MVN - Most Valuable Network

So that’s why Charles Grant sucked last season

It has become public knowledge in the past few days that Saints DE Charles Grant was slowed by a torn ligament in his ankle for the majority of last season.

Grant admitted recently that the coaching staff and trainers knew about the severity of the injury, but that it was never revealed publically.

I must say that I exhaled a sigh of relief after reading this bit of news.  Now I know why our $60 Million dollar defensive end played like a washed up old veteran last year.  It was the ankle. 

Grant missed a few games because of the injury, which we thought at the time was a mere ankle sprain.  Now we know the actuality of it.  He had a torn ligament in his left ankle, which clearly sapped him of lower body strength and robbed him of his quickness. 

The former Georgia star has made a name for himself in the NFL because of his strength.  Generally utilizing the bull-rush technique, Grant would rely on his lower body power to really drive into offensive tackles.  That in turn would usually collapse the pocket, forcing quarterbacks to abandon their progressions in favor of safe asylum somewhere else on the field. 

The thing was, Grant wouldn’t let them get away.  Once a quarterback started dancing uncomfortably in the pocket, Grant would come in for the kill shot.  That’s what made him so effective the past few years.  He would deflate the QB’s protection bubble with his strength and then use his quickness to track down the fleeing quarterback.

That’s what earned him a 60 million dollar deal, and that’s what was missing from his game last season.

It’s all starting to make sense now.  For a while there I was wondering why Grant was having such an unproductive year.  A lot of people were saying he just wasn’t motivated anymore after his big payday.  I didn’t buy into that.  Grant’s a loyal guy.  He’s not the Shaun Alexander type who’s going to give you a Pro Bowl year, get a huge contract, and then suck miserably. 

I guarantee you he was feeling terrible about not being able to give the team what they needed from him.  And I guarantee you it’ll be a motivating factor for him this season.  The 30-year is still young enough to get back to the Pro Bowl level he played at a few years ago.  And there’s nobody who wants him to do it more than himself.

So what does everyone else think?  Is Grant going to rebound from the injury and get 10 sacks this season?  Or is he going to struggle to regain the dominant presence he once had?    

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.