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Here's the link. I couldn't figure out how to copy it since it was on two pages.
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9481203/1
http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9481203/1
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Hope you can find the link amongst all the other "stuff". -
Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
I'll copy it for you, but your the one that showed the article. Thanks man! I'd do a smiley but then you won't see what I posted. Haha.
Move over, Marshall: Jackson ready to carry Rams
Pete Prisco June 5, 2006
By Pete Prisco
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Pete your opinion!
Steven Jackson watched closely as friend Larry Johnson became the running back story in the NFL last season, taking over for Priest Holmes to rush for 1,750 yards and dispelling the notion that he was a draft bust.
Steven Jackson rushed for 1,046 yards last season. (Getty Images)
Steven Jackson rushed for 1,046 yards last season. (Getty Images)
Jackson was happy for his friend, but he also was envious. Johnson, you see, had what Jackson didn't.
Carries.
While Johnson was running himself into the elite list of NFL backs for the Kansas City Chiefs, across the state of Missouri, Jackson was finding out his first season as the feature back for the St. Louis Rams wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
"I'm the type of guy who feeds off touches," Jackson said. "I'm not the type of back who wants it five or 10 times a game. That's not good enough. I was underappreciated by the coaching staff. That's what happens when you have a coach who calls more pass plays than running plays. You get underused."
That coach, Mike Martz, is gone, which won't make Jackson too upset. Martz coached only six games last year because of a heart illness, but disciple Steve Fairchild, who took over calling the plays, kept things the Martz way.
That means throwing it rather than pounding Jackson, who finished with just 254 carries in 15 games. Jackson finished 14th in the league in rushing with 1,046 yards. All 13 of the runners in front of him had more carries with only two others (Pittsburgh's Willie Parker and Atlanta's Warrick Dunn) having fewer than 300 carries. Johnson had 336 carries after getting 140 his first two years.
"It just didn't seem right," Jackson said. "I never could figure out why I didn't get those carries."
He will now. With Martz gone and Scott Linehan in as coach, Jackson will get his touches. He will be this season's Larry Johnson. That means he will get his yards. How many?
Here's an early prediction: Jackson will lead the league in rushing.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Jackson said. "But you're not going out on a limb there. I have the ability to lead the league and now I have the right coaching staff, one that believes in me."
Martz had a strong allegiance to two things as coach of the Rams: the pass and Marshall Faulk. It was Faulk's greatness that helped the Rams win a Super Bowl and ultimately helped Martz become a head coach. He stayed loyal to him to a fault, giving him too many carries in 2004 when many thought Jackson should have taken over as a rookie when he averaged 5 yards per carry.
Faulk only carried 65 times last season, so it was the team's propensity to throw that cost Jackson his carries in 2005. He also had some minor injuries that cut into them.
"They didn't call running plays," Jackson said. "It was that simple."
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The Rams passed it 62.9 percent of the time last season. By comparison, Johnson's Chiefs ran it 50.6 percent of the time and threw it 49.4 percent of the time. When Holmes went down with a hip injury, it was Johnson who was left to pick up the slack.
"All you can do is be happy for guys like him." Jackson said. "He waited his time and then made the most of it. That's what I expect to do. It's funny. There are lot of similarities between our stories. We both had to wait behind great players, although I did get in there a year earlier. But it was his third year when he exploded. I expect that to happen for me."
It became so bad last year that Jackson actually taped a message to the coaching staff above his locker. It read: Give me the Damn Ball.
Linehan is smart enough to do just that.
Even though Linehan prefers a wide-open attack, one that features the use of a lot of three-receiver sets, he also loves to run the football in that style of offense. When he was the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, his teams always had success running the football, even though they were considered a pass-first team.
In 2002, his first as coordinator of the Vikings, Minnesota led the league in rushing with an average of 156.7 yards per game and a 5.3-per rush average. The Vikings averaged 4.7-per rush or better each of the three years he was the coordinator in Minnesota.
Linehan's approach to running the ball is a bit different than the more conventional grind-it-out styles. He loves to spread a defense out and try and get the explosive plays, those runs of 20 yards or more.
