It’s a great story, isn’t it?  An un-drafted rookie gets signed into the NFL, but fails to make any impact for the team that originally signed him, and ends up buried deep on the roster of the Green Bay Packers.  Then, after the starters in front of him are lost to injury, he finally gets a chance to play in that first year with the team.  He amazingly rises to the occasion and becomes an out-of-nowhere success and a hot commodity on the fantasy football waiver-wires as he excels with several 100+ yard games for the Packers.

Ryan Grant in 2007?  Yep. 

But…  Also Samkon Gado in 2005. 

Grant and Gado were both completely unexpected rags-to-riches stories.  Gado did it in his first year in the league, after failing to make the practice squad for the Chiefs who originally signed him as a rookie.  Grant took until his third year:  He was signed as an un-drafted rookie by the Giants in 2005, the same year that Gado came into the league.  Grant spent all of that first year on New York’s practice squad, and then sat out all of 2006 with a non-football injury.  He then ended up in Green Bay following a trade in 2007. 

But with opportunities due to injuries, the Packer’s offensive line ahead of them, and Brett Farve’s arm and skill for improvisation there to keep defenses guessing, both Gado and Grant became huge successes and beloved feel-good stories among the Lambeau faithful.

So, given all the similarities, the question this off-season is:  Will Ryan Grant return in 2008 and keep on playing at the same high level he did in his first year with the team?   Or – like Samkon Gado – will Grant struggle and never again achieve the success he did in that first “magic season”? 

(8) Forum Discussion

Chris Fries says NO!

I can’t tell you for sure that Grant won’t return a strong player this year.  But I can tell you that there are enough eerie similarities to make me nervous. Add to that a good dose of change and uncertainty, and I’m even more nervous:  Brett Favre has retired and the Packers begin with a new QB and two rookies for backups; Vernand Morency has been re-signed and is looking to steal goal-line carries; and Brandon Jackson is no longer injured and has a year of experience under his belt.  If fact, reports are that Jackson has been looking much more comfortable than he did as a rookie working with the #1offense during OTA’s.  Meanwhile Grant sits, watching and waiting for his expired contract to be re-negotiated.

All of this just makes me leery to drink too deeply of the Ryan Grant Kool-Aid this year, especially given how early you’ll have to draft Grant to get him on your roster.  I may miss out on a stud’s 2nd great year, but I’d rather risk that than to spend a high draft pick just in time to get the huge disappointment of “Samkon Gado II:  Year 2 -- The Return to Mediocrity.”

Jim Day says YES!

I have been hearing this talk all off season. “He wasn’t even drafted” most say, or he spent a year on the practice squad. I know all that and what I have to say is, have you ever heard of a guy named Antonio Gates? Or Kurt Warner? How about Fast Willie Parker? Or Priest Holmes?  These are all players who were not drafted and went on to have multiple good NFL seasons.  Then there was the fact that the Giants traded him away for a late pick. Well we did find out last year that the Giants were stacked at RB, with the likes of Jacobs, Ward and then Ahmad Bradshaw. 

Now let’s take a quick look at what he did accomplish last year. He basically played in only 10 games and only carried the ball 188 times, but produced 956 yards, for a 5.1 yard per carry average.  If you look at RBs that had at least 10 attempts per game, he was tied at 4th in ypc average.  Only Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor and Fred Taylor had higher averages.  He produced 5 100-yard games and 8 touchdowns in the ten games he was the prominent runner in the regular season, as well as a 200-yard, 3 touchdown effort against the Seahawks in the playoffs.  Of those 11 games, he only had 20 or more carries in 5 of them.

Yes he did lose Brett Favre, but I don’t think this hurts him, I think it helps. The Packers only rushed the ball 24.2 times a game in 2007, 5th lowest in the league. With Aaron Rogers now behind center this number will only increase.  Giving Grant 25-30 carries a game will not only allow Grant to be a top 10 back in 2008, but it will also allow help the young QB by not forcing him to carry the team on his shoulders.

Look for big things from Grant in 2008 and you will not be sorry.