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Footballguy
Packers by position: Injuries a major concern at running back
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
Ted Thompson couldn't try to fill every hole on the Green Bay Packers' roster this year via the NFL draft.
After all, even with the Javon Walker trade, the team's general manager had only five first-day draft picks, and those are the spots where NFL teams have the best chance of finding immediate help.
So one potential problem not addressed on draft day was at running back, where Thompson has taken a calculated risk on the return to health of his top two backs from the past three years rather than a draft pick or free agent who might have started.
Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport are coming back from severe season-ending injuries last year, with the four-time Pro Bowler Green returning from an especially serious injury (torn quadriceps tendon) for an aging running back who turned 29 in the offseason.
Green was one of the NFL's top five or six runners from 2001 through 2004, but after his injury on Oct. 23 at Minnesota, it's almost impossible to project him getting the Packers' running game back to the upper-tier position it held when he was healthy and in his prime. The question is whether his decline will be mild or significant, and whether Davenport will still have his speed after a broken ankle ended his 2005 season.
It's a prospect that has to leave the Packers feeling a little uneasy after last season, when the team's injury-wrecked running game ranked a disastrous No. 30 in the league in rushing yards per game and No. 31 in yards gained per rush.
"I don't know if uneasy is the word," said Jeff Jagodzinski, the Packers' offensive coordinator. "I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do. I know what Ahman can do, and if we can get him back to where he feels comfortable and confident with his injury and rehab, he'll be fine."
"Najeh's always been a good player, he's just never been able to stay health," Jagodzinski said. "I just think there's a question mark on how fast they come back in the preseason."
Green's injury ruined whatever chances he had of signing a lucrative contract in free agency this offseason. He averaged only 3.3 yards a carry in five early-season games behind an overmatched offensive line, then re-signed with the Packers six months after his surgery for $2 million plus incentives.
Likewise, the 27-year-old Davenport's first foray in free agency was useless because of the broken ankle that required surgery Oct. 10, and he signed a one-year, $655,000 deal to return to the Packers.
Neither will be ready to practice at the start of training camp, but the Packers expect both on the field before the preseason finishes, which means they should be available for the regular-season opener against Chicago.
Coach Mike McCarthy and Jagodzinski will try to incorporate them into an entirely revamped running attack based on the zone-blocking scheme that Jagodzinski learned from Alex Gibbs, the secretive former Denver and current Atlanta assistant.
"I believe in the push-and-pull concept," McCarthy said. "You need to establish ball control, because you can't have your defense out there all the time. Our starting point will be running the football and stopping the run."
Samkon Gado, in the meantime, was the Packers' feel-good story last season when he gained 582 yards rushing and averaged 4.1 yards a carry in eight games after the undrafted rookie had been cut from Kansas City's practice squad. He showed enough last season to suggest he's at least a capable backup and perhaps more, though he's been too indecisive in the new zone-blocking scheme that requires the backs to make one cut and go.
In fact, Noah Herron had moved ahead of Gado with the No. 1 offense by the organized-team activities practices in June, though Gado is the superior talent. Neither Green nor Davenport was healthy enough to practice.
"(Gado) thinks too much. He overanalyzes things," Jagodzinski said. "When he didn't think about it in the first minicamp, I thought, 'This kid's going to be OK in this deal.' And then he started thinking about things rather than just hitting it up in there like he did the first camp. He'll be fine.
"When he starts getting smacked around, he'll get that thing downhill in a hurry, I promise you. He's not going to sit there second guessing himself. He's going to have to get up in there. He will. I saw him do it last year (on videotape)."
Fullbacks
At fullback, McCarthy and Jagodzinski aren't looking for a 250-pound glorified guard that most teams want. Though the fullback also is mostly a blocking position in the zone scheme, there's still an emphasis on quickness so he can make blocking reads on the move. Also, the fullbacks preferably are fast enough to be backup halfbacks, which is something Denver has generated in recent years.
"That's what you're looking for, because you can find those guys without putting a big premium on it," Jagodzinski said. "There's just not a lot of fullbacks around anymore, but there's a lot of halfbacks that can play fullback."
That means Herron's chances of making the team have improved, because at 224 pounds, he has just enough size to play some fullback in this scheme, and though he's on the slow end for halfbacks, he's still fast enough to play the position.
Last year's backup, Vonta Leach, is more of a prototypical battering-ram blocker at fullback at 250 pounds but also is a good special-teams cover man, which keeps him in the running for a job.
William Henderson returns for a 12th NFL season at age 35, as long as his abilities haven't fallen off the table in the offseason.
Green might be ready when camp opens. He will be ready by mid-August, and will be 100% by week 1.
I'm there with you on Gado - he was my prized waiver-wire pickup last year in several leagues, so I paid close attention to his performance prior to his injury. I felt that he improved in the blocking department markedly as he gained more "live-game" experience vs. starting NFL linebackers/linemen, but I am still on the fence regarding his ability to handle the top-notch guys (like Urlacher) who'll be lining up across from him during the coming season.