Jackson is perfect for that style. He is big, strong and has the speed to go the distance. When new Rams defensive coordinator Jim Haslett saw Jackson from behind in his office one day, he thought the Rams had signed a new defensive lineman, which says something about his size.
"It's perfect for me and a lot like what we used at Oregon State when I was in college," Jackson said. "We'll use a lot of one-back sets and have inside and outside zone plays. That's what I like. I'm much more comfortable in this system. It fits me. It's not like they're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, which is the way I felt with the previous staff."
Anybody who doubts Jackson's ability only needs to pop in the tape from the Rams' upset of the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. He ran 25 times for 179 yards that day, his best total of his career. He appeared to get stronger too, running for 100 yards in the fourth quarter.
Using history as an indicator, it would make sense to give him more carries. In his two seasons, he's had five games with 20 or more carries. In those games, he's averaged 130.6 yards per game and 5.4 per rush.
"I get stronger as the game goes on, the more carries I get," Jackson said. "Those defensive players get tired of hitting 230 pounds coming at them full speed. That's why I'm so excited about this year. There's nothing holding me back. I'm going to get the football."
Thus, the race is on. It's Steven Jackson against Larry Johnson, his friend.
First one to 2,000 yards wins.
Who's it going to be? Don't bet against Jackson.
That contest him and Larry Johnson are doing will be interesting, Johnson will get it but it'll be fun to watch Jackson next year!Last edited by RamsFan16; -06-06-2006, 09:14 AM.Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
I REALLY loved this article, it gave me a huge smile, Jackson saying this is his system now, I really cannot wait for this season to start!!Always and Forever a fan of the St. Louis RamsComment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
i think jackson is going to have a great season,he really needs to if he keeps talking like he is,2000 yds maybe how about 1300-1500 and a bunch of wins.i would like to see him talk alittle bit more about team goals instead of himself so much.Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Hell I don't mind as long as all his talk is backed up on the field (which he has the talent to do so, so lets Pray for the best!)Originally posted by jkramsfanAlways and Forever a fan of the St. Louis RamsComment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Like jkramsfan said he better do good if he is going to keep running his mouth.
I also don't think i want him to have 2000 yards even if he is capable of it.
I think
1) with 3 quality wide recievers
2) a veteran back(If Marshall comes back)
3)2 rookie tight ends are to have said to be solid in the future
Everyone should have a few yards.Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
jackson needs to take a page out of holts book and memorize it. i am a total jackson supporter and am glad he is a ram, but he needs to keep a little bit more to himself.......
Mainram -Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Like I have said before, he needs to start hitting those holes with confidence before he starts mouthing OFF
steve:clanram:"The breakfast Club":helmet:Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
If he has 2000, for that matter 1500, yards this season, we're going to the playoffs. Because for that many yards to be racked up....
1. our O-line must have come together
2. SJ must have stayed healthy
3. Bulger has stayed healthy (otherwise opponents would put 8 in the box and stop SJ)
4. we're getting early leads and controlling game tempo by running the ball
If SJ is right on his predictions, the Rams will be playing January football.The more things change, the more they stay the same.Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Originally posted by HUbison
Good points Hub, & I'm optimistically looking for this kind of season along with a hard hitting defenseComment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Just do it #39, just do it.....................Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
This article pumps me up just thinking about SJ busting out for 1500 plus yds.
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Well Bruce, it just may happen -- a 1500+ yrd. season!
1. An improved, more experienced OL: Pace - Terrell - McCollum - Timmerman - Barron, with an average-to-good depth.
2. A more run oriented mentality on the part of our coaches, including blocker-designed FB/TE.
3. A more hungry Steven Jackson...
LET'S DO IT! :-) LET'S GO FOR IT!Comment
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Re: More love for Jackson... (Prisco)
Last season seemed to be a loss to us, but it wasn't a total loss. I think Alex Barron really got thrown into the fire and grew up in the process. He should provide us with the bookend tackles that we hoped for with Pace and Turley. Barron should anchor the right side,and I have an overwhelming feeling that Incognito will become a great Center for the Rams.Comment
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ESPN.com: NFL
Monday, June 5, 2006
Jackson has thrived when getting 20-plus carries
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By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com
Born and raised in Las Vegas, where both his parents worked in casinos, Steven Jackson realizes the unique relationship between numbers and odds.
