Surprise of the Year

Without a doubt, the surprise of the year for the Green Bay Packers in 2007 was running back Ryan Grant. Grant was acquired the week before the season opener against Philadelphia and helped boost a stagnant running game at midseason. Grant was inactive for the Philadelphia game, and through the first six games of 2007, had only six carries for 27 yards and four receptions for 26 yards. However, Grant had his breakout game Week 8 at Denver on Monday Night Football, where he carried the ball 22 times for 104 yards. Grant finished the season with 188 carries for 956 yards and eight touchdowns.

Grant was a virtual unknown after being acquired on September 1 from the New York Giants for an undisclosed draft pick. Grant entered a Packers backfield that was crowded with rookies Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn and veteran Vernand Morency. No one expected Grant to really get an opportunity. However, he seized the starting job after the aforementioned Week 8 game against the Broncos and did not let go of it. Grant proceeded to break the 100-yard marks in Weeks 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16. During the regular season, Grant had a career long touchdown run of 66 yards in Week 16, a 35-7 loss to the Chicago Bears. Grant also set a career high in Week 14 during a 38-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Grant rushed for 156 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries.

In Week 10, Grant won FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week after rushing for 119 yards on 19 carries and his first career touchdown, which came on a 30-yard run. He also won the award again during Week 14 against Oakland. Grant carries a streak of six consecutive games with a touchdown into 2008. It is the second longest streak in Packers history behind Paul Hornung's streak of seven games in 1960.
Grant showed up to play in the playoffs as well. In the Divisional round playoff game against Seattle, Grant fumbled twice to put the Packers in a 14-0 hole. However, Packers coach Mike McCarthy stuck with the running game and Grant racked up a Packers playoff record 201 yards on 27 carries and three touchdowns. Grant also had a long run of 43 yards in the winter wonder land. In the NFC Championship Game, Grant was stifled by his former team, gaining only 29 yards on 13 carries.

But is Grant the long-term answer to the Packers running game? In my opinion, only time will tell. Grant was somewhat inconsistent, never rushing for over 100 yards in consecutive games. Also, outside of a few big runs, Grant was ineffective. Against Chicago in Week 16, Grant rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries. However, 90 of those yards came on two carries of 66 and 24, leaving him gaining just 10 yards on 12 carries. If Grant wants to be a number one back, he will have to improve on that. He is doing a good job of taking the pressure off of Brett Favre and the passing game.