|
|
|
E-GIANTS By DAVE KLEIN Now that many more fans have seen the 6-4, 265-pound running back, if only in that first preseason game last Saturday night in Cleveland, the buzz is growing louder and becoming far more widespread. The important thing to keep in mind now is that nothing is ever as good as it looks at first blush, that there will be speed bumps and pot holes along the way, and if this kid is the second coming of Earl Campbell-Jim Brown-Eric Dickerson-Marion Motley (that's for the older folks) he will have to keep proving it over and over. But head coach Tom Coughlin, while trying hard not to jump on the bandwagon and speed off into playoff land, did have an interesting response to a question yesterday at the team’s training camp in Albany, N.Y. Jacobs had left practice early, and in noticeable discomfort, and Coughlin disclosed that he had been hit in the groin. Painful, but not serious. "Does that mean he's human?" "I hope not," Coughlin answered.. Jacobs carried 12 times Saturday night, between bouts of lightning, and gained 73 yards. That's the official number. But he had runs of 11 and seven yards taken away by holding calls, and had another monster explosion of 43 yards turned into a "measly" 10-yard gain. So add up the yards that were taken away from him, throw in two more carries and he really ran with the ball 14 times and gained 124 yards - in less than two quarters. The big thing will be to see him Saturday night against the Carolina Panthers (at Giants Stadium), and if he does it again, or anything like it, then there will be the following Friday night game at Giants Stadium, against the Jets. There might even be some bad blood in this game, stemming from the chaotic violence on the field during their Aug. 6 team-vs.-team practice sessions. Those two considerations - the excitement Jacobs is generating plus the prospect of a Hatfields-McCoys feud might actually put people into the exhibition game seats. Last Saturday night at halftime, I visited with a few old friends from Cleveland, including a guy who has been there forever dealing with the Browns and Indians. "So what do you think of the Jacobs kid?" I asked. "Jim Brown," he said. "Excuse me?" "Jim Brown," he repeated. "He reminds me of Jim Brown." Good grief, what hath Ernie Accorsi wrought? Did he actually find a player of even half that ability in the fourth round? Jacobs was part of the 330 collegians in the Rookie Tryouts in Indianapolis last February, and for those who don’t know how that works, there is a group of seven NFL people - scouts, personnel directors, etc. - who vote on the invitations. A name is brought up and four of the seven must approve. Once done, the player is invited. No one will say exactly, but Jacobs didn't get a unanimous seven-man vote. You all know by now that he was the Giants' fourth round draft pick, the 110th player chosen overall. You all know by now that he started his collegiate career at Auburn (well, actually at Coffeyville Junior College in Kansas), and in 2003 was re- accepted to Auburn. But he transferred to Southern Illinois in time for the 2004 season, in order to get more playing time. The problem at Auburn had two names - Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams. Brown was the second overall draft pick last April (Miami) and Williams was the fifth (Tampa Bay). Meanwhile, Jacobs did what he had to do, gained 992 yards in 150 carries, scored 19 touchdowns, averaged 6.6 yards per carry and caught eight passes for 83 yards. "There were no hard feelings at Auburn," he said. "In fact, the coaching staff understood and helped me get to Southern Illinois." You all know by now, as well, that he turned down several Division I scholarship offers (including Nebraska, Alabama, Georgia and Georgia Tech) because he didn’t want to sit out last season. The NCAA rules insist that Division I student-athletes transferring to another Division I school must sit out the next season, but that is not the case with a Division I student-athlete transferring to Division II or Division III. "I didn't want to waste a year," Jacobs said. "If it was meant for me to play in the NFL, then I wanted to get there as quickly as possible." Defensive players have been bouncing off him - first his teammates during practices, then the Jets in that Aug. 6 skirmish, last several Browns. It is not possible to isolate a man that size against a cornerback who is 5-10 and 185 and expect a fair fight. As has been pointed out by a more than knowledgeable football guy, "the Giants have three huge targets for Eli Manning if they want to set it up that way - wide receiver Plaxico Burress [6- 5, 225], tight end Jeremy Shockey [6-5, 250] and now Jacobs. Somebody isn't going to be double-covered. It isn't possible." Another aspect of this dramatic emergence is that not only isn't it bad news for superstar halfback Tiki Barber, it’s actually great news. Jacobs' development will demand that he gets between 10 and 15 carries a game. That would be what Tiki gets, too, and with the odd-and-even texture of their comparative sizes, both would benefit. Fewer carries with potential explosion might add two or three years to the 30-year-old Barber's career. But remember, this is something we should keep secret for a while longer. There is no sense in terrifying opposing defensive coordinators before it's completely necessary. Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS
where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here. NEW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!
|
||||||||
|
Stop in and visit "Mike's
Keys to the Internet" |
|
|