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**RoyWilliams** · 07-30-2007, 08:09 PM

Edge thinking about Emmitt’s record despite last year | EastValleyTribune.com

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Nobody can say Edgerrin James isn’t goal oriented. Heading into his second season with the Cardinals, “Edge” says he thinks he has a shot at becoming the NFL’s all-time leading rusher.

“I may take a shot at Emmitt (Smith),” he says. “I know it’s not impossible.”

He wants to keep playing for several more years, and — this might be his most exotic goal—he’d like to finish his career as backup to his cousin, Javarris “Baby J” James, who’s now a running back at the University of Miami.

“That would be the coolest backup job I could possibly have,” he says.

Pretty heady stuff for a guy who was widely perceived as coming off a subpar season in which he ran for a career-low 3.4 yards per carry (his career average is 4.1).

James doesn’t necessarily see the situation this way.

Though he doesn’t say so himself, James was running behind a struggling offensive line — James prefers to say the line was in flux and that the team had two offensive coordinators — and he still managed 1,159 yards.

James had talked before last season that his eye was on a Hall of Fame career and that he didn’t want a weak line to mess with his goal.

Looking back, he says 2006 didn’t set him back.

“It made me dig deeper. Last year, there were so many opportunities to lay down and say, ‘You know what? This is not what I came here for,’ act up and not go out and play hard.

“But I continued to play … I took a pounding early on, and I kept going and going.”

After the team’s coaches settled on their best-available line, James ran for 100 yards in three of the team’s five final games, all Cardinal wins.

“For the situation I was in, for what I was working with, I did pretty good to hold up … It’s hard to put it on the offensive line when you have so much change.

“Once we started getting things together, we started running better and playing better as a team.

“Once we got settled in, we started having some pretty good results.”

New coach Ken Whisenhunt agrees.

His assessment of James, after watching replays of every game, “I thought he had very good vision and finished plays well. I thought he had a lot of gas left in the tank.”

Guard Reggie Wells, probably the team’s most consistent returning lineman, acknowledged, “We didn’t have the numbers we wanted the first half of the year. But we adjusted.”

Whisenhunt has talked of a “run-first” approach this season, at least in terms of building a physical style and temperament.

So then the question becomes: Do the Cardinals have the personnel on the line to accomplish this?

Evidently, coach Dennis Green didn’t think so last season. He emphasized the passing game.

“I feel that in free agency and in the draft we addressed some of those needs,” Whisenhunt says.

“That’s the purpose of training camp. We’re going to see which of these five is the best five.”

James is aware that opponents who key on the run can give him a tough time.

But, he says, “When you say ‘run first’, it’s more of a mentality for the team.

“You cannot leave Anquan Boldin or (Larry) Fitzgerald one on one. They can’t just key on the running game, ’cause if they do Fitzgerald and Boldin and (Bryant) Johnson will make the other team pay.’ “You won’t get teams cheating. They know Coach Whisenhunt will go down the field. “Teams will play us fairly. They won’t be loading eight men with the ninth man hanging, anticipating the run.”

As for that goal of being No. 1 all time, James — No. 18 with 10,385 yards — needs nearly 8,000 yards to catch Smith. He feels he’s in his prime; he turns 29 on Wednesday. With players now staying in shape and with the advance of medical technology in case of injuries, “You can play football at a high level for a long time. “I’m still young. I want to play as long as I’m interested and having fun.”

Perhaps more realistically, if he can average 1,200 yards for the remaining three years of his contract with the Cards, he will have piled up nearly 14,000 yards, likely good enough for No. 5 all time. With help from his line, he’s got a shot.

**Serrated Shadow** · 07-30-2007, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyWilliams

Edge thinking about Emmitt’s record despite last year | EastValleyTribune.com

Lol, he'd be like 36 years old..probably not happening.

**RoyWilliams** · 07-30-2007, 09:04 PM

Definately not.

**BeastJacobs** · 07-30-2007, 09:06 PM

If Barry Sanders hadn't retired and had broken Paytons record, Emmitt would still be playing to try and catch it. Barry would've set it at like 25,000. Face it, Emmitt lucked out by having Barry retire early. Emmitt's good, but his record isn't impossible to catch.

**RoyWilliams** · 07-30-2007, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shockey256

If Barry Sanders hadn't retired and had broken Paytons record, Emmitt would still be playing to try and catch it. Barry would've set it at like 25,000. Face it, Emmitt lucked out by having Barry retire early. Emmitt's good, but his record isn't impossible to catch.

Or he could have tore his knee up and never played again.

Your underestimating the record. Take LT, hes been amazing. He would have to play for 6 more seasons at the same level, not missing a beat to get close to ES. So hes going to have to play till he is 33 without missing one step.

**BeastJacobs** · 07-30-2007, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyWilliams

Or he could have tore his knee up and never played again.

Your underestimating the record. Take LT, hes been amazing. He would have to play for 6 more seasons at the same level, not missing a beat to get close to ES. So hes going to have to play till he is 33 without missing one step.

Or, he could elevate his performance for a few seasons. I mean last year he was a TD Hound, but he had 1800 yards, he didn't hit 2000, which if they had given him like 5 more carries each game he would have hit easily.

**RoyWilliams** · 07-30-2007, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shockey256

Or, he could elevate his performance for a few seasons. I mean last year he was a TD Hound, but he had 1800 yards, he didn't hit 2000, which if they had given him like 5 more carries each game he would have hit easily.

Its not that easy, 5 more carries a game = 80 more carries, which puts him at 348+80= 428 carries. Now do you think that would be a smart thing to do?

**BeastJacobs** · 07-30-2007, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyWilliams

Its not that easy, 5 more carries a game = 80 more carries, which puts him at 348+80= 428 carries. Now do you think that would be a smart thing to do?

To break records it is.

**RoyWilliams** · 07-30-2007, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shockey256

To break records it is.

Or to break a running back down, go back and read the article i posted on RBs with heavy work loads.

**Serrated Shadow** · 07-30-2007, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyWilliams

Or he could have tore his knee up and never played again.

Your underestimating the record. Take LT, hes been amazing. He would have to play for 6 more seasons at the same level, not missing a beat to get close to ES. So hes going to have to play till he is 33 without missing one step.

yeah, it would be huge if someone could top Emmitt's record..of course, i'd love for L.T. to do it...Edge, not so much.

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