The Second Coming of Dorsey Levens

[Patler]

and then his cramping problem after one drive.

Ahh yes, the cramping!!! "definitely a result of dehydration" you sez. "Could be poor conditioning", I sez

How the worm has turned.

Ragging on him is not something new. Its simply more of the same.

The constant injuries were exhausting. IF people are just fed-up with that, fine. But the other stuff, statements about his heart, etc., are just blood sport.

Wynn did not rise to the top of the heap. The heap sort of slid away from around him

They had PLENTY of opportunity to move Morency, Grant or Jackson ahead of him. Last week, MM made a definitive statement that Wynn is numero uno.

All I did was supply the quotes from scouting reports that you seemed to be asking for. I made no comments about Wynn before that in this thread, and after all I have done is try to inject some reality in opposition to your comments about what he has achieved this year. I actually sort of like Wynn, but he has not earned anything this year. None of the backs have yet..

[Harlan Huckleby]

I have done is try to inject some reality in opposition to your comments about what he has achieved this year.

What do quotes about his college career have to do with this season?

I actually sort of like Wynn, but he has not earned anything this year.

He DID earn the starting job in a fair competition. It wasn't injuries. He did not earn the kick in the ass that people are giving him as exits to IR.

Except, as I said before, if people are sick of his constants injuries, don't blame them for saying "enough!"

[Patler]

I only heard MM's comments "commiting" to Wynn once, and it seemed to be less a commitment to him, and more of a commitment to using one primary back and others situationally only. Wyn just happened to be the guy, because he has been the starter a couple weeks.

Even with that, Grant got a lot of practice with the first string according to the reporters practice blogs. Some of that was because Wynn was hurt from weightlifting.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I'm not always right, but I haven't wavered on Wynn.

you were perched on the fence. wouldn't have taken much of a breeze from either direction.

After the last preseason game:

I didn't think Wynn looked that bad, and I haven't been a fan of his AT ALL. The blocking was horsecrap. Hard to gauge somebody when it's 2nd stringers and soon to be cut players against starters.

After the Giants game:

Am I the only one that wasn't that impressed with Wynn's run on the Favre play? It wasn't that special to me. He had an open field and a blocker in front of him. He had room on his other run too. It was a 3rd and 11 play, and he got 8 yards. He also had a false start. I thought he looked decent in the last preseason, but most people felt he should be cut after that game. He dropped a couple of balls and his stats were miserable. People are jumping on the Wynn bandwagon, but right now I still like Jackson a little more. I don't care who it is though, let's just hope one of these four RBs starts playing well...

I agree with ND. Wynn has had a few nice runs, but Jackson hasn't had the blocking that Wynn had on those two TD runs. Right now, both guys are below average. If I had to pick who will be the best long-term player in the NFL, I'd probably still choose Jackson. Neither look as good as Morency did last year. I wouldn't count Grant out either. Apparently, if you get a huge holes on a couple of runs, the dropped passes, false starts, and the unimpressive running for the rest of the three games are forgotten. Right now, I'd say it's still a crapshoot on who rises to the top...

I'll take back my comment on the second Wynn TD. The middle was stuffed, and he showed good awareness to take it outside and did well with it. I'd like to see what Jackson (and Grant) can do if he got a little blocking.

After the Washington game:

Morency hasn't been that bad--especially in the passing game. He had a couple of cuts he missed in this game. Wynn is such a plodder. He reminds me of Najeh. He's got some power and some speed, but he isn't good when he has to try to cut in the backfield. He's good when he gets a head of steam. Wynn is a good pass protector, but he has terrible hands, so it's kind of catch-22 to have him in on passing plays.

That's about the jist of my takes on Wynn.

[Patler]

I have done is try to inject some reality in opposition to your comments about what he has achieved this year.

What do quotes about his college career have to do with this season?

I thought you were questioning the negative reports from his college days. In response to others' statements about those, you asked what basis they had. I thought I was supplying it. Bretsky seemed to have the same impression of your statements, if I understand him correctly.

Now you suggest what you really want are things from this year.

