Running Back Blurb Breakdown: Steven Jackson

Steven Jackson
I have decided that Jackson is the perfect Fantasy Football Illusion. We all treat him as if he’s a stud and yet he’s only been in the top 10 fantasy-wise once in his five year career.

So what exactly is keeping him ranked this high year after year? Well for starters he DOES produce well despite missing games and suffering through terrible offensive lines and injured QBs. He can catch the ball, break a big run and fight for hard yards.

But the risk is he has only finished a full season once – in 2006 which was the year he was a top fantasy player. That’s telling – but so is how much he’s been hurt.

He’s also facing another season with a questionable Oline and now has a very young and/or inexperienced wide receivers for a weakening Bulger to throw to.

Jackson once again is a back with a ton of potential – but will it be reached or is it merely an illusion we chase every season?

Steven Jackson Playing

According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen Steven Jackson is active and will play against Arizona, confirms.
He won't be 100% but the matchup should be good. And they will need him to run and run well in order to keep Bulger upright.

STEVEN JACKSON OUT

Adam Shefter just reported Steven Jackson is OUT today.

Pittman gets the start.

Steven Jackson Correction

Earlier I reported on the possibility of Steven Jackson losing his unrestricted free agent status if he missed another practice. I should have double checked as it turns out that is untrue. (which I should have remembered from the Terrell Owens Fracas with the Eagles).

From Rotowire:

ESPN's NFL Live confirmed with the NFL that Steven Jackson could miss up to eight games and still maintain his status as an unrestricted free agent after this season.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has been reporting that Jackson would lose a credited season towards his unrestricted free agency if he didn't arrive at camp today, but as long as he shows up by week ten, he'll be credited for the current year.

So there you go, sorry about the misinformation. Blame the Post-Dispatch. I will.

Tuesday Morning Stampede

Yesterday, Green Bay Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy and estranged quarterback Brett Favre met for something on the order of 9 hours or so, longer than expected and wrapping their discussion at about 12:30am EST. Not much is known for sure about the meeting but we know they talked about what a QB controversy and battle might do to team chemistry. We still don't know what is going on here and there is supposed to be a press conference at some point today.

As the World Turns, These Are The Days of our Lives......

Washington Redskins
Yesterday Malcolm Kelly got his knee scoped and today it looks like fellow rookie Devin Thomas is going to miss all the practices this week and the second preseason game. Not a good start for the rookies here. Now word on if Fred Davis has woken up in time for camp or gotten a new alarm clock.

New York Jets
The rookies in this camp are faring much better, as Dustin Keller has been showcasing his talents all camp long and now Vernon Gholston is doing the same. While the Newark Star-Ledger is saying he has had a quiet camp so far, both the blogs at Newsday.com and DailyNews.com have mentioned Gholston being in the backfield many tiems in the day since he has signed his contract. Both players could have an impact - though Gholston's learning curve and the return of Chris Baker at tight end may limit the upside of both this season.

St Louis Rams
Steven Jackson continues to hold out but I think he shows to camp soon. Not because he will get what he wants or cave, but because if he misses one more day of camp, he loses a year towards being an unrestricted free agant, according St Louis Post-Dispatch . He may be willing to lose that if he thinks he can sign an extension but at this point both sides seem pretty far apart.

Baltimore Ravens
Wednesday's episode of The Thundering Blurb Fantasy Football Show will talk about Training Camp battles, but I'll touch on this one here as well. Rookie Joe Flacco is struggling in camp, overthrowing short passes or throwing them too hard. Touch Passes are important for the Ravens scheme so that's not good for his starting bid. Flacco has doubters and certainly has holes in his game. He was going to take a year to develop at least. Troy Smith has the edge in camp right now and looks like the starter.

More later.

Morning Stampede

A few early notes -

Jacksonville Jaguars
I've said a few times that tight end Marcedes Lewis will probably get more looks this year than the last few. That was before wideouts started dropping like flies with Porter, Williams and Northcutt hampered by injury. Northcutt is back but now Garrard is giving me cause to continue my Lewis hopes:

"Tight ends are usually my favorite targets," Garrard said. "They are reliable and always around the middle. I definitely want to get (Lewis') receptions up and get his play to where he's one of the elite tight ends in the league."
(Florida Times Union)

He's not on my list of possible #1 Fantasy tight ends, but he could be on his way to becoming a rock solid #2, which hasn't been the case since he entered the league.

Green Bay Packers
Ryan Grant is still holding out and with the Favre-flap (darn, I thought I would get through one of these without that name popping up) who knows when he'll get what he wants if ever. In the meantime, Brandon Jackson is getting a lot of reps and he's been looking good. If Grant keeps holding out and Jackson performs well in the preseason, it will cloud the running back position and make it very hard to recommend one of the two in Fantasy drafts. The Packer running back position will have value, no doubt - but choosing one right now could be tough.

By the way, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel the Packers are looking for a 3rd rounder and a body (preferebly a defensive tackle), not the 1st and 4th or 6th that was bandied about last week. This will get done - if Brett will talk to the teams interested.

St Loius Rams
With Steven Jackson holding out, Antonio Pittman and Brian Leonard are splitting reps, which is about what you'd expect if Jackson was out for an extended amount of time. Like with Jackson/Grant in Green Bay, it is unclear if either back will be a significant Fantasy value long term unless one stood out.

More later