According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Ryan Grant is not winning his one-on-one matchups when he gets into the secondary.
Almost every time running back Ryan Grant got into the secondary and faced a safety or cornerback one-on-one last year, he won the matchup and went on for a big gain.
This year, Grant isn’t winning those matchups. He had one with Atlanta safety Lawyer Milloy on Sunday and Milloy took him down easily after a 14-yard gain.
“That should have been a touchdown,” Grant said. “If I have a guy one-on-one, that should be a touchdown. That’s how I look at it.”
I’ve watched just about every Green Bay snap this season, and it seems to me that it’s not so much that Grant is losing these matchups as much as he’s not getting as many opportunities to reach the third level of the defense. He’s averaging 3.7 ypc in 2008 after averaging 5.1 ypc last season. Some of this has to do with the lack of the big runs that Silverstein is talking about, but I think it has more to do with the fact that the offensive line just isn’t run blocking like they were last season.
Regardless of the cause of Grant’s struggles, this week’s game against the Seahawks will be a good barometer of the Green Bay running game. Seattle is 24th against the run, allowing 130 yards per game on the ground (and 4.6 ypc). If Grant doesn’t manage to at least hit the 4.2 or 4.3 ypc mark, it might be time to get worried.
