The Packers used a combination of Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn for much of the season, but neither was consistently effective. In all fairness, neither is built to be the main man in the backfield with Jackson being more of a third-down back and Kuhn a short-yardage guy.
Starks, a sixth-round rookie, was worked into the lineup a little bit late in the season and lit a spark in the ground game. He then posted the best game of his short career in the first round of the playoffs with a 123-yard performance in a win over the Philadelphia Eagles. His presence in the backfield added a dimension to the Packers offense that had been missing much of the season, which made it a little harder to focus on containing quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Starks did not get many carries in Super Bowl XLV, but he was effective when his number was called, totaling 52 yards on just 11 carries.