Your hate on Jacobs oozes in your post. Lets talk facts.

1) Name me a better RB at picking up blitzes. There isn’t one. What Jacobs does to blitzers, you can’t find in a shiftier back.

2) You say he’s old. I say, he’s 29 and has less mileage on him than 25 yr old Ray Rice or Gore.

3) Straight ahead runner w/o shake or bake. Granted. But that’s his style. His use is to wear down opposing front 7s. Body blow 3-4 yd gains. Don’t underestimate this. Worn down front 7s are a HUGE reason why the Giants put up big 4th quarter numbers.

4) Horrible punk attitude. Granted. But his teammates love him and that is what counts…not what opposing fans think of him.

5) On the back 9 of his career. That’s what plenty said about Bettis in the years before Pitt won their SBs. I never said that Jacobs deserved DeAngelo Williams money. I just said he belongs on the list above. Surely he is better than Cedric Benson under whatever criteria you use.

Admit it. If Jacobs kept his mouth shut, you’d put him on the list. I’ll go one further…if the Giants release him, the Eagles will sign him that day.

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You bet your arse I have a generous level of Hatorade on Jacobs but not for the reasons you think:
First off, I am a NE fan, which you’ll probably think explains it all. But I don’t dislike him for the obvious reasons – although they are VERY apparent to anyone paying attention over the course of the last month.
What GM/Coach wants a player that cannot elude a even a Linebacker out of the backfield any longer?

He used to be able to run thru them, but not anymore. He was virtually useless to the Giants in the SB realting to gaining yards. Bradshaw carried the load and then some against a vastly improved NE Defense.
When you line up a back in the backfield, most OC’s want to be able to change the play to a potential screen, or swing pass to a back that can MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN out of the backfield after catching a short pass. One of the most difficult things to defend in todays NFL. Jacobs has never been that back and never will be. Granted he picks up the blitz well, but he is a one-dimensional runner that is long in the tooth and will be short on snap counts going forward. Diminishing returns in the economic concept that comes to mind when I think of a old, large. slow RB who’s best days are behind him.
He kinda fits on a team that is a couple pieces away from winning a title as a role player now.
Also I have to wonder about the intelligence level of a player that just won a championship and was compelled to “call-out” another players wife.
What kind of a person does that? Not sure that I’ve ever heard of such a thing in watching professional sports for the better part of 35 years.

Absurdly UNPROFESSIONAL, in short a PUNK!

Eagles have a good history of letting guys go that are done though. Derrick Burgess, Bdawk being the glaring exceptions.

I just see the value in having that “team leader” player. It’s not just the Giants. The Broncos with Tebow, the Cardinals with Dockett, the Texans with Ryans (even after Schaub got hurt), even the Ravens with Ray Lewis all overperformed because those players inspired the players around them to play harder. Talent wise, the Eagles, Jets, Cowboys and Chargers are all equal to or even better than those teams. However, they are rudderless boats missing that “team leader” guy to bring it all together. That’s why I’ll readily hold onto a player with diminishing skills as long as they inspire players around them to play better. Its totally worth the tradeoff.

By the way…Jenkins could turn into “that guy” this year. It doesn’t happen year one. We learned that with Rolle.

Eagles are coming next year, and not just to beat the giants, which we do anyway.

Jenkins is a leader on D, and was just resigned. Vick is a player guys look up too on the squad too, but he has to do his job ON the field and protect the ball. That was horrid, 2011. Just horrid. And the squeeze of the lemon in the eye for it is that we get to listen to the Giants now.

However, as to some of your more substantial points. If blitz pickup can be taught so easily, Scott wouldn’t have been banished to the pines (which he was for missing a blitz that nearly cost Eli his life) and that bum D.J. Danny Ware, who has been on this team far too long, wouldn’t have been benched in the Super Bowl for fanning on his blitz pickup. The point is, that skill is not easily learned and, with our team solely dependent on Eli, we better have someone that knows how to do it.