OK, so the St. Louis Rams' third-year tailback might not be the guy you want advising you at the blackjack table, as you're agonizing over whether to take another hit while holding 16, and his head usually spins over all of the confusing permutations of the roulette wheel. The fact is, if Jackson is down $100, he pretty much considers himself tapped out and heads home for the evening.
But here's a winning parlay he understands well after only two NFL seasons: Give Jackson 20 carries, he'll get 100 yards, and the odds are pretty solid that the Rams will win.
"I know what they're telling me in terms of how many carries they say I'm going to get. But I've heard those kinds of things before. I even went to [running backs coach] Wayne Moses the other day and told him, 'Now don't be teasing me. Don't be telling me what you think I want to hear just to pacify me.' "
Steven Jackson
"Now those are numbers," said Jackson, the Rams' first-round choice in the 2004 draft, "that are like magic numbers to me. Even I'd bet on those. And I'm not a very big gambler. I can't run with guys like [Charles] Barkley and that crowd. But, yeah, I know that those [represent] some winning numbers."
Five times in his still fledgling NFL career, Jackson has logged 20 or more rushing attempts in a game. The results in those contests: an average of 130.6 yards per outing, 5.4 yards per carry, and five victories for the Rams. Of the team's six wins in 2005, half came in games in which Jackson was the offensive workhorse. Only once in the five contests in which Jackson got 20 carries did he fail to crack the 100-yard mark. Twice in those games, he had more than 145 yards, including a career-best 179 against Jacksonville on Oct. 30.
Roll the dice with Jackson, a big back (6-foot-2, 231 pounds) with quick feet and nifty moves, and the odds are pretty good you won't crap out, as his brief league history indicates. And if offseason rhetoric emanating from first-year coach Scott Linehan means anything, the St. Louis offense expects to roll a whole lot of 7's with its starting tailback in 2006.
Which is sweet music to the ears of Jackson, who often chafed in the past at the lack of carries he got under former coach Mike Martz, dismissed after a 2006 season in which he missed much of the season because of a bout with endocarditis, an inflammation of a heart valve. In 14 of 29 appearances in 2004-2005, Jackson had 10 carries or less, in part because of the...-06-05-2006, 10:56 AM -
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/03/2007
AIMING HIGH • The running back exceeded by far his projection of 2,000 yards from scrimmage.
BACKING IT UP • Rams coach Scott Linehan praises a 'commitment to having a great year.'
Steven Jackson kept his promise.
Earlier in the year, the Rams running back disclosed that he'd set two personal-yardage targets for this third NFL season. He wouldn't divulge them then, but he pledged to at the end of the year.
After Sunday's 41-21 win at Minnesota, Jackson revealed that those numbers were 2,000 and 1,600 — as in 2,000 total yards from scrimmage and 1,600 yards rushing.
"You shoot for the moon, and you never know what will happen," Jackson said. "I just came up a little shy."
With a strong push — 545 yards in the last three games, all Rams victories — Jackson surged ahead of San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson and wound up No. 1 in the NFL in yards from scrimmage. Jackson finished with 2,334 yards to Tomlinson's 2,323.
Jackson's 1,528 rushing yards ranked him fifth in the league; Tomlinson was the leader, with 1,815.
Although Jackson didn't come close to matching Tomlinson's record-breaking touchdown total (31), he did score seven times in the final three games and wound up with 16 TDs. Only Tomlinson and Kansas City running back Larry Johnson (19) found the end zone more often.
"Steven backed up his commitment to having a great year and has taken his game to another level," coach Scott Linehan said. "He made improvement unlike anyone else in the league, in my opinion, from where he was going into the year to where he is now."
