Interesting article by SMU great Craig James

[PonyPride]

(From The Sporting News)

Rotating backs isn't the best approach

My kids call me an old dude, so I guess it's OK for me to remember the "old" days in the NFL. Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen -- they all played every down and contributed whether it was a run or a pass.

Nowadays, the NFL is a game of substitutions and matchups. But can a running back really get going if he's always coming on and off the field? For the answer, consider the Giants and Bucs, teams with a pair of good backs.

The Giants got a career year out of Tiki Barber last season. Tiki can run and catch the ball. By the Super Bowl, he hardly ever was coming off the field. And that's the right thing to do. Tiki is a small guy, so more than likely he'll get banged around and miss playing time. When that happens, go to Ron Dayne and leave him in the game. Let him play! As long as he has a good position coach, Dayne will figure out how to pass block and run routes, too.

As for the Bucs, they are going to give the ball to Warrick Dunn until his small body can't go any more. Good move, too. In Week 1, Dunn rushed 22 times and the Bucs won. Sorry, Mike Alstott, but you'll have to be patient.

These teams are better off when their backs aren't rotated. Backs need to be in the game, getting banged around. Leave them in and let them produce.

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Craig James is an NFL analyst for CBS and a regular contributor to The Sporting News. E-mail him at cjames@sportingnews.com.

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What do you PonyFans think of this idea? I seem to recall SMU did quite well when he played at SMU. Sure, Eric Dickerson was the best running back in the country, but James was excellent as well, and that 1-2 punch made for a pretty potent offense.

[MustangMan]

Don't know if he felt that way when he and Dickerson had us destroying everyone we faced. We were the best team in the nation in 1982 (despite what the pollsters said), in large part because we had TWO great running backs.