Most Indispensable #3: Brandon Jacobs
No player better personifies the Giants, both in name and in attitude, than the behemoth that is Brandon Jacobs. At 6-4, 264 pounds, Brandon Jacobs is officially the scariest person ever to run for 1,000 yards. Originally drafted to be Tiki Barber’s goal-line specialist/ touchdown vulture, Brandon Jacobs has shown the speed and agility to be an every-down back. When Jacobs is in the lineup, the Giants are a ferocious, smash-mouth offense that can run the ball and pick up substantial chunks of yardage in any situation. The only problem is that Jacobs has missed 8 games over the past two seasons.
When Brandon Jacobs was not in the lineup last year, the Giants looked to Derrick Ward to pick up the slack. Although Ward is better suited to be a change-of-pace back, he filled the whole left by Jacobs admirably. However, Ward departed in free-agency to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leaving the Giants without a tested veteran backup. Ahmad Bradshaw has shown flashes of brilliance, and Danny Ware and Andre Brown each have oodles of potential. But the Giants would much rather have the three backups/ change of pace backs be just that; back ups and change of pace backs. These three RBs each have their own style of running that can be very valuable to the team, but none of them are that goal line/ short yardage force, at least not yet. Coupled with Brandon Jacobs’ power skill set, these three change of pace backs can each contribute and find success in ways they would not be able to as feature backs. It is possible that they can effectively carry the load should something happen to Jacobs. I’d rather not find out.
Everyone always says that power running backs wear down the opponent as the game goes on. And while this may be factual, or it may just be an old football cliché, one thing is for sure: opposing defenses fear the Giants more when Brandon Jacobs is playing.
