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Julius Jones will turn 29 on August 14. In virtually any other walk of life he is a very young man.
In certain sports participant endeavors 29 is an age where one is just beginning to hit stride with plenty of remaining years of achievement left in a professional career.
Jones does not happen to be in one of the aforementioned circumstances. He is a National Football League running back. I this week heard renowned ESPN Radio NFL grid expert John Clayton cite 29 and 30 as a pivotal age when a running back has begun to noticeably age.
There are those repeated hits at the line of scrimmage and the punishment endured, particularly in the legs. One is being perpetually tackled by some of the biggest, toughest, and most talented athletes in the world.
Think of how so many premier defensive linemen and linebackers, the players who outweigh running backs the most significantly and form the first and most repeated elements of resistance, have been developed in this streamlined age of football.
So many of these individuals who comprise the most punishing tacklers on the planet were once quarterbacks, receivers, and yes, running backs, while in high school. They were the quickest and best athletes around.
What happened next? People like Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden when that school was in the midst of a dynasty with premier recruiting coupled with coaching astuteness went to work. Bowden would seek out the best athletes from every town big and small in the Florida-Georgia area.
After selectively recruiting premier athletes they would be put through significant weight training, emerging as big, sometimes huge, yet quick. From there those chosen to be defensive players would be turned over to Defensive Coordinator Mickey Andrews, who on game day had an expression of a general whose troops were the last wall of resistance to save an embattled nation.
Julius Jones according to certain news accounts was slated to be traded earlier this season. That never happened and he remains a Seahawk.
He is an explosive runner. He set records at Notre Dame, a school with a long and proud gridiron history. Jones caught the eyes of NFL scouts when in 2003 he set a single game school record for rushing yards with 262 against Pittsburgh.
In that same explosive senior season of 2003 Jones rushed for 200 plus yards in three games, another school record. He holds multiple career records for kick and punt returns.
Jones put in some productive time in his Dallas Cowboys tenure from 2004 to 2007. He became a Seahawk in 2008, agreeing to a four year deal.
While competing for the starting job throughout training camp Coach Mike Holmgren decided to give the start to Maurice Morris against Buffalo in week one but stated that both backs would be used frequently.
After Morris was sidelined Jones received his chance to start. Jones received his first start against San Francisco in week two and responded with a 127 yard performance and a touchdown in an overtime loss. The next week he became the first Seattle running back since the championship season of 2005 to achieve back to back 100 plus efforts with a 140 yard day and a touchdown in a win against St. Louis.
At the end of the 2008 regular season Jones’ efforts revealed 698 rushing yards and two touchdowns with a 4.4 yard average per carry.
Last season Jones became the starter in first year Coach Jim Mora’s offense with Justin Forsett as his backup. The season started with a bang as he rushed for 117 yards on 19 carries highlighted by a 62-yard touchdown burst in a 28-0 shutout of the St. Louis Rams.
Jones ended the season with 663 yards on 177 carries for a 3.7 average and two rushing touchdowns. As a receiver he contributed 232 yards on 35 receptions for a 6.6 average and two touchdowns.
Some critics examined Jones’ statistics as well as those of backup Justin Forsett and concluded that the former Cal Bear outperformed Jones. Forsett ran for 619 yards on 114 attempts for a 5.4 average and four touchdowns. As a receiver Forsett had 41 receptions for 350 yards and an 8.5 average with one touchdown.
So where does it get anyone to compare and pick favorites? For years the Los Angeles Rams were plagued by media and fan debates over who should be the number one quarterback. What resulted was that the number two quarterback was eternally most popular in town unless he was elevated, at which time the boo level matched those of the player he replaced.
We know that both Jones and Forsett have quick striking power and the versatility to catch the ball as well as pack the mail on rushing attempts.
We also know the attrition rate of running backs in the NFL. So how do we enable Jones to continue to play productively while giving Forsett and other prospects in Seahawks uniform a chance to contribute?
There is that committee idea of Pete Carroll that he used at USC. This might be the very time and place to put it to productive use.
It would be nice to have fresher legs going into the critical final quarter of games where that extra burst of effort on one, two, or several key runs can make the difference between winning and losing.
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The NFC West could well be the NFL’s weakest division. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be hotly contested within and relevant for NFL preseason picks . Let’s have a look at the 2010 breakdown.
ARIZONA CARDINALS
NFL futures odds: +250
The Cards have plenty of questions to answer in 2010. Can Matt Leinart fill Kurt Warner’s massive shoes? Will Early Doucet or Steve Breaston step up at receiver with Anquan Boldin gone? Who will lead the defense now that Karlos Dansby has changed teams? It’s very tough to imagine Arizona not taking one or even several steps back this season. It was a nice two-year run, though.
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
NFL futures odds: -110
This looks like the year San Francisco puts it all together. It’s worked hard to build a powerhouse offensive line—and that will only make Frank Gore better in the backfield. It also takes the pressure off Alex Smith, who can play the caretaker role and has some good targets in Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree. Mike Singletary has also whipped the defense into shape. Patrick Willis is about as good a student as he could ask for.
