Ryan Grant = Future back

[FritzDontBlitz]

I don't disagree that if/when Jackson can learn to quickly find and hit the hole with authority, he can utilize his lower body strength and be more productive than he's been thus far. He's still VERY wet behind the ears.

But you can't discount what Grant has done by saying he played against poor rushing defenses. He hasn't. Here are the relevant statistics.

Ranking by Yds/Attempt
DNVR-31
KC---- 9
MN---- 2
CAR--- 4
DET--- 4
AVG- 10

Football Outsiders Rushing Defense Rankings
DNVR-29
KC---- 6
MN---- 1
CAR--23
DET--- 8
AVG-13.4

Against those better-than-average run defenses, Grant has excelled. Among the 37 running backs with 100+ carries on the season, Ryan Grant's 4.6 yds/carry ranks an impressive 7th in the league. Here's the company he's with at the top of the list...

1. Adrian Peterson
2. Brandon Jacobs
3. Ronnie Brown
4. Maurice Jones-Drew
5. Marion Barber
6. Brian Westbrook

Here's the list of the guys with 100+ carries he's been better than this year...

Travis Henry
Kenny Watson
Derrick Ward
Kenton Keith
Joseph Addai
Willis McGahee
Clinton Portis
Fred Taylor
Earnest Graham
LaDainian Tomlinson
Julius Jones
Kevin Jones
LaMont Jordan
Jamal Lewis
Willie Parker
DeShaun Foster
Frank Gore
Marshawn Lynch
Thomas Jones
Reggie Bush
Ron Dayne
Steven Jackson
Edgerrin James
Larry Johnson
LenDale White
Shaun Alexander
Cedric Benson
Warrick Dunn
Rudi Johnson

Grant has warranted the love he's gotten to date. In fact, I'd say he's been a bit underappreciated. He's been really good, and I'd say he's only going to get better as he continues to stack successes and learns more about how to use his running strengths.

Awesome, vince.

[RashanGary]

It's kind of impressive how well every thing has worked out.

TE, RB, S, FB, WR and even OG.

We all thought we were going to have to use max protect. We thought the world came to an end when Green left. We were pretty sure that our S's were going to be torched for the 2nd year in a row and we didn't expect a thing out of our TE's. Some were pretty sure that Brett had no targets to throw the ball to and almost jumped off a cliff when we didn't take a WR in round 1.

I'm not rubbing anything in to anyone. I am just as suprised that all of this worked out too. Every time I see Grant pick up 4 when there was nothing available or break a 30 yard run, I smile knowing a 6th round pick should not be this good. Every time Brett bombs a 40+ yd strike to Jenning, Driver, Robinson, Jones or Martin in stride I laugh because he wasn't supposed to have that much time in the pocket and these guys were not supposed to be that good. Every time James Jones catches a nearly impossible pass and then picks up 20 extra yards I shake my head because rookies are not supposed to be that good.

This is a magical year. Grant fits right in with the whole aura around this team.