At first glance, Jackson's preseason goals might have seemed ambitious. They required a significant upgrade over his previous highs — 1,366 total yards and 1,046 rushing yards, both achieved in 2005, his first season as the team's primary ballcarrier.
But after getting 297 touches — 254 carries and 43 catches — in '05, Jackson was called on 436 times this year, with 346 carries and 90 catches. Overall, the Rams advanced 5.4 yards every time the 6-foot-2, 231-pound Oregon State product, a first-round draft pick in 2004, had the ball in his hands.
A breakdown of Jackson's carries indicates that he consistently wore down defenses. His overall average per attempt was 4.4 yards, but he averaged nearly a yard more on carries 20 through 33 (his season high).
"It was just a matter of allowing me to be comfortable and do what I'm used to doing," Jackson said. "I knew that given the opportunity to touch the ball 20 to 25 times a game, I'd be able to (emerge), and I think I've proven so."
Jackson stressed that Linehan deserved credit for keeping his word to balance...-01-03-2007, 05:57 AM -
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
Steven Jackson thought 2005 was going to be his breakout season. It was his first year as a starter and things were supposed to be different from his rookie year.
Jackson expected plenty of carries, yards and touchdowns and he expected the Rams to be a Super Bowl contender. And many people expected the same thing.
After a tumultuous season in which the team finished 6-10 and Jackson was essentially an afterthought in the offense, Jackson is ready for a fresh start.
“I am approaching it with a focus of saying this is me getting a new beginning,” Jackson said Wednesday. “I feel like I have a chance to start over my career.”
Granted, Jackson acknowledges that he isn’t exactly a grizzled veteran with just two years of experience. But Jackson also is looking to be in on the ground floor of a new direction in the organization.
By now, everyone knows and remembers the troubling times Jackson went through last season. With coach Mike Martz on the shelf for most of the season because of a bacterial infection of the heart valve, Jackson never got much of a chance to take off.
Even when Martz was calling the plays, Jackson was probably even less of an option. Going as far back as the 2004 season, at Arizona when Jackson was deemed healthy, but not on the field for most of the game, Jackson believes that he and Martz simply did not mix.
“You don’t want to be in the doghouse of the head coach,” Jackson said. “No matter what you say about him, no matter how you feel about him, you don’t want…this is the guy that is calling the plays. You don’t want to be in the doghouse of a guy like Coach Martz. At the same time, you have to address him as a professional and ask him if it is a problem can we sever it and get on with it. At times, I thought we did sit down, discuss what the problem was and move on. At times, in the heat of the battle of the games, it just seemed like I wasn’t getting my touches.”
Jackson certainly had moments where he flashed his enormous potential a season ago. In week eight against Jacksonville with most of the Rams’ top skill players out, Jackson had his best game. He rushed for 179 yards on 25 carries with a game-winning touchdown catch in the closing minutes.
Instead of that becoming a stepping stone, Jackson’s touches fluctuated greatly the rest of the season. During the Dec. 4 game against Washington, Jackson received just 11 carries for 24 yards.
It became somewhat of a breaking point for Jackson, as he let his feeling become known during his weekly meeting with the media. When asked if he had spoken with the coaching staff about his lack of touches, Jackson said “No, I haven’t but you can. Give me the ball.”
Jackson battled a variety of minor injuries for the rest of the season and...-03-29-2006, 01:38 PM -
Thursday, September 21, 2006
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
When Steven Jackson wakes up on Monday morning, he is always sore. But this year, it’s a good kind of sore as Jackson’s workload has increased to a level that has placed him third in the league in rushing.
“It feels pretty good,” Jackson said. “I’m fully aware that it’s only week two, so hopefully we can keep making strides and keep ourselves paced through it. This league is a marathon, not a race.”
While there’s no doubting that Jackson has a long way to go in the NFL’s version of a marathon, there are signs that his good start out of the blocks could keep pace over the course of an entire season.
After two games, Jackson has run with the combination of power and speed he flashed in his first two seasons in the league. As the game goes on, he gets stronger and he is finishing runs with more authority than in years past.
