Lamont Jordan + Opportunity = Fantasy Success
Guest Submission posted 8/28 by Scott Girasia, Exclusive to Footballguys.com
America is the land of opportunity. That is one of the reasons why so many people came to America, because they understood that opportunity could lead to success. The same philosophy holds true in sports. If a player has the opportunity to play they could become successful. Just ask either Lou Gehrig or Tom Brady. "What does all of this have to do with fantasy football?" you ask. Well, a players success on the football field, could lead to success for you as a Fantasy Football owner, all that you need is an opportunity to identify who this player may be. One player who I feel has a new opportunity and could find success this season is the Oakland Raiders running back Lamont Jordan. The 2006 season was a big disappointment for Lamont Jordan owners; but poor coaching, lack of a capable quarterback and injuries provided Lamont Jordan with very few opportunities to be successful. Why should 2007 be any different? After all he is still with the Oakland Raiders and Super Bowl hero Dominic Rhodes is in town. The reason that this season will be different is because the 2007 Oakland Raiders have made changes, which may be the opportunity that Lamont Jordan needs in order to find success.
Greg Knapp (the Running Man)
During Jordan's time in Oakland, the Raiders have ranked near the bottom of the NFL in rushing attempts. With the hiring of new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp this could all change. For the last three seasons Greg Knapp has called the plays for the Atlanta Falcons. In those three years the Falcons have been near the top of the NFL in both rushing attempts and yards rushed. The year before Greg Knapp arrived in Atlanta the Falcons ranked 19th in rushing attempts. In Greg Knapp's first season the Falcons finished 6th in the league in rushing attempts. In fact from 2004-2006 the Pittsburgh Steelers were the only team that ran the ball more than Greg Knapp and the Atlanta Falcons. And Atlanta wasn't the only city where Greg Knapp directed an all out running attack. From 2001-2003, with Greg Knapp as the offense Coordinator, the San Francisco 49ers put together a solid ground game. When Knapp took over the 49ers he took over a team that had finished 21st in the league in rushing attempts the year before. Under the direction of Greg Knapp, the 49ers finished 6th or better in rushing attempts in all three years with Greg Knapp as their offensive coordinator. Furthermore, a Greg Knapp offense has finished in the top 6 for rushing attempts every year that he was calling the plays. I know in most leagues that you do not receive points for rushing attempts, but rushing attempts are opportunities and opportunities can lead to success.
How have these opportunities lead to success in a Greg Knapp offense?
In the six years that Greg Knapp has been an offensive coordinator his team has lead the NFL in rushing yards three times, and finished in the top six in all six seasons. Furthermore, this success has trickled down to individual players. In 2003, Gregg Knapp's last season with the 49ers, Kevan Barlow recorded the only 1,000-yard rushing season of his career. In the three seasons that Barlow spent with Knapp, Barlow averaged 4.7 yards per carry, in the three years after Knapp; Barlow has averaged only 3.2 yards per carry. Garrison Hearst is another running back that found success with Greg Knapp as the offensive coordinator. Garrison Hearst spent two years away from football recovering from a severely broken ankle and Avascular Necrosis in his foot. For those who don't know what Vascular Necrosis is, this is the same condition that Bo Jackson suffered from in his hip forcing him into early retirement. In 2001 not only did Garrison Hearst become the first player who return to the field after suffering from Avascular Necrosis, but also ran for over 1,200 yards, under the guidance of Greg Knapp. Warrick Dunn is the most recent recipient of Greg Knapp's offense; Dunn has recorded 3 consecutive seasons with over 1,000 yards rushing, including a career high in 2005 with 1,416 rushing yards.
Why will Greg Knapp help Lamont Jordan?
Just because running backs like Garrison Hearst, Kevan Barlow and Warrick Dunn have been successful with Knapp calling the plays, doesn't mean that Lamont Jordan will find the same success. After all 2006 was a horrible year for Lamont Jordan. This is true, but let's remember that the 2006 Oakland Raiders were a team surrounded by turmoil even before the season started. Don't forget that veteran wide receiver Jerry Porter fell into head coach Art Shell's doghouse from day one, top receiver Randy Moss decided that he no longer wanted to play for Oakland, and lets not forget about the quarterback carousel that made Andrew Walter a starting quarterback. And to top it all off Lamont Jordan missed 7 games due to injury. As you can see the 2006 Oakland Raiders did not provide Lamont Jordan with opportunities for success. Even when healthy the lack of a passing attack caused Lamont Jordan to face eight man fronts from the defense. However, even with the defense stacked against him Lamont Jordan still managed 3.8 yards per carry. Do you know what his yards per carry average was in his breakout 2005 season? You guessed it 3.8 yards. I know that 3.8 yards per carry isn't real impressive, but lets take a closer look at Lamont Jordan's 2006 stats. In the first two games of the 2006 season Jordan faced the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens, two of the best run defense in the league, after that Jordan took off running to the tune of 85 carries for 379 yards, that is 4.5 yards per carry. Not to bad for a guy who is on one of the worst offenses in the NFL.
