Steelers Welcome Back Najeh Davenport

I would have liked to have gary russell , justin vincent and MM , have them split the carries going into this game and then FWP should be back after the bye week to get his 20-30 carries like blitz mentioned.

I don’t know how valid the “he knows our offense” argument is for Davenport because we at least partially changed our blocking scheme over the off season. He possibly got some time in it, but not much. Justin Vincent and Billy Lasko are 2 other guys we’ve had around, but I don’t think they have the upside of Russell, so I don’t have a problem activating Davenport over those guys as long as Russell gets more carries than him.

Dookie is the safe choice, but I wouldn’t have minded them going after a young kid with more upside. I don’t have any clue who that is but I’m sure they’re out there.

I think that Najeh was the right choice. We have plenty of upside guys (Russel, Mendenhall). I think what the Steelers need is a guy who knows the team, and can get in their and make plays. Najeh, for all the flack he took when he became the starter, had a good season last year.

“He was second in rushing for the Steelers behind Parker last season with 499 yards and a 4.7-yard average per carry. He also led them with five rushing touchdowns, three more than anyone else, and scored two more receiving with 18 receptions for 184 yards.”

And remember that Davenport returns kicks as well, something we don’t want M&M doing, if he is playing on first and second down.

I think it was a good choice. Russel is our wild card pick-up, its time to see what he’s got and where his ambitions lies. Other than the fact that Dookie is familiar with the offense (good for the no-huddle) I think he has good measurables (is that a word??), he’s decent at pass protection, return kicks (help out #10 and MM), he has good hands and elusiveness (which will be good for a short passing game with all the blitzes we’ll see). His problem is he doesn’t run downhill and doesn’t lower his shoulder enough (hopefully Russel takes care of that).

And I hope Davenport has some added intensity because he lost his job because of the 2 Jacksonville games, his mentality (along with the rest of the team) should be ‘its time for payback’ and take this aggression out on the field and not his g/f. Steelers survived MNF and this next game is the statement game for how the wounded Steelers season will unfold – the Steelers will either have an offense explosion or implosion; the defense is running on a spare tire and will regroup after the Bye; and guess what special teams is holding it down. (Kudos to ST!!)

“and take this aggression out on the field and not his g/f”

Nice quote!

I’m much less worried about this game than the two last year, honestly. There are plenty of reasons to be worried, but the jaguars have not looked the same this year. Lots of people think we’re hosed because of injuries, but for the first time in a long time I’m optimistic heading into Jacksonville.

We have enough of a running game to do what we usually do against the jags (get stopped) though it might be different this year, and we just need the passing game to get going while all of us pray lessons were learned this past monday. Statwise the jags are just very unimpressive on defense so far.

Our boys in front on defense being out is going to hurt, but the jags have been less impressive in the run than say, baltimore which the run D help up admirably against.

Anyhow, lots of reasons to be worried. The jags have our number, and we haven’t exactly been dominating our competition. But I’m going to be optimistic this week, arians be damned.

I understand wanting to find a gem somewhere, but the parkers or the grants are snatched at the start of the season. Midseason runningbacks are guys like Davenport, or cedric benson or Shaun Alexander- guys who were cut and are still available for good reasons.
But maybe my memory is poor, have there been any unheralded mideason runningback being signed from nowhere that became explosive?

I am also curious to see how Doug Legursky goes over

What I’ve heard is that Moore will start. So it will be between Russell and Davenport as to who is the short-yardage back. I think that Russell is our young guy to look at this week, as others have already stated. Davenport is there for depth and because he knows the team better than anyone else that was available.

As far as anyone else instead of Najeh: who? I can’t think of anyone available with upside. Although we didn’t really know who they were, FWP and Ryan Grant didn’t just come out of nowhere. FWP was there because someone in the Rooney family had seen him in high school and thought he was worth a flyer. Grant was with the Giants last year in the preseason, but the Packers didn’t start him until after a couple of other guys got hurt or failed to show anything. No, I think that right now, Russell is the young guy for us to look at. Najeh is the veteran insurance policy.

But, I really think that Mewelde Moore is going to be the most productive anyway.