The Case For Steven Jackson

[-X-]

Yet he had 74 rushing TDs in 2,187 attempts. To date, Jackson has 67 rushing TDs in 2,712 attempts.

I guess it's a eye test thing for me, too. When I watched Earl Campbell I was amazed. Wow moment after wow moment. And on many plays he made his own hole in a way. But, that hasn't been the case with Jackson.

I agree with your eye test comment. Jackson was/is a very strong runner, but he was no Earl Campell.

 

[dieterbrock]

Yeah, and keep in mind that Earl Campbell amassed his numbers in basically 6 seasons. What a runner he was, shame they over used him so much.

 

[rams24/7]

I like Stephen as a player, but he doesn't pass my eye test. Good player, consistent runner, but not good enough to be immortalized with the greats. The lack of playoff wins is one thing that limits him. Also, I believe a HOFer needs signature moments demonstrating superiority over the typical NFL player, and despite watching most of his games, very few of those Stephen moments come to my mind. That's my eye test. But to paraphrase -X-, SJ39 has a shot.

Steven reminds me very much of Curtis Martin in regards to his consistency and career numbers. Many would argue that Curtis Martin doesn't pass the eye test either, yet he still found a way into the hall. Just some food for thought

 

[rams24/7]

Zero argument from me, I 100% agree. Can't stand hearing the " he never brought us a winning season, if he was that good he could have done it or he dances around to much ....blah blah blah"
Hell you seen some of those lines we employed? O-Linemen Literally off the street the week before who couldn't block anyone to save their lives plus a horrible team who's only weapon was SJ39 who consistently all day long stacked the box 8-9 defenders all day long.

HOF worthy maybe not within the first 4-5 years but eventually! Hell just those dreads are HOF worthy! lol He also belongs in our Ring of Honor IMO.

Its bullshit. If (enter player name) was so great, why didn't he rise above everything and will his team to the playoffs? Football is about 11 players playing together. If you care about individual feats play golf or tennis. Not to say playing great doesn't help your team, but it isn't everything. In 2012 when Calvin Johnson nearly went for 2,000 receiving yards his team won 4 games! The Vikings needed to win in week 17 to make the playoffs in 2012 when AP ran for almost 2,100 yards. This is proof that even the elite of the elite can only do so much for their teams.

 

[rams24/7]

Dan Dierdorf would like a word with you.
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Barry Sanders' playoff record: 1-5
Steven Jackson's playoff record: 1-1

Sure Sanders has more appearances, but he has the same amount of Ws as SJ.

 

[rams24/7]

I just re-uploaded one of my old YouTube videos for those who don't think he passes the eye test:

 

[Big Willie]

Steven reminds me very much of Curtis Martin in regards to his consistency and career numbers. Many would argue that Curtis Martin doesn't pass the eye test either, yet he still found a way into the hall. Just some food for thought

Steven reminds me of bigger backs like George Rodgers and Eddie George. Edgerrin James reminds me of Curtis Martin. Steven may make the HOF (for his sake, I hope he does), but if I had a vote he would not make it.

 

[Sum1]

I was a huge Jackson fan when he was with the Rams...now I just simply don't care. I didn't feel that way about other players when they left, but for some reason what he is or isn't doing in Atlanta just doesn't register on my radar at all. I guess it might be because our teams were so bad when he was here that there just isn't any prominent memories that I reflect back on.

As far as his HOF chances...I think he probably gets some consideration down the road. A playoff appearance would help him out a bunch. Maybe it's just the Ram fan in me, but I think it would have helped his cause if he had stayed in St. Louis...especially if he was around when this team finally reaches the postseason.

 

[rams24/7]

While consistancy is a huge attribute as you point out he was never dominant in that he never lead the league in rushing or rushing TDs.

He lead the NFC in rushing in 2009 and led the NFL in yards from scrimmage in 2006. Curtis Martin only had 1 rushing title (by 1 yard) and Marshall never had one. Its not an absolute MUST, but it would certainly help.

While we as Rams fans saw almost every game so we know what a hard nosed player he was he wasn't a highlight reel sort of player (yes there were a few ). He also was never the red zone monster everyone expected (his TD total is way below what you would expect for his yards).

