[Fantasy Footblog] Brandon Jacobs, Yardage Back?
Only in this wacky, unpredictable and often preposterous game of fantasy football could Giants RB Brandon Jacobs, a short-yardage and touchdown machine in his first two season, be transformed into something more closely resembling Kevin Faulk, a between-the-20s yardage fiend.
In two seasons as a backup, Jacobs was a Tiki Barber owner’s nightmare, showing up only inside the five-yard line to vulture touchdowns after Tiki carried the team to the stripe. Jacobs scored seven times on a mere 38 touches as a rookie and reprised that role with nine scores on 96 carries last season.
Coming into this year, Jacobs was handed the starting role, although no one knew how he’d handle a full workload, taking hits over 20-plus carries, catching passes out of the backfield, protecting his passer, etc. Well, since returning from a knee injury he sustained early in Week One, he’s been outstanding in that regard. In the five full games he’s played, he’s posted 103.8 yards per game, a total that over the course of the season only Adrian Peterson bests.
On the other hand, the one thing we were sure of, was that he’d get the money balls and convert them. Or maybe not. The man who was unstoppable at the goal line in his first two seasons as a specialist has two touchdowns and has been outright replaced at the stripe by journeyman Reuben Droughns, who has doubled Jacobs up with his four scores.
Jacobs’ owners would love nothing more than to blame Tom Coughlin, but in fairness, the Giants rank sixth in rushing and eighth in scoring, so it’s tough to call Coughlin out and even tougher to expect it to be fixed if it ain’t broken.
And thus we’re left to pray that Jacobs can break a long one so that the beast can reach paydirt every now and then…who woulda thunk it?