FanHouse Ron Dayne

Crazy as it sounded but a few weeks ago, there is a chance neither Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy or Sam Bradford will win the 2009 Heisman Trophy. Maybe that's a good thing. Their journey of inevitability has taken on some water surprisingly early this year.

When BYU's Coleby Clawson slammed Bradford to the turf causing a shoulder injury, Bradford's repeat hopes were finished. He has still yet to play a down since then. Last Saturday against Kentucky, Tebow also sustained a concussion injury while being driven to the ground. It is unclear whether he will play Saturday against LSU in Florida's first real test this season.

Meanwhile, Colt McCoy already has five interceptions although he completed 80 percent of his passes Saturday against UTEP as the Longhorns appear to have turned a corner offensively in pouring 64 points on the Miners.

Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

Training camp is finally here and FanHouse breaks down the most important position battles heading into the season, team by team.

Over Gary Kubiak's last two seasons, the Texans have tried to piece together a running game using players that no other team really wanted. They haven't had much of a choice given all the needs of the team and limited salary cap money. Once again this year, the Texans have a group of running backs that few other teams would covet, but they are hoping to get away with it with offensive line guru Alex Gibbs joining the team.

I follow the Texans closer than what is probably mentally advisable, and I have little idea who is going to be the Texans leading rusher this upcoming year. Last year, it was Ron Dayne. Really. The ugliest looking 4.0 YPC average in the league. I know it won't be Ron Dayne this year, unless some how everybody gets hurt and Dayne gets re-signed. (apologies for any mental distress and/or gastrointestinal upset that this last paragraph might have caused).

Texans GM Rick Smith believes that running back will be "one of the most competitive positions in camp," and who am I to disagree? Here's a breakdown of the leading candidates for the running back committee and the pros and cons of them seeing playing time:

For the last two years, the Houston Texans have finished their seasons with a league high 17 players on IR. Last year, starting quarterback Matt Schaub, running back Ahman Green, and standout wide receiver Andre Johnson were only on the field together for two games. Other key starters that missed substantial time last season due to injury include cornerback Dunta Robinson, center Steve McKinney and guard Fred Weary (Houston Texans video of his rehabilitation above).

There's no way I would have predicted the Texans finishing 8-8 with those injuries and running back Ron Dayne (now unemployed) as their leading rusher. Quite the coaching job by the staff.

The coaches and fanbase are sick of this injury story, and after the last two seasons the team has talked about how they can reduce injuries. An article in HoustonTexans.com discusses how the coaching staff believes that they will be able to reduce injuries:

The Tennessee Titans LOVE running backs. They've used a first- or second-round pick the last three drafts on the position (LenDale White, '06; Chris Henry, '07; Chris Johnson, '08 -- Mr. Kige was stupefied no that last one, by the way ... I think), and they're still not done.

J.J. mentioned that Tennessee briefly considered Ron Dayne earlier this offseason, and now, they could again be in the Kevin Jones business.

Former Lions running back Kevin Jones, trying to come back from an ACL injury, is scheduled to work out for pro scouts later this month.

The Titans are among the teams interested in Jones, who visited Baptist Sports Park earlier this offseason, but don't look for them to get in the mix for former Bronco Travis Henry or former Bear Cedric Benson.

I think Henry and 'Adam' Jones have soured the Titans on knuckleheaded players with skillz. Probably a smart move.

Jones, on the advice of his agent*, says he "feels great" and feels like he is "ready to play right now". The Titans are looking for depth behind their three young backs, so Tennessee might not be the right situation for the Lions former first-round pick. Ideally, he'd like to get a shot at more playing time, and presumably a starting job. That could happen in Tennessee, I guess, but there are other teams with fewer players on the depth chart between Jones and the field.

But who knows, maybe the Titans will move Johnson to wideout and Jones can share touches with White and Henry.

