Warrick Dunn – 186 CAR, 786 YDS, 2 TDS

                                Ernest Graham – 132 CAR, 563 YDS, 4 TDS

                                Cadillac Williams – 63 CAR, 233 YDS, 4 TDS

During game one of the season, it was obvious we would be employing a running back by committee approach, using mainly Warrick Dunn as the receiving/exterior running back and using Ernest Graham as the main smash mouth back and featured goal line back.  

Through the first 6 weeks of the season, sans the Chicago Bears game in Week 3, that tandem rushed for over 100 yards in every game.  Warrick Dunn rushed for over 100 yards once in Week 6 vs Carolina (115), and Ernest Graham rushed for over 100 yards twice, in Week 2 vs Atlanta (116) and in Week  4 vs Green Bay (111). 

I personally was quite excited how the combo was producing productive yards in just about every contest in the first half of the season.  Then Ernest Graham suffered a season ending injury in Week 11 and the dynamic of the running back situation drastically changed.  The irony was, the guy Ernest Graham originally replaced to receive his first real shot as an NFL running back, Cadillac Williams, was now back on the 53 man roster after his season ending injury in 2007. 

We got back to our 100 yard rushing status in Week 12 vs the awful Lions, with Warrick Dunn picking up 90 and Cadillac Williams getting his first real work of the season in garbage time of that game. 

After the Lions game, we didn’t rush for 100 yards as a team any more times throughout the season.  Warrick Dunn was experiencing an injury that was hindering him a bit, Ernest Graham was on the IR, even with Clifton Smith’s success returning the ball head coach Jon Gruden didn’t trust him because of a few of his fumbles on returns, and Cadillac was still rounding into game shape. 

In week 17 against the Raiders, a game that would have ultimately put the Bucs in the playoffs, Cadillac Williams was starting to show real signs of life, and the ability that made him a top 5 NFL draft pick.  At the end of a 27 yard run in the 4^th quarter, Cadillac Williams went down, and never got back up.  CBS was picking up the audio feed of what Caddy was saying, and it wasn’t pretty.  He had suffered a similar injury to his one in 2007, this time to his left knee as opposed to his right.  This injury killed the team, the crowd, and ultimately the game as we let the Raiders beat us on our home field, in a must win game (still very bitter about this). 

Personally I thought the unit as a whole was quite efficient, and it was just some untimely injuries to all three guys that prohibited the team from ever being able to use them all in a way that would have made us better than a 15^th ranked rushing team.   Warrick Dunn is a year older, and the early news on Caddy is that he won’t be ready until the 2^nd half of next season.  That leaves Ernest Graham, possibly Clifton Smith and whoever else we look at in Free Agency or the draft to fight for yardage next year behind our up and coming offensive line. 

Grade – B -

“His status for the rest of the season is very much in question right now,” Gruden said Monday. “I don’t have the exact medical terms, but I will say right now, it doesn’t look like he’ll play any time soon.”

There has been a lot of speculation about the true readiness of Cadillac Williams to step back onto the field and contribute.  It has been a full 14 months since the 3 ligament tear that Caddy suffered last season vs the Panthers.  I personally don’t believe we would have put him on the 53 man roster and released preseason stud Michael Bennett, if we didn’t think Cadillac was fully capable of being a productive back for us.  Head Coach Jon Gruden feels the same. 

“We brought Cadillac up with the understanding that he’s ready to go,” said Gruden. “He’s a workhorse-type back and that’s what we’ve been trying to bring him back to, not just a situational runner but an every-down workhorse-type back; a guy that can handle it in short yardage and goal line; a guy that can finish the game with repeated runs in the four-minute drill where you know that the clock is the enemy. But I think his stamina will continue to be evaluated and we’ll just let you know.”

Cadillac probably would have been eased into a featured role a little more cautiously had Graham not suffered this injury, and promising undrafted free agent Clifton Smith had shown that he could hang onto the football.  Smith’s fumbling issues will certainly not bode well for his playing time because as I’ve mentioned on this site many times, Gruden despises fumbles. 

“Clifton [Smith] has got to take care of the football. All those backs will have to step up. It’s good to have Askew back yesterday as well. We might have to have him carry it, too.”

The aforementioned return of BJ Askew is a significant addition to the team, as he is a stellar blocker, experienced receiver, and although has only one TD in his career (last week) would seemingly be a formidable short yardage back, especially behind our behometh guards.  I would imagine that BJ will continue to start at FB with Cadillac and Warrick Dunn splitting carries as Ernest and Warrick were doing at the start of the season. 

This might be a little premature since nobody has definitevely said that Graham is out for the remainder of the year, nor have the Bucs placed him on Injured Reserve.

“Earnest Graham didn’t practice,” said Gruden. “Hopefully he can do a little bit more tomorrow.”

 ”Alex Smith did not practice. We have a number of guys that are injured.” – Jon Gruden

“He’s going to play,” said Gruden. “Knowing Ike, he is special. I wish he felt better all the time, but that guy is unbelievable. He’ll find a way to play in my opinion, but we’ll see.”

“I hope so,” said Gruden. “He practiced Monday and returned today. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

“He’s progressing well,” said Gruden. “I don’t know if he’ll be ready this week, but maybe we have a chance in the coming game or two to get him back. It hurts him not playing. I really feel bad for him. He was playing really good football for us.”