The Giants have cut Brandon Jacobs. It’s not a surprise by any means. He was due to make $5 million this year and considering the Giants gave him an average of 10 carries a game the past two seasons, you can’t blame them for this move. But, it’s a move that makes me feel icky. I understand the business side of it, I even criticized Jacob’s running style this season, but he was a guy I enjoyed rooting for.
The thing I loved about Jacobs was the fact that he was damned by the scouts from the moment he came into the league and he proved them wrong. In fact, it’s probably worth revisiting the 2005 Giants’ draft and looking at all the “experts” who have egg on their face now.
You have to remember that the 2005 draft was compromised by the 2004 draft. The Giants traded for Eli Manning in 2004, but included their first and fifth round picks in the 2005 draft to do so. I don’t think there is a Giants fan out there who would ask for a redo on that one, but it left New York with only four picks in the 2005 draft. Those four picks ended up being- Corey Webster, Justin Tuck, Brandon Jacobs and Eric Moore. Seven years later, I would call that a pretty successful draft. (Just want to point out that in researching this piece I couldn’t find anyone who gave the Giants anything higher than a B- in that draft. Something to keep in mind next month when the new set of grades roll in.)
But the experts hated it and they hated Jacobs because he was just too big. You kept reading things about how he couldn’t keep his pads down when running and how he didn’t have the speed to break the big run. He won’t make the Hall of Fame, but seven years after being drafted he has almost 5,000 yards on the ground and an average of 4.5 per carry. All in all, not too shabby for a fourth-rounder who most scouts thought would be out of the league in short order.
And he was a pleasure to watch. Jacobs didn’t run through people, he ran over them. Over time, he showed a bit of ability receiving the ball. When he was in solely to block, pass rushers took notice. I’m not sure how much tread is left on his tires, but the Giants will miss him next year.
nysportsfanatic 
Comments
I will truly miss “big guy”. I can remember taking my kid to watch the Jints beat the Cowboys at the old stadium, having great seats behind the Jints bench; we were truly amazed just how massive Jake was relative to the other slabs of beef that were on the team. Huge !
I suspect he needed to find another running stye other than aiming for defenders … but he sure was fun to watch. Good luck, Earth !
Yup, he is enormous. Sometime get a glimpse of Jake Ballard or Bear Pascoe in person. I wouldn’t want to have to get in the way of either of them with the ball.
nice player that, as you detailed out, probably exceeded all expectations (other than his own). The business of contracts and salary cap are the beauty of the NFL that gives every team hope within an 18 month period even if they go winless in a season. Unfortunately it smacks fans in the face that long for the old days when players were forced (no options other than being traded) to play out careers on a single team in all sports. Football is actually becoming more heartless than baseball. The amount of guys that can fill in for a position, at a huge discount, makes these moves inevitable. I think many players/agents now realize it and expect the last year or two of the contracts they sign to be wiped clean/cut. They will likely replace him with someone making $1m or less and get some portion of the productivity.
I’m not a huge fan of the salary cap because it causes brutal decisions like this. I also think that having non-guaranteed contracts in a sport as brutal as football is somewhat unfair. (But I would take them in a second for baseball!)
on a different subject, thought you guys might like some of these:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0702/gallery.mlb.classic.spring.training/content.1.html?eref=sircrc
#’s 6,15,20 are my favorites
Those were great, thanks!
Totally political incorrect but: I can’t really enjoy the socialism of salary caps. It’s a bit like watching pro golf with handicap strokes being taken. Egalitarianism done artificially.
Seeing Zimmer as a young guy was amazing – thanks !!!
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