Next Wave of Young Running Backs

In week 8 of the NFL, there are a few teams that will be giving some young running backs a chance to show off their skills, possibly propelling them as the next new wave of young running backs in the NFL. With injuries to both Brian Westbrook and Leon Washington, rookies LeSean McCoy of the Philadelphia Eagles and Shonn Greene of the New York Jets are going to see an increased workload. And with some off the field issues, week 9 for the Kansas City Chiefs could have second year man Jamaal Charles as the primary back. All three of these backs have flown under the radar in their early careers, not gaining nearly as much publicity as other young backs such as Knowshon Moreno and Chris "Beanie" Wells.

Let's first take a closer look at LeSean McCoy. It might surprise you to learn that McCoy is actually the leading rusher this season for the Eagles, gaining 15 more yards on the ground than his counterpart, Westbrook. And with Westbrook continuing to be plagued by injuries every season, McCoy is looking more and more like the every down back of the future; the man to replace Westbrook full-time. Not to say that Westbrook is done his career by any means, but this is Westbrook's 8th NFL season, and everyone knows that the average lifespan of an NFL running back isn't very long. Most "experts" say that a running back usually sticks around for seven seasons, with about four or five productive years. With that being said, Westbrook's career seems to be on the downswing. And who is next in line? McCoy did have a solid game in week 3 against the Chiefs, putting up 84 yards on 20 carries, adding one touchdown. And the New York Giants, who the Eagles play this week, are giving up on average 103 yards on the ground each game, and have allowed 10 rushing touchdowns. So I'm expecting a breakout performance for McCoy to put him on the map permanently.

And as for Shonn Greene, he is in a little bit of a different situation, but is primed to put himself on the map as well. He is taking the place of back-up Leon Washington, behind Thomas Jones. However, last week, both Greene and Jones had huge games against the Oakland Raiders. Greene put up 144 yards and two touchdowns while Jones put up 121 yards and one touchdown. And with Rex Ryan's rush happy offense to help protect rookie Mark Sanchez, there are going to be plenty of touches for Greene. And if we go back to the average lifespan of a running back, Jones' career is about to be done as well. This is Jones' 10th season, so if we go by averages, Jones might be calling it a career soon. But that remains to be seen, as Jones has posted totals of over 1,000 rushing yards the past four seasons, and is on his way to do it again this year. But the day that Jones hangs up his jersey, it looks as if Shonn Greene will be ready to become the every down back. All of this is just speculation, and will depend on the return of Leon Washington, who was placed on the injured reserve after breaking his leg after one carry last week.

Finally, we have Jamaal Charles, who has a lot to prove before he can step into the shoes of Larry Johnson, who has been increasingly in the negative news in the past few years. After a great career at the University of Texas, Charles was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2008 NFL draft, and hasn't shown too much in the NFL in his first two seasons. The one chance that he did get last year against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Charles rushed for 106 yards on 18 careers, but hasn't done much since, rarely getting more than five carries a game. And with Larry Johnson being currently suspended, Charles will be given the opportunity to try and prove himself. The Chiefs have a bye week this week, but take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 9, who are giving up about 99 yards a game, but only surrendering three rushing touchdowns. So we will see what awaits Charles. And once again, if we go back to the normal lifespan of an NFL running back, Johnson is also on the down swing, with this being his seventh season.

I know that there are a lot of other young running backs out there, but these are three that haven't really gotten a lot of press or opportunities to play. Obviously, people like the Steelers' Rashard Mendenhall (it kills me to admit this) are on the upswing of their career, and there are other sleepers out there, such as the Colts' Donald Brown, but he is behind Joseph Addai, and not really getting enough carries yet to show what he can do. But in the next few weeks, let's keep an eye on McCoy, Greene, and Charles to see if they can replace their elder counterparts and bring in a new wave young running backs.

Can LeSean McCoy, Shonn Greene, and Jamaal Charles be the next wave of top running backs in the NFL?

Another great Monday Night Football game

Who would have thought that the New York Jets at the Miami Dolphins in week five of the season would present us with such a great game? This is the second Monday Night Football game in a row that I watched every second of, and was glad that I did (except for all the hype about Hispanic heritage, I mean really, speak English in television unless I'm watching the game on ESPN Deportes). But back to the game! Wow, was that a great back and forth battle or what?

After Mark Anthony took about 10 minutes to sing the National Anthem, the thing that immediately caught my attention was the Dolphins uniform. Man, were those things bright or what? And after this game, I was tempted to go and buy one of these bright orange Ronnie Brown jerseys. What a game he had! Dolphin, I mean, Landshark Stadium, as it is now called, was going bizerk the entire game. And you know why? The Wildcat! Need I say more?

