Yes, we all know that the Packers rank dead last in rushing offense in the entire league; but what you may not know is the situation in which the Packers have gotten to such a point. The Packers started this season with 4 RB's on the opening game depth chart. These 4 backs have a combined total of 2 years of NFL experience. That's right, 3 rookies and a back entering his 3rd in the league. Here are the names of those backs in case you haven't heard of them. Vernand Morency, 2005 3rd round pick by the Texans, came to Green Bay via a Samkon Gado trade. Brandon Jackson, 2007 2nd round pick by the Packers. DeShawn Wynn, 2007 7th round pick by the Packers. Ryan Grant, 2007 undrafted free agent signed by the Packers. The Packers headed into the season with plans of Morency being the featured back, and the rookies slugging it out for the back-up roles. Morency injured his knee in the preseason and essentially didn't play until week 5 (only 1 carry in week 4). With Morency down to start the season, the Packers went with their 2nd round pick (mainly) in Brandon Jackson for the first 3 weeks of the season. For those of you who don't know, the Packers' offensive line run a "zone blocking scheme", which is an unconventional style that these young backs have never before encountered (it essentially means that the lineman are in charge of a specific zone instead of a specific defender to block). Back to the point, Jackson was featured in weeks 1-3, gaining only 97 yards on 38 carries in that time period (2.6 ypc). In week 4, Wynn and Grant were given a chance (sort of); the Packers were up against the dominant Vikings run D and the two combined for 37 yards on only 13 carries. I'm slowly getting around to my point here. At this point in the season, the coaching staff decided that DeShawn Wynn was the back that had shown the most potential to be the featured back on this team and in week 5 against the Bears, he got 13 touches for 78 yards. While that may not seem like a big number, that is 6.0 ypc. Wrapping this all up, the Packers have decided on a RB that they feel can be the most productive for this team moving forward. DeShawn Wynn will now be given the majority of the carries. At this point in the season, he has 202 yards on 49 carries; not numbers that are going to blow anybody away, but that is only 8.2 carries per game but an average of 4.1 ypc. 4.1 isn't going to win any player of the week awards, but it is formidable and more than enough to perfectly compliment the style of offense the Packers are running. Look for Wynn to start making strides on this team and quickly pull the Packers out of the rushing rank cellar. So while we can all make our predictions on the upcoming Packers' games due to their "inability to run the football", don't look now but the Packers have found a running game. I believe a lot of people with be very suprised at the way the Packers will be able to run the ball following their bye week. Especially with the re-instatement of Koren Robinson, the Packers will be able to spread out the defense and gain some good yardage on the ground.
Wynn does not bad in his first appearances. He show more than Jackson or Grant. the ranking should be Wynn - Morency - Grant - Jackson, but injuries make a mess out of this.
I think up to this point that Grant has shown the most promise considering that Wynn is hurt everyother play it seems. I like Grant and I think he will do fine if the oline progresses enough to where they should get some decent blocks for the running back.