“He's certainly one of those type backs, a big punishing type runner and they're harder to tackle if you're able to establish a running game as the game goes on,” head coach Scott Linehan said. “They tend to wear you down a little bit because it's a big guy to tackle.”
Jackson’s punishing style has him third in the NFL and second in the NFC in rushing yards with 224 on just 44 carries, an average of 5.1 yards per attempt. And though his longest run of the season was a 37-yard scamper in the season opener against Denver, Jackson has showed more consistency than in his first two seasons.
In the win against the Broncos, he rushed six times for 67 yards in the fourth quarter. Even with the Rams trailing in the loss to San Francisco, Jackson punished the ***** late in the game, carrying four times for 27 yards.
It’s that type of punishing style that has placed Jackson behind only Cincinnati’s Rudi Johnson and Atlanta’s Warrick Dunn in the early race for the rushing title.
“A lot goes on through the course of the game,” Jackson said. “Average fans don’t realize. You have to have a feel for what the defense is trying to do. Also, you try to wear them down. Coach is calling the plays to see what they are going to do and what formations (they might use) so as the course of the game goes on , I get a feel of what they are doing and I believe the offensive line does, too. With that being said, that’s how I get my big yards later in the game.”
So, what exactly is it that has allowed Jackson to get off to such a good start? Actually, there are a number of reasons for his early-season success.
One of those stems from the move of hiring Linehan as the head coach. Upon his arrival, Linehan vowed to give the Rams a more balanced attack with Jackson as the featured attraction.
In his first two seasons in the league, Jackson had times where he would lose yards as he searched for holes to run...-09-22-2006, 06:11 AM -
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
(NOTE: Watch Steven and teammate Marc Bulger compete against the AFC's best in the Pro Bowl Saturday, Feb. 10 at 5 pm (CT) on CBS).
Only two days after completing the finest of his three professional seasons, running back Steven Jackson found himself scoffing at a reporter’s questioning whether he can improve on a year in which he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,334) and earned his first Pro Bowl trip.
When asked why he thought he could do better, Jackson had simple and sound reasoning.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Jackson said. “I’m only 23.”
The possibility of Jackson improving on his 2006 season should be cause for plenty of concern around the league. In his first two seasons, Jackson was in a couple of difficult positions.
In his rookie season, he was the backup to the legendary Marshall Faulk. The following season he was asked to fill Faulk’s rather large shoes as the starter. Of course, in the Rams’ formerly pass-heavy offense, Jackson wasn’t much of a focal point. And though he went over 1,000 rushing yards in 2005, he fell short of his goals.
When the Rams hired Scott Linehan before last season, Jackson found new hope in terms of his role within the offense. Linehan made it clear from day one that he wanted Jackson to be a focal point of the offense along with receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.
True to his word, Linehan and offensive coordinator Greg Olson made Jackson the go to source for offense. Instead of simply handing Jackson the ball, Olson and Linehan found ways to involve him in the passing game, a move that paid dividends as Jackson finished with 90 catches.
Although Linehan expected much of his young running back, Jackson’s performance even took him by surprise a bit.
“I don’t think I can put it into words,” Linehan said. “I read the team some numbers and it wasn’t just so much to glorify him as an individual, but I think the team should be proud of the fact that a guy like Steven can basically step out of the shadows of a guy like Marshall Faulk and really take the team on his shoulders.”
Before the season, Jackson set goals of reaching 1,600 rushing yards and 2,000 yards from scrimmage. Clearly, he blew past the 2,000 yard mark with a couple of games to play. He fell just short of the 1,600 yards, but still finished with an impressive tally of 1,528 yards on the ground.
And, after a slow start, he finished with a flourish, ending up third in the league in touchdowns with 16. Simply put, Jackson took full advantage of the increased opportunities to perform as his touches went from 297 in 2005 to 436 in 2006.
“It was never a doubt of ‘Did the organization want me here?’” Jackson said. “It was just a matter of allowing me to get comfortable and do what I’m used...-02-07-2007, 02:27 PM
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