Preseason Notebook: Giants going to RBBC?
When you're the Super Bowl champs, you can try some new things with your offense and get away with it. I mean, the New York Giants won the Super Bowl, so who can say going to a running back committee at least three deep in 2008 is wrong?
We have seen running back platoons or timeshares -- whatever you want to call them -- over the years, including during the 2007 season. It makes sense, too, to give multiple deserving running backs enough carries to motivate them and keep each other healthy, though fantasy owners abhor this, since it means fewer statistics. The Jaguars and Vikings jump to mind. If only the unrelated Fred Taylor and Chester Taylor had been out of the way last season, who knows how good Maurice Jones-Drew and Adrian Peterson could have been, right? As it was, they weren't bad.
Of course, the reality is coaches couldn't care less about your fantasy teams. Giants coach Tom Coughlin -- make that Super Bowl-winning Giants coach Tom Coughlin -- entrusts his offense to coordinator Kevin Gilbride, and this tasty little morsel about a committee system came out of Giants camp earlier this week on the team's Web site: "Each of [the running backs] has their strengths and areas that you like to take advantage of,"
Gilbride said, referring to Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw and Derrick Ward. "They really serve as a nice complement to each other."
To Giants fans, still celebrating a shocking championship, it probably doesn't matter who carries the football. To fantasy owners, it matters a great deal. All three of these guys played key roles in the title-winning season; Ward was among the NFL's leading rushers into October, Bradshaw was critical in the final weeks and in January, and Jacobs, of course, led the team in rushing and should be the team's prime fantasy star. We shouldn't overreact to this news, because riding the hot hand could still mean Jacobs gets 20 carries per week and scores double-digit touchdowns, but it could also make each week a guessing game to fantasy owners, not knowing which running back will be featured.
Jacobs remains a bit of a tease to fantasy owners because he has the size and speed to be a top-10 running back. He has a knack for the end zone and is difficult to tackle. Then again, durability has been a problem, and the Giants hardly relied on Jacobs during their Super Bowl run. Bradshaw played a major role, and his carries could have gone to Ward had he not broken his leg in Week 13. Jacobs ended up topping 1,000 yards and averaging 5.0 yards per carry, while Ward averaged 4.8 yards per rush. Bradshaw, thanks to 151 rushing yards in Week 16 at Buffalo, averaged 8.3 yards per carry. As a team, the Giants were fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game, behind only the Vikings, Jaguars and Steelers. Is it coincidence two of those teams had shared running back situations, and the Steelers are likely going to this strategy this season? No, it is not, and it could be the wave of the future.
Those few of you holding on to Reuben Droughns in keeper leagues can probably move on. Speculation from Giants camp is that he might not even stick with the team. In theory, going three deep with regular running backs would ease the load on those guys and mean the team's fourth running back wouldn't need to be such an experienced player. The Giants can save money on their fourth running back since he figures to rarely see the field.
So far in mock drafts I've participated in Jacobs has been the first Giant off the board, as he should be, generally in round three. However, if there is any threat of a timeshare, it would be difficult to select him in this round moving forward, since you'd have to rely on him to start each week to justify that pick. Bradshaw and Ward are normally drafted as well, but far later. Personally, I think Bradshaw has the edge over Ward and could be an important fantasy option, maybe the Chester Taylor of this team. Fantasy owners would have to upgrade each of the supposed backups in case they play a larger role. Jacobs would be hard-pressed to pile on the yards if his carries are cut into, but the Giants would likely stick with him near the goal line.
Coaches say crazy things every July, so who really knows if the running back committee will come to fruition, but let's just say if you're drafting next week, and Jacobs is on the board in the third round, you might want to consider letting someone else deal with this situation. Nobody ever seems to target Edgerrin James, for example, but is he sharing carries?
