Wolfley's James Thesis: Part 1
Ron Wolfley
Cardinals Analyst
The free-agent signing of Edgerrin James by the Arizona Cardinals was a coup, indeed. We’re not talking about your average, run-of-the-mill coup in some third-world country where names are mispronounced and governments fall like sliced pepperoni. This is the coup d’etat of free-agent signings – the Coup de Edge – and, to this analyst, like eating the big-boy-bag of Cheetos in your boxers, watching the stooges slap each other around. I mean, this is pretty satisfying stuff.
Whenever an NFL team signs a high-profile free agent there are three-criterion that must be examined: what does the player bring to the table individually, what does he bring to the team, and what does he do for the franchise? Like Moe slapping Cheeto dust from my face, Edgerrin James makes this examination a stunning exercise in the obvious.
Having said all this, I’ll try to leave the land of the concussed, find some nuggets of lucidity, and point out things you may not have considered.
Individually, there are three things a running back can do: run the football, catch the football and block for teammates. Arguably, in my opinion, Edgerrin James is the best running back in the National Football League. He may not be the best runner in the NFL; he may not be the best receiver in the NFL; and, he may not be the best blocker in the NFL. But when you evaluate James as a runner, receiver and blocker few, if any, running backs in this league measure up. The Edge can do it all.
Running the football to Edgerrin James is like canvas to daVinci. I won’t bore you with stats. Take my word for it; he’s good. Yards per carry are a reflection of a back’s ability to run the ball but cannot be considered apart from scheme and personnel. You need to consider what blocking schemes were used and, more importantly, who did he run behind? Edgerrin James excelled in a zone-scheme at Indianapolis and ran behind a very solid, if not spectacular, offensive line.
No matter here. We’re not evaluating The Edge within the context of yesterday; we’re evaluating him individually, as a runner, today.
James’s vision is what sets him apart from his contemporaries. You can talk about Edgerrin’s break away speed, shifty, open-field moves, acceleration, balance and surprising power, but what he sees and when he sees it makes him “The Edge.” His ability to find the opening in defensive fronts is mind numbing, like (Cardinals Sideline Reporter) Paul Calvisi on game day. This incredible vision, within a zone-blocking scheme, is why he’s dominated much of the league, made Cardinal fans slap-happy and given this analyst real hope for a much improved Cardinal running game.
But doubt still lingers like Tuesday’s cheese-ball, does it not my friends?
The outside-zone running play, attacking the perimeter of a defense, has been around for awhile. Recently, two-teams in the NFL have set the standard for this play: Kansas City (with Priest Holmes) and Indianapolis, formerly known as the Colts with Edgerrin James. The majority of yards gained rushing in the NFL by James have come on this single play. It suits him and uses his uncanny vision to choose where he wants to run the ball. Why? Because the outside-zone is really a misnomer: this play can hit anywhere down the line-of-scrimmage – even behind the center! The only limitation as to where the ball goes is based on the back’s vision – what he sees and what he doesn’t see. Simply put, because of his vision, James runs this play better than Dean Martin drank martinis.
Scheme means coaches and this is where it gets good. Dennis Green was on the ground-floor in Minnesota when the outside-zone was conceived, shredding the league with Robert Smith. Steve Loney, the Cardinals new offensive line coach, has worked with Coach Green and is infinitely familiar with the outside-zone. In addition, Cardinals offensive-coordinator, Keith Rowen, was the tight-ends coach in Kansas City when Priest Holmes ran this play, coaching a position that’s key to the outside-zone’s success. These guys know this play like the back of their grease-board hands and might be the first play installed in training camp – the fulcrum of the Cardinals rushing attack.
Fortunately for Cardinal fans, the value of Edgerrin James and what he brings to the table as an individual player is not limited to running the football. In today’s NFL, if you want to be a complete back, you must be able to catch the ball out of the back-field.
In this case, I will point to Edgerrin’s statistics: James has 356 receptions for 2,839 yards and 11 touchdowns receiving in his seven seasons. Unlike rushing, one can look at a back’s receiving stats and make definitive conclusions. James has averaged 51-receptions, 406-yards and an average of 8-yards per reception, per season, since he came in the league. These are gaudy and good numbers for any running back, speaking directly to his ability to impact the passing game.
Receiving stats show James’s ability to get open and actually catch the ball when it’s thrown to him. Although many of these receptions are caught in flare-control or “check-down” situations, do not underestimate the importance of these receptions.
Zone-cover schemes, especially cover-2, are predominant in the NFL. Flare-control, backs releasing out of the backfield into pass patterns, keeps zone linebackers from dropping under routes downfield, especially when it’s Edgerrin James coming out of the backfield! Pick your poison, Mr. Linebacker: drop too deeply and Kurt Warner will dump it off, in the open-field, to Edgerrin, jump James coming out of the backfield and that curl-route looks real good to Warner, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitgerald. Can you taste it, brothers and sisters? That’s a big, steaming bowl of Dim-Sum-Uh-Oh.
