Ahmad Bradshaw vs. Brandon Jacobs: Is There Room For Fantasy in Football?

If you are the kind of guy that likes to read Fantasy Football forums, you'll see that there is some debate over which Giants running back is more valuable as a starter. Ahmad Bradshaw or Brandon Jacobs? It's a difficult decision: both are good backs with the potential to rack up yards and score touchdowns, but each week, it's a mystery who will get the bulk of the carries.

Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you this: if you're reading this post for Fantasy Football strategy, then you should probably stop now. I no longer play Fantasy Football, and I never understood the rules. I should also disclose that I once tasted human flesh and it was delicious. It is possible-- despite the fact that I don't read Fantasy Football forums-- that because of the size of my HD television (56 inches, bitch!) that I have noticed things about the Giants that you may not have noticed. For instance, my 1080p DLP Samsung flat-screen has unequivocally revealed to me that Brandon Jacobs is HUGE and Ahmad Bradshaw is rather small. Did you notice this on your puny TV? Or do the players look like those little Styrofoam figures that jiggle around on an electric vibrating football game?

At the beginning of the season, it seemed that Bradshaw was going to be the featured back, but rumor has it that his small frame is so badly bruised and beaten that he can barely participate in practice. He's also been fumbling the ball. Jacobs isn't as dangerous, but he's enormous and powerful and often he can just fall fall forward for several yards. But he's prone to injury because he's not particularly quick and stays on his feet a long time, allowing multiple players to hit him on every carry.

That's the situation, and it's a tough one for Fantasy coaches. But what interests me are the larger issues of this battle at running back. Bradshaw versus Jacobs is archetypal. It is speed, agility, quickness, and excitement versus size, power, strength and consistency. It is the primal sports battle. The wily little guy versus the mountain of muscle. If you can't have Jim Brown, then do you choose Barry Sanders or Jerome Bettis? Who you choose is beyond statistical analysis. It signifies who you are.

More than any other running back, I loved watching Barry Sanders, but he never took the Lions to a Super Bowl. Handing the ball off to him was more like throwing a pass than running. There was the chance for a big play, but he was also victim to plenty of "incompletions" and "sacks." He is still the all-time NFL leader in carries for negative yardage. But he was a joy to behold.

Who do you choose? David or Goliath? Drago or Rocky? Yoda or Count Dooku? Spudd Webb or Patrick Ewing? Rob or Igor? In the movies, the little guy usually comes through, but in the real world, it's not always the case. Is NFL football reality or fantasy? 

Ahmad Bradshaw fumbles the ball. He will continue to fumble the ball because he is five foot nine and under two hundred pounds. He is often being tackled by men that weigh one hundred pounds more than him. Brandon Jacobs is six foot four and and 265 pounds. Strategically, Jacobs is the better NFL back. He is the back to win games with, but it's more fun to watch Ahmad Bradshaw. Tom Coughlin is realizing this as well, but there must have been some romantic streak in him at the start of the season that was rooting for the underdog, rooting for the little man. It didn't work out, but football is a game after all, and so it is only right that it should include some fantasy.

This post is dedicated to Rob, our favorite little man at G:TB.