And I make the Curtis Martin comparison again: was Martin known for his highlight reels?

As for the TD knock, he always had the ability is was the fact he played behind putrid OLs, teams stacked 8-9 men in the box because he was our only offensive threat on the goal line, and bad playcalling. Most probably don't remember MNF 2011 in Seattle but the Rams had 5 straight plays from the 1 yardline before SJ got a carry for the 1-yard TD.

I also think you are going to see a swing in the HOF towards the reciever position which means the RB position will likely be the one that suffers as fewer get in so that the backlog at reciever is shrunk.

If anything this HELPS Steven. With teams devaluing the RB in the draft and multiple back systems being as popular as ever, every down, all-around RB/bell cow type RBs are a dying species. He's one of the last great feature backs to take the bulk of his teams offensive touches (outside of AP).

That was the only full season where he consistently hit the hole hard instead of dancing around in the backfield.

I respectfully disagree. This has become commonplace when fans knock SJ, but its simply not true. The "dancing" everyone refers to is SJ trying to shake a DT who is waiting for him as soon as he gets the handoff. The interior lines SJ ran behind for most of his career consisted of weak finesse players, susceptible to speed and power. They were blown back easily and whiffed more than the average OL, allowing quick penetration. Need I remind you of Jacob Bell, Adam Goldberg, Quinn Ojinaka, Robert Turner, Jason Brown, Shelly Smith, Chris Williams, etc. And those are just the interior lines.

Its not a coincidence that the best statistical year of his career was 2006. Our offense had other threats outside of SJ including Holt, Bruce, Curtis, McDonald, Looker that didn't allow defenses to stack boxes. 2004-2006 were also easily the best OL SJ ran behind. In 2006 we had Pace, Stuessie, Incognito, Timmerman, Barron (not bad yet), not to mention Madison Hedgecock, the best FB SJ ever had.

 

[Zombie Slayer]

I just don't understand what it takes for certain players to get into the HOF anymore. Certain players will be shot down because they don't have a championship ring, played on bad teams, don't pass they eye test, etc. Then there are players that have these things and people still say they shouldn't or won't make it to the HOF, like Holt for example. Or there will be other players that don't have these things but make it in. I think it is clear from watching him during his career, and his highlights that have been posted in this thread, that he passes the eye test. Someone said he didn't lead the league in rushing, which is true. But in 2009 he was second in the NFL in rushing, only behind a 2,000 yard rusher that year and playing for a 1-15 team. Jackson was literally the only player teams had to worry about stopping back then and they couldn't do it. He still got his yards. Doesn't that mean something? I think all of us agree that if he was on a better team that he would be almost considered a lock because his numbers would be even better and possibly would have a ring, or at the very least more playoff wins. I don't think wins and losses can be attributed to one player in the NFL because there are so many other players on the team who have an outcome on the win/loss record. I think Jackson should be considered. I think it has to mean something that he has the numbers that he has considering the bad teams he played on throughout his career. He did his part for his teams to win, what more can you ask? Unfortunately for him, from the top down, he never had much around him.

 

[rams24/7]

Steven reminds me of bigger backs like George Rodgers and Eddie George. Edgerrin James reminds me of Curtis Martin. Steven may make the HOF (for his sake, I hope he does), but if I had a vote he would not make it.

You're missing my point, I said consistency and numbers, not his style of play. Curtis Martin was never notorious for being a highlight reel guy or someone with gaudy stats, yet he was consistent year-in and year-out similar to SJ.

 

[dieterbrock]

67 rushing td's in 11 seasons just doesnt say HOF to me. For a guy that was billed as a "power back" he sure didnt come thru in the red zone or in short yardage.
He had 1 unreal year, 2006. And in that season alone he had almost 20% of his td's rushing.
Hall of very good? Sure
Hall of Fame? Not in my book

 

[mr.stlouis]

No question the team he played for is the reason this is debatable.

 

[howski3318]

Steven reminds me very much of Curtis Martin in regards to his consistency and career numbers. Many would argue that Curtis Martin doesn't pass the eye test either, yet he still found a way into the hall. Just some food for thought

He is a couple thousand yards behind Martin though. It's easier to argue the 4th most rushing yards vs. Steven Jackson's current ranking. I think it would be more comparable in terms of consistency would be with a Fred Taylor.

