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Is this the best top tier of runningbacks since the early 2000s?


Kiwibrown

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Gordon is a high Tier 3 / low Tier 2 RB on a very good offense with lots of opportunities.

  • This year was the first time he was not a sub 4.0 ypc back.
  • He has the talent to establish himself higher, but so do 10 other guys.

You could push Gordon into Tier 2 based on his pass catching, but he is not McCaffrey or Kamara yet either.

 

Bell is a tier 4 nobody system back until we see where he goes and he proves it.

  • Every RB who replaced him performed as well or better at times in that offense
    • Williams in 2015
    • Conner last year
    • Even Samuels in a spot start
      • All 3 of them have higher yards per carry and yards per touch than Bell when taking over for him as the #1
  • His 'game' is to stand there and wait for his O-line to blow up the defenders and then run through a huge hole.
    • That's an O-line parasite, not a great back.
    • And we wondered why the line was so angry about his holdout? They all knew he was a system back.

Rank Conner where you pretend Bell should be and then lets see how it goes.

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Well dang 1 injured year for Freeman and it's like he fell of the face of the earth xD  He can't even make it in the top 3 tiers anymore he has been a 1500+ all purpose yard 13+ TD guy the last 2 years before his injury this year and went to the pro bowl both years.   The dude deserves atleast a little respect to be named among the upper tier guys until proven otherwise.

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On 2/10/2019 at 4:04 PM, SkippyX said:

Gordon is a high Tier 3 / low Tier 2 RB on a very good offense with lots of opportunities.

  • This year was the first time he was not a sub 4.0 ypc back.
  • He has the talent to establish himself higher, but so do 10 other guys.

You could push Gordon into Tier 2 based on his pass catching, but he is not McCaffrey or Kamara yet either.

 

Bell is a tier 4 nobody system back until we see where he goes and he proves it.

  • Every RB who replaced him performed as well or better at times in that offense
    • Williams in 2015
    • Conner last year
    • Even Samuels in a spot start
      • All 3 of them have higher yards per carry and yards per touch than Bell when taking over for him as the #1
  • His 'game' is to stand there and wait for his O-line to blow up the defenders and then run through a huge hole.
    • That's an O-line parasite, not a great back.
    • And we wondered why the line was so angry about his holdout? They all knew he was a system back.

Rank Conner where you pretend Bell should be and then lets see how it goes.

I hate the Steelers but there is so much wrong with this post.

It's 3am and I'm trying to work so I don't have time. But I'm curious of this part particular.......

On 2/10/2019 at 4:04 PM, SkippyX said:

His 'game' is to stand there and wait for his O-line to blow up the defenders and then run through a huge hole.

If this is as easy as you make it sound then why haven't other running backs figured out this simple philosophy and used it to their advantage? Especially during the running back era? 

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1 hour ago, FalconFan13 said:

Well dang 1 injured year for Freeman and it's like he fell of the face of the earth xD  He can't even make it in the top 3 tiers anymore he has been a 1500+ all purpose yard 13+ TD guy the last 2 years before his injury this year and went to the pro bowl both years.   The dude deserves atleast a little respect to be named among the upper tier guys until proven otherwise.

With Coleman there sharing the spot light and everyone waiting for him to take the feature role I think freeman gets overlooked. Before Coleman's injury as a rookie freeman was going to be nothing more than a split back but then freeman blew up, the following year he posted great numbers but so did Coleman as they were both fresh and when freeman went down last year Coleman did just as well IMO

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5 hours ago, FalconFan13 said:

Well dang 1 injured year for Freeman and it's like he fell of the face of the earth xD  He can't even make it in the top 3 tiers anymore he has been a 1500+ all purpose yard 13+ TD guy the last 2 years before his injury this year and went to the pro bowl both years.   The dude deserves atleast a little respect to be named among the upper tier guys until proven otherwise.

because there are too many good RBs right now so people will always forget the Freemans, David Johnsons etc. for now.

In 2018 alone Barkley, Chubb, Michel, Carson, Lindsay, Marlon Mack, Kerryon Johnson, Derrick Henry exploded onto the scene. 

People can't even name a top 5-10 anymore right now without forgetting someone

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On 2/12/2019 at 3:06 AM, JustAnotherFan said:

If this is as easy as you make it sound then why haven't other running backs figured out this simple philosophy and used it to their advantage? Especially during the running back era? 

Not to mention he is very good as a receiver and in pass pro.  

Regarding his lower ypc: he has a crazy number of touches this far into his career and I would imagine teams gameplan for him more heavily than D Williams and Conner.  There is also a lot more tape of Leveon in that system making it easier to prepare for.  Neither Deangelo or Conner proved they could produce with that usage over an extended period of time.

I’m not suggesting Pitt should keep Bell, but he is at the least a very good rb.  Kareem Hunt is a very good rb despite his backups success.  Gurley is very good despite ‘16, same goes for David Johnson despite the last two years.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/12/2019 at 3:06 AM, JustAnotherFan said:

I hate the Steelers but there is so much wrong with this post.

Well, Bell isnt a Steeler anymore.

I would like to hear what you think is wrong with his post though.   Most of it is pretty spot on IMO.

Bell is a good back, for sure, but he has never been a particularly special runner.   Ive said countless times, even going back a few years, that I wouldnt only be afraid to lose Bell's presence in the passing game.    He can bust off a nice run here and there, but overall, his ground skills are kind of overrated....and his metrics prove it.

 

On 2/12/2019 at 3:06 AM, JustAnotherFan said:

If this is as easy as you make it sound then why haven't other running backs figured out this simple philosophy and used it to their advantage? Especially during the running back era? 

Because most teams have mediocre OLines?

Again, Bell is a good player, but his patience has actually hurt us at times.   Sometimes, we needed him to be a north/south runner, and he bounced around or waited too long.    Look at Conner this year, when healthy...he was hitting holes that Bell sometimes missed.     Bell also created more things out of nothing....but they are different types of runners.   Still, its yet to be seen how effective runner he can be behind a mediocre line.   When our line didnt play well, Bell wasnt all that effective.   Not knocking Bell for that as OLine is important to all RBs success, but whatever team signs him should have at least a decent RB OLine to get the most out of him...especially if they plan on paying him huge money.

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On 2/23/2019 at 9:00 PM, FourThreeMafia said:

Bell is a good back, for sure, but he has never been a particularly special runner.

He hasn't, great balance but otherwise no really great attributes. Decent agility, speed and power, but what made him really good was that he refused to go down. Well, he didn't show that much in 2017 so from what I saw he was very replaceable in what he did in 2016. I suppose if he is playing for a contract he may get the fire back that made him great but who knows at this point.

Edited by Thomas5737
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On 2/12/2019 at 2:46 AM, FalconFan13 said:

Well dang 1 injured year for Freeman and it's like he fell of the face of the earth xD  He can't even make it in the top 3 tiers anymore he has been a 1500+ all purpose yard 13+ TD guy the last 2 years before his injury this year and went to the pro bowl both years.   The dude deserves atleast a little respect to be named among the upper tier guys until proven otherwise.

no, he really doesnt.

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