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July 29, 2006
ALBANY, N.Y. –
Brandon Jacobs
wants to be one of the best big backs in the NFL. To help him reach that goal, the Giants’ second-year pro has conferred with one of the best big backs the league has ever produced.
RB Brandon Jacobs is hoping to emulate former NFL running back Eddie George and use his size and strength to give the Giants offense another dimension. Jacobs spoke with Eddie George, who rushed for 10,441 regular season yards and 68 touchdowns in nine seasons with the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys. Few backs were better than George at lowering their shoulders, churning their legs and gaining tough yards with defenders draped all over them.
At 6-4 and 264 pounds, Jacobs is an inch taller and almost 30 pounds heavier than George was. Like his advisor, the youngster believes he can gain thousands of yards and punish defenders at the same time.
“I watched a lot of Eddie George film to see how he was running when he got in the league,” Jacobs said today between training camp practice sessions at the University at Albany. “I talked to him a little bit about how he worked on getting his hips down and being able to stay low, those kinds of things. I talk to him occasionally.
“I like to see how he worked, how he moved laterally. I went back and I looked at him on film when he was in Tennessee during his first four, five years in the league. He tore it up, he really ran hard, he ran low, fast. I talked to him and tried to see how I could get my hips to where he has his and my shoulders to where he had his and I really tried to work on it a whole bunch. Eddie was a beast, he did what he had to do while he was playing. I didn’t see many people step in front of him. He proved himself in this league. I want to be better.”
The primary roadblock preventing Jacobs from proving he’s one of the NFL’s finest backs is that he’s not even the best runner on his team. That distinction belongs to Tiki Barber, who last year shattered his own Giants record by rushing for 1,860 yards. The franchise’s career rushing leader with 8,787 yards, Barber appears as strong as ever at age 31. Although reporters and fans have suggested it might be wise to reduce Barber’s workload, coach Tom Coughlin does not seem keen on the idea. He likes the ball in Barber’s hands. If the 2005 playing time pattern is repeated, Jacobs will largely be limited to short-yardage and goal line duties and another reserve, Derrick Ward, will have to settle for infrequent carries.
“I just think he’s learning and growing and trying to understand how to best protect himself and how best to be in a position where he can be the most effective -- to utilize the strength in his body and the power,” Coughlin said. “I think from that standpoint, it’s an on-going thing. I’ve seen some improvement and we’re going to have to see how it goes. He’s tall. Tall runners sometimes have that (instinct to run high). I thought he got better. At the end of the year, at the goal line, I thought he was better at getting low.”
As a rookie, Jacobs played in all 16 games and rushed for 99 yards on 38 carries. He was the first Giants rookie to score seven touchdowns since Bobby Johnson in 1984 and the first to rush for seven scores since Bill Paschal in 1943.
“That’s what my job was and I wanted to make sure I got my job done properly, before I can try to do something else,” Jacobs said. “It’s easy to make that transition from the real-shifty back to the big-strong back that no one is going to stop.”
But a moment later, Jacobs was asked if he achieved what he had hoped in his debut season.
“I accomplished half,” he said. “I wanted to play more, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way, because Tiki’s a beast. And I didn’t know as much, I wasn’t ready to get out there last year. These coaches do what they do for a reason. I wanted to play more, I scored me a few touchdowns, ran over a few people.”
This year, Jacobs finds himself in an odd position. He yearns for a larger role, to be called on more frequently and to develop a reputation as an every-down back. But he is also a team player who understands he is behind Barber on the depth chart. Jacobs insists he won’t be frustrated if he’s again used primarily in specific situations.
“I think when coach is ready for me he’ll call my number,” Jacobs said. “All I do is learn and get ready as if I was a featured guy, so when he calls me I’ll be ready.
“I’m trying to learn, because everyone was always saying that last year it looked like I didn’t do this, it looked like I didn’t do that. I’m trying to better myself and being able to work to where I can be a featured guy. I want the extra work now, so when I go in I can just play.”
Asked if he thinks he’s “far away” from being a featured back, Jacobs said, “No, not at all. I think being a featured back that’s tough to learn and every year, every ay there’s going to be stuff to learn.”
One of the attributes he has developed since joining the Giants as a fourth-round draft choice last year is patience. Barber isn’t going anywhere for at least another year.
“Whenever Tiki is done - and I hope that’s not for a while, to be honest with you, because Tiki is a great guy - but whenever he decides to leave, I’m not worried about taking the load at all,” Jacobs said. “That won’t be a problem.
“I can’t wait for the opportunity. I can’t wait to take the challenge. I don’t really see it as a challenge because this is what I do, this is my job. This is what I do so I just have to ready myself for when Tiki is ready to hang it up.”
Running backs coach Gerald Ingram said no running back is satisfied with limited responsibilities.
“You can’t be labeled as a goal line, short-yardage guy only,” Ingram said. “You can’t do that, that doesn’t exist. You’re striving to be the Marshall Faulks, the Walter Paytons, guys who have been very versatile in the game, so guys can’t just hone in on what you do. Guys who do everything well. And that takes a lot of mental challenge, because if you haven’t done that over your career, it’s foreign to you.”
Jacobs has done drills so running like Eddie George will be second nature to him. He has pulled a blocking sled weighed down with “a couple hundred pounds on it.” He has worked at keeping his body at a 45-degree angle when running and maintaining his balance when his body is tilted.
“When you’re 6-4 you can’t be running too low to the ground, because you’ll be face first on the ground,” Jacobs said. “It’s only to protect myself to be able to stay low and not take big shots. The idea is to lower my shoulders and keep my feet moving.”
If he does that, Jacobs is confident his career will move forward as well.
