Interested in Shaun Alexander?

[HPF Bob]

Alexander is getting cut by the Seahawks (some discrepency about if he's a June 1st cut or an immediate cut). Any interest from Texan fans? There's been talk that Ahman Green is already destined to hit the June 1st scrapheap.

Are you just replacing one aging injury-prone RB with another or do you say Shaun was such a great back that it is worth the gamble to see if he can regain his old glory?

[Joshua]

Granted, I didn't watch Seattle much last year but everything I've heard/read on Alexander is that he has mailed it in ever since getting his big contract. It was also rumored that Seattle was concerned about this very possibility and that was why they drug their feet for so long before giving him a big deal.

I think I would pass.

[dadmg]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Interested in Shaun Alexander?

At this point in his career, I'm not sure why anyone would be.

His MVP/Super Bowl season may have been the highlight of his career, but it also pretty much ended it. He ended up with 370 carries in the regular season, which is too much of a workload on its own (just ask Football Outsiders and their "Curse of 370"), but what really drove the nail in his coffin was the additional carries he got because they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. As a result he ended up with 430 total carries by the time the offseason came around, the 9th most in history. The list above him does not look kind - Jamal Anderson in '98, Eddie George in '00 (his last semi-effective year), Terrell Davis (twice in a row - there's a reason his knees died). Emmit's got two earlier in his career (the second of which was his final season as an elite back and his YPC dipped a yard the next year). Riggins survived another year at roughly the same level, which is beyond amazing because he was 34 at the time. Then again it was the first 300+ carry season of his career and had many low-carry seasons earlier in his career, so he probably had more tread on the tires than your average 34 year old. Just below Alexander on the chart is Larry Johnson two years ago and we all know how that worked out for him.

I think Alexander's age and gradually increasing load of the previous few years put him in a precarious position and the overload of that season left him worn out. Even before his foot injury the next year he was ineffective and he's continued to be ineffective (his YPCs have been an anemic 3.6 and 3.8, in comparison Maurice Morris ran for 4.5 and Leonard Weaver 4.4 behind the same line last year) and injury-prone ever since. Which is exactly what you would expect of a RB given an insane workload at an age when RBs tends to decline. He's finished. I'd honestly be surprised if he made it out of training camp.

Note: For those who are curious, Ahman Green's 2003 season ranks just a bit further down that list in 25th with 355 regular season carries and 403 total.
He averaged 5.3 YPC in racking up his 1883 yards that year. The next year it dropped off to 4.5 and 1163. The year after he averaged a mere 3.3 YPC (granted his Oline had been gutted) before he tore his Achilles. In his return, behind a better Oline, he managed 4.0 and a 1059 yards. We all know how that tale ended up (6 games, 3.7 YPC).

[Mike]

I think his best days are behind him. He looks like he runs tentative now. I would rather draft a young player and add him to the mix. Heck, Darius Walker is just a guy, but he runs hard and is young. Might was well keep Ahman around this year if he makes it through training camp healthy. Swapping Green for Alexander is like swapping deck chairs on the Titanic IMO.

We have more old/injured backs than the local chiropracters office.

[papabear]

nope.......

[TexicanMexican]

No interest. I prefer getting a RB through the draft.

[Vinny]

I'd love to see him here for the right money. He has a bit of a OJ Anderson style since he doesn't have the burst he used to have but he still has more than Dayne ever had.