Rookie RB Jackson shows ability

[Scott Campbell]

Rookie RB Jackson shows ability


By Chris Jenkins
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREEN BAY — With the Lambeau Field grandstands packed and his closest competitor sidelined by an injury, Saturday’s “Family Night” scrimmage was a chance for rookie running back Brandon Jackson to show fans what the Green Bay Packers saw in him on draft day.

Jackson certainly wasn’t the star of the show on Saturday night — those roles, as always, went to Brett Favre and his top receiver, Donald Driver — but Jackson did show a few signs that he has the ability to become a viable running back for the Pack.

And he just might have to be.

The Packers lost veteran Ahman Green to the Houston Texans in free agency over the offseason, and were without projected starter Vernand Morency on Saturday because of an injury.

Morency, who was obtained in a trade with the Texans last season, hurt his knee in the Packers’ first training camp practice a week ago.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said earlier in the week that Morency’s injury was worse than originally expected and that the team would be without him for “a couple” of weeks, meaning he would likely miss the Packers’ first preseason game, Aug. 11 at Pittsburgh.

With Morency on the sidelines, Jackson took the field as the starting running back in front of 59,362 fans on Saturday.

He did his first “Lambeau Leap” into the stands after a 1-yard touchdown run, but his flashiest play came during a 2-minute drill simulation.

Lining up behind backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ second-string offense with the ball at the 35-yard line and 41 seconds on the clock, Jackson caught a dump-off pass wide open in the flat and accelerated down the sidelines — then nearly pulled off a spectacular spin move to get away from cornerback Tramon Williams.

Of course, given the same clock crunch in a real game, it’s entirely possible that McCarthy would have preferred to see the rookie simply run out of bounds.

Favre appeared to be in midseason form during his first drive despite missing several practice earlier this week because he had to go home to Mississippi for the funeral of his father-in-law.

Favre threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver on his first possession, then marched the Packers down the field to set up Jackson’s touchdown on his second possession.

With the Packers’ top two cornerbacks, Al Harris and Charles Woodson, sitting out the scrimmage under orders from McCarthy, Favre picked on cornerback Frank Walker for two long passes to Driver down the right sideline.

Walker was the Packers’ only free agent acquisition during the offseason, and is battling for the No. 3 cornerback job with second-year player Will Blackmon — but Blackmon, a fourth-round pick in 2006 who missed most of last season because of a broken foot, seemed to emerge from the scrimmage with a leg up on the job.

Rodgers and the No. 2 offense looked much rustier than Favre, but Rodgers gradually found his rhythm and marched the Packers’ second string to a field goal after a potential touchdown pass to Ruvell Martin was batted away by Jarrett Bush.

Neither quarterback looked particularly sharp during 2-minute drill simulations, with both Favre and Rodgers failing to lead the Packers to a touchdown and both throwing interceptions in the end zone. Favre was picked off by Nick Collins on third-and-1 from the 12-yard line, and Rodgers was intercepted on second-and-27 after a potential touchdown to Ruvell Martin was waved off because of an offensive pass interference call.

Williams, a member of the Packers’ practice squad last season, later unloaded a big hit on wide receiver Chris Francies after a pass over the middle from Ingle Martin.

Rookie wide receiver David Clowney, a fifth-round pick out of Virgina Tech, added some spice to what was a lackluster return game last year with a kickoff return for a touchdown.


Copyright © 2007 Rockford Register Star.

[Bretsky]

Love to hear Jackson is doing well; I'm not a Morency fan and am fully hoping Jackson steps up and takes that #1 job

[KYPack]

Jackson is OK. Man, he was gassed. Jackson's blocking and pick-up is still very weak. He's an OK rook.

Winn is a fat 'lil tub a goo.

The guy that impressed me that we gotta keep is Noah Herron. He ain't flashy, but he's tough, in shape and assgnment sure. Any injuries, he's the only back we got that can be trusted with the job

[RashanGary]

The guy that impressed me that we gotta keep is Noah Herron. He ain't flashy, but he's tough, in shape and assgnment sure. Any injuries, he's the only back we got that can be trusted with the job

I agree. Herron is very reliable. It's scary to have a 3rd down back that can't block. Herron can, so he has a lot of value to us right now.

I think we should keep four backs becuase we have two that have some problems getting dinged up.

[oregonpackfan]

Jackson is OK. Man, he was gassed. Jackson's blocking and pick-up is still very weak. He's an OK rook.



I agree with KY that Jackson has to improve his blocking in order to be used as a consistent RB. From what I have read on the practices, he has struggled mighly with pass protection.

He needs to learn that pass-blocking is a vital component to being an NFL running back.

[HarveyWallbangers]

We read about his troubles in practice, but how did he look last night in pass protection?

[RashanGary]

We read about his troubles in practice, but how did he look last night in pass protection?

He didn't block much. Herron did a good job stuffing Barnett, but I don't remember Jackson getting any chances.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Herron is a nice 3rd RB. It's easy to knock the guy, but when he's called on he comes through more often than not.