Dan Henning, the Dolphins offensive coordinator, looked like a genius going up against Rex Ryan and his dominating defense. They mixed up their offense in a fashion that I have not seen before. Not only did Chad Henne and Ronnie Brown take direct snaps in this game, but so did Ricky Williams and even Pat White. The Jets defense looked all out of sorts, not knowing who to cover, who had the ball, or who was even on the field for that matter. On the first Wildcat play, only the third play of the game Ronnie Brown rolled out to his left to find Anthony Fasano wide open for a gain of 21 yards. This set the pace for the rest of the game as the Dolphins ran 16 Wildcat plays for a total of 110 yards, including the game winning touchdown with only six seconds left on the game clock. It made for a very exciting 31-27 victory for the Dolphins.

Not to go unnoticed is the play by the two quarterbacks, who combined now have a total of eight NFL starts. Chad Henne went 20-26 for 241 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 130.4. Not bad for his third start. And Mark Sanchez also somewhat impressive, going 12-24 for 172 yards and one touchdown, also with no interception. Obviously, Henne has a much better overall game, but one other thing that may have came out of this game for Sanchez was the emergence of Braylon Edwards as his number one receiver. I don't think I commented on this yet, but on Wednesday of last week, the Jets and the Cleveland Browns made a trade sending Edwards to the Jets in return for Chansi Stuckey, another player, and a couple of draft picks. Edwards stepped up as Sanchez's go to guy, hauling in five catches for 64 yards, including a very impressive touchdown catch as well as another deep ball where he came up just a half yard short of his second score of the night.

All in all, it was another pleasant Monday Night Football game from two unsuspecting teams. From the looks of it right now, the Denver Broncos traveling into Qualcomm Stadium to take on the San Diego Chargers could turn out to be yet another great match-up. I'll let you know what I think next week.

Over/Under: When will Favre's arm give out?

Yes. The quarterback that holds every quarterback record there is had a wonderful game Monday night, and picked up yet another record, if that is what you want to call it (he has now beaten all 32 NFL teams once). I'll give it to the guy. Brett Favre looked as good as he ever has, making precise throws, putting up great numbers, and securing a victory wearing a purple #4. But let's think back to this time last year, when Favre was in a New York Jets uniform.

Last year, through week four, the Jets were 2-2, where the Minnesota Vikings are 4-0. Before we start saying how much better he is this year than last year, let's look at whom he played. Through the first four weeks of the 2008 season, the New York Jets had beaten the Miami Dolphins (a playoff team last season), lost to the New England Patriots (who are the Patriots), lost to the San Diego Chargers (a playoff team last season), and beaten the Arizona Cardinals (who made it to the Super Bowl to barely loose to the Steelers, which makes me want to throw up typing that). So yea, they were 2-2. As for the Vikings this year, they are 4-0 because they have beaten the Cleveland Browns (who are 0-4), the Detroit Lions (who are 2-26 going back to November 11, 2007), the San Francisco 49ers (ok, they are having an decent season but haven't really faced much competition except the Vikings), and the Green Bay Packers (which is making me write this blog). So does everyone have that now? The Vikings are 4-0 because they haven't faced much, and the Jets were 2-2 after a tough start last season. And now you are asking "What is the point of all this?"

Here is the point. Brett Favre is getting so much credit for being such a great quarterback, which he was, back in the day. This season, these are Brett Favre's numbers: 85 completions on 125 attempts, which is 68%, 837 yards, eight touchdowns, and only one interception. This time last year, Favre was: 87-124 for 70%, 935 yards, 12 touchdowns, and four interceptions. Then after week four last year, Favre only threw for 10 more touchdowns. At this time last year, Favre was a better quarterback than this year.

Grant it, he has this guy that lines up behind him this year that is probably going to end up being the best running back of all-time, maybe. Adrian Peterson is going to take a lot of pressure off of Favre and give the Vikings a good chance to be a very good team. But how long can Favre sling the ball around the field like he did on Monday night? I sat there and watched every second of that game the other night, except for when I had to check in on my boy Chuck Liddell on Dancing With The Stars. But besides that, I saw the Brett Favre that I saw when I was younger, when he threw that ball that rolled on Antonio Freeman's back, rolled over, caught it, got up, and housed it to the end zone to beat none other than the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. But he is also the same Brett Favre who dominated the first four weeks last season and fell off the face of the earth faster than Usain Bolt crosses the finish line nowadays.

All I'm saying is that we have to be careful with cheering too many praises for the man who turns 40 years old on Saturday. I love to watch him play, and he is one of the best quarterbacks that I am going to ever see play (I'm only 22 years old, then again, I get to see Joe Flacco for the next 15 years). Good luck Brett Favre, you are going to need it my man, especially in your week six match-up against the amazing Baltimore Ravens.