Until this season, Grant never had played in an offense that emphasized zone blocking — not at Don Bosco Prep High School in Ramsey, N.J., nor at Notre Dame, where he finished 11th on the Irish's career rushing list. But it fits him like a pair of comfortable jeans.

"He's perfect for their scheme," says Vikings safety Darren Sharper, a longtime Packer. "He reminds me of Dorsey Levens (who played 102 games for the Packers from 1994 to 2001). Besides the number (Grant wears No. 25, just like Levens), he's built like him, runs like him. He's a big kid back there who runs the ball pretty forcefully. He can make it a long day for a defense."

Just four teams — Dallas, Green Bay, Washington and Denver — rushed for at least 100 yards against Minnesota's top-ranked run defense (74.1 yards per game) this season. And Grant was the only individual runner to crack 100.

After ranking last in the league in rushing in seven of the first 10 weeks, the Packers climbed out of their ditch and finished 21st for the season. More respectable, perhaps, but their 99.8-yard average per game was lowest among the 12 teams that made the playoffs.

Consistency concerns Philbin most.

"We'd love to keep getting those long runs and have him taking it to the house," Philbin says of Grant. "But we probably still have a few too many 1-yarders and zero-yard runs. We'd like to be more plus 3, plus 3, plus 4, plus 7, plus 3."

Growing up in Rockland County, N.Y., about 20 minutes north of Manhattan, Grant played football, basketball, baseball and soccer and ran track. Asked how he developed his running style, he smiles and says, "My father put me through a lot of extra workouts. My father was a workout fanatic."

Vincent Grant began directing his son through various running drills when Ryan was 9. By the time he was 15, Ryan was running up old ski slopes in upstate New York, off the Palisades Parkway. Eventually, his father stopped orchestrating the workouts because Ryan initiated them himself.

When Grant was in junior high school, his cousin compiled a videotape for him featuring such NFL stars as Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith. It included clips of great plays, the players' workout routines and various commentary. Watching it, Grant says he learned patience, vision and angles — key attributes for any running back. The tape originally was three hours long, but Grant has added to it over the years.

He calls it his "Running Back Bible" — and it contains clips of Ahman Green, the man whose job Grant eventually filled in Green Bay.

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You could make a case that Grant and Philbin being together in Green Bay is serendipitous. Or ironic. When Grant came out of high school, Philbin, then an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, tried to recruit him. But Grant gave him a cold shoulder.

"He blew me off. He barely gave me the time of day," Philbin says playfully. "I told him paybacks are tough."

Even though Grant didn't play a down in his first two NFL seasons, he was on the radar screen of Green Bay's personnel department this preseason.

In fact, the team sent a scout to each of the Giants' exhibition games. When injuries diminished their depth at running back, the Packers made a deal for Grant, never imagining he would become Favre's co-star so soon.

So Philbin finally got his man. And Grant finally got a chance to step into the NFL's spotlight. Guess you could say they're both lucky.