I really have trouble understanding all the Dayne hating I hear these days. Dayne is what he is, and we ought to be grateful we had him the last couple of years, because most of that time he was the best back we could put on the field. Sure, it would have been great if we could have put an all pro out there, but guess what? Nobody has an all pro at every position and nobody ever will.
We had the misfortune to lose a solid runner, DD, who went out with a career ending injury. Because he was "playing games" with the front office in order to get a bit more money before he retired, he put the team in a terrific bind. Dayne was about the best we could expect on such short notice. He definately has his limitations, but in certain situations he can actually be effective. Certainly more so than Lundy, Gado, Echiwhatever, etc.
The team could have drafted a first day pick last year and gotten somebody better, but we took Okoye and Jones. Jones was a definate need because we couldn't count on Mathis, and because we needed speed on the other side of Andre Johnson. Okoye was a definate need because our pass rush was about the worst in the league. So we didn't draft a running back. Too Bad.
We tried to fill the need by getting Green and unfortunately, he got a deep knee bruise after two pretty effective games, both of which we won. A deep knee bruise is a serious injury and can happen to anyone at any time, so don't try to put it off on Green's age. It had NOTHING to do with his age. Green was out, so we had to go with Dayne again. Don't hate Dayne for that. He was just a second stringer doing the best he could.
We may struggle again this year at running back because Green is 31 years old, and because for all we know, Brown may not be completely healthy and is hiding it from the team. It happens all the time. It's a chance the team has to take from time to time.
Taylor may not be recovered completely from his injury. If he is, I think he could be a solid runner. Slaton may surprise us, though I still have trouble believing he will be effective between the tackles. I just don't think he's the type that breaks tackles. I really don't expect much from Walker. I hope he surprises me. Maybe he's perfect for the new Gibbs attack.
And as far as hating Dayne for running over a lineman, I'm not even going to comment on that. It's not worth it.
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06-25-2008, 09:39 PM
Hybrid Mode
