Ryan Grant thinks he’ll be the starter

[bobblehead]

Not as I recall it. Grant's agent was complaining that the Packers wouldn't even respond to him. It was a take the tender or leave it approach by the Packers, and it backfired on them when Grant didn't sign by late July, TC started and Favre showed up.

The next year they had Williams signed by early May because they began negotiated an upscale deal almost immediately. The year before they screwed around with Grant for three more months.

I think that quoting his agent is.....well, you know. With williams they did begin to offer a little bit more early on....and he signed it. I have trouble believing that with camp closing in the pack hadn't offered anything more than minimum to Grant. I specifically recall TT talking about Grant's being a special situation given his age and such. I doubt that he failed to make a single fair offer on a one year deal prior to settling on a 4 year deal. You may believe that, but I doubt it.

[Patler]

I have trouble believing that with camp closing in the pack hadn't offered anything more than minimum to Grant. I specifically recall TT talking about Grant's being a special situation given his age and such. I doubt that he failed to make a single fair offer on a one year deal prior to settling on a 4 year deal. You may believe that, but I doubt it.

I don't think they did absolutely nothing with Grant until camp started, but I also don't think they really got serious with Grant until shortly before camp. I also think that as a result of the Grant situation the previous year, they realized it was better to deal seriously with Williams much earlier in the off season.

[Pugger]

Sharpes "holdout" came before the first game. His neck injury occurred toward the end of the season.

As I remember it (which could be wrong) Sharpe announced his retirement shortly after consulting with specialists, saying nothing was worth the risk of potential paralysis. I don't recall any equivocation on his part, no comments about trying to come back or to catch on with another team. My impression at the time was that it was pretty serious, and he may have dodged a bullet when he was injured.

This is what I remember too.

[Smidgeon]

At first glance I would have said, "there is no way in hell Grant is getting cut" but then bobblehead made a reasonable argument.


Problem is. . . Starks is thin and runs high. Green is a rookie, without OTA's or minicamps. Jackson is the worst RB in the NFL, he's NOT coming back. I guarantee that. . . .

Grant gets one more year to groom Green. Then it's the Green/Starks show.

AP runs too high too. It's a different style, not a bad one. But Starks can also split out wide like Grant can't. I think Starks only looks thin because he's tall for a RB.

And Jackson may be bad for running, but he's very effective as a receiver out of the backfield.

If Jackson was as bad as you believe, he wouldn't have been starting between Grant and Starks. He would have been cut and either Nance or someone else brought in.

[ThunderDan]

AP runs too high too. It's a different style, not a bad one. But Starks can also split out wide like Grant can't. I think Starks only looks thin because he's tall for a RB.

And Jackson may be bad for running, but he's very effective as a receiver out of the backfield.

If Jackson was as bad as you believe, he wouldn't have been starting between Grant and Starks. He would have been cut and either Nance or someone else brought in.

Bjack really leaves you scratching your head. He is terrible as a runner out of the backfield on 1st and 2nd downs. Yet he excels as a a receiver and after the catch guy and on 3rd down draws/delays/traps. It seems like those skill sets would be interchangable (except the catching of the ball part which he is good at and Grant isn't).

Some of Bjack's runs after catches are pure beauty and on 1st and 10 he will run up his guards back for no gain.

[get louder at lambeau]

Bjack really leaves you scratching your head. He is terrible as a runner out of the backfield on 1st and 2nd downs. Yet he excels as a a receiver and after the catch guy and on 3rd down draws/delays/traps. It seems like those skill sets would be interchangable (except the catching of the ball part which he is good at and Grant isn't).

Some of Bjack's runs after catches are pure beauty and on 1st and 10 he will run up his guards back for no gain.

He's Reggie Bush.

[sharpe1027]

I didn't mean to compare the situations, only the teams way of handling them. I could be wrong, but I think the packers were required to keep Sharpe on IR through his surgery and until the end of that season. You can't simply cut a guy who gets hurt midseason and tell him to find his own surgeon.

I don't understand how you can talk about the "teams way of handling" the two situations without comparing the two situations. Otherwise you might as well argue that Rodgers will be cut.