And now, my friends, in our evaluation of what Edgerrin James brings to the table as an individual player, I give you the coup de grace: his ability to hold up in pass protection!
Oh, the many splendid things of an every-down back; let us gaze upon its beauty and marvel at the power, thereof.
Walter Payton may have been the best at picking up blitzing linebackers; it’s one of the things that made him the best running back ever to play the game. He was the consummate every-down back.
Edgerrin James isn’t bad either. He certainly isn’t a liability in protection. This will be one of the biggest changes to the Cardinals’ 2006 offense: the ability to go 3-wides, with James in the backfield, run six-man protections, releasing 4-receivers into the pattern and a possible fifth receiver in the form of a James check-down. With the likes of Fitzgerald, Boldin and Bryant Johnson releasing into coverage it’s easy to see why this will be a favorite personnel-package of the Cardinals. Although James wasn’t brought in to pick up blitzing linebackers and the Cardinals will want to limit his exposure to such assignments, it’s nice to know he can do it, giving the offense greater flexibility.
Because of Edgerrin James, I could see the Cardinals going with a lot of “check-with-me” plays in this 3-wide package. On a check-with-me, two-plays are called in the huddle. When the quarterback gets to the line-of-scrimmage he calls the play he wants to run, using the cadence, based on what the defense does. Out of this personnel-package, a run-pass check-with-me is a beautiful thing.
If the defense walks a player out of the box over the slot receiver, something defensive-coordinators often do (depending on the defense), that leaves 6-defenders “in the box.” The quarterback, using a run-pass check-with-me, will call the running play to James because the defense only has six-in-the-box. If the defense leaves 7-defenders in the box, the quarterback will call the passing play, often using a form of six-man protection. The idea is the defense can’t be right. Although this premise doesn’t always work – defenses are very sophisticated and good at disguising coverage – James would increase the odds of it working.
Individually, Edgerrin James brings more than mere ability to the table for the Cardinals. He expands Keith Rowen’s playbook, significantly. With the addition of James, the Dirty Birds, offensively, just got filthy…
Check back next week for Part 2 of Wolf's James Thesis!
Ron Wolfley
Cardinals Analyst
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The free-agent signing of Edgerrin James by the Arizona Cardinals was a coup, indeed. We’re not talking about your average, run-of-the-mill coup in some third-world country where names are mispronounced and governments fall like sliced pepperoni. This is the coup d’etat of free-agent signings – the Coup de Edge – and, to this analyst, like eating the big-boy-bag of Cheetos in your boxers, watching the stooges slap each other around. I mean, this is pretty satisfying stuff.
Whenever an NFL team signs a high-profile free agent there are three-criterion that must be examined: what does the player bring to the table individually, what does he bring to the team, and what does he do for the franchise? Like Moe slapping Cheeto dust from my face, Edgerrin James makes this examination a stunning exercise in the obvious.
Having said all this, I’ll try to leave the land of the concussed, find some nuggets of lucidity, and point out things you may not have considered.
Individually, there are three things a running back can do: run the football, catch the football and block for teammates. Arguably, in my opinion, Edgerrin James is the best running back in the National Football League. He may not be the best runner in the NFL; he may not be the best receiver in the NFL; and, he may not be the best blocker in the NFL. But when you evaluate James as a runner, receiver and blocker few, if any, running backs in this league measure up. The Edge can do it all.
Running the football to Edgerrin James is like canvas to daVinci. I won’t bore you with stats. Take my word for it; he’s good. Yards per carry are a reflection of a back’s ability to run the ball but cannot be considered apart from scheme and personnel. You need to consider what blocking schemes were used and, more importantly, who did he run behind? Edgerrin James excelled in a zone-scheme at Indianapolis and ran behind a very solid, if not spectacular, offensive line.
No matter here. We’re not evaluating The Edge within the context of yesterday; we’re evaluating him individually, as a runner, today.
James’s vision is what sets him apart from his contemporaries. You can talk about Edgerrin’s break away speed, shifty, open-field moves, acceleration, balance and surprising power, but what he sees and when he sees it makes him “The Edge.” His ability to find the opening in defensive fronts is mind numbing, like (Cardinals Sideline Reporter) Paul Calvisi on game day. This incredible vision, within a zone-blocking scheme, is why he’s dominated much of the league, made Cardinal fans slap-happy and given this analyst real hope for a much improved Cardinal running game.
But doubt still lingers like Tuesday’s cheese-ball, does it not my friends?
