The Buzz Index-April 30th 2008-"Alexander the Great"

The Buzz Index-April 30th 2008-"Alexander the Great"

Former NFL MVP Shaun Alexander is sitting somewhere wondering what is in is near future in Pro football.
A couple of years ago this sentecne would of been laughed apon. Come on, Shaun Alexander, league MVP, perennial pro bowler,on a super bowl team.... not in Seattle, please that is absurd.

Well folks it is the truth. "Alexander the Great" is no longer in Seattle and your guess is as good as mine as to where he will end up.

Alexander is 30 years old and is not getting any younger, as shown by his sharp drop in production in the last two years.



He has averaged only 806 yds, 5.5 TDs and only averaged 11.5 games and 20 carries a game since his MVP 2005 season in which he put up insane numbers, 1,880 yd, 27 touchdown, 16 games, and 23 carries a game.

The fact of the matter is that some team out there will take a chance on Alexander, hoping that he can return to a fraction of the production he put up in 05. Either way, good production or not, seeing Shaun Alexander dress up in some other uniform than his usual Seahawk blue will be a shock to the old eyes.

And that is the buzz for April 30, 2008.

Adrian Peterson is praying Steve Hutchison stays with him so the same thing does not happen to him. Offensive lines make very good running backs look AMAZING. See Priest Holmes.

But AD is pretty dirty. Hopefully that upright running style from a 6'2" guy does not get him wrecked though.

RonMercer wrote:

Adrian Peterson is praying Steve Hutchison stays with him so the same thing does not happen to him. Offensive lines make very good running backs look AMAZING. See Priest Holmes.

But AD is pretty dirty. Hopefully that upright running style from a 6'2" guy does not get him wrecked though.

Which is the difference with Peterson however. Amazing running backs (like AD) look "great" (and I use the term - "great", the way it should be used) because it is true. He is unlike any other back and it's about 75% of him doing the work. The O-line gets him to the 2nd level, but he does the rest.

The upright running style won't get him hurt, though. He enjoys punishing defenders more then running by them. A big hit will never injure him....only he can injure himself.

I disagree. With him running straight at the defender the defender can only lunge and hope for the best (which is demoralizing to say the least). But running upright can lead you to take a nasty lick from the side if your offensive line does not allow you to get in open space (which benefits him a lot). As of right now he is the best open field player in the league without a doubt, due to his combo of agility, breakaway speed, and strength, but taking a hit on the shoulder from a linebacker who is down low running straight at you can end anyones season/career real quick. Offensive lines make priest holmes, tiki barber, shaun alexander, and other running backs who rely on vision look a lot better than they are. They let athletic monsters like AD get the space needed to make people look foolish, while also protecting him from those hits within the first 5 yards of scrimmage that will shorten his career dramatically. I am not sure how hard the turf is at the vikings stadium, but a punishing blow from the likes of a NFL mlb that plants him on his side could hurt him a lot more than it would a low to the ground 5'9" running back.