[Harlan Huckleby]

patler, i conceded that Wynn was a fuck-up in college.

Harvey: I would say that your comments towards Wynn are relatively positive. And you also said something very encouraging about the preseason game that I recall.

[Patler]

He DID earn the starting job in a fair competition. It wasn't injuries.

No, he ascended to the role of starter when Jackson was injured. Jackson started the first three games, was injured against San Diego, and hasn't played since although he is now better, apparently. He was physically "out" for at least the first two games that Wynn started. Morrency hasn't been healthy all year.

[Harlan Huckleby]

injured against San Diego, and hasn't played since although he is now better

Jackson has been playing in practice for some time. And counting preseason, he has had more carries by far than the other backs (besides morency the lame.) Wynn beat him out fair and square.

Jackson couldn't get on the field ahead of Morency!

[HarveyWallbangers]

Harvey: I would say that your comments towards Wynn are relatively positive. And you also said something very encouraging about the preseason game that I recall.

Not really. I ripped him after Family Night. I thought he looked okay in the last preseason game. When others were on the Wynn bandwagon, I didn't jump on. I jumped on the Grant bandwagon pretty much from the get-go.

[Patler]

injured against San Diego, and hasn't played since although he is now better

Jackson has been playing in practice for some time. And counting preseason, he has had more carries by far than the other backs (besides morency the lame.) Wynn beat him out fair and square.

Jackson couldn't get on the field ahead of Morency!

I think the first game they said Jackson could have played was Washington. I'm not sure Wynn really beat him out. He took over when Jackson got hurt and there was no reason to make a change back to Jackson. Jackson certainly had earned nothing.

They really seem to be more committed to Morrency than almost anyone. He practices very little, yet they keep him active and give him opportunities. I think they are still hoping for him to be something the others aren't.

[FritzDontBlitz]

Wow. Does the night shift always bicker like this?

Anyway, there's a great writeup on Grant on the JSO site:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=680133

here's a notable excerpt from the article:

Finally earning back the trust he fumbled away on the artificial surface of the Metrodome in the fourth game of the season against Minnesota, Grant more than filled in for injured DeShawn Wynn to show folks back in Cheeseville as well as across the nation that rumors of the demise of the Green Bay running game were greatly exaggerated.

Since nearly costing his club a victory in Minnesota with his fourth-quarter fumble, Grant had been placed in the running back protection program. He entered the night with a grand total of 27 yards rushing for the season in six carries.

But with Wynn out of the game, Grant showed why the Packers were so high on him in the first place. Displaying an aggressive, slashing style of running, he carried the ball 22 times for 104 yards, eclipsing the entire Denver running game by 16 yards.

Now.

Here is a post from the Packers Blog, also hosted by JSO:

Thompson not giving up on Wynn
By Tom Silverstein
Tuesday, Oct 30 2007, 04:24 PM
Despite the fact that rookie running back DeShawn Wynn can't stay healthy and will spend the rest of the year on injured reserve, Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson said he still has faith in him.

Wynn suffered shoulder and neck injuries on his first carry of the game in the Packers' 19-13 victory over the Broncos and probably would miss a good portion of the rest of the season, according to coach Mike McCarthy. The worst part of Wynn's injury was to a nerve in his neck, which is commonly referred to as a "stinger," although Thompson said there was also an injury to his shoulder joint.

"DeShawn Wynn did a nice job for us," Thompson said. "We thing he's going to be a good player for us. It's unfortunate that he got hurt. This is not a career-threatening thing. It's just something that's going to take time."

Thompson said he wasn't surprised by the performance of Ryan Grant, who rushed 22 times for 104 yards. He said the coaches have been preparing him every week for playing time because of the uncertainty of the team's various runners and that Grant has been progressing nicely.

"We like our guys," Thompson said. "We also like what DeShawn did for us and what he'll do in the future."

McCarthy also said that he still thinks Wynn has a promising future in Green Bay, but he acknowledged he will have to stay healthy.

