Hi Folks,

Lots of shifting with RBs lately on several teams and wanted to bring you
the latest info as you manage your teams.

Let's jump to it.

Joe

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Chicago's Dick Jauron - "We don't want to be a single-back running team

Entire story:
http://chicagosports.com/bears/content/story/0,1984,165380,00.html

Clipped from the Fred Mitchell article:

Hop on the "A Train."

Bears players and fans are climbing aboard. But the coaching staff still
seems to be standing in line, waiting to have its ticket punched.

Anthony Thomas rushed for a Bears rookie-record 188 yards in 22 carries for
an 8.5-yard average and one touchdown Sunday.

But those remarkable accomplishments during the Bears' 24-0 trouncing of the
Bengals merely earned Thomas the designation of "the hot back" of the week
in the eyes of Bears coaches.

Thomas' 188 yards rank eighth all time among all Bears rushers. It was the
sixth-best rushing effort against a Bengals team.

"We like our tandem," said coach Dick Jauron. "We don't want to be a
single-back running team. I believe James Allen is pretty good. Whoever is
hot ... if he's hot, he'll get more carries."

Allen, a fourth-year veteran from Oklahoma, rushed for 163 yards in a game
against Baltimore in 1998, only to have then-Bears coach Dave Wannstedt say,
"Let's not put him in the Hall of Fame just yet."

Thomas alternated with Allen for the first several series Sunday until
Thomas clearly outperformed the veteran. Allen wound up with 17 yards on
seven carries (2.4 average). His longest run was 5 yards. Thomas had a long
run of 46 yards, as well as a 23-yard touchdown jaunt.

"The offensive line did a great job," Thomas said. "They were opening up
lanes that probably anybody could run through. Every time you go out, you
want to get better."

Thomas routinely bulled his way through the Bengals' defense, requiring
several players to bring him down.

"The guy can pound the football," said quarterback Jim Miller of the
second-round draft pick out of Michigan. "He has good feet, he's big (6 feet
1 inch, 230 pounds) and he powers it forward. We knew he was going to be
good. It was just a matter of time. He's a smart kid. He has picked up the
offense very well."

Miller connected on 23-of-30 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. But it
was the running game that buoyed the Bears' offense, which netted 435 yards.

"You just kind of go with the guy who's hot," said Miller, echoing the
sentiment of the coaching staff. "Anthony was just so hot and running so
well and they were having a hard time tackling him. The coaches just kind of
made a decision to go with the hot back. We're going to need James too. We
want to get to the point where there's a 1-2 punch."

The Bengals' defense looked punchy in the second half. Thomas had 110 yards
in only nine carries at halftime.

"Come the fourth quarter, those guys couldn't stop him," Miller said. "Our
offensive line was kicking their fannies again. You could just see it on the
field. That defensive line wanted no part of our offensive line. They were
abusing those guys."

Jauron praised Thomas' performance but seemed to want to evaluate his effort
within the team concept.

"We called his number more during the game," Jauron said. "But in every game
we have 'x' number of plays earmarked for him. Sometimes you don't get to
them all."

It was in an exhibition game against the Bengals on Aug. 4 that Thomas hurt
his knee, setting him back in training camp.

Sunday's record showing raises the bar of expectations for Thomas, who
hadn't rushed for more than 58 yards previously in the NFL.

"I know some of the guys who played, like Gale Sayers and Walter Payton,"
Thomas said. "And it's a compliment that some of those guys didn't do this.

"It's something that's real high and something I can think about the rest of
my life."


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Hard to tell how this will go.   We've been expecting Thomas to start
stealing more and more carries but honestly didn't see this explosion coming
this soon.   It seems pretty clear to me that Thomas has something special
while Allen just doesn't.   This could be a "motivation" thing for Thomas so
he keeps his head amidst the Walter Payton / Gale Sayers talk.   And it
could be "handling" James Allen so he stays positive.   But bottom line is I
think you'll continue to see good things from Thomas, just maybe not quite
the full fledged feature back.   Yet.


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Doug Chapman to Start Again

Entire story:   http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/776670.html

Clipped from the Kent Youngblood article:

Michael Bennett's right ankle is sore enough that the Vikings probably won't
have to worry this week how to split practice time at running back.

Doug Chapman had the best game by a Vikings running back this season in
Sunday's victory over Green Bay, a game in which the team had its best
running game in four seasons.

So the question of whom is the starter, long-term, wasn't something Vikings
coach Dennis Green was worried about Monday.

"He's not ready, No. 1 ...," Green said of Bennett. "So when we get to that
point, we will look at it. But his ankle is not ready yet."

Bennett was doing better in straight-line running, but hasn't tested his
ability to cut or move side to side.

"I just don't think he's going to be ready in one week," Green said. "Ankles
just don't heal, normally, in one week. He had a pretty serious ankle
[injury]. He's working hard at rehabilitation, so the sooner the better."

Players normally don't lose their starting roles because of injury. But
Chapman's performance Sunday certainly gave Vikings coaches confidence in
his ability.

"We always knew he could run," running backs coach Carl Hargrave said. "It
was a matter of having an opportunity. And he took advantage of the
opportunity. ... I think we're going to play things out the way they are. As
long as you're healthy, you're going to stay with the healthy guy."

