RBs: Trading spaces

GREEN BAY – If you don’t think the running game matters to a team with the National Football League’s MVP at the controls of one of the most high-powered passing games in the league, well, then Greg Jennings disagrees with you.

The Green Bay Packers two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver went on NFL Network’s “Total Access” last week, and when asked what the Packers’ biggest question mark is entering the 2012 season, Jennings didn’t respond with fixing the league’s 32nd-ranked defense, or finding a serviceable left tackle to protect quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ blind side. No, Jennings said the biggest issue facing the team is its less-than-fearsome ground game.

“The biggest question … I’m going to do a little self-scouting because defenses don’t prepare for our run game,” Jennings said. “Defensive coordinators aren’t wracking their brain, ‘Oh my gosh, we have to stop their running game.’ So can we sustain this high level of explosive level offense without a run game? It’s going to be interesting to see.

“I’m (of the) belief that we’re going to fix our running game and we’re going to get it going this year. But that’s probably going to be the number one focus of us – us meaning us within that locker room that know we need to change something on that side of the ball.”

That may be true among the players, but according to new running backs coach Alex Van Pelt, the running backs’ list of priorities remains the same. As it has always been under head coach Mike McCarthy – with Jerry Fontenot as running backs coach last season and Edgar Bennett as running backs coach for five years before that – the running backs’ to-do list remains protecting the quarterback, ball security, and then to run the ball productively.

“I think it speaks to the way this offense operates. Obviously with a guy like Aaron Rodgers, you’re going to use his ability to throw the football, especially with the talent that we have around him at receiver,” Van Pelt said. “First and foremost, we have to keep him upright. Then when we do run the ball, we’ve got to protect the ball. Those are the two things we say in our room – ‘Protect our football, and protect our quarterback.’ That’s it. If we can do that, we’ve got a chance.”

Last season, the Packers’ leading rushers were James Starks, who carried 133 times for 578 yards (4.3-yard average) and one touchdown, and Ryan Grant, who remains on the free-agent market after carrying 134 times for 559 yards (4.2-yard average) and two touchdowns.

Without Grant, whose locker has been given away and hasn’t heard from the Packers all offseason, the lead role presumably will go to Starks, despite a troubling track record with injuries. He missed his entire senior at the University of Buffalo with a torn labrum in his shoulder; spent the first half of his rookie season with the Packers in 2010 on the physically unable to perform list with a torn hamstring and was severely hampered down the stretch last season by knee and ankle injuries he suffered on Nov. 20 against Tampa Bay. Although he ended up playing in 13 regular-season games, he was unable to finish three of those late in the season, after the injury.

While Starks was a godsend on the Packers’ road to the Super Bowl XLV title in 2010, his lack of durability is a major issue.

“I see a powerful, slashing runner that he can do some great things. Obviously he’s done it, he’s proven it,” Van Pelt said. “(He’s an) explosive guy, powerful guy … (We’ve) just got to keep him healthy. That’s the difference.  He’s got to play 16 games this year. Got to. We’ve got to get him through it. I know he’s put in the work now with the weights and the offseason program. He’s done a nice job there. That’s the first part. Then going in with the mentality of, ‘I’m not going to miss a game. If I have to play nicked, I’m going to do it.’ Having that toughness to go out there and be there every week for your team.”

Starks said he’s spent the offseason “stretching a little more at night and trying to get my endurance up so the legs don’t get as tired,” but his primary solution for his injury problems: Prayer.

“It’s football. You never really know what’s going to come about,” Starks said. “Past years, I happened to get little nicks and bruises here and there, but I’m going to pray on it and God willing have and injury-free year and I’ll keep getting better.”

The coaches also see big things for second-year running back Alex Green, who missed most of his rookie season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered Oct. 23 at Minnesota, even though he’s unsure of whether he’ll be ready for the first practice of training camp on July 26.

“Physically, I’m doing good. Each week I’m progressing a lot. I’ve been cutting at as close to full speed as possible, and just my conditioning, my endurance in my leg, I’m getting back in the rhythm of things,” Green said. “I knew all along they weren’t going to let me go (in minicamp). I’d always bug them, ‘C’mon, just one day,’ but it’s not going to happen until – at the earliest – camp.”

