Starks - Breakaway Speed?

[VegasPackFan]

This question has been lingering in my mind for a little while so I thought I would pose it to the forum peeps.

Does Starks have breakaway speed to take it to the house from anywhere on the field? I don't recall seeing him do anything like that yet. What is his longest run or catch so far in his short career?

I like the kid a ton, but I don't know what the scouting report is on him in this regard. Is he more of a grinder?

[Brando19]

Starks is what Grant isn't...the son of a bitch that's going to knock someone on their ass and keep going. Breakaway speed? I doubt it...but don't get in his way.

[Smidgeon]

Well, Grant has breakaway speed, and Starks just seems way more slippery. If we could combine the two...

[Harlan Huckleby]

what smidgeon said

[King Friday]

I don't see either guy as having breakaway speed. Both have adequate speed to be very productive RBs, but they aren't keeping DCs up at night. True breakaway speed is only held by a handful of guys in the league. I'm sorry, but Grant and Starks aren't those guys.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Grant's pretty damn fast straight line, North-South.

[Joemailman]

Starks ran a 4.5 40 at the combine which was about 6th overall among RB's, but slower than Grant's 4.43 in 2005. His 20 time was faster than Grant's, so he does have very good mid-range speed. He can certainly get into the secondary, but I doubt he has the speed to blow past a free safety.

[King Friday]

Grant's pretty damn fast straight line, North-South.

Not saying he's slow. Breakaway speed to me is a guy who can get to the corner and run past everyone up the sideline. Grant couldn't think about that at this point...maybe 4 years ago. Sure...give him a crease off tackle and he can go for 70. However, I'm sure that can be said for well over half of NFL RBs.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Supposedly Mark Ingram dropped to bottom of first round because he does't have top gear. Guess we'll see Thursday whether that top speed is so essential, I sure don't think so. Elusive, change of direction with decent speed is what you need.

[dahammer001]

I think James Starks can take it to the house In colllege he had a 92 yard run to his credit.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Breakaway speed is hard to quantify. Before the injury Grant could take it the distance, so I'd say he had breakaway speed. He doesn't have game changing speed though--like Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, and Jamaal Charles. I think Starks might have breakaway speed. Not sure. Watching his highlights in college, I thought he did. Last year, I'd say no. Maybe he's healthy this year and capable of taking it to the house.

Brandon Jackson, on the other hand, had a wagon hooked to him.

[Lurker64]

Grant can't make people miss, but he can run away from people in the open field. That's what separates him from your elite speed backs, those guys have short area quickness that Grant doesn't.

Starks is more of a traditional workhorse back. He will get you at least 3 yards with good frequency, but when he breaks one DBs will catch him from behind.

In terms of "open field speed" Grant's last 20 yards of his 40 (40 time minus 20 time) was 1.78. Starks' last 20 yards of his 40 was 1.96. (Chris Johnson scored 1.83, Jamaal Charles 1.85, Felix Jones 1.85, Adrian Peterson 1.82, Darren McFadden 1.80, etc.) Starks has less "breakaway speed" than Grant and pretty much all of your "elite" NFL RBs.

[OS PA]

I looked back at the Starks highlights from last year a couple of days ago, and the thing that struck me was what he was running against. Teams were playing pass and Starks was flying into the secondary. He could have broken a couple of the runs for HUGE gains had teams been stacking the box, but as long as we're a passing team, we can expect to see 5-10 yard runs from Starks and Grant. Now, I could see Starks running through some safeties on the way to breaking a big one.

[rbaloha1]

Does Starks have breakaway speed like Chris Johnson or Peterson -- No.

However Starks shall have many big runs due to shiftiness, cutback abilities, reading of blockers, vision and the great downfield blocking from the receivers.

[red]

I think James Starks can take it to the house In colllege he had a 92 yard run to his credit.

for his size he has alot of speed. could be a lethal combination