running backs

[vince]

I agree he's never likely to be a feature back and that's not what they want from him. He's not gonna make hay pounding it up the gut with any degree of regularity.

Against Chicago - 9 carries for 66 yards rushing - mostly wide with a plant and go - and 10 receptions for 60 yards. Of those 66 yards rushing, 30 came on one play which you hope to get one of those. The other 8 runs were pretty pedestrian although 4.5 ypc isn't bad. I didn't notice but I bet Ripkowski was in there quite a bit with him. He needs protection with the ball and I doubt they want him protecting Rodgers in there.

19 touches is a pretty good load but the 50/50 run/pass ratio is what I'd say would tend to make him most effective - positioned in the backfield to start most plays but probably ending up on the perimeter as much as anything. He can win more often than not against an awful lot of safeties and if he can get isolated on a linebacker out of the backfield he's gonna make a ton of plays there too. If he can catch a small seam on a screen pass he can bust that open like the kick returner he is. Call him a Wide Receiver, a Running Back, a Wide Back, or a Running Receiver, a Hybrid or whatever. Just put him in position to win and I think he will pretty often. With Lacy and Starks, along with last year's lost season, this direction never came to the fore. Now, out of what might turn out to be fortuitous desperation, I think Monty's real value can be exploited. He's no Julio as a downfield threat obviously, but his strength and speed combo give him a lot of advantages underneath and in space.

This is wild speculation at this point and I've been wildly wrong before so we can check back on this next July, but with what they have now along with another draft/offseason, and particularly the age/wear issues of Starks but also the weight/discipline concerns of Lacy, combined with both of their expiring contracts, I think we may have seen the last of both of those guys. Hopefully Starks can make it back for some spot duty this year yet but I don't think they'll miss him if he doesn't. And Lacy laid up/on crutches for six to eight weeks with a broken ankle? It's hard to see that going well for him... We've seen how the P90X workout and kale binge diet program followed by the Xtended Kung Pao Chicken Fried Rice diet program has worked out already.