The Other Oakland Running backs
In 2007 the Oakland Raiders added depth to their running back corp. with the addition of free agent Dominic Rhodes and 4th round draft choice Michael Bush. Now the question is will Oakland go with the dreaded running back by committee? Dominic Rhodes helped us partially answer that question by receiving a four game suspension to start the season and won't see the field until week six, due to Oakland's week 5 bye. As for Michael Bush, he is recovering from a severe leg injury that caused him to miss all of last year. Even if Michael Bush is ready to take the field in 2007, chances are he will be regulated to a back up role. Currently, all indications point to Lamont Jordan beginning the season as the Raiders starting running back. If Lamont Jordan can take advantage of the opportunities that Greg Knapp gives him, Dominic Rhodes and Michael Bush may not see the field much this season. However, it may not matter because Greg Knapp's offense has used two backs successfully in the past. Runners like Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow, Warrick Dunn and T.J. Duckett, and most recently Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood have formed productive running back duos. And Head Coach Lane Kiffin successfully utilized the two back system as the offensive coordinator of Southern California. In fact Lane Kiffin was so successful that in 2005 both Reggie Bush and LenDale White ran for over 1,000 yards each in Kiffin's high-power offense. Now Lamont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes will have the opportunity to show what they can do.
Oakland's Quarterbacks
It is still unclear who will take the snaps from center when the Raiders start the 2007 season. However, I don't believe that the quarterback will have a huge impact on Jordan's performance. For one, Josh McCown was a serviceable quarterback with the Arizona Cardinals, and has experience as a starter in the NFL. There is talk that 2007 first overall selection JaMarcus Russell will take over at some point during the season. The thought of a rookie quarterback might be frightening, but recently rookie quarterbacks have found some success when handed the opportunity. Quarterbacks like Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, Jay Cutler, Vince Young, Matt Leinart, and Ben Roethlisberger have been successful in their rookie seasons. Furthermore, first year signal callers love to dump the ball off to their tight end or running backs. And with Courtney Anderson currently listed as the Raiders starting tight end, Lamont Jordan should be the recipient of any short passes. After all in 2005 Jordan was extremely valuable in the Raiders passing game hauling in 70 receptions. I believe that with a journeyman quarterback in Josh McCown and a rookie in JaMarcus Russell, the Raiders will attempt to run the ball in order to take pressure off of their quarterback. With that being said, it doesn't matter whom the Raiders start under center in 2007, both are an upgrade over last year's quarterbacks, giving Lamont Jordan the opportunity to succeed.
Offensive Line
In 2006 the Oakland Raiders allowed 72 quarterback sacks, giving fantasy owners a reason to rank this unit as one of the worst in the NFL. However, the high number of quarterback sacks could have been due more to quarterbacks who held on to the ball too long then the offensive line. The Raiders offensive line allowed an average of 94.9 rushing yards a game, and 3.9 yards per carry. Not great numbers, but both the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears only averaged only 3.9 yards per carry as a team, and both the Patriots and Bears had strong offensive lines. Furthermore, this was a line blocking for running backs like Justin Fargas. With more opportunities to run the ball the rushing yards per game will increase, and a healthy Lamont Jordan should help improve on the teams yards per carry average.
Defense
In 2006, the Raiders had the 3rd ranked defense in the NFL, and there is no reason to believe that this unit won't improve in 2007. If the Raiders defense can keep the score close, then the offense will not feel the need to abandon the run. This will not only create more of a balanced offensive attack, but also present Lamont Jordan with more opportunities through out the game.
Conclusion
A healthy Lamont Jordan will start the 2007 season with a new head coach and offensive coordinator who both love to run the ball, an upgrade at the quarterback position, and a solid defense. All of these changes should give Lamont Jordan more opportunities to succeed. I wouldn't suggest drafting Lamont Jordan as your RB2, but if you have the opportunity to draft him late as your RB3, you may just be pleased with the results. Especially if your running backs bye week is in week 4 of the season. If Lamont Jordan can make the most of his new opportunities his fantasy owners will find success.
