending credence to the notion that the featured back is not only easily interchangeable, but also becoming more exception than rule. Even if the reigning league MVP is a running back.
"Those teams that were involved already had a bona fide back," Davis, an analyst for the NFL Network, said in a telephone interview with The Bee. "Some of this stuff doesn't make sense because they already had a big name and they were losing young, productive guys with a lot left in the tank."
The wheel started spinning March 1, when Denver traded Tatum Bell, who had led the Broncos with 1,025 yards, to Detroit.
Two days later and two days before he was due an $8.3 million bonus, Travis Henry was cut by Tennessee, even as he had led the Titans with 1,211 yards.
On March 4, Ahman Green bolted Green Bay to sign a four-year contract with Houston, and the next day Henry found a home with the Broncos.
The wheeling and dealing continued March 7 when Chicago, which had ridden a two-back platoon to the NFC title, shipped its 1,210-yard back, Thomas Jones, to the New York Jets, while Baltimore's Jamal Lewis, the author of a 2,066-yard season in 2003, signed a one-year deal with Cleveland.
Baltimore did not blink after losing Lewis, despite his 1,132-yard campaign, as the Ravens then acquired Willis McGahee in a trade with Buffalo on the final day of the frenzy, March 9.
On that day, the New York Giants acquired Reuben Droughns from Cleveland and the Raiders signed Dominic Rhodes, who had split time with Joseph Addai in the Indianapolis backfield and easily could have been named the MVP of the Colts' Super Bowl victory.
In the end, five of the 2006 season's top 20 rushers, including the retired Tiki Barber, had new addresses.
"All those guys, they are all similar but different" in their styles, Davis said. "The McGahee thing, that's the one that's most interesting to me. I want to see how he fits. Baltimore has a powerful offense, and he's more (elusive). I'm still waiting to see how that one plays out."
As are the 49ers, who host McGahee and the Ravens on Sunday at Bill Walsh Field.
San Francisco coach Mike Nolan, meanwhile, does not subscribe to the theory that featured backs are going the way of the drop kick, single-bar face masks and Stickum. Not when he has workhorse back Frank Gore, who led the NFC with 1,695 yards on 312 carries last season.
"You don't have two starters; you have two backups," Nolan said. "I am of the school of thought that I do like to spell Frank every now and then, and if that other back is good, then that's a good spell."
Trust apparently is blooming across the NFL landscape as teams are giving more running backs more rushing attempts. Because while 13 backs are on pace for at least 300 carries (there were 10 last year), 38 players are on pace for at least 150 attempts, the same as last year but more than the previous three seasons (35, 32 and 31).
Plus, six teams -- New England, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Oakland, Dallas and Washington -- had two backs on pace for at least 150 carries.
And with Rhodes' four-game suspension for substance abuse over and his skill set about to join that of LaMont Jordan, who injured his back at Miami, and Justin Fargas, who had a 179-yard coming out party against the Dolphins, the Raiders' backfield could get crowded. Especially if fourth-round draft pick Michael Bush's broken leg is healed enough for him to contribute in a few weeks.
It would be nothing new to first-year Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, who has a different philosophy than his colleague across the bay. After all, Kiffin had the luxury of Thunder and Lightning backs LenDale White and Reggie Bush at USC when Kiffin was the Trojans' offensive coordinator.
"When we got Dominic in the first place, we wanted to add competition to the running back spot," Kiffin said. "Our plan all along was to have guys carrying the ball, not just one guy carrying the ball all the time.
"It's a pretty good situation to be in. Someone may call it a problem. I don't see it as a problem at all."
Davis, one of just five backs with a 2,000-yard season -- with O.J. Simpson (2,003 in 1973), Eric Dickerson (2,105 in 1984), Barry Sanders (2,053 in 1997) and Lewis -- sees "a number of reasons" for teams opting to divide carries. Chief among them, though, is the obvious: money.
"Featured backs are paid top dollar," said Davis, who ran for 2,008 yards in his MVP season of 1998. "The L.T.'s (LaDainian Tomlinson), the Larry Johnsons, teams pay a whole lot of money to retain those guys, but you always need a viable backup. Running backs, we have the shortest (career) life span in the NFL. Just look at Cadillac Williams this weekend."
And Deuce McAllister the weekend prior.
"You always need a viable backup so you can rotate and keep a guy fresh," Davis added.
Having two backs share the load also allows teams to "keep the financial value down" of a featured back, he said.
After Davis gave John Elway his much-needed ground game and propelled the Broncos to Super Bowl wins following the 1997 and '98 seasons, his often spectacular but injury-plagued career ended in 2002. His misfortune allowed the Broncos to implement a new scheme, one in which running backs were treated like so many widgets.
Although the Broncos have not had a 300-carry back since Davis, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, Olandis Gary, Droughns and Bell have had 1,000-yard campaigns in the Mile High City only to be jettisoned the following season.
And with the copycat nature that personifies the NFL, the Colts winning the Super Bowl with a two-back system after failing to wrest the Lombardi Trophy with a two-time rushing champ in Edgerrin James is sure to provide a blueprint for future seasons.
Because remember, only two running backs have won a Super Bowl the same season in which they won an individual rushing title: Davis ('98) and Emmitt Smith ('92, '93, '95).
"Really? Wow. That's strange," Davis said. "We preach the running game, that if you have a relatively strong running game and your defense is able to stop the run, you win. That is unique."
Almost as inimitable as the most recent game of Running Back Roulette.
By Paul Gutierrez - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Terrell Davis had seen this kind of thing before. It's just that the former Denver running back great could not believe the wattage of star power that was being discarded and recycled during a frenzied nine-day period in March, when eight running backs switched teams.