 

[Ramathon]

I just re-uploaded one of my old YouTube videos for those who don't think he passes the eye test:

Thanks for posting that. The play where he is just battling Patrick Willis for yds and his helmet comes off is one of the best of a lot of such examples that I'll remember as signature Jackson runs. People fuss about the 'dancing', but just ignore the number of times he could be witnessed carrying multiple would be tacklers for extra yards. My 'eye test' is every bit as impressed by such moments as the burner back that scoots through a wide open hole for 15-20 yds.

I'll remember Jackson for doing what he did in spite of the sparsity of talent surrounding him on O for a good portion of his career. I can understand the outside world not being terribly aware of him. As others have suggested, it is unfortunately true that the post season performances are what a lot of the Joe Sixpacks of the world see/remember about teams and individual performances. But I think it's disappointing he doesn't get more recognition for his accomplishments by the STL fan base. The GSOT years were absolutely terrific, and while Warner/Holt/Bruce/Pace/Faulk & company all made terrific contributions to those years, they all also benefited greatly from being on a team with 1 already HOF member and 4 other HOF candidates....just on offense. Not many players get to play on such talent laden teams. If Jackson had been surrounded by such talent........

 

[drasconis]

He lead the NFC in rushing in 2009 and led the NFL in yards from scrimmage in 2006. Curtis Martin only had 1 rushing title (by 1 yard) and Marshall never had one. Its not an absolute MUST, but it would certainly help..

Martin led the AFC twice and the NFL once. I would also say the only one that matters is NFL (note that in 2009 SJ was about 600yrds behind the NFL leader).

I realize that MF never had one - but he had other accomplishments (MVPs for instance).

And I make the Curtis Martin comparison again: was Martin known for his highlight reels?.

More than SJ yes. Now this is all luck, but Martin played on the East coast - and we all know the bias there. This is not saying that if you compared tape there were actually more - just that he was on teams that got more attention.

As for the TD knock, he always had the ability is was the fact he played behind putrid OLs, teams stacked 8-9 men in the box because he was our only offensive threat on the goal line, and bad playcalling. .

MJD is ahead of him in TDs...you would be hard pressed to convince people his situation was worse than SJ.

I do agree that the bad teams added to the problem for him.

If anything this HELPS Steven. With teams devaluing the RB in the draft and multiple back systems being as popular as ever, every down, all-around RB/bell cow type RBs are a dying species. He's one of the last great feature backs to take the bulk of his teams offensive touches (outside of AP). .

You may be right, but I think it actually hurts him. I think for a RB to get in they will need to stand out like AP (and honestly SJ is not close to AP). With only 5 guys getting in a year, something will give as the recievers get in and it will be the borderline RB I believe. I think that SJ will be pushed aside for the likes of Bruce as they clear that backlog.

This is guessing either way - only time will tell what the voters do.

 

[fastcat]

Jackson was too damn big to be dancing in the backfield. I remember countless times on the goal line or close to it were we settled for field goals because he couldn't get a yard. Then I watched little guys like from other teams that would just try to plow through a pile of lineman instead of dancing and trying to bounce it to the outside. I know what I seen with my own eyes. A guy that's 240+lbs should have never been dancing on the goal line.... get the ball close your eyes and just run straight... geez, I'm having flashbacks. .. he was a good back but he coulda been great. He rarely tried to make his own holes until the game was about to be over. It use to make me mad I'm sorry

 

[Big Willie]

You're missing my point, I said consistency and numbers, not his style of play. Curtis Martin was never notorious for being a highlight reel guy or someone with gaudy stats, yet he was consistent year-in and year-out similar to SJ.

No, I got your point and I stand by my comparisons. The only difference between him and the backs I mentioned was the number of years played. Again, I am rooting for SJ39... I just wouldn't vote him in if I had a vote.

 

[fearsomefour]

Love him as a player, great team guy stuck on bad teams....I think a HOFer as well.
4 of the top 21 yards from scrimmage players all time were Rams, or in the case of Bettis, spent important part of his career on the Rams.
How the hell do we only have one title?