Green Bay Packers 2010 Player Evaluations — Offense — James Starks

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1) Introduction: When the Packers took James Starks in the sixth round of the 2010 draft, there was probably only a handful of fans who knew who he was. Yet after probing into the history of Starks, many fans became enamored with his untapped talent at running back. However, Starks’ inability to stay healthy was also a concern, and he missed his entire senior season at Buffalo with a shoulder injury.

Those injury worries were confirmed when Starks injured his hamstring before the season. He would spend the first six weeks on the PUP list and didn’t see any game action until Week 13.

2) Profile:

James Darell ‘Buck’ Starks

Position: RB
Height:
6-1   Weight: 203 lbs

Born: February 25, 1986 in Niagara Falls, NY
College: Buffalo (school history)
Drafted
by the Green Bay Packers in the 6th round (193rd overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft.

3) Expectations coming into the season for that player: Low, but also optimistic. With Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson ahead of him on the depth chart, Starks didn’t figure to see the field much in year one. Those expectations were further lowered when Starks hurt his hamstring in OTA’s and missed nearly all of training camp and the preseason. Before the injury however, many thought Starks could add a home run threat to the running back position and possibly contribute on kickoff returns.

4) Player’s highlights/lowlights: Starks didn’t see the field until the Packers’ Week 13 game against the 49ers, and he had a solid showing in his debut (73 yards on 18 carries). He than disappeared again for most of the regular season, contributing only 28 yards rushing and 15 yards receiving while being active in just two of the final four games.

Once the playoffs began, so did Starks’ breakout campaign. In the Wild Card, he rushed for a Packers rookie playoff record 123 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles. Starks’ 123 yards also marked the Packers highest individual rushing total of the season.

Two weeks later, Starks gave the Packers a 14-0 lead over the Bears with a lunging 4-yard touchdown run. He would finish the NFC Championship game with 74 yards against the NFL’s No. 2 rushing defense.

If there was low mark to Starks’ season however, it’d be his 8-yard rushing performance against the Lions in Week 14.

5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: Starks got a late start to the season because of a hamstring injury that kept him out of the preseason and the first 12 weeks. However, Starks typically made the most of his chances once he healed up. The 73 rushing yards in his debut helped the Packers get a big win over the 49ers, and it’s hard to say if the Packers would have won the Super Bowl without Starks in the backfield during the playoffs.

6) Player’s contributions during the six-win end-of-season run: After giving the Packers just 35 total yards against New York and Chicago to end the regular season, Starks exploded in the playoffs. He was Green Bay’s most important offensive weapon in the Wild Card, rushing for 123 yards on 27 carries in Philadelphia. The per carry numbers dipped against Atlanta (25 carries for 66 yards) and Chicago (22 for 74), but the threat of Starks in the running game helped open things up for Aaron Rodgers down the field.

In the Super Bowl, Starks appeared to have some early nerves hitting the hole, but he settled in and finished the game with 52 yards on 11 carries—respectable numbers against the NFL’s best rushing defense. Overall, Starks lead all rushers in the playoffs with 315 yards on the ground.

Season Report Card:

(C-) Level of expectations met during the season
(C-) Contributions to team’s overall success.
(B+) Contributions to team’s success during the playoff run (last 6 games)

Overall Grade for the year: C+

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Zach Kruse is a 23-year-old sports journalist with a passion for the Green Bay Packers. He currently lives in Wisconsin and is working on his journalism degree, while also covering prep sports for The Dunn Co. News.

You can read more of Zach's Packers articles on AllGreenBayPackers.com.

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9 thoughts on “Green Bay Packers 2010 Player Evaluations — Offense — James Starks

  1. Way low. Dude led the NFL in rushing in the post-season. Should be in the B’s somewhere

  2. He played well when given the chance. He didn’t fumble and always went forward. B across the board from my point of view.

    Glad to have him. Grant’s injury history is troublesome.

  3. I don’t think I’d bump Starks into the B’s. In looking at the entire season as a whole, he didn’t really play for most of it, so his contributions were very limited.

    I agree with his B+ grade for the 6-game stretch, but it’s not enough to pull his overall season grade into the B range.

  4. This is a travesty to even have the same evaluation for him as others.
    You guys are much better than that.

    1. He played in just 7 games all season. Sure, he was good (not great) in the playoffs, but he was a non-factor for the majority of the year. C+ is an accurate grade for his entire body of work.

  5. I concur with Zach’s assessment. I see the upside to Starks much more cautiously than most/many. Clearly he has some talent and gave the offense something it had been missing all season – the threat of a running game. But, he doesn’t hit the hole as hard as Grant and in general didn’t strike me as a guy that could become a “franchise” RB.

    I like his potential to replace BJax as 3rd down back (if #32 leaves as FA) assuming he can make strides in terms of protecting the QB on blitz pickups. This would give the offense insurance in case Grant goes down again and gives Starks an opportunity to develop further.

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