Steven Jackson has some mileage on his tires, turning 30 in July. But while he's not as young as he used to be, his free agency move from the Rams to the Falcons looks like a good one for his fantasy potential -- especially in terms of scoring.
The threat of a strong passing game is a running back's friend, and Jackson hasn't had that the last few seasons in St. Louis. The Rams haven't ranked higher than 18th in passing since 2006, his second season as a starter. The Falcons ranked 6th in passing last season, and should be a top-10 offense in that regard next season, as well.
In Jackson's eight years as a starter for the Rams, his two best seasons as a scorer -- his only two with double-digit touchdowns -- came with the team ranked in the top-5 in passing. His career highs in both rushing and total yardage also came when the team had a strong passing offense. Since those seasons, with the team putting up below-average passing numbers, Jackson's total yards have been fine, but he's scored more than 6 TDs in a season only once.
Jackson is an older back and will lose some work to Jacquizz Rodgers, but he has lots of potential in an offense where Michael Turner scored at least 10 touchdowns in each of the last five seasons.
Jackson's total yardage and touchdown numbers as a starter, sorted by touchdowns and with St. Louis' passing offense ranking in those seasons in parentheses, is presented below.
Steven Jackson TDs, yards, 2005-2012
TD Yds Year
16 2,334 2006 (4th)
10 1,366 2005 (4th)
8 1,421 2008 (26th)
6 1,273 2007 (19th)
6 1,624 2010 (21st)
6 1,478 2011 (30th)
4 1,363 2012 (18th)
4 1,738 2009 (28th)
--Andy Richardson