Second, as to “opponents now knowing to tackle him low”, I don’t think that is any great revelation. The dude is 270lbs. Anyway, I disagree with your opinion that he should just barrel through no matter what. Their OL in the run game was horrific this year and in transition with the losses of Seubert/O’Hara. In years they were good, Jacobs had time to pick his hole and generate his career 5 ypg avg. AB had a bad year too this year. Once we upgrade at RT and TE, holes will open.

You don’t know what you have until its gone. Strahan left and we had a big hole at team leader. They don’t come around frequently. Keep them while you can even if it means missing an occasional 3rd and 1. (By the way, you do remember that he made the most important 4th and 1 in franchise history right? To me, he’s earned a lifetime of 4th and 1 failures for that one he succeeded on).

eaglesnoles – Separately, as a Giants’ fan, I hope that the other gms in the league devalue Jacobs as many posters here. As someone who has watched his every snap, I know the value he brings to the Giants despite not having the eye-popping numbers.

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I am also a Giants fan who has watched every game he has played, I don’t know what you are smoking.

Does he have some value? yes, but it’s not worth the money he is due. He picks up the blitz nicely, but that can be taught and yes he has value in the locker room, but as a runner he is not the same player anymore.

Opponents now know that they just have to tackle him low and he goes down like a feather. He tries to be a bradshaw and make fancy cuts when what he should be doing is stick his head down as far low as he can and pummel his way through the line. Unless he changes his running technique, I will be perfectly fine if he leaves. I’d be happy if I never see him on a 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 again.

I know the Eagles had troubles on defense this year but I’d submit that their biggest overall problem was that they had no team leader. A good team leader can squeeze better and more consistent play out of marginal players. Although Dawkins isn’t near the player now that he was, the Eagles lost a lot of their identity when he left. The same case can be made for Ray Lewis. He’s been a 1 down LB for a year or two now but the Ravens are a different team with him on the field.

I make the same case for Jacobs. Obviously, he’s not going for 25 and 150. Instead, he is like having another OL in the backfield on passing downs. He beats up a front 7 with physical 3-4 yd per carry runs and softens up defenses for the rest of the skill players. Most importantly, he’d bring a “toughness” element to a team sorely in need of it. (Once Dawkins left, the Eagles too lost this “toughness” element”. They were no longer “beat-you-up” but more glitzy/speed. This is why I say he’d be a great addition for them). Not only does he bring “toughness”, he brings 2 rings and that cannot be understated (Many teams have all the skill but just simply don’t know how to win).

Still, I can make this case until I’m blue in the face. However, non-Giant fans won’t listen simply because Jacobs mouthed off to Gisele Bunchen.

Ray, make me your agent! I’ll get you that max money.

Give me Lynch any Sunday over Rice… especially if he’ll cost less. Shoot, give me the 1st and 3rd round pick you’d get for Rice, and any decent rookie or free agent running back over Rice and a huge contract.

Jacobs still has some good years left in the tank, but no GM is going to think they’ve fixed their backfield by picking up a guy who can handle passing downs and short yardage situations. No, that GM still needs to draft a minimum salary type guy who could get 4+ yards on first downs…

Passing league. Best blitz pick-up back in the league. 2x SB champ. He’s not a 100 yd back but who needs them anymore? Last ranked running team in the NFL just won the SB. Therefore, how is Brandon Jacobs not on this list????
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I’ll give you this, that’s certainly a unique way of thinking.

Yikes!
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I’m not sure its that unique. If it was, Jerry Reese likely wouldn’t have reworked Jacobs’ deal when there were numerous other backs “on the list” that could have been had. Therefore, if you’re confident enough to say “yikes” regarding my train of thought, I’d hope you have the same confidence to say the same to a GM with a similar train of thought that has built two super bowl winning teams in the last 4 years. Thank you.

