Don't say he can catch unless he actually does make a catch.

Be that as it may, I like what I saw from Starks today. Going against a softer defense next week in Detroit will show up what he's really capable of.

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Whoah there! Let's not jump the gun. For starters, Ryan Grant catches the ball just fine. He caught 25 passes in 2009 and dropped one.

Also, if everyone stays healthy, an RB corps of Grant, Starks, and Jackson would be very nice and also very affordable considering that Starks will be in the second year of a rookie contract as a sixth round draft choice.

Let Grant and Starks battle it out in the preseason to see who becomes the primary ballcarrier. It's way too early to project Starks as the starter, though it certainly could happen. What I like is that Starks runs very much in the style of Grant, which makes things a lot easier on our O-line, and goodness knows, they need to have things made easy when it comes to run blocking.

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LOL at nerdman. I really enjoyed what I saw from Starks today, but it's way too early for comparisons to Grant. WAY too early.

I'm impressed that Green Bay was able to chug yards -- albeit not a ton -- against the NFL's 8th best run defense. San Fran went also went into the day giving up only 3.6 yards per carry (via ProFootballReference.com) which is good enough to be tied for 3rd best with the Vikes and Bears.

I recall a play in the early 4th quarter where Starks got hit about two yards deep in the backfield and pushed it forward to close to the line of scrimmage. To me plays like that were as positive as the 8-10 yard gains.

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Grant > Jackson. Not even close. Grant won't be the add man out unless he's less than 90% when he returns.

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Boy, the right side of our OLine looks really good. Makes me wonder if Bulaga will stay on the right.

Also, don't forget how good Ryan Grant was. He wasn't bad at getting to the edge for a big game. See the Seattle snowy playoff game.

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Grant is not a third down pass protection specialist. He's a plodder between the tackles who lacks vision, quickness, cutting ability and the ability to catch the ball consistently.
Starks has all those things, plus he's younger. We'll see if he can hold up down the stretch, but I think he's gonna be a good 'un.
I also don't think Grant will allow himself to be a backup.

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Yes, I loved that play. Starks was falling forward all day long. That's big. While Jackson is good at finishing his runs downfield, he doesn't fall forward when he gets hit in the backfield.

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Thanks for turning a positive thread about Starks into a bitch thread about Grant. Nice work.

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Don't get me wrong. I'd love Starks to turn out to be a true stud. But I think you severely underestimate Grant.

For one, Grant is a lot smarter than most RBs. More importantly, he produces. The goal of a RB is to take pressure off the passing game. Grant does that. He has to be accounted for.

Stats alone, he was one of the top 10 best RBs in the NFL last year. He was #8 in fantasy points (which matters for RBs as like I said, they take pressure off the passing game).

If he comes back 100% next year, I can guarantee that if he's healthy, he'll have another 1000+ yard season.

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This is even more offensive than people who claim Hawk is a bad player. I don't know how you formulate your opinions, but they seem heavy on the batshit.

Grant has played behind subpar offensive lines every year. You could argue that with Sitton and Bulaga on the right side this o-line is as built for the run as it has ever been since Wahle and Rivera were still in town. Grant has an excellent size/power to speed ratio. His season ending injury this year happened at the end of a 20+ yard run. This offense would undoubtedly be more potent were Grant and Finley still around.

It's great that Starks showed a spark today. But it's one game. And the comments about his ability have to be taken with a grain of salt -- because there's very little we know about his ability save for this afternoon and tape from two years ago in Buffalo.

I'll gladly jump aboard the Starks bandwagon, but the comparisons/criticisms towards Grant are premature, unwarranted, and unfounded.

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