Asked if he’s gotten a feeling that the coaches want to give him a significant role in the offense, Green replied, “They don’t really tell us. I’m not getting any vibe. I haven’t talked to the coaches about it. Just the way things play out, you kind of get the sense. With only three running backs, we’re probably all going to get a little piece of the pie. As far as that goes, that’s the only vibe I’ve gotten. I’m just worried about getting back on the field again and see what I can do from there.”

QUICK READ: RUNNING BACKS

No.	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Age	Exp.	College
44	James Starks	RB	6-2	218	26	3	Buffalo
20	Alex Green	RB	6-0	225	24	2	Hawaii
33	Brandon Saine	RB	5-11	220	23	2	Ohio State
27	Marc Tyler	RB	5-11	226	23	R	USC
23	Du’ane Bennett	RB	5-9	213	23	R	Minnesota
30	John Kuhn	FB	6-0	250	29	7	Shippensburg
35	Jon Hoese	FB	6-2	238	23	1	Minnesota
40	Nic Cooper	FB	5-10	249	23	R	Winston-Salem

 

In counting on Green to fill a key role, there’s an eerily similar situation to the Cullen Jenkins-Mike Neal swap of 2011. There, the Packers let a productive-but-aging veteran walk as a free agent, watching him sign an affordable deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, because they had Neal, a second-year player whose rookie season ended prematurely because of a major injury, waiting in the wings. A year later, at running back, the team has made no effort to re-sign Ryan Grant because it has Green, whose role in the offense was set to expand just when he blew out his knee. There’s no reason to think that Green, like Neal, will have more injury issues and won’t deliver, but if he does have a setback or isn’t fully ready to play, it could be a blow to one of the league’s best offenses.

The Packers kept Saine around on the practice squad after training camp last year, and the undrafted free agent rose to the 53-man roster before becoming the team’s most reliable pass-protector. While Saine hasn’t reached the point of Brandon Jackson, who was phenomenal in that role, he certainly was more effective than Starks, who has drawn quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ ire on multiple occasions for missed blocking assignments. “He’s gotten under me a couple times. Missing a couple blocks, things like that, things he knows I can do better,” Starks told ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd on Tuesday. “That’s his job to do it, and he let me know, and I didn’t take offense to it at all. If he knows I should do something right, he’ll let me know. It’s not embarrassing to me. I take it as a learning experience.”.

Green came in last year as a third-round pick after averaging a gaudy 8.2 yards on 146 carries in 2010 at the University of Hawaii, where he often found huge holes on draws in the team’s pistol offense. If his knee is 100 percent, he could take on a significant role in the offense even if Starks manages to stay healthy. He has size, speed and spent his time on the sideline learning the offense. The coaches love his potential, but he has to be healthy enough to realize it.

Saine would appear to have this role locked up, but he’ll have to show more as a pass-catcher and runner. One option that remains for the role: Fullback John Kuhn, whom Rodgers says knows the offense as well as anybody, is an indispensable part of the offense. Although his listing on the NFL Network’s Top 100 players list at No. 92 raised plenty of eyebrows and was used as evidence of the list’s ridiculousness, it’s not far-fetched to think Kuhn is one of the best players on the Packers’ roster at his position. He just happens to play a position that for many teams has become obsolete.

Noteworthy

According to ProFootballFocus.com, Jackson was the best back in the NFL over the past three seasons at picking up the blitz. That’s saying something about how good he was during his Packers’ tenure, since he missed all of last season with a toe injury. In 156 protection situations, he allowed only four pressures, a 97.92 percent success rate. Ranking third? None other than Kuhn, who in the past three years had 166 protection assignments and allowed only five pressures, a 97.74 percent efficiency.

Quoteworthy

“Talking about the backs, I like the way James Starks is moving. It’s nice to see Alex Green out there. Brandon (Saine) is so consistent; probably the most consistent guy we have back there. I think both young free agents have a chance as far as their movement ability.” – McCarthy, breaking down the five running backs currently on the roster.

Next: Wide receivers.

Listen to Jason Wilde every weekday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on “Green & Gold Today,” and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jasonjwilde.