Jackson, with any other team but the Rams, would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer.
He and Marshawn Lynch were the two best backs of their era, IMO, and for the same reasons.
For what it's worth, Aker's dimensions are nearly identical to Lynch's.
It's not that Akers is undersized and we need a back that is bigger. Akers doesn't have what it takes to wedge himself into a small crease and gain that extra yard or two when the dust settles and the ball is spotted, or burst through the other side for a few more yards, carry tacklers with him for a couple of extra yards, or step out of tackles, or truck a DB ands keep running, or plant a well-timed stiff arm on a pursuer, or move laterally in traffic to find enough space to make a gain by putting his head down, securing the ball, and keeping his legs moving, burrowing for just a few inches more, and then a few more....
Akers does parts of some of these things but not well enough to be a combination speed and/or power back. He weighs 215 but plays about 195. Lynch weighted the same and played 235. And Lynch, whatever else may be said about his persona, didn't quit on his team or throw his coach in the dumpster.
Jackson did all of these things with more sheer mass. He was more than simply a uber-big back at - what - 235-240? He was an elite athlete.
I was in Sun Devil Stadium the first time I watched him play as a rookie, splitting carries with Marshall Faulk. My first remark under my breath when he broke through the line with not quite enough blocking, four strides later stepped out of what should have been a sure tackle, and then trucked a safety, I think it was, before making a few more yards and finally being taken down by two tacklers after he drug the first for a couple of yards: "This Jackson is a
beast!"
(Strange, how I can remember that run, even down to the expression on Jackson's face as he stepped out of that tackle and looked sideways, and earlier today my wife found my watch where I forgot I had put it. Anyway...)
I'd like to see the Rams with a real football player at running back -
after other needs are met. Doesn't have to be another Harold Jackson - but a committed and hardnosed
football player with traits that Akers lacks.