The outside-zone running play, attacking the perimeter of a defense, has been around for awhile. Recently, two-teams in the NFL have set the standard for this play: Kansas City (with Priest Holmes) and Indianapolis, formerly known as the Colts with Edgerrin James. The majority of yards gained rushing in the NFL by James have come on this single play. It suits him and uses his uncanny vision to choose where he wants to run the ball. Why? Because the outside-zone is really a misnomer: this play can hit anywhere down the line-of-scrimmage – even behind the center! The only limitation as to where the ball goes is based on the back’s vision – what he sees and what he doesn’t see. Simply put, because of his vision, James runs this play better than Dean Martin drank martinis.
Scheme means coaches and this is where it gets good. Dennis Green was on the ground-floor in Minnesota when the outside-zone was conceived, shredding the league with Robert Smith. Steve Loney, the Cardinals new offensive line coach, has worked with Coach Green and is infinitely familiar with the outside-zone. In addition, Cardinals offensive-coordinator, Keith Rowen, was the tight-ends coach in Kansas City when Priest Holmes ran this play, coaching a position that’s key to the outside-zone’s success. These guys know this play like the back of their grease-board hands and might be the first play installed in training camp – the fulcrum of the Cardinals rushing attack.
Fortunately for Cardinal fans, the value of Edgerrin James and what he brings to the table as an individual player is not limited to running the football. In today’s NFL, if you want to be a complete back, you must be able to catch the ball out of the back-field.
In this case, I will point to Edgerrin’s statistics: James has 356 receptions for 2,839 yards and 11 touchdowns receiving in his seven seasons. Unlike rushing, one can look at a back’s receiving stats and make definitive conclusions. James has averaged 51-receptions, 406-yards and an average of 8-yards per reception, per season, since he came in the league. These are gaudy and good numbers for any running back, speaking directly to his ability to impact the passing game.
Receiving stats show James’s ability to get open and actually catch the ball when it’s thrown to him. Although many of these receptions are caught in flare-control or “check-down” situations, do not underestimate the importance of these receptions.
Zone-cover schemes, especially cover-2, are predominant in the NFL. Flare-control, backs releasing out of the backfield into pass patterns, keeps zone linebackers from dropping under routes downfield, especially when it’s Edgerrin James coming out of the backfield! Pick your poison, Mr. Linebacker: drop too deeply and Kurt Warner will dump it off, in the open-field, to Edgerrin, jump James coming out of the backfield and that curl-route looks real good to Warner, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitgerald. Can you taste it, brothers and sisters? That’s a big, steaming bowl of Dim-Sum-Uh-Oh.
And now, my friends, in our evaluation of what Edgerrin James brings to the table as an individual player, I give you the coup de grace: his ability to hold up in pass protection!
Oh, the many splendid things of an every-down back; let us gaze upon its beauty and marvel at the power, thereof.
Walter Payton may have been the best at picking up blitzing linebackers; it’s one of the things that made him the best running back ever to play the game. He was the consummate every-down back.
Edgerrin James isn’t bad either. He certainly isn’t a liability in protection. This will be one of the biggest changes to the Cardinals’ 2006 offense: the ability to go 3-wides, with James in the backfield, run six-man protections, releasing 4-receivers into the pattern and a possible fifth receiver in the form of a James check-down. With the likes of Fitzgerald, Boldin and Bryant Johnson releasing into coverage it’s easy to see why this will be a favorite personnel-package of the Cardinals. Although James wasn’t brought in to pick up blitzing linebackers and the Cardinals will want to limit his exposure to such assignments, it’s nice to know he can do it, giving the offense greater flexibility.
Because of Edgerrin James, I could see the Cardinals going with a lot of “check-with-me” plays in this 3-wide package. On a check-with-me, two-plays are called in the huddle. When the quarterback gets to the line-of-scrimmage he calls the play he wants to run, using the cadence, based on what the defense does. Out of this personnel-package, a run-pass check-with-me is a beautiful thing.
If the defense walks a player out of the box over the slot receiver, something defensive-coordinators often do (depending on the defense), that leaves 6-defenders “in the box.” The quarterback, using a run-pass check-with-me, will call the running play to James because the defense only has six-in-the-box. If the defense leaves 7-defenders in the box, the quarterback will call the passing play, often using a form of six-man protection. The idea is the defense can’t be right. Although this premise doesn’t always work – defenses are very sophisticated and good at disguising coverage – James would increase the odds of it working.
Individually, Edgerrin James brings more than mere ability to the table for the Cardinals. He expands Keith Rowen’s playbook, significantly. With the addition of James, the Dirty Birds, offensively, just got filthy…
Check back next week for Part 2 of Wolf's James Thesis!
