Jump to content

Running Backs rated 27th in league


James Lofton

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Greg C. said:

The really glaring example was when Rodgers came back from his injury against Carolina. By then we had an established running game, with Aaron Jones looking really good. They had the running game to take the pressure off Rodgers, who was rusty and not up to full strength. Jones had a couple of big carries right out of the gate but barely touched the ball the rest of the day. He ended with three carries for 47 yards. It was back to the usual offense of the last few years with Rodgers running around trying to find someone to throw to. And it didn't work. 

Serious question related to this post..

That Carolina game...did Mac abandon the run, or was it Rodgers who checked out of runs?

I felt like Mac installed a nice offense with different running sets and play action passes.  Without Rodgers.  I find it difficult to believe he'd revert back to the offense that injured the QB in the first place.  I feel like it was Rodgers who made the decision to throw, throw, throw.  Obviously that has worked for him in the past, but I hope that Mac gets through to him (as he did Favre) and that they can both get the running game going this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And yah, GB's back, on paper, to the untrained eye, are bottom of the barrel.

We know better because we've seen more of them.  And they were rookies last year that could grow by leaps and bounds in year two.

Point being, I think our running game could sneak up on teams this year and be a strength of the team in the long run.  Can't believe I typed that with #12 under center....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, pacman5252 said:

I get the ranking. They are all unproven and haven’t proven anything. With that said I think they can all play, do something well, and are talented/flashed.

 

I personally wouldn’t trade our stable of running backs for any backfield in the NFC north just based off numbers (3 guys vs 2). Plus Cook is a quick speed rb coming off an acl and Howard isn’t anything special 

Can't say I'd agree with this.  We don't have a RB on the roster who's shown that they are capable of being a CONSISTENT starter.  Each have had good moments but each has had equal terrible moments.  Not one of them have shown any sort of consistency.  I'd rather have our group over Detroit's, but that's likely it in the NFCN.  Assuming Cook comes back healthy, both Chicago and Minnesota has that dynamic lead back that IMO we are lacking. 

Since Howard has been in the league only Le'Veon Bell has been the better rusher and he's got more than 60 more rushing attempts.  He's got twelve 100 yard rushing games since joining the league and he didn't become the Bears starter until week 4 of his rookie year.  While he may not look to be anything special, his production thus far has been special when considering he's the only offensive weapon Chicago has and he's barely in the top 10 in the league in carries per game over the last 2 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, SSG said:

Can't say I'd agree with this.  We don't have a RB on the roster who's shown that they are capable of being a CONSISTENT starter.  Each have had good moments but each has had equal terrible moments.  Not one of them have shown any sort of consistency.  I'd rather have our group over Detroit's, but that's likely it in the NFCN.  Assuming Cook comes back healthy, both Chicago and Minnesota has that dynamic lead back that IMO we are lacking.

And its at this juncture that I feel I must intercede and report an extraneous fact :: this is why I wanted to draft Mixon last year.

Okay. Done. Now back to your previously intended / ongoing discussion.........

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, SSG said:

Each have had good moments but each has had equal terrible moments.  Not one of them have shown any sort of consistency.  I'd rather have our group over Detroit's, but that's likely it in the NFCN.  Assuming Cook comes back healthy, both Chicago and Minnesota has that dynamic lead back that IMO we are lacking. 

TBH Jones might be just that. He really didn't have any terrible moments besides being injured. Every time he was able to touch the ball he was electric. I just have an odd feeling from his tape last year that he is going to be special if given the opportunity. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SSG said:

Can't say I'd agree with this.  We don't have a RB on the roster who's shown that they are capable of being a CONSISTENT starter.  Each have had good moments but each has had equal terrible moments.  Not one of them have shown any sort of consistency.  I'd rather have our group over Detroit's, but that's likely it in the NFCN.  Assuming Cook comes back healthy, both Chicago and Minnesota has that dynamic lead back that IMO we are lacking. 