Anything less than an NFC West title will be a disappointment for the 49ers, who are the clear-cut sportsbook favorites.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
NFL futures odds: +300
The Seahawks won’t become a contender again overnight, but they at least have a few pieces in place to start a turnaround. They have a new coach in Pete Carroll, who will take his second crack at NFL success after his USC glory days. They had a huge draft, getting both tackle Russell Okung and safety Earl Thomas, not to mention Notre Dame wideout Golden Tate.
So Seattle has reason for future optimism but it’s too early to expect much in 2010. The “D” still has plenty of holes and the key offensive skill players, such as Matt Hasselbeck and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, are banged up and long in the tooth.
ST. LOUIS RAMS
NFL futures odds: +1000
While it’s true that we’ve seen three rookie quarterbacks—Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, and Mark Sanchez—lead their teams into the playoffs in the last two seasons, we shouldn’t expect Sam Bradford to do the same in St. Louis. He doesn’t have the supporting cast that those QBs had. Bradford has a great shot to become a star eventually but throwing to the likes of Laurent Robinson and Donnie Avery as a rookie won’t exactly pad his stats.
Make no bones about it—the Rams still have a very long way to go. They had the NFC’s worst defense last year and, aside from Steven Jackson, their top offensive players are inexperienced.
The NFL pick: This is a division full of highly flawed teams—but San Francisco looks by far the last flawed. If Alex Smith can continue progressing, the 49ers’ defense and running game will support him enough to win the NFC West.
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Word out of Minnesota Tuesday morning was that Brett Favre is texting select teammates that he will retire. Speculation was that his surgically repaired ankle was not healing as well as he would have liked.
Ed Werder of ESPN, yes that same Ed Werder Favre looked in the eye last year and told he will not play in 2009, is now reporting that “if healthy, Favre will play in 2010.”
So what changed in 24 hours?
Simple, Favre is now being offered an extra $7 million dollars by the Vikings to come back.
Did the extra money magically heal Favre’s ankle?
Favre went on to say that his decision has nothing to do with money. As many sports fans have come to learn, when an athlete claims it has nothing to do with money, it has everything to do with money.
Favre masterminded a money grab that would have embarrassed famed bank robber Jesse James.
The Vikings, who have shamefully left themselves unprepared for a possible Favre departure, found out the hard way that anyone is willing to use a little blackmail. Some might feel that blackmail is a harsh word to use in this case, but I happen to feel it fits perfectly.
This was set up on draft day when the Vikings passed on Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen. Tarvaris Jackson is not a good NFL quarterback. Proof of that is how quickly the Vikings brain trust sent $7 million dollars Favre’s way. Minnesota should have drafted Clausen to groom as a replacement for Favre. Now, caught with their pants down, the Vikings are looking very foolish for not drafting him.
When it’s all said and done, Favre will be taking the snaps on opening day against New Orleans. The current retirement, the shortest of his many retirements, will be a long forgotten memory.
Favre has proven once again that he could care less about his legacy. He had to know his reputation would take a hit if he pulled his usual summertime act.
The man simply doesn’t care, and he might be right. After all legacy doesn’t put food on the table, money does. He knows that as soon as he throws his first of what will be many touchdown passes in 2010, all of Viking nation will once again declare him to be the savior.
Over the course of 24 hours the Vikings have gone from Super Bowl contender to possibly missing the playoffs and back. Minnesota fans can only hope that this time around the team has learned a lesson and will be better prepared if Favre once again decides he deserves more of owner Zygi Wilf’s money.
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The irony drips like a faucet with a bad washer.
The speaker was Terry Bradshaw, Hall of Fame quarterback—he of the four Super Bowl rings won with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And he was offering his opinions on some of the young gun QBs in the NFL currently.
After damning the Lions’ Matthew Stafford with praise, Bradshaw turned venomous when it came to Carolina rookie Jimmy Clausen, the Panthers’ second-round pick out of Notre Dame.
“Let me say what I said before earlier up to the (NFL) draft,” Bradshaw began about Clausen. “I didn’t like him in college and I don’t like him now. I never did like him. I don’t like his delivery. I don’t like his motion. I think he’s too slow...Physically, the way he threw the football, I just didn’t like him. (There’s) way too much shoulder action. (He’s) just another guy as far as I’m concerned.”
About that irony…
Bradshaw was drafted first overall by the Steelers in 1970, out of Louisiana Tech. Before long, most of the city would have chipped in for a one-way plane ticket out of town for their young QB.
Bradshaw didn’t possess the classic skills of a top-flight NFL quarterback, as it turned out. He didn’t have a very strong arm. He was slow. He wasn’t all that accurate.
On top of that, Terry Bradshaw was portrayed as not having the brains to be a pro quarterback.
Bradshaw was a country bumpkin and didn’t sound like someone who the Steel City would embrace. He opened his mouth and southern twanged words dropped out. He was a hick, trying to win over the blue collars of Pittsburgh.
The Steelers were coming off a 1-13 season when they drafted Bradshaw. If this is our savior, the Steelers fans said, then we’re living down below where it’s burning all the time.
