Montario Hardesty: Can Lightning Strike Twice for a Mike Holmgren Pick?

Ten years ago, Mike Holmgren changed the face of the Seattle Seahawks when he selected Shaun Alexander out of Alabama in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft.

Did he do it again in 2010, with the second-round selection of Montario Hardesty?

Plenty of Cleveland fans think so, or at least hope so, as the Browns prepare for a training camp that has tongues a-wagging and hopes a-running rampant.

The Seahawks had been a .500 team for most of the decade before Alexander’s arrival in 2000, and would remain a middle-of-the-pack franchise for three more years before blossoming into a 13-win team that made it to the Super Bowl in 2005.

Alexander came to Seattle following a solid, albeit not spectacular, career with the Crimson Tide. He backed up Ricky Watters during his rookie year with the Seahawks, then burst onto the scene with the first of what would be five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, culminating in a spectacular 1,880-yard, MVP performance in 2005.

As a featured back, Alexander wasn’t afraid of the head-on hit; he took plenty of them. But he was known more for being fast, elusive and shifty.

Never was that on display more than in that 2005 campaign, when he scored an NFL-record 28 touchdowns—27 of them on the ground. That season was the culmination of a five-year stretch that saw him compile a stunning 7,504 yards and 87 touchdowns on the ground.

Sadly, Alexander’s fall from grace was just as spectacular and just as sudden. Injuries limited his productivity in 2006 and 2007. Many fans became disenchanted because Alexander had signed a lucrative three-year, $62 million contract after the MVP season.

In a classic “what have you done for me lately” scenario, he was the target of boo birds for most of his last two seasons in Seattle.

Alexander played a few games for the Redskins in 2008, and has been out of football since.

Are there parallels in Alexander’s style and that of Hardesty, clues about what we may see from the Browns’ rookie running back?

There are, both pro and con.

Like Alexander, Hardesty had a solid but not spectacular college career at Tennessee. The primary knock was his inability to stay healthy—he tore an ACL, sprained an ankle and had a nagging foot injury. However, he overcame it all to rush for 1,345 yards and 13 touchdowns his senior year.

In somewhat of a departure from the Alexander model, scouts like the fact that Hardesty is a classic north-south runner who doesn’t shy away from contact. However, his upright running style was a luxury in college that he can’t afford in the pros. He’ll need to learn to lower his pads to withstand the pounding that NFL defenders will dish out.

Like Alexander, Hardesty has impressive speed (4.48 in the 40). It enabled him to get outside in college, but he’ll face equally fast defenders in the NFL. This will likely translate into even more grind-it-out yardage, as the Browns try to take advantage of his 6-foot, 225-pound frame.

Hardesty grades well as both a receiver and a blocker. His pass-catching ability will be particularly attractive for Jake Delhomme, who is a good bet to look for short, bread-and-butter options after losing the zip on his passes in recent years.

Hardesty’s size and speed will make him an attractive option for Eric Mangini and the Browns offensive staff. If Jerome Harrison’s spectacular finish in 2009 turns out to be a one-hit wonder, Hardesty will be ready to step in.

Another possibility: Even though Cleveland has two solid fullbacks in Lawrence Vickers and Peyton Hillis, Hardesty’s size, blocking ability and pass-catching acumen make him an appealing fit even for an occasional two-back set with Harrison.

In the end, however, Hardesty and the Browns will have to be careful that the same fate does not befall him that affected Alexander and other featured backs (Jamal Lewis, anyone?): a series of spectacular seasons, culminating in a sudden slide and rather quiet exit from the league within seven or eight years. Such is often the case with tough, physical runners who take a beating in their first few NFL campaigns.

Then again, the Browns and their success-starved fans would probably take five or six spectacular seasons out of anyone.

This assumes, of course, that the injury bug that bit Hardesty in college won’t revisit him early in his pro career. If it does, Holmgren and G.M. Tom Heckert may regret not grabbing Clemson’s C.J. Spiller with their first-round pick.

Then again, Holmgren hit a home run with the choice of Alexander in Seattle. Browns fans are hoping lightning strikes twice for Holmgren this season, and that Hardesty is the man who will make it happen.