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Versatile Askew Just Wants To Run

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 13, 2007

TAMPA - Versatility is almost always a plus. There are times, however, when it can be a curse. Just ask Bucs FB B.J. Askew.

Askew describes himself as a halfback stuffed into a fullback's body. For years, the halfback has been itching to get out.

'Ever since I started playing football, running the ball has been my passion,' Askew said. 'But being the guy who can do both fullback and halfback, it seems I'm always the guy who's asked to make the switch when we don't have a fullback.'

The Bucs are without a fullback. With Mike Alstott out for the season with a neck injury and Michael Pittman nursing a sore ankle that will keep him sidelined for at least a month, they actually are down two. Guess who's being asked to fill in. It's Askew, of course.

He doesn't mind. It's better than sitting the bench. Besides, he's been playing fullback ever since his junior year of college, so the Michigan product has learned to live with it.

The job hasn't really allowed Askew to live out his dream, though. In four seasons with the New York Jets, who selected him in the third round of the 2003 draft, Askew ran the ball 27 times.

He's never scored a TD, but the fifth-year pro is hoping the situation the Bucs are facing finally will allow him to show off his running skills.

'We're pretty much a running back by committee right now, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting an opportunity to run the ball a little bit,' Askew said. 'I mean, I don't call the shots and I am a fullback primarily. But if I ever get the opportunity to carry it a little bit, I'll probably surprise a lot of people. I won't surprise myself, but a lot of others may be surprised.'

SECRET WEAPONS: To no one's surprise, there has been a lot of talk about Titans QB Vince Young this week. That talk has even spread to the Bucs locker room. But the players who will be charged with stopping Young on Sunday haven't lost focus on their first objective.

'We still have to stop the run,' DE Greg Spires said. 'If we can't stop the run, we won't even see Vince Young. So like always, stopping the run has to be our first priority.'

Young is part of that running equation, of course. The second-year pro out of Texas has run 29 times for 123 yards this year, third among Titans backs. The bigger concern, Spires said, is the threat posed by RBs Chris Brown and LenDale White.

Both are big powerful backs, the kind the Bucs often have trouble stopping. If the Bucs have trouble stopping them Sunday, they won't be the first to have struggled in that area.

Brown ranks 23rd in the league with 274 yards on 52 carries, but his 5.3 average is seventh-best in the NFL. White has 62 runs for 212 yards and two TDs and is averaging 3.4.

Put them and Young together and you can see why the Titans have the fourth-best rushing offense in the league. The Bucs are convinced, though, that they can stop the Titans if they play with confidence.

'We just have to play our defense,' OLB Derrick Brooks said. 'That's what hurt us last week. We didn't hit the field or play as comfortably as we should in our own execution.'

BALANCE CONTROL: Bucs WR Ike Hilliard says he's not really sure what Coach Jon Gruden is going to do now that the corps of running backs is so depleted. He doesn't believe, though, that Gruden will start leaning more on the pass.

'I don't see us changing up from what we've done in the past,' he said. 'But every guy in the offense has to be accountable for what's on the table each play. We're just going to do the best we can with what we have.'

REMEMBERING RON: Former Bucs TE Ron Hall will be remembered during a celebration of life Oct. 20 at the Hurricane Restaurant in St. Pete Beach. The celebration is slated to begin at 4 p.m. and all Bucs fans are welcomed to attend. Hall, who played in 101 games for the Bucs from 1987-93, died in Costa Rica on May 19.

INJURY UPDATE: After aggravating a groin injury Sunday at Indianapolis, CB Brian Kelly was listed as doubtful for Sunday's game on the injury report. Also on the injury report are MLB Barrett Ruud (knee, questionable), Hilliard (shoulder, questionable) and DE Greg White (neck, questionable).

Roy Cummings

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