* not really

It's not very often names like Shaun Alexander, Kevin Jones, Travis Henry, Cedric Benson and Ron Dayne -- all first-round picks save Henry, a second-rounder -- are still looking for gainful employment. As recently as a year ago, teams were clamoring for their services, and now, nothing.

Some combination of age, ineffectiveness, injury and off-field silliness led these players to their current predicaments, and while some of them will no doubt get second or third or fourth chances at redemption, Alexander's career, whether he's ready or not, looks to be over.

CBSSports.com's Clark Judge polled NFL coaches and GMs for some insight into Alexander's future, and here's what he discovered:

"First of all," said a head coach who saw a lot of Alexander, "he had a reputation as being a 'soft' runner. But when the scheme was blocked up, and he got to the second level he had the speed where he could be effective. The problem is: He no longer has the speed, so he no longer can be effective."

Hardly earth-shattering. Anybody who even briefly saw Alexander last season would readily agree. But how do you go from NFL touchdown leader to also-ran in two seasons?

It sounds like a bad practical joke.

After drafting a tailback in the first or second round of each of the past three drafts, the Titans are talking to veteran tailback Ron Dayne. Do the Titans just like collecting running backs?

Actually it makes some sense. The Titans have Lendale White, Chris Henry and first-round pick Chris Johnson on the roster, but as mentioned here yesterday, the team could actually use one more running back for depth--on a team that depends a lot on its running game, an injury during training camp could leave Tennessee a little thin.

Dayne would give Tennessee another power back, which leads Dayne's agent to speculate that Lendale White's knee injury may be a little more serious than everyone thinks.

"What they said to me was LenDale is coming off a knee injury, so that is maybe a concern of theirs. Ron has proven he can play through whatever,'' agent Karim Lawrence said.

After being a big-time bust with the Giants, Dayne has been reasonably productive in stints with Denver and Houston the past three seasons. What seems puzzling is why Dayne would want to come to Tennessee, where he would be an insurance policy, instead of finding another team where he could serve as a No. 2 or No. 3 back.

FanHouse is counting down the 10 best, 10 worst, and 10 weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

There are a lot of firsts and onlys on this list, but this one surprised even me. Only one Big Ten team has ever won back-to-back Rose Bowls, and it didn't happen way back in the 1950s. In fact, it happened less than ten years ago. When the Wisconsin Badgers won in 1999 and 2000, they became the first and so far only Big Ten team to do so.

Now, it's important to remember that prior to the early 1970s the Big Ten had a rule forbidding any team from going to the Rose Bowl in two consecutive seasons. Once that rule was lifted, Ohio State went to Pasadena four straight years (1973 through 1976) but only won once, in 1974. Not to be outdone, Michigan then went to, and lost, three straight Rose Bowls themselves. Throughout the 1980s no Big Ten team would make consecutive West Coast swings. Michigan split their 1993 and 1994 Rose Bowls, but it looked as if no Big Ten team would ever win the thing in back-to-back years

But they didn't count on ... one man.

The Houston Texans have been pretty low key in free agency, mostly because they: 1. aren't one player away; 2. don't have a ton of money to spend; 3. usually make bad free agent acquisitions and trades (see e.g. Anthony Weaver, Ahman Green, Phillip Buchanon).

At SI.com, they are reporting unidentified "league source" suggesting that recently released Atlanta running back Warrick Dunn might be interested in the Cowboys, Texans or Broncos. The Texans are reportedly wanting him to have a visit, as they are not interested in re-signing running back Ron Dayne. I can't see Dunn as a Texan unless he really wants to be reunited with offensive line guru Alex Gibbs, and doesn't sign for much.

How many running backs can you sign with their best years behind them?

For the most part, the Texans have spent this free agency period shoring up weaknesses with not terribly splashy acquisitions: former Dallas CB Jacques Reeves, former Seattle linebacker Kevin Bentley (seen in above HT.com video or video transcript here), and re-signing Andre Davis.