Keep Shaun or Trade Him?

I'm not one to stir up controversy, but there seems to be a growing discontent with retaining Shaun Alexander. Last time I checked our poll, 50% of you said we should trade him.

Some of the things that have been said: He doesn't block well. He doesn't catch well. Because of those two things, he doesn't fit into the West Coast Offense. He is also weak in short yardage situations, unless he's near the end zone. He is a selfish, me-first player. He dances in the backfield waiting for a hole, and often comes up with nothing.

I'd like to state my case for retaining Alexander.

I think if were not for him this season, this team would possibly be 6-10 or worse. When Hasselbeck was struggling early in the season, what brought him out of it? Holmgren himself said that he needed to "force feed" the run a little bit. He realized that the team was relying on the pass too much, and that defenders were teeing up and coming hard at Matt. By relying on the raw rushing threat that Alexander presented, teams were forced to back off of Hass and respect the run. This took the pressure off the QB and opened up lanes in the passing game.

I believe that was the key to the offense waking up this season. If you go back to the pregame analyses and check what the keys to the game of the opponents defense was, you will see that "controlling/containing/slowing/stopping Alexander" was their main concern. And when Shaun got 25-27 carries in a game, we usually came away with a win.

Bottom line is that, indirectly, Shaun is a good fit for the West Coast Offense. He makes Matt more effective, and that really is the key to the whole shebang, because he is the center of the entire scheme.

What about the conjecture that Shaun is a sissy back, afraid of contact, and lousy in short yardage?

I think those notions have merit, because there are better straight ahead runners. Jerome Bettis, for example, is a guy that will just as soon move the pile than even walk around it. Even Mack Strong would be a better candidate to run through a defender than Shaun. This may be why he gets the call on 3rd and short sometimes.

But I think this is old news. Around the time that these rumors and criticisms were coming out, (and I could see that they were true), I noticed a subtle change in the way that Shaun ran the ball. He was running harder. He was running into people more. And in short yardage he was ducking his head and plowing into the hole.

Now, I'm not saying that all of a sudden he was evoking the spirit of Larry Csonka, but I do think he and the coaches heard the scout's summations. He worked on it, at there was a definite improvement in the toughness of the running game form then on.

Shaun improved his pass blocking, too. He's still not as good as a lot of backs, but he went from completely missing assignments to at least making contact and slowing them up, generally speaking.

I've seen some critical postings that included quotes of scout's analyses ripping Alexander apart. But what I have noticed about these is they were from either before this season, or from the first part of it. The current reports I have seen pretty much validate what I see on the field: That he is great running back that has adequate secondary RB skills.

Here is a recent quote from Scout.com:

Shaun Alexander possesses all the physical tools, athletic ability, and toughness wanted in a running back. While not overly fast, he is exceptionally quick in a short area, sports great vision and anticipation, has the natural ability to cut and bounce to the outside, while displaying the ability to run the ball inside the tackles with consistency. Alexander has developed into a solid receiver out of the backfield and is adequate in pass protection. While not in the category of an elusive running back, it is his surprising quickness and authoritive running style which has made him one of the best backs in the game.

And that's why I think we should keep him. Any thoughts?