Sharpe demanded that he either get more money for not playing in 1995 or that he be released to sign with another team. Until and unless Grant puts in a similar ultimatum, the way the team handled the Sharpe situation doesn't seem very relevant to how they would handle Grant's situation.

[3irty1]

I think the situation won't change a ton but rather just get much better. I'd guess Grant will get the most carries but won't be shouldering the load to the point he was in the past. Starks can contribute on third down but also has enough third down skills and functionality in the ZBS to steal some snaps. I don't think Starks or Green will beat out Grant in a fair fight... Grant is vastly more proven and takes much better care of the ball.

[bobblehead]

I don't understand how you can talk about the "teams way of handling" the two situations without comparing the two situations. Otherwise you might as well argue that Rodgers will be cut.

Sharpe demanded that he either get more money for not playing in 1995 or that he be released to sign with another team. Until and unless Grant puts in a similar ultimatum, the way the team handled the Sharpe situation doesn't seem very relevant to how they would handle Grant's situation.

Wrong. Sharpe never demanded to be released to sign with another team. He threatened to sit out....exactly like Grant did. Both leveraged a situation. Sharpe leveraged the season opener. Grant leveraged the PR situation with the player not to be named.

[sharpe1027]

Wrong. Sharpe never demanded to be released to sign with another team. He threatened to sit out....exactly like Grant did. Both leveraged a situation. Sharpe leveraged the season opener. Grant leveraged the PR situation with the player not to be named.

It doesn't make any sense that he would threaten to sit out when he was going to be out for at least a year with his injury anyway.

http://articles.sfgate.com/1995-03-01/sports/17798103_1_packers-decision-sharpe-s-agent-william-opener-last-fall

Sharpe's agent, William (Tank) Black, demanded the Packers either raise their $200,000 offer for 1995 or release him so he could sign with a team willing to pay more.

[Patler]

Wrong. Sharpe never demanded to be released to sign with another team. He threatened to sit out....exactly like Grant did. Both leveraged a situation. Sharpe leveraged the season opener. Grant leveraged the PR situation with the player not to be named.

Sharpe was under contract when he made his threat.
Grant was not under contract and simply did not sign the offer on the table until it was more to his liking.
To me, these are direct opposites.

[mission]

If Jackson was as bad as you believe, he wouldn't have been starting between Grant and Starks. He would have been cut and either Nance or someone else brought in.

Jackson is not very good at all. He was "starting" because Nance sucks even more and hardly had a grasp on the playbook.

Plus didn't Nance have a little nagging injury or something? Ankle?

BJ made a couple plays out of the backfield but that's going to happen by default in an offense with so many options. Wait until you see Starks and Green catching passes out of the backfield.

[Joemailman]

Brandon Jackson is a fine 3rd down back. His receiving ability and blitz pickups are top notch. He lacks the decisiveness to be a good feature back. I wouldn't mind TT bringing him back, especially since the lost offseason may set Green back a while. In addition, Starks has had considerable health issues the last 2 years.

[Guiness]

Brandon Jackson is a fine 3rd down back. His receiving ability and blitz pickups are top notch. He lacks the decisiveness to be a good feature back. I wouldn't mind TT bringing him back, especially since the lost offseason may set Green back a while. In addition, Starks has had considerable health issues the last 2 years.

BJack was good at his role, and is a valuable piece of the team as an effective 3rd down back. Tony Fischer wasn't a world beater, but I don't remember complaints about him. I think we can have BJack's experience back for a reasonable price; no one is likely to pick him up and pay him starter money. Unless we have someone else experienced at blitz pick-up (Kuhn?) I shudder to think of the hits it might mean to Rodgers.

Once you get by the fact that he didn't pan out as a feature back pounding the ball on early downs, you realize he is effective catching the ball and making tacklers miss in space. That same juke that causes momentum loss, and TFL's when he does it behind the OL serves him very well when he's trying to make the first guy miss on a swing pass.

[Tarlam!]

Jackson has been a good, blue collar Packer. Whatever happens, I wish him well.