Since Howard has been in the league only Le'Veon Bell has been the better rusher and he's got more than 60 more rushing attempts.  He's got twelve 100 yard rushing games since joining the league and he didn't become the Bears starter until week 4 of his rookie year.  While he may not look to be anything special, his production thus far has been special when considering he's the only offensive weapon Chicago has and he's barely in the top 10 in the league in carries per game over the last 2 years.

I know I sound a little homerish, but there is some logic to this. 

Looking at the RBs in the division;

Detroit-- Enough said

MN- Cook if healthy is really good (best RB in the division if healthy). He did tear his ACL midway last season though and is a small speed back. I'm not sure he'll be 100%. L Murray is just a guy. Then they have a bunch of UDFAs

Chi-Howard really isn't really a great running back. Total yards in  isn't really a great measure of a RB. He's like a 73.6 PFF grade RB, averaged 4.1 yards per carry, and offers little out of the backfield. He is more of a slightly better Ryan Grant (player who has stayed healthy, had a decent OL, and had volume, made the most of it) than anything. Cohen is a nice change of pace guy. 

GB- Jones 82 and Monty 79 had higher PFF grades than Howard 73.4, Cohen 76, slightly lower than Cook at 83 (Jamal williams was like a 70, slightly lower).  The 3 guys we have aren't stiffs and I think Jones/Ty have some dynamic elements to their games. In a league where RBs get hurt all the time, I'd rather have 3 quality bodies than 2. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, HorizontoZenith said:

 Seriously... The guy says Aaron Rodgers and Brett Hundley helped our 4.5 yards per carry "tremendously."  In what world can anybody with a brain act like Hundley helped our running game?  No world. 


 

Reading comprehension.

He didn't say he "helped our running game". He said "they helped that number tremendously".

With Hundley and Rodgers' rushing stats the team averaged the 4.5 YPC he mentioned. Without them the rest of the team averaged ~4.1 YPC. 

That's a pretty significant difference and it makes complete sense to mention how the QB's numbers inflated the YPCstat while talking strictly about the RB group.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, wgbeethree said:

Reading comprehension.

First, be nice.  Second, 323 yards from Rodgers and Hundley rushing did not help our YPC all that much.  Trubisky had 248 yards alone, so 323 yards isn't all that much. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Spartacus said:

TBH Jones might be just that. He really didn't have any terrible moments besides being injured. Every time he was able to touch the ball he was electric. I just have an odd feeling from his tape last year that he is going to be special if given the opportunity. 

He might be but he very well could turn out not to be.  He had only a couple games last year where he looked like a legit starting RB.  He had just as many games where he had 13 carries with less than 50 yards rushing.  He showed very little effectiveness in those games.  Jones is BY FAR my favorite but he's a far cry from a sure thing IMO.  I  that we see a substantial amount of improvement and progression because he's got legit vision IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, SSG said:

He might be but he very well could turn out not to be.  He had only a couple games last year where he looked like a legit starting RB.  He had just as many games where he had 13 carries with less than 50 yards rushing.  He showed very little effectiveness in those games.  Jones is BY FAR my favorite but he's a far cry from a sure thing IMO.  I  that we see a substantial amount of improvement and progression because he's got legit vision IMO.

The most attempts he has ever got in a game is 19. 

His two games where he got the majority of the snaps 19 & 17 (Dallas 8th and New Orleans 16th) he had over 100 yards and a TD in both. Of the two 13 snap games one was against Minnesota (2nd in Rush Yards by Opponent) and Chicago (11th in Rush Yards by Opponent, Not too shabby). The most attempts hes had other than those 4 games was 4..... 

We need to see more carries than what he has had but I think he showed a special characteristics. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, pacman5252 said:

I know I sound a little homerish, but there is some logic to this. 

Looking at the RBs in the division;

Detroit-- Enough said

MN- Cook if healthy is really good (best RB in the division if healthy). He did tear his ACL midway last season though and is a small speed back. I'm not sure he'll be 100%. L Murray is just a guy. Then they have a bunch of UDFAs

Chi-Howard really isn't really a great running back. Total yards in  isn't really a great measure of a RB. He's like a 73.6 PFF grade RB, averaged 4.1 yards per carry, and offers little out of the backfield. He is more of a slightly better Ryan Grant (player who has stayed healthy, had a decent OL, and had volume, made the most of it) than anything. Cohen is a nice change of pace guy. 