The latest game of Running Back Roulette, an annual offseason event in which rushers jump from one team to the next, set up a domino effect that shook the NFL while lending credence to the notion that the featured back is not only easily interchangeable, but also becoming more exception than rule. Even if the reigning league MVP is a running back.
"Those teams that were involved already had a bona fide back," Davis, an analyst for the NFL Network, said in a telephone interview with The Bee. "Some of this stuff doesn't make sense because they already had a big name and they were losing young, productive guys with a lot left in the tank."
The wheel started spinning March 1, when Denver traded Tatum Bell, who had led the Broncos with 1,025 yards, to Detroit.
Two days later and two days before he was due an $8.3 million bonus, Travis Henry was cut by Tennessee, even as he had led the Titans with 1,211 yards.
On March 4, Ahman Green bolted Green Bay to sign a four-year contract with Houston, and the next day Henry found a home with the Broncos.
The wheeling and dealing continued March 7 when Chicago, which had ridden a two-back platoon to the NFC title, shipped its 1,210-yard back, Thomas Jones, to the New York Jets, while Baltimore's Jamal Lewis, the author of a 2,066-yard season in 2003, signed a one-year deal with Cleveland.
Baltimore did not blink after losing Lewis, despite his 1,132-yard campaign, as the Ravens then acquired Willis McGahee in a trade with Buffalo on the final day of the frenzy, March 9.
On that day, the New York Giants acquired Reuben Droughns from Cleveland and the Raiders signed Dominic Rhodes, who had split time with Joseph Addai in the Indianapolis backfield and easily could have been named the MVP of the Colts' Super Bowl victory.
In the end, five of the 2006 season's top 20 rushers, including the retired Tiki Barber, had new addresses.
"All those guys, they are all similar but different" in their styles, Davis said. "The McGahee thing, that's the one that's most interesting to me. I want to see how he fits. Baltimore has a powerful offense, and he's more (elusive). I'm still waiting to see how that one plays out."
As are the 49ers, who host McGahee and the Ravens on Sunday at Bill Walsh Field.
San Francisco coach Mike Nolan, meanwhile, does not subscribe to the theory that featured backs are going the way of the drop kick, single-bar face masks and Stickum. Not when he has workhorse back Frank Gore, who led the NFC with 1,695 yards on 312 carries last season.
"You don't have two starters; you have two backups," Nolan said. "I am of the school of thought that I do like to spell Frank every now and then, and if that other back is good, then that's a good spell."
Trust apparently is blooming across the NFL landscape as teams are giving more running backs more rushing attempts. Because while 13 backs are on pace for at least 300 carries (there were 10 last year), 38 players are on pace for at least 150 attempts, the same as last year but more than the previous three seasons (35, 32 and 31).
Plus, six teams -- New England, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Oakland, Dallas and Washington -- had two backs on pace for at least 150 carries.
And with Rhodes' four-game suspension for substance abuse over and his skill set about to join that of LaMont Jordan, who injured his back at Miami, and Justin Fargas, who had a 179-yard coming out party against the Dolphins, the Raiders' backfield could get crowded. Especially if fourth-round draft pick Michael Bush's broken leg is healed enough for him to contribute in a few weeks.
It would be nothing new to first-year Raiders coach Lane Kiffin, who has a different philosophy than his colleague across the bay. After all, Kiffin had the luxury of Thunder and Lightning backs LenDale White and Reggie Bush at USC when Kiffin was the Trojans' offensive coordinator.
"When we got Dominic in the first place, we wanted to add competition to the running back spot," Kiffin said. "Our plan all along was to have guys carrying the ball, not just one guy carrying the ball all the time.
"It's a pretty good situation to be in. Someone may call it a problem. I don't see it as a problem at all."
Davis, one of just five backs with a 2,000-yard season -- with O.J. Simpson (2,003 in 1973), Eric Dickerson (2,105 in 1984), Barry Sanders (2,053 in 1997) and Lewis -- sees "a number of reasons" for teams opting to divide carries. Chief among them, though, is the obvious: money.
"Featured backs are paid top dollar," said Davis, who ran for 2,008 yards in his MVP season of 1998. "The L.T.'s (LaDainian Tomlinson), the Larry Johnsons, teams pay a whole lot of money to retain those guys, but you always need a viable backup. Running backs, we have the shortest (career) life span in the NFL. Just look at Cadillac Williams this weekend."
And Deuce McAllister the weekend prior.
"You always need a viable backup so you can rotate and keep a guy fresh," Davis added.
Having two backs share the load also allows teams to "keep the financial value down" of a featured back, he said.
After Davis gave John Elway his much-needed ground game and propelled the Broncos to Super Bowl wins following the 1997 and '98 seasons, his often spectacular but injury-plagued career ended in 2002. His misfortune allowed the Broncos to implement a new scheme, one in which running backs were treated like so many widgets.
Although the Broncos have not had a 300-carry back since Davis, Mike Anderson, Clinton Portis, Olandis Gary, Droughns and Bell have had 1,000-yard campaigns in the Mile High City only to be jettisoned the following season.
And with the copycat nature that personifies the NFL, the Colts winning the Super Bowl with a two-back system after failing to wrest the Lombardi Trophy with a two-time rushing champ in Edgerrin James is sure to provide a blueprint for future seasons.
Because remember, only two running backs have won a Super Bowl the same season in which they won an individual rushing title: Davis ('98) and Emmitt Smith ('92, '93, '95).
"Really? Wow. That's strange," Davis said. "We preach the running game, that if you have a relatively strong running game and your defense is able to stop the run, you win. That is unique."
Almost as inimitable as the most recent game of Running Back Roulette.
