Yea, what's new? Steggie here is pissed off again. I am sittin'
here at this very moment at Punggi Station on that train line in
the ROK, a Republican at heart, listening to The Eminem Show, specifically
the song "Superman". Talk about angry! Talk about "all
over the place!" And, what's on my mind; what's got my briefs
all up in a bunch here, where football could not be farther from
99.999...% of people's minds, including the few American males 'round
these parts? The public perceptions of two backup running backs
(tailbacks, that is :rolleyes:) in New York.
Those perceptions are perpetuated by (certain) writers who are so
proud of themselves for having created the nickname Ron "Done"
and do not want to let it go, at least not until they have ridden
it... him until the bitter end. Not that Dayne has really had the
opportunity to change many minds... But, I digress. I can see when
the direction of things changes and can admit to an (originally)
incorrect projection. Michael Pittman... it seems like I was wrong
about him in my preseason article. I do not feel too bad, though.
It looks like he even fooled a savvy NFL head coach too in Jon Gruden.
Back to the topic at hand... an injury to Tiki Barber and it will
be the birth of a bright career, that of Ron "Great" Dayne,
whose knees and size will take their toll in the fourth quarter
of games even though greater visionaries such as Mr. Tubman and
his "Bench the Stud" pieces (of ...) over there at Fanball
can't see it. All the while, though, LaMont Jordan, whose future
also looks bright, is looked upon as gravy. Actually, the timing
of this piece could not be much more perfect as "Flash"
Jordan's 61-yard touchdown dash, en route to a 107-yard day against
San Diego in San Diego Week Nine, while C. Mart had yet another
lackluster performance... during the "consequential" part
of the game though, is still fresh in people's minds. Salivate all
you want! It was in the trashiest of garbage times. Without that
run, he "piled up" a pedestrian 46 yards on 12 carries,
again, mostly during that garbage time. Meanwhile, back in New York
that same week, receiving a number of carries, moreover consecutive
carries, on the border of being sufficient to get a big back rolling,
Mr. "Done", with his "oxen-plowin'" style, quietly
had a solid 52 yards on 13 rushes, a solid 4.0 average. Of course,
this was in the shadow of "the Barber's" sweet cuts and
big game. But, Week Nine's allusion... illusion aside, what do the
numbers really say and how do the facts really bare out? Let's take
a look-see:
R U N N I N G B
A C K S
RON DAYNE
LaMONT JORDAN
6 - 10 - 0
7 - 32 - 0
11 - 18 - 0
1 - 3 - 0
11 - 48 - 0
4 - 11- 0
3 - 2 - 0
12 - 34 - 0
5 - 13 - 0
1 - 1 - 0
9 - 43 - 0
7 - 14 - 0
4 - 11 - 0
13 - 52 - 0
13 - 107 - 1
6 - 40 - 1
6 - 20 - 0
Total:
68 - 237 - 1
Total:
51 - 222 - 1
Quite similar, huh? The interesting thing regarding Dayne is in
games where he received a "significant" amount of carries,
let's say the games in which he received nine or more, he had good
numbers with the exception of one game. On the flip side, he had
putrid numbers in games in which he got less than nine carries,
again, with just one exception.
Yet, the public perception of these two players is so vastly different.
Look, I am not here to rip Jordan. The guy is the real deal, versatile
and shifty, but everybody seems to be convinced of this already.
I am just getting the back of the back in the Big Apple that has
gotten a bum rap (there's that Eminem taking effect). Dayne, a Heisman
Trophy winner, #1 in rushing yardage in NCAA history, is seen as
overweight, slow, without good field vision and, ultimately, without
much promise while Jordan is viewed as a stud in the making. Listen,
I read Peter King's pre-draft analysis of Dayne back in 2000 and
I have seen him play. The guy is no Flash Gordon, but he is not
a washed up Fat Albert either. The guy is a "plow-ahead"
type runner who needs carries to succeed. He is not a "change-of-pace"
back by any stretch of the imagination. He is not at his best being
used in spot duty. Whenever the guy gets a "decent" number
carries, he typically goes for 4.0 yards per rush, solid. If Ron
Dayne toted the rock 25 to 30 times a game on a regular basis, he
would go for 100+ yards regularly; moreover, he would pour it on
in the fourth quarter like other successful "big" backs
such as Bettis or George in their primes. Actually, I would love
to see Dayne somehow end up on the Steelers as the Bus appears to
be running out of gas and into the wall, on which the writing says,
"the End." Then, we would see the masses jump on the bandwagon,
or should I say, "the Great Dayne." The lifespan of a
big back is relatively short, though, so let's get the man his due
opportunity here soon, coaches.
Steve has been participating
in and running fantasy football leagues since 1989 and was employed
as a writer/reporter/correspondent for footballinsider.com during
the 2000 season. He currently is commissioner of and participant
in the George Blanda
Rotisserie Football League (GBRFL), which was established in
1993. He has won two League Championships, most recently the 1999
crown. In addition, he established the Crystal
Ball Fantasy League (CBFL), a spin-off on FF Today's Mock Draft
#1. Steve is also the developer and administrator of "the
Gridiron" forum at Fantasyfootballer.com. He is the webmaster
of all the sites hosted at the Fantasyfootballer.com domain, the
web sites for the GBRFL and CBFL as well as "the Gridiron". At present,
his professional life has brought him back to Asia where has now
been living and working for a total of over six years. To learn
more about him and the unique circumstances under which he has participated
in fantasy football, take a look at the Pro Football Weekly article
"Long-distance
relationship".