Chapman, who gained 90 yards on 22 carries, credited the offensive line.

"I'm glad [the line] got some confidence," he said. "That's the main thing.
They set the tone, protected [quarterback] Daunte [Culpepper], opened some
holes for me."

Chapman likely has earned a lot of playing time even when Bennett gets
healthy. But Green wasn't ready to take that issue on yet.

"The good thing is we can do it any way we want to, because we don't put the
same value on starting as a lot of people do," Green said. "We put it in the
contribution, who is going to help us win, that's what it comes down to. ...
So when it comes to that time we'll look at who is going to give us the best
chance to win. That's who we'll play."


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Michael Bennett has the commanding lead for Rookie Bust of the Year.   Doug
Chapman looked excellent and put to rest a lot of the finger pointing by
Bennett supporters that the OL or the system was to blame.   Denny Green's
not one to admit he was wrong too often so I think you'll see that "serious
ankle" injury linger for as long as Chapman keeps performing.   Don't
forget, this kid scored about 200 TDs (okay, 61...) when he was at Marshall.
He's a player, so don't count him out.


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Canidate to Likely Get Another Start

Entire Story:   http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/

Clipped from the Nick Wishart article:

Get ready for more Trung Canidate. The Rams' No. 2 running back probably
will start again Sunday at home against the New Orleans Saints with Marshall
Faulk expected to be a scratch for the second week in a row.

"I wouldn't expect Marshall to be up for this game," coach Mike Martz said
Monday, adding that Faulk will be listed as questionable on the midweek
injury report. "He's got to be 100 percent before I would be convinced that
we've got to let him play. And if he's not, then he doesn't play."

Faulk sat out practice last week and missed Sunday's game because of a
bruised right knee suffered a week earlier against the Giants. Canidate, in
his first career start, performed brilliantly in relief, rushing for 195
yards and two touchdowns in the Rams' 34-14 win over the New York Jets.

Martz described Canidate's performance as a "relief." But, he added, "It
doesn't change whether Marshall would be up. You just can't do that. You are
really running a risk. We've got so much of the season left. We've got to do
the right thing. We're just going to see where he is probably Wednesday or
Thursday."


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Looks like you Canidate owners can pony up for another week.   Clearly, this
is a radically different situation than with Michael Bennett as Faulk will
certainly be the starter once he's ready.   It's just that with Canidate's
great performance, Coach Martz can take his time letting Faulk get back to
100%.   In a league full of teams not fulfilling expectations, you can be
sure the Rams are determined to keep meeting their lofty goals and that
means having Faulk at full speed for the longest time possible.   They'll
face New Orleans this week and then have week 8 off for their bye.   That's
even more reason not to push him back too early.   We can wring our hands in
week 9 as to who'll get the carries but for me, I'd expect another week of
Canidate for now.   An early matchup thought to keep in mind though:   The
Jets rank # 31 in Rushing Yards Allowed per Game over the last 4 weeks while
New Orleans ranks # 7.


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Mixed Signals on Shaun Alexander

Entire story:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/134357552_hawk23.html

Clopped from the Percy Allen article:

KIRKLAND - The key components to their offensive resurgence can be traced to
a trio of Seahawks reserves that few had counted on just weeks ago.

A pair of backups and a prominent castoff were thrown into starting roles
and because of them, Seattle rebounded from consecutive lopsided defeats
with back-to-back victories.

Consider running back Shaun Alexander, quarterback Trent Dilfer and
offensive tackle Todd Weiner, improbable stars for an improbable team that
finds itself among the NFL's elite.

And yet when 3-2 Seattle, one of six AFC teams with a winning record, meets
3-2 Miami on Sunday at Husky Stadium, Dilfer and Weiner aren't likely to be
in the starting lineup.

In a few weeks, Alexander will join them on the sideline when Ricky Watters
recovers from a shoulder injury.

An unwritten rule in the NFL says players don't lose their jobs because of
injury. However, Coach Mike Holmgren admits that sometimes he follows this
policy and sometimes he doesn't.

"A lot of times you get stuck when a player feels like you weren't honest
with him," Holmgren said. "(There's) a lot of things that can happen.
Generally speaking, a veteran player who can come back and play, normally he
doesn't lose his starting position.

"But every once in awhile, for whatever reasons, you might want to go one
more week with a certain combination. My main concern is that the player
knows what we're doing."


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I, for one have trouble with the "player can't lose his job to injury"
conventional wisdom.   If Dilfer's healthy, he'd be my guy.   Although I can
see Holmgren's angle if he's playing for the long term.  (Although I'd be
worried about Jerry Glanville's famous quote about the NFL stands for "Not
For Long")   The worry for Holmgren from a leadership point of view is
staying consistent.   How does he bench Dilfer when Hasselbeck is ready but
not bench Alexander when Watters can go?   If Holmgren is focused on the
future, he could make a case that he's being consistent in keeping a long
term focus.   Few people think Dilfer is the long term guy and most everyone
expects Alexander to take over for Watters next season.   Therefore, he'd be
playing his future guys.   You've probably got a couple more weeks before
you have to worry about this but it might make a difference in your trade /
free agency dealings.


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That'll do it for now, Folks.   Talk to you soon.

Joe

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