Loading ...With Brandon Jacobs now in San Francisco with the 49ers, there's no longer any question who the premiere running back is for the New York Giants. Going into the 2012-2013 season, Ahmad Bradshaw is aware that he's number one on the depth chart, and despite a significant amount of talent behind him, including rookie David Wilson out of Virginia, he's fully prepared for the featured role.
“This year, being the premier back, it’s just something you dream of. I feel like … I’m able to put the team on my back, at times. It’s just that feeling you get as the premier back, man. It’s something that you always want to be, when you’re younger. And it’s something you always want to be when you’re a pro," Bradshaw said.
Health, as it usually is, will be a major contributing factor for Bradshaw's potential success this season. He's dealt with reoccurring foot injuries for the last several years and has played a full 16 games only once (2010) since being drafted in 2007. And now, without Jacobs, the pressure is mounting for him to stay health and, as he acknowledges, carry the running game.
For Bradshaw, much of that pressure will come from being without the aforementioned Brandon Jacobs.
“It’s been a blessing to have Brandon Jacobs with me,” Bradshaw said. “As a Giant, he’s taught me a lot in the football game. He’s taught me a lot in life, outside of football. … And then last year, I actually took the starting position, but we kind of shared the role.”
Even with his close friend now on the other side of the country, AB is far from alone in a locker-room full of other men willing to join him in the foxhole. And despite that younger brother/older brother relationship having been severed due the business aspect of the NFL, Bradshaw remains fully motivated for his team … and especially his coach.
“I love Tom Coughlin as a coach,” Bradshaw said. “He’s one of my best guys on the team. He looks after me, and he has ever since I’ve been a rookie. The way I play, I do it not only for the Giants, but for Tom, because he’s a great influence in my life.”
In less than two weeks, Tom and Bradshaw will be out on the field beginning their preparations for another potential run at the Lombardi Trophy.
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Gotta go back and answer Nosh’s comment on the previous thread. IMO, Eli definitely DID outplay Brady in both Super Bowl matchups. First, he won, and both times with do-or-die drives at the end of the game. Second, the only real question to ask about those games is did the quarterback do what had to be done to win or not? Eli did, Brady didn’t. And third, let’s get rid of this myth that Welker “dropped” a fine pass from Brady in February. That pass was not on the mark (thanks to Brady hearing footsteps and the previous hits put on him) and had Welker caught it the catch would have been an awfully good one. On the other hand, Eli put that ball, under the most extreme pressure, exactly where it had to be for Manningham to get it and the safety to not be able to reach it.
Brady is a great quarterback. So is Eli. And while I am not suggesting, and never have, that Eli’s career to date is better than Brady’s, I am saying that right now, today, I’ll take Eli as my quarterback over anyone else out there. I might have said Brady was my guy three years ago. I might say Rodgers is my guy in two years. Hell, I might want Luck in three years. But TODAY, Eli is the pick and I think those who just don’t want to recognize the validity of that choice are not seeing straight. They’re also not recognizing that we are seeing the evolution of a guy who may wind up being in the same category as Montana and Unitas as the big game, clutch, quarterbacks who have to be considered among the greatest to ever play.
As for Bradshaw, enjoy it while you can Ahmad. That sound you hear catching up behind you is David Wilson. You’re a fine back. But he may be the real deal. That role as the premier back may be shorter than you hope. Use it well.