Bradshaw wasn’t a premier quarterback. He really wasn’t. He rose to the level of adequate just in time for the Steelers to add pieces like Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, and Franco Harris. Oh, and the best defense of the 1970s.
Bradshaw’s career numbers don’t leap out at you. They don’t even blink. If they were in a window, they’d be the last item chosen by the shoppers—with CLEARANCE labels slapped over it.
But Bradshaw won four Super Bowls, armed with a running game, Pro Bowl receivers, and one of the stingiest defenses ever fielded.
It’s reminiscent of what baseball manager Leo Durocher once said about one of his players, Eddie “The Brat” Stanky.
“He can’t run, he can’t hit, he can’t field,” Durocher said. “All he does is beat you.”
Bradshaw couldn’t throw, couldn’t run, and couldn’t elude. He was less than smart.
But he’s in the Hall of Fame with those four rings.
So I had to chuckle when I read Bradshaw’s rebuke of the young Clausen, who has yet to throw his first NFL pass.
Very similar dreck was spewed about Bradshaw, back in the day. To Steelers fans, Bradshaw wasn’t a quarterback—he was a criminal sentence that had been levied on them.
This was until the organization surrounded him with fellow Hall of Famers, on both sides of the ball.
Bradshaw ought to know better than to offer such stinging criticism of a young quarterback before his career has really gotten going.
Forty years ago, Bradshaw arrived in Pittsburgh—a country bumpkin with precious few brains. Thirteen years after that, he retired as an under-talented legend.
Now he’s burying Jimmy Clausen before the kid is even in the starting gate.
Maybe Terry isn’t so bright, after all.
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Justin Forsett is a running back who could aid Pete Carroll in one of two ways in the coach’s first season at the Seattle Seahawks’ helm.
Forsett stood in the shadows as backup to former Notre Dame stalwart Julius Jones last season. With Pete Carroll known at USC, where standout running backs were often plentiful, for a running back by committee process when talent was at a bullish level.
Former Cal Bear product Forsett could operate as part of such a committee or, alternatively, he could break through and become the main man.
This is the type of activity that the competition master in Pete Carroll loves to see, great athletes seeking to top each other to reach premier status.
Last weekend, as Carroll opened camp at Seattle’s Renton training facility, the coach was asked about his system where he considers each week a new competition phase for players seeking to break free and become starters.
The question put to Carroll was that of whether a perpetual competition-oriented system such as what he was famous for operating at USC would make players feel happy, meaning comfortable.
The coach’s quick response was that he was not seeking to make players happy but to put them into a competitive framework where the team would be the ultimate winner.
Just as the competition factor weighed heavily into Carroll’s thinking when recruiting at the college level at USC, this same element was assuredly factored into his thinking and that of general manager John Schneider when evaluating draft prospects.
So here stands Justin Forsett, someone who so often in his collegiate and pro careers stood in shadows, but short shadows, where he was not that far from becoming main man, which he did on some occasions.
Here this Jeff Tedford Cal Bear product stands in a competitive situation to which he is accustomed. The key issue is how will he fare this season within the Carroll competition-oriented system?
Forsett, who was born in Lakeland, Fla., moved to Texas in his high school sophomore season and promptly rewrote the record book at Grace Preparatory Academy. His final two seasons, he racked up 63 touchdowns and gained nearly 5,000 yards.
He was close to getting a scholarship offer at Notre Dame but was supposedly passed up because the Irish were looking for a taller running back. Texas also expressed interest as well, but the Longhorns were said to have backed off for the same reason.
Along came Jeff Tedford at Cal, an astute running back analyst. Forsett stands at 5’8″. This did not frighten Tedford off, no doubt knowing that Barry Sanders stood at 5’8″ and Emmitt Smith at 5’9″. Together, they achieved 18 NFL Pro Bowl appearances.
Forsett ran into stiff competition at Cal from Marshawn Lynch, who ultimately became a Heisman Trophy candidate until sidelined by an injury. When Lynch became periodically injured Forsett filled in admirably.
In his sophomore season there was a 235 yard effort against New Mexico State that was the fourth highest single game rushing effort in Cal’s long and storied history.
During Forsett’s junior season, as he continued backing up Pac 10 running sensation Lynch, he filled in admirably once more when the star was injured. He chalked up 100 yard plus efforts against Oregon and in Cal’s rout of Texas A&M in the 2006 Holiday Bowl.
In Forsett’s senior campaign he became main man and achieved imposing figures, rushing for 1,546 yards on 305 carries with 15 touchdowns. He opened the season with a sterling 156 yard effort against Tennessee.
Forsett’s 15 touchdowns led all Pac-10 rushers. His 1,546 rushing yardage parked him in second spot behind Oregon tailback Jonathan Stewart.
He was selected to the All-Pac 10 first team and ended his college career with a 140 yard, two touchdown effort in a 42-36 Cal victory over Air Force in the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl.
In 2009, Forsett was in another backup role, this time to Julius Jones, while starting two games.
Forsett’s seasonal numbers were solid. He gained 619 yards on 114 carries for a 5.4 average and four touchdowns.
So another season beckons. Will Justin Forsett, a runner who has previously shown brilliant talent, make 2010 a breakthrough year?
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