That is true. Most teams either have a great RB and terrible QB, or a great QB and terrible RBs. Teams that have a great QB and great RBs are rare. Peyton Manning did for awhile, but then Edgerrin James got old, and Joseph Addai got beat up behind that horrible OL. Houston WOULD, but Matt Schaub won’t stay healthy! Ditto with the Bears: Cutler won’t stay healthy. I guess the closest thing to it is Joe Flacco and Ray Rice, and after that Matt Ryan and Michael Turner (and the Falcons also have OL issues).

But get this: if it was as easy to find good RBs later in the draft as Rosenthal claims, then why do the RBs for the Packers and Patriots stink? The Patriots had to at least respect Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, where the Giants could totally ignore Green-Ellis and Woodhead and concentrate on covering the WRs and teeing off on Brady. That was the difference in the game. It CERTAINLY wasn’t Eli Manning being a better QB than Tom Brady. Not that Rosenthal will admit it! And then there was the fact that the RB made the game-winning score. Before you say “they let him score”, Bradshaw had several key runs on that final drive after Manningham made his catch: he played a huge role in driving them into chip shot field goal range in the first place. When you add the fumble problems that Stevan Ridley had that got him benched, the Super Bowl … maybe NE would have 4 Super Bowl championships by now had they just gone out and drafted a RB in the first round already.

Id say just about every team did that to the Colts

Your hate on Jacobs oozes in your post. Lets talk facts.

1) Name me a better RB at picking up blitzes. There isn’t one. What Jacobs does to blitzers, you can’t find in a shiftier back.

2) You say he’s old. I say, he’s 29 and has less mileage on him than 25 yr old Ray Rice or Gore.

3) Straight ahead runner w/o shake or bake. Granted. But that’s his style. His use is to wear down opposing front 7s. Body blow 3-4 yd gains. Don’t underestimate this. Worn down front 7s are a HUGE reason why the Giants put up big 4th quarter numbers.

4) Horrible punk attitude. Granted. But his teammates love him and that is what counts…not what opposing fans think of him.

5) On the back 9 of his career. That’s what plenty said about Bettis in the years before Pitt won their SBs. I never said that Jacobs deserved DeAngelo Williams money. I just said he belongs on the list above. Surely he is better than Cedric Benson under whatever criteria you use.

Admit it. If Jacobs kept his mouth shut, you’d put him on the list. I’ll go one further…if the Giants release him, the Eagles will sign him that day.

If the NFL ceases to draft RBs high and pay them well, then you will see the best athletes abandon the RB position to play WR, TE or defense. (It has already happened with fullbacks … a lot of guys who would have made great fullbacks 25 years ago are now playing LB.) When that happens, the dearth of good QBs in the NFL will be even more pronounced, as defenses will be able to totally ignore the running game and tee off on QBs. Result: more QBs will get hurt, and there will be yet another round of “we need to change the rules to protect the QB!” nonsense.

I believe that Rosenthal was the same guy who bashed Montee Ball for coming back for his senior season to try to become one of the top 50 players drafted (1st round or halfway through the 2nd). Why Ball be in any particular hurry to get used up for 4 years and then thrown away if that be the case, if guys like Rosenthal do not believe that guys like Ball should get big contract extensions? If RBs aren’t going to get the chance to get rich like QBs do (didn’t the Bills’ QB just cash in for winning a whole 6 games last year?) then they definitely should stay in school and get their degrees, because they are going to need them.

If you want to be a good NFL team you need to build a strong D-Line, good O-Line, and find a great QB. RB’s, WR’s, DB’s are all just a byproduct of the the success of D-Line, O-Line, and QB.

Passing league. Best blitz pick-up back in the league. 2x SB champ. He’s not a 100 yd back but who needs them anymore? Last ranked running team in the NFL just won the SB. Therefore, how is Brandon Jacobs not on this list????
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“Best blitz pick-up back in the league”
In a dream world much?

“how is Brandon Jacobs not on this list????”

Let me count the ways:

*Old
*Slow
*straight-ahead runner without shake nor bake
*horrible punk-a$$ attitude
*on the back 9 of career

That about covers it.

But you know what, the two teams that lost in the championship rounds, in extremely close games, were both squads with a terrific running game and not elite passing game.