Insightful analysis as always, AADP. (Sometimes I think the more I disagree with you, the more I respect your cogent arguments.) The only point I would raise in response is that Grant has seemed terribly skittish of contact this season. Even when he has relatively open lanes to run, he tends to go down at the first sign of contact -- or he runs directly into a mass of defenders and makes little effort to break tackles. This indicates to me that either he has lost confidence in himself or his line (or both), or he is playing more injured than he's letting on, or both.

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Back on Wynn.. he has flashed like this before in college and here.. can he sustain this momentum through the offseason and prove that he has matured?

Could be a physical monster between the tackles with a good enough burst to take it to the house.. reminds me of another bruiser to the east.. in blue. Same type of skill set.

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If the guy can keep his conditioning and work ethic up, he definitely can be a talent on offense. I hope something clicked in his mind when he was cut and he'll be a different pro than when he was last year.

Bob McGinn even thinks he'll be in the running for the starting RB spot. I like what I see out of him. He seems to pick up blitzes well and catch the ball well.

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But... what about Lumpy?

I agree w/ AADP - I think judging our backs this year is hard due to the issues on the o-line. Grant's obviously got the talent or he wouldn't have shown like he did last year or ground out 1200 yards this year - I will agree with those who felt he was a disappointment this year, though, something did seem to be missing.

BJack's effort has been stellar since the Lions game last year - he's proven that he deserves some touches, and should absolutely be our 3rd down back, given his demonstrated skills catching the ball out of the backfield.

Wynn... I don't know. He's shown flashes, but he's also shown a tendency to be soft and a lack of willingness to work. I could see keeping him around, but not at the expense of time for BJack and Lumpkin.

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running well against the Lions shouldn't be factored into any RB's performance.

just sayin'.

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Yes....they suck.
But he showed flashes in the past too.
I just say, give him a real chance to EARN a job next year. If he blows it, then cut him.

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1200 yards is an average of 75 yards a game. It's not all that terribly impressive in a 16-game season. Remember, he only averaged 3.7 yards per carry -- hardly stellar.

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This was a semi-disppointing year as a whole for the running game, but it sure didn't help with the inconsistent at best offensive line play.

Grant and Jackson should platoon more next season and let Wynn and Lumps dook it out for the 3rd stringers job. There is a definite roster spot for Wynn out there if he can actually commit himself to improving and can actually show he's not made of glass and make it through at least an entire offseason and training camp wtihout missing much playing time.

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That's the point I wanted to bring up too, what about Lumpkin? B-Jack is our power guy, can break out of tackles and stiff arm players to get more yardage. He's more quick than he is fast.

I see Winn as a similar type of player; strong, quicker as opposed to fast, and a bit more agility than B-Jack.

Wynn's good at blocking, there was even talk of making him a dual FB/RB type similar to the role Khun has evolved into playing. B-Jack though is not a bad blocker himself, although I don't think he is as good as Wynn.

I see the two as similar players essentially, while Lumpkin is supposed to be the speed and agility back, bursting through the hole and having the ability to make defenders miss. He's more like a Ryan Grant, who I still rate as having the best blend of speed/quickness/agility of our RBs. What Lumpkin's speed and agility allow him to do (similar to Grant) is be that home run threat, which I don't think Wynn and B-Jack can constantly be. I'm a guy who prefers having two home run type options, and I think B-Jack at this time is better suited to a third down role than Wynn.

I think it was last Friday when MM stated that Wynn needed to show ball security and toughness. He didn't exactly show the former, which is a concern.

Entering next year I think the pecking order is as follows: Grant, B-Jack, Lumpkin, and Wynn in that order. I think Wynn's going to find it tough to make the roster. I like Wynn, but I prefer B-Jack and Grant, and someone with more potential than Wynn in Lumpkin.

The odd thing though is that I (and I'm sure others) would not mind a more physical RB group as a whole. Keeping Wynn makes us physical more so than keeping Lumpkin, and MM preaches being a physical team. Yet I think Lumpkin's potential is too much to pass over for Wynn, unless Lumpkin falters badly in TC.

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What's surprising about that number is that B-Jack avg. about a yard and a half more than Grant, which is a big difference.

I think B-Jack's sample size was still too small to say he was the more effective runner, but he looked a lot more natural when he played at making cut backs and getting yardage.

My thing with Grant though is that I believe he has the most agility out of our RBs, meaning that if he can find cut back lanes as naturally and effectively as B-Jack did, he'll get huge runs. I've seen him (Grant) leave DBs frozen when getting beyond the second level that it's just silly. I'm sure the injury bugged him, but it looked like he was struggling with his vision, and perhaps thinking too much (being too mechanical) as opposed to playing instinctively.

Not sure how you can get that fixed, but I think it is correctable. I feel comfortable in saying though that if Grant plays with the instinctiveness that B-Jack did the past year, he'll easily avg. 4.6 - 4.7 yards per carry. He's simply too good not to, his blend of agility and recognition on the second level is probably second to only a handful of RBs in the NFL, IMO.

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