[woodbuck27]

Jackson is OK. Man, he was gassed. Jackson's blocking and pick-up is still very weak. He's an OK rook.



I agree with KY that Jackson has to improve his blocking in order to be used as a consistent RB. From what I have read on the practices, he has struggled mighly with pass protection.

He needs to learn that pass-blocking is a vital component to being an NFL running back.

Especially on our team. :)

[KYPack]

We read about his troubles in practice, but how did he look last night in pass protection?

Maybe it was just me, but you could read his body language when he was coming out of the huddle. He's confident about his running and pass catching assignments. Gfuy can catch the ball, made a helluva grab on the goal line

When it his turn for a block or blitz pick-up, he's shook. I guess he didn't block at all at Nebraska, but the boy is not confident doing it. He also isn't very good at it. Hopefully our coaches can get him going, but he can't block well enuff to play in the league right now.

[cheesner]

I would have said that Jackson's best play was the reception over the middle that set up his TD. He wasn't very open, Brett made a great throw, and Brandon hauled it in. As the pass was in the air, I thought for sure it would be incomplete.

[HarveyWallbangers]

When it his turn for a block or blitz pick-up, he's shook. I guess he didn't block at all at Nebraska, but the boy is not confident doing it.

I don't get this. Nebraska doesn't run the wishbone anymore. Callahan is the coach, and they run a pro style offense. He would have had to do some pass blocking some, wouldn't he?

[KYPack]

When it his turn for a block or blitz pick-up, he's shook. I guess he didn't block at all at Nebraska, but the boy is not confident doing it.

I don't get this. Nebraska doesn't run the wishbone anymore. Callahan is the coach, and they run a pro style offense. He would have had to do some pass blocking some, wouldn't he?

I know what ya mean. He's athletic & all, a much better receiver than you'd ever expect.

Hopefully, it's just mental, like he's freaked by the NFL game. He just doesn't have the knack for blocking. If he had to be deficient in one area, blocking would be the one you can teach somebody, hopefully that'll happen.

[the_idle_threat]

Funny thing is, he's supposed to be a decent pass-blocker already. I know this info comes from a Lori Nickel fluffer piece, but she got Jackson's college running backs coach to vouch for him:


Nebraska running backs coach Randy Jordan elaborated.

"He started out as our third-down back because we used so many backs," said Jordan. "We had a short-yardage guy, someone else who could catch passes. He could do all of those things. What separated this kid was he protected the passer."

Nebraska uses the West Coast system, just like Green Bay. Nebraska's offensive line uses zone blocking, just like Green Bay. Nebraska expects its running backs to block on passing downs, to pick up the blitz and protect the quarterback, just like Green Bay.

"Nebraska was very focused on blocking," said Jackson. "In our system, our coaches say if you don't block you don't play. Every day we would have blocking drills maybe two times a practice. I'm no stranger to blocking."

...

Jordan said Jackson was also very coachable, working on his weaknesses.

"He's not going to be like a lot of players and just work on what he likes," said Jordan. "When he first got here, he didn't like pass protection, but I challenged him. 'If you want to get on the field, pass protect, show me.' He stayed after practice and worked. He watched extra film on linebackers, became a pretty good blocker."

source = http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=603858

I wonder if he's just overwhelmed a bit by the strength and speed of NFL caliber linebackers and is knocked back on his heels a bit right now. Perhaps as he gets more time at it against this level of competition, he'll come around just as he did in college.

Here's to wishful thinking, anyways. It'll be a real shame if we are forced to keep the marginally-talented Noah Herron around because he's the only guy who can keep a QB upright.

[Terry]

Funny thing is, he's supposed to be a decent pass-blocker already. I know this info comes from a Lori Nickel fluffer piece, but she got Jackson's college running backs coach to vouch for him:


Nebraska running backs coach Randy Jordan elaborated.

"He started out as our third-down back because we used so many backs," said Jordan. "We had a short-yardage guy, someone else who could catch passes. He could do all of those things. What separated this kid was he protected the passer."

Nebraska uses the West Coast system, just like Green Bay. Nebraska's offensive line uses zone blocking, just like Green Bay. Nebraska expects its running backs to block on passing downs, to pick up the blitz and protect the quarterback, just like Green Bay.

"Nebraska was very focused on blocking," said Jackson. "In our system, our coaches say if you don't block you don't play. Every day we would have blocking drills maybe two times a practice. I'm no stranger to blocking."

...

Jordan said Jackson was also very coachable, working on his weaknesses.

"He's not going to be like a lot of players and just work on what he likes," said Jordan. "When he first got here, he didn't like pass protection, but I challenged him. 'If you want to get on the field, pass protect, show me.' He stayed after practice and worked. He watched extra film on linebackers, became a pretty good blocker."

source = http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=603858

I wonder if he's just overwhelmed a bit by the strength and speed of NFL caliber linebackers and is knocked back on his heels a bit right now. Perhaps as he gets more time at it against this level of competition, he'll come around just as he did in college.

