I think his production would be much greater if he were healthy/ behind a better line, BUT I also acknowledge that to a degree demanding a great oline performance to see production from a RB is sorta like asking a DLineman to completely keep blockers off the LBers every play.
At some point, if you're the LB/RB, you gotta shed a block/break a tackle.
But I'm hopeful for our run game, Hack schemed runs FAR better than Olson.
Quote:I like the trio of Ivory, a rookie, and Grant. I'd try to trade Yeldon for a mid round pick.
Nobody is gonna give up a mid round pick for Yeldon. Nobody.
Quote:I feel like he never got going due to injuries and run blocking. A guy like Yeldon needs run protection to be effective. He's not a bulldozer like Ivory who can mow over guys or a speedster like Grant. You get him good run protection and he's a star.
Yeldon is a below average back. He was never special to start with, and still isn't. You described his problem perfectly with 'he's not a bulldozer or a speedster.' If you add on 'doesn't have great vision' you have the whole picture. He just isn't that great at being a RB.
Idk he obviously has a lot of hatred from this board atleast. I see him as a one cut back the problem is the holes are non-existent from the O-line if he goes to any other team at worst he'll be a steady 1,000 yard RB
Quote:I have the same problem today that I had with him when we drafted him over Tevin Coleman: he's as explosive as a wet match.
It's now fair to say that despite the long history of University of Indiana players not panning out in the NFL, Tevin Coