Rams tweets etc. … 11/13 – 11/17

Agree about Jackson and Manning. Always thought the latter was one of the most talented QBs ever. The Saints were just pathetic in those days. On a better team, he likely wins all kinds of championships. Barry Sanders too.

Jackson was a size/speed/power freak. Though he did have an Achilles’ heel, down around his Achilles’ heel. He seemed to get tripped up a lot via last ditch ankle tackles. It was kinda weird to watch, really. Someone that big, fast, and powerful, going down cuz of a last gasp/grasp effort.

I wonder if the Rams ever tried to get him to adjust. He played most of his career before the NFL really took advantage of new tech, analytics, Next Gen stats, etc. But they had film, obviously.

Jackson also makes me think of more What Ifs. What if Dickerson had spent as much time building up his body as Jackson? He was slightly taller at 6’3″, and had the frame to carry another 20 pounds or so. And while Dickerson did run hard, and wasn’t afraid to run through guys, he didn’t seem to like weight-training all that much. He kinda went with what he already had, sans special training. He needed an Aaron Donald on his team as an example.

zn wrote:

Billy_T wrote:

I wonder if the Rams ever tried to get him to adjust. He played most of his career before the NFL really took advantage of new tech, analytics,

Interesting discussion. When Stephen Davis was a Ram in 2006 after a long career playing in both Washington and Carolina, he openly talked about trying to teach SJ how to run lower, under his pads. Jackson did that for a bit in 2006 (one of his best years–in the last 6 games of that season, he had 151 carries for 725 yards and 8 TDs). But then Davis was gone after 2006 (and the OL fell apart due to injuries). After that Jackson never seemed to re-acquire the art of running lower and more under his pads. He remained the upright runner we all remember. Plus unlike practically every back the Rams have now, SJ did not have superior contact balance. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t superior. That seems to be the common trait of every current Rams RB, from Wms to Henderson and so on. Not elusiveness, not power, not speed–contact balance.

Did not know that, ZN. Davis was good too, and his advice sounds spot on. Who knows how much more effective Jackson may have been if he had heeded that advice long-term . . . but I suspect it would have been significant.

Seems logical that taller backs are especially prone to contact balance issues, especially if they don’t run lower, lean in, etc. Physics would seem to favor shorter backs when it comes to that . . .

Rams generally show a preference for shorter backs, in the 5’8″ range. But Gurley was kind of in the “sweet spot” for them. A tad over 6′, 220, with legit track-speed. Until he got all banged up, I remember his “contact balance” being pretty damn good. He wasn’t as powerful as Jackson, but he was faster, and less likely to be tripped up.