Here's to wishful thinking, anyways. It'll be a real shame if we are forced to keep the marginally-talented Noah Herron around because he's the only guy who can keep a QB upright.

Good balanced post. It's always possible, of course, that Jackson won't be able to pick up pass protection well enough to handle NFL caliber linebackers, but I reckon we oughtta' figure that he will. Often, in other forums, I see him being compared unfavourably to Green in regard to pass blocking, but we have to remember that Green was in the league 2 full years before he even got to Green Bay. With Jackson's attitude and work ethic, I think it's probably safe to assume that he'll be a decent pass blocker by the end of the year. So I see the only real potential problem as being this year, perhaps, with luck, only early in the season. If Herron is solid enough as a workaday back for a while, we might get away with it. It's only in that regard that I regret the Packers not having a more experienced back on a short contract, to give Jackson more time to learn and without having to gamble it all on the durability of Morency.

[cpk1994]

When it his turn for a block or blitz pick-up, he's shook. I guess he didn't block at all at Nebraska, but the boy is not confident doing it.

I don't get this. Nebraska doesn't run the wishbone anymore. Callahan is the coach, and they run a pro style offense. He would have had to do some pass blocking some, wouldn't he?
You would think seeing as how Callahan runs the WCO.

[The Leaper]

You would think seeing as how Callahan runs the WCO.

The zone blocking scheme probably isn't making things any easier on Jackson in terms of blocking if he hasn't played in it before.

[Brohm]

If I remember correctly they took Jackson ahead of some other RB's in the draft because of his experience in the zone blocking/WCO scheme used at Nebraska :?:

[HarveyWallbangers]

If I remember correctly they took Jackson ahead of some other RB's in the draft because of his experience in the zone blocking/WCO scheme used at Nebraska :?:

That's what some experts have opined. Personally, I think they took him because they thought he was the best RB available. Of course, scheme plays a part. His strengths as an RB play to the strengths of the one-cut system. I doubt they took him over guys that had much more highly rated players because he played in a WCO at Nebraska. Lots of players play in a similar offense in college. It's not like most teams are running the Bone.

[retailguy]

Harv, I agree. I do think Thompson thought he was the best remaining RB available. I question how much Thompson thought he'd contribute in 2007 though.

I know there are a lot of us, myself included, who think he's the "best hope" for a decent running game in 2007, but I really question whether or not that "hope" is realistic. Green didn't get good until his 3rd or 4th season, though he showed "flashes" early on.

Jackson is likely not destined for stardom in 2007, and the Packers are not likely destined for huge success at RB in 2007 either, unless that comes from "back by committee".

This guy needs time to get his feet wet in the NFL game, and we need to realize that.... That's one of the reasons why I've tempered my expectations in 2007... :wink:

[HarveyWallbangers]

I have a feeling that Green was always good. He just fumbled more than Holmgren wanted, and he had the likes of Ricky Watters in front of him. I don't think it takes RBs long to get good. That's one position, more than others, where a guy has the ability to run at the pro level or he doesn't.

[Rastak]

I have a feeling that Green was always good. He just fumbled more than Holmgren wanted, and he had the likes of Ricky Watters in front of him. I don't think it takes RBs long to get good. That's one position, more than others, where a guy has the ability to run at the pro level or he doesn't.


That's very true. Much easier for a back than a WR for instance. However, the one thing backs do have to learn is the more complicated blitz pickup schemes and pass blocking in general. I know back when Tice was coaching the Vikings that was always his reservation on young backs. Until they can block, they don't play.

[Scott Campbell]

I have a feeling that Green was always good. He just fumbled more than Holmgren wanted, and he had the likes of Ricky Watters in front of him. I don't think it takes RBs long to get good. That's one position, more than others, where a guy has the ability to run at the pro level or he doesn't.


That's very true. Much easier for a back than a WR for instance. However, the one thing backs do have to learn is the more complicated blitz pickup schemes and pass blocking in general. I know back when Tice was coaching the Vikings that was always his reservation on young backs. Until they can block, they don't play.

Did AP do much blocking at OU? How has his blocking looked so far?

[Rastak]

I have a feeling that Green was always good. He just fumbled more than Holmgren wanted, and he had the likes of Ricky Watters in front of him. I don't think it takes RBs long to get good. That's one position, more than others, where a guy has the ability to run at the pro level or he doesn't.


That's very true. Much easier for a back than a WR for instance. However, the one thing backs do have to learn is the more complicated blitz pickup schemes and pass blocking in general. I know back when Tice was coaching the Vikings that was always his reservation on young backs. Until they can block, they don't play.

Did AP do much blocking at OU? How has his blocking looked so far?


Up and down. On one play I read about, the defense overloaded the line and he picked up nobody because he froze with two guys breaking though. Coaches yelled "pick up the blindside guy always, don't hesitate" or something to that effect. I think most rookie backs have this problem. I'm sure some learn faster than others. We'll find out which is which during August I guess.