GB- Jones 82 and Monty 79 had higher PFF grades than Howard 73.4, Cohen 76, slightly lower an Cook at 83 (Jamal williams was like a 70, slightly lower).  The 3 guys we have aren't stiffs and I think Jones/Ty have some dynamic elements to their games. In a league where RBs get hurt all the time, I'd rather have 3 quality bodies than 2. 

Looking at Williams and how horrid he started the year I gotta imagine that receiving numbers heavily inflate those PFF numbers. If you can't judge a running back on rushing yards, what exactly should he be judged on?  

As a runner, Howard has been is an elite back.  When comparing him to the league's current backs his first 2 years compare favorably. There isn't a runner in the league currently who had more rushing yards in the first 2 seasons of their careers.  Matter of fact, there isn't a back who was within 200 yards of Howard's first 2 years.  Can't agree that that sort of elite production should be ignored because he's not more of a receiver than a runner.  

We don't' have 3 quality backs though.  We've got 3 relative unknowns who have proven little to nothing thus far in the league at their position.  We have 3 guys who have had bright moments but haven't had any sort of consistency.  I'd much rather have a consistent bell cow then have a different starting back each week because you don't have a player capable of being consistent.  Having a bunch of nobodies at RB works for New England, I don't think it will work for us.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SSG said:

Looking at Williams and how horrid he started the year I gotta imagine that receiving numbers heavily inflate those PFF numbers. If you can't judge a running back on rushing yards, what exactly should he be judged on?  

As a runner, Howard has been is an elite back.  When comparing him to the league's current backs his first 2 years compare favorably. There isn't a runner in the league currently who had more rushing yards in the first 2 seasons of their careers.  Matter of fact, there isn't a back who was within 200 yards of Howard's first 2 years.  Can't agree that that sort of elite production should be ignored because he's not more of a receiver than a runner.  

We don't' have 3 quality backs though.  We've got 3 relative unknowns who have proven little to nothing thus far in the league at their position.  We have 3 guys who have had bright moments but haven't had any sort of consistency.  I'd much rather have a consistent bell cow then have a different starting back each week because you don't have a player capable of being consistent.  Having a bunch of nobodies at RB works for New England, I don't think it will work for us.  

While I agree on the unproven part, I think you are underselling the group. It's not like they were being cycled out arbitrarily due to performance. It was mostly because of injury. Monty was dealing with the rib issue a good chunk of the season and AJones had the sprained MCL. At the end of the day, their production is what matters, and the GB group essentially matched the CHI group on a per-attempt basis. 

Monty/Jones/Williams= 305 att, 1277y (4.19y/a), 11TD, :: 57/83, 457y, 3 TD, 0 fum
Howard/Cohen======= 363 att, 1492y (4.11y/a), 11TD, :: 76/103, 478y, 1 TD, 4 fum

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, SSG said:

Can't say I'd agree with this.  We don't have a RB on the roster who's shown that they are capable of being a CONSISTENT starter.  Each have had good moments but each has had equal terrible moments.  Not one of them have shown any sort of consistency.  I'd rather have our group over Detroit's, but that's likely it in the NFCN.  Assuming Cook comes back healthy, both Chicago and Minnesota has that dynamic lead back that IMO we are lacking. 

Since Howard has been in the league only Le'Veon Bell has been the better rusher and he's got more than 60 more rushing attempts.  He's got twelve 100 yard rushing games since joining the league and he didn't become the Bears starter until week 4 of his rookie year.  While he may not look to be anything special, his production thus far has been special when considering he's the only offensive weapon Chicago has and he's barely in the top 10 in the league in carries per game over the last 2 years.

Isn't that the story of Jordan Howard though? Not looking like anything special but extremely productive?  He was a 2 star recruit that had 5.7 ypc in college between UAB and Indiana.  Then he has averaged 1200 yards rushing as a pro.  

 

The guy is real good.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...