I'm wondering this because I feel like I am seeing players on the field that are not as good as others; but since their contract is worth more it appears this is why they get most of the plays.

- Barnett - now I was a avid barnett supporter this offseason and was defending him at every opportunity. But I am finding his play average at best this year. I dont know if its because of his ACL injury or if its because of all the time off; or maybe he just twitters too much and thats his best game.

So is it the money? or loyalty too players or ... does he really show things in practice that blow the other LBers out of the water still?

Bishop had played phenomenally this offseason; especially as pass rusher (rb stuffer).

(btw I was a hawk basher last season; but vs. the rams hawk did pretty well vs them).

- Ryan Grant - Ok some people really love him and his running style. Its really nice he had a good 07 and then got the fat contract. In 08 we saw some lackluster performance blamed on a hamstring issue.

IMO our running game is one of the poorer aspects of our offense. And IMO grant is at the forefront. But he still gets what 96% of all carries. Heck rodgers has more carries then our 2nd RB.

I got to say our RB depth blows. My favorite back from last year is injured; our other back took one carry vs the rams (and ya he made a bad play but lets give the guy 5-8 carries and see if he can produce).
And we have grant ... and thats it.

Heck Kuhn looked better then grant last sunday and he had 2 carries ...
(got to love our FBs).

-btw I am a fan of danny woodhead on the jets practice squad after seeing him play in the preseason (to me better then sutton and we considered keeping him)).

- poppinga - I'm still not sold on him as our starter for ROLB; I see average performance so far. Least its not 'piss-poor' (was my impression of last year). But then again matthews gets a ton of reps since I think he is in on rushing downs. Guess the jury is out with this one.

- blackmon - returner; maybe he is the best on our team - but he sure doesnt make me feel "I hope he can pull 50 yards or a TD with this one".

and last but not least which I will assume everyone can agree on.

- jarrett 'penalty' bush - I shouldnt have to ask this again this year; but whats the point if this guy can make some decent ST plays but gets called for more penalties then a offensive lineman with tourettes.

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My objective wasnt to player bash here; it was to find answers to why it seems we either lack depth or fail to utilize the best player for the position.

Whats your take...?

I can't really speak to a lot here because I'm not very knowledgeable about all of this, but I think I can make a comment about the running game.

Look at the O-line. I don't need to expand on that hopefully. So much of the running game has to do with O-line play. I would even venture to say it has more to do with the O-line than with the strict talent of the running back. There was more that one instance against the Rams where Grant would have the ball and a lineman would be out in front of him, maybe 10 yards. The only problem was that there were defensive players between them.

I don't know if this is a Ryan Grant problem or an O-line problem. Maybe Grant isn't following his blockers closely enough. Maybe he's being too patient about letting gaps develop and he needs to add a little more power to his game. Or maybe the O-line is too aggressive in getting down field. Maybe they need to pick their blocks a little better and understand where Grant is in relation to them. Or maybe we're simply not really built for the zone blocking system.

I'm not sure about the contract situation. I think Grant is the best RB on the team and he proved in 07 that he deserves the contract he got. I just think the O-line hasn't been good enough to really let him show it.

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Preseason against lesser talent does not make a player good.

Bishop has been in games at LBer. Last week Barnett was pulled because of snap count not wanting to over work his knee. All I remember from Bishop in the game is a penalty.

If they really played players by salary. Expect Jolly to be on the bench this week.

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bishop had a big stop for a 2 yard loss also

I would like to see Jordy on kick returns
and
I think a ST specialist who gets pulled from ST for getting too many penalties just isn't very useful (Jarrett Bush)

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Jarrett Bush is a penalty specialist.

:icon_smile: So true, I have never seen anything good from him he seems to always be getting flagged. Except for of course this dance....

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That was the only good play he has ever made. And it happened in the pre-season. As for him dancing, after an interception in the pre-season...lame.

Maybe that's the logic behind this all. If he racks up penalties, we'll have an excuse when we lose.

I think that we play people based on how much they're getting paid. At least, on the RB position we do. I don't think that we would put Jackson in there as the starter. He can't stay healthy in the role he's playing now, let alone as the starter. I do, however, think he'd get some more carries, had it not been for Grant's big contract. We're really spotlighting and using Grant on nearly every single play right now. And that while Wynn sounded like the second coming in training camp.

I don't know why everyone is so upset with Barnett. I mean, he's been an amazing player for so long. We're not even starting him on every play. Flash over substance, I guess.

Whats your beef with Willie Blackmon?