| | By John Clayton
ESPN.com
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Hitting the five-year, $25 million running back lottery hasn't changed James
Stewart. To his family and friends, he's still "Little Man"
Stewart. To the Detroit Lions, he's "Little Big Man."
|  | | James Stewart felt he had to leave Jacksonville to finally be "the guy" in an offense. |
And he needs to be big this year. The Lions' failure to advance in the playoffs clearly was because of a running game that ran out of gas. Stewart was the one and only back to sign in free agency, and the Lions outbid the Cleveland Browns for his services.
"James is going to give us a little more consistency to our running
game," Lions coach Bobby Ross said. "We're not going to flash with the 80-yard runs we used to have. It's different. We're probably going to get more four- and five-yard runs. But we need a good running game so that teams will
respect our play-action passing game."
"Little Man" replaces "The Man." Barry Sanders has retired to a
quiet life of pickup basketball games, investments, an ownership stake in a bank and
ignoring Lions fans who plead for his return.
"If you are looking for Barry Sanders in me, you are going to be
disappointed," Stewart said. "I'm not Barry. If I was built like him and
had the moves like him, then I'd see where people want me to be like
Barry. It's plain to see: I'm not Barry. If you can't see it, you're
blind."
If Barry Sanders was a Ferrarri, then Stewart is a Jeep Wrangler. His style is
straight-ahead with power. He's 6-foot, 226 pounds and gains momentum as he
runs. Sanders darted around defenders in ways that embarrassed them. And
that's not to belittle "Little Man."
Stewart's style works. He rushed for 2,951 yards in five seasons in
Jacksonville but never seemed to gain the organization's complete endorsement.
The Jaguars made him a first-round choice in their first year as an
expansion team. Yet for years, they kept searching for backs with more
explosion -- once Natrone Means and now Fred Taylor.
"I just felt they never did give me the opportunity to be 'The
Guy,'" Stewart said. "Everyone knew because they were a patched-up team and
were going to struggle a couple of years. You'd figure they'd struggle and
get some guys in there for help. I never heard that from anybody. That made
it sour for me."
Stewart, despite having decent size for a running back, looks like the smallest guy in the Lions' offensive huddle. He's surrounded by big men -- really,
really, really big men. Right tackle Aaron Gibson is 6-4 and 380 pounds. Left guard
Stockar McDougle, moved to the first team Wednesday, is 6-6 and 350. Left
tackle Ray Roberts is 6-6 and 320. Center Mike Compton is a towering 6-6 and 298 with right guard Jeff Hartings measuring in at 6-3, 295.
|
“ |
(The Jaguars) never did give me the
opportunity to be The Guy. ... You'd figure they'd
struggle and get some guys in there for help. I never heard that from anybody. That
made it sour for me. ” |
|
|
— James Stewart, Lions running back |
Ross loves the way Stewart can make himself "small" so that he can
slip through holes at full speed. He'll have to squeeze through some holes between the 320-pound Roberts and 350-pound McDougle.
"It's a challenge," Stewart said. "The key to them is that they
are so big, they have to come off the ball and get movement. If they stay in
the same spot and have fisticuffs, you are sure going to have a hard time
finding your hole."
And that might take a little time. Normally, the 350-pound guards
move to the right side of the line because the more athletic guards are
needed on the left to help with pass-blocking assignments. Ross feared
putting McDougle, a pure rookie, and the 380-pound Gibson, who was injured
all of last season, together for fear there would be too many mistakes.
"We're going to be young and we're going to make some mistakes
right now," Ross said. "Stockar does provide great athleticism."
And Gibson provides great size. During Wednesday's practices against
Carolina Panthers defensive linemen, the Panthers needed an extra step
or two to maneuver around Gibson's gigantic body. Surprisingly, Gibson
propels his hips to the right, providing an open stance that makes a
pass rusher feel as though he's running around a widening gate.
And if Gibson has time to land his powerful hands on a defender, his opponent becomes as invisible as the sun during an eclipse. But those types of plays aren't
always the case -- Gibson's tendency to backpedal in an off-balanced way gives
defenders a chance to beat him.
"He's a big man, just a huge man," Ross said of Gibson. "He's not
fast, but he's pretty athletic. He's just kind of a mauling type of guy."
As big as Gibson is, Stewart is bigger in the success equation of
the Lions. He knows how important his role is, as evidenced by his dedication to attending all the offseason team functions and hard work.
"Hopefully, this is all going to mesh together," Stewart said.
"The only way we can improve the running game is if we do the job up front.
I think we are on the same page."
Stewart's just a little man surviving in a big man's game.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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