James Starks May Be Back, But Does It Matter?
The Green Bay Packers have announced that running back James Starks may be healthy enough to play against the San Francisco 49ers this week.
It would be the first time he’s played since Dec. 2, when he sustained a knee bruise.
I can hear the collective “so what?”
Can’t say I feel any different. A lot of things have happened since Starks went down.
Paramount among those has been the emergence of DuJuan Harris, who has taken over and solidified his role as the Packers lead dog in the running game. It doesn’t seem possible the Packers would consider subbing Starks for Harris now.
Second, was the signing of Ryan Grant. Although Grant has made little to no impact, the Packers clearly favor him over any other running back on the roster not named Harris. The team has been increasing his workload since he signed and Grant now appears to be the clear No. 2 option.
Consider — Alex Green has been healthy the past two weeks and hasn’t touched the ball.
So what might happen with Starks this week? We see two possibilities.
First, this is all just hubbub from the coaching staff, which wants to make the 49ers prepare for another back at the last minute, and Starks will end up being inactive.
Second is Starks actually is active and takes Grant’s role. Let’s be honest — at this point in their careers, Starks is the faster and stronger runner. Both guys are a change of pace from Harris, but we’re guessing Starks can probably do better than the seven yards on seven carries Grant had last week.
Something to keep an eye on.
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Hell yea Starks runs hard make him the no.2 and let him run to the outside and gain a few first downs its going to be tuff guys but we can do it i have a good feeling with this game..
It seems to me that Grant is a better pass catcher than Starks. Rust and not being 100% means that Starks doesn’t see the field.
Starks coming out party was against SF in 2010
I like Alex Green better than Starks.
I’m gonna say, nope?
I like Starks. He was their back when they won the Super Bowl. Good speed and power. Give him a few carries against the 49ers. He’d be a good change of pace from Harris.
I think Starks should be the short yardage back, though I think Harris could also be good at that.
McCarthy is probably just tirnyg to motivate Lacy so he gets the most out of the remainder of the off season. I think its a good thing. You don’t want to make a rookie feel like hes got the starting job in the bag.