It sounds like BOTH young guys have a promising future in Green Bay. I suspect the IR thing is an attempt to give Wynn an entire year of conditioning, playbook study and evaluation under TT's watchful eyes to further develop him because the see a huge upside in him.

Sorta how they brought Brady Poppinga along.

Any questions?

[Scott Campbell]

If necessary, I'll ask the librarian, Scott Campbell, to dig through the archives and find it.

Turn in your library card Harlan. Your mouth is too big for any library.

[Scott Campbell]

He DID earn the starting job in a fair competition. It wasn't injuries.

Put your crack pipe away Harlan. He became the starter by default. Nobody on this roster has stepped up and earned that job. The guys who are starting are getting a shot because everybody else has sucked.

[cpk1994]

His college coaches didn't think much of him. Basically, the negatives about him in college have stayed with him in the pros. Get over it, Harlan.

What negatives?

Why did the coaches move him ahead of the other three guys if he was a bum?

This is speculation.

Out of curiosity, how closely did you follow Wynn's career for the Gators ?? Of course no facts are ever facts because we don't know for 100% why he fell out of favor; but.........Sometimes I wonder if you are arguing just to argue.

People you are aware that Urban Meyer came in halfway through Wynns 4 years, don't you? A change in schemes probably had a good bit to do with it if he couldn't adapt, especially into the spread that Meyer runs. I mean he went from playing for Ron Zook to Urban Meyer. He played for Zook and then when Meyer came in he dropped. Thats my theory anyway.

[Carolina_Packer]

This may have been found and posted when Grant first came to the Packers, but it's interesting. Many of the Giant's forum posters seemed to like Grant, but the last one was interesting...will never be a starting running back in the NFL. How things develop!

http://blog.nj.com/ledgergiants/2007/09/giants_trade_rb_grant_to_packe/print.html

I know you guys have been clarifying opinions about Wynn and others, but I've got a question. What do you think a player like Brandon Jackson thinks when a lesser regarded (at least by draft position) running back is now being given the chance ahead of him?

Here is an article from 3 years ago when Grant was at ND...it's interesting.

http://media.www.ndsmcobserver.com/media/storage/paper660/news/2004/11/12/IrishInsider/Ryan-Grant.Picking.Up.Where.He.Left.Off-803467.shtml

Another article talking about Grant signing with the Giants and some background info:

http://www.uhnd.com/articles/2005/nfl-irish/ryan-grant-signs-deal-with-giants-palmer-to-redskins/

Funny, here is the reaction of Giants fans after Grant's 100 yard performance: http://boards.giants.com/forums/1/50...howThread.aspx

Something I'm trying to look up; perhaps one of you knows already. Grant was signed after the 2005 draft by the Giants as an undrafted rookie free agent. What was his roster status in 2005? Did he make the final roster? When you look him up, it only lists 2006 with the Giants, not 2005. On some web sites they only list him for 2007 with the Packers.

Here is a funny blog entry from "The Blue Screen", a NY Daily News blog about Grant in one of their practices in August:

August 6, 2007
New mystery: Who hit Ryan Grant?
There is a suddenly a bigger mystery at Giants camp than “Where is Michael Strahan?”

It’s “Who hit Ryan Grant?”

During the last series of goal-line drills at the evening practice, Grant – a Don Bosco product and Ramsey, NJ native – took a handoff from quarterback Jared Lorenzen, took a step towards the line of scrimmage and …

POW! All we heard from the sidelines was a loud, sickening thud.

Remarkably, the 6-1, 218-pound Grant kept going and his second effort nearly resulted in a touchdown. But it was hard to ignore the powerful hit.
Unfortunately, from our vantage point on the sidelines, we couldn’t tell who delivered the blow.

On the way off the field, DT Jonas Seawright took credit for the deed. But rookie LB Zak DeOssie gave credit to rookie S Michael Johnson. For what it's worth, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said “I just hope it was a defensive guy that delivered the hit.”

I expect that tomorrow the perpetrator will have a little chalk outline of Grant across his chest. Maybe if we’re lucky he’ll take credit for the blow in a well-crafted “Letter to the fans.”