Bretsky
09-13-2007, 10:41 PM
Packers' Grant a mirror image
Back conjures up images of Levens
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 13, 2007
Green Bay - It isn't the reason the Green Bay Packers traded a sixth-round pick for a former undrafted free agent without a single play of experience in the National Football League, but Ryan Grant's resemblance to a certain former Packer certainly hasn't gone unnoticed around here.
Asked if he picked up on the similarity the first time he saw Grant, running backs coach Edgar Bennett spit out a replay before the question was even completed.
"Dorsey Levens," Bennett said. "In fact, I told him, 'You're wearing 25 but you also kind of favor the guy that used to wear 25. Don't have Dorsey call me to get on you because you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing.' "
Bennett should know a Levens look-alike when he sees one. They were part of the same backfield for three seasons in the mid-1990s and were a one-two punch that led the team to a Super Bowl XXXI victory.
"You can see some similarities, you really can," Bennett said of Grant. "The only thing is that Dorsey was fuller in his pads; he was a bigger guy. He was about 230. Ryan is about 220, 218. But as far as style, you see it. I like his running style. He's a slasher, he has good body lean, he has power and he has burst. I like his running style. He can catch the ball.
"His opportunities will come."
Grant was preparing to be an integral part of the New York Giants' offense after rushing 18 times for 90 yards and a touchdown in the exhibition season, when unbeknownst to him the Packers were meeting the Giants' demands for a trade. Figuring they had veterans Derrick Ward and Ruben Droughns and seventh-round pick Ahmad Bradshaw to back up starter Brandon Jacobs, the Giants couldn't pass up a chance to get a draft pick.
They held out until the Packers were forced to send a sixth-round selection with no conditions tied to it on Sept. 2.
"They were going to keep all of them," Grant's agent, Alan Herman, said of their running backs. "(Assistant general manager) Kevin Abrams told me over Labor Day that it was too good of a deal to pass up. They got a guy they signed as a free agent and they were getting a sixth-round pick. As much as they liked him there was too much value.
"They told me Green Bay was jumping up and down when they did it."
Grant, a straight-A student at Notre Dame, went mostly unnoticed in the 2005 draft, lasting all seven rounds without a sniff. Herman suspects it had to do with him playing second fiddle to Darius Walker, a sophomore the Fighting Irish thought had star potential but is currently without a job in the National Football League.
Grant started nine games but had just 515 yards rushing as a senior. No one was looking to spend a draft pick on a backup.
General manager Ted Thompson and Bennett kept an eye on Grant, whose career took a little bit of a detour last year when he slipped on a nightclub dance floor and hit his hand on a nearby table while breaking his fall. A glass broke and Grant suffered a serious gash in his hand.
"He almost bled to death," said Herman, who said alcohol was not a factor in the accident. "It severed an artery. He was not too far off from not making it. He had nerve damage in that hand, but he came back 100% this year. He did a great job coming back."
The Packers are so enamored of Grant that they activated him for the first game despite his lack of experience in the offense. This week he is receiving some repetitions with the No. 1 offense and it wouldn't be surprising to see him move ahead of Jackson or Wynn on the depth chart as the season goes along.
At 6 feet 1 inch, he's strong and lateral, much like Levens. The key to his success will be whether he can consistently run with his pads down.
The Packers have been picking Grant's brain this week about the Giants, allowing him to help adjust the scout team defense for the benefit of the offense's preparation. But that contribution has been minor, much less than what the Packers are expecting of him down the road.
Grant thinks he can help the Packers right away on Sunday. He said he felt as confident catching the ball as running it and was ready to contribute on special teams.
"I feel like I'm a match-up problem for a lot of defenses," he said.
Back conjures up images of Levens
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 13, 2007
Green Bay - It isn't the reason the Green Bay Packers traded a sixth-round pick for a former undrafted free agent without a single play of experience in the National Football League, but Ryan Grant's resemblance to a certain former Packer certainly hasn't gone unnoticed around here.
Asked if he picked up on the similarity the first time he saw Grant, running backs coach Edgar Bennett spit out a replay before the question was even completed.
"Dorsey Levens," Bennett said. "In fact, I told him, 'You're wearing 25 but you also kind of favor the guy that used to wear 25. Don't have Dorsey call me to get on you because you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing.' "
Bennett should know a Levens look-alike when he sees one. They were part of the same backfield for three seasons in the mid-1990s and were a one-two punch that led the team to a Super Bowl XXXI victory.
"You can see some similarities, you really can," Bennett said of Grant. "The only thing is that Dorsey was fuller in his pads; he was a bigger guy. He was about 230. Ryan is about 220, 218. But as far as style, you see it. I like his running style. He's a slasher, he has good body lean, he has power and he has burst. I like his running style. He can catch the ball.
"His opportunities will come."
Grant was preparing to be an integral part of the New York Giants' offense after rushing 18 times for 90 yards and a touchdown in the exhibition season, when unbeknownst to him the Packers were meeting the Giants' demands for a trade. Figuring they had veterans Derrick Ward and Ruben Droughns and seventh-round pick Ahmad Bradshaw to back up starter Brandon Jacobs, the Giants couldn't pass up a chance to get a draft pick.
They held out until the Packers were forced to send a sixth-round selection with no conditions tied to it on Sept. 2.
"They were going to keep all of them," Grant's agent, Alan Herman, said of their running backs. "(Assistant general manager) Kevin Abrams told me over Labor Day that it was too good of a deal to pass up. They got a guy they signed as a free agent and they were getting a sixth-round pick. As much as they liked him there was too much value.
"They told me Green Bay was jumping up and down when they did it."
Grant, a straight-A student at Notre Dame, went mostly unnoticed in the 2005 draft, lasting all seven rounds without a sniff. Herman suspects it had to do with him playing second fiddle to Darius Walker, a sophomore the Fighting Irish thought had star potential but is currently without a job in the National Football League.
Grant started nine games but had just 515 yards rushing as a senior. No one was looking to spend a draft pick on a backup.
General manager Ted Thompson and Bennett kept an eye on Grant, whose career took a little bit of a detour last year when he slipped on a nightclub dance floor and hit his hand on a nearby table while breaking his fall. A glass broke and Grant suffered a serious gash in his hand.
"He almost bled to death," said Herman, who said alcohol was not a factor in the accident. "It severed an artery. He was not too far off from not making it. He had nerve damage in that hand, but he came back 100% this year. He did a great job coming back."
The Packers are so enamored of Grant that they activated him for the first game despite his lack of experience in the offense. This week he is receiving some repetitions with the No. 1 offense and it wouldn't be surprising to see him move ahead of Jackson or Wynn on the depth chart as the season goes along.
At 6 feet 1 inch, he's strong and lateral, much like Levens. The key to his success will be whether he can consistently run with his pads down.
The Packers have been picking Grant's brain this week about the Giants, allowing him to help adjust the scout team defense for the benefit of the offense's preparation. But that contribution has been minor, much less than what the Packers are expecting of him down the road.
Grant thinks he can help the Packers right away on Sunday. He said he felt as confident catching the ball as running it and was ready to contribute on special teams.
"I feel like I'm a match-up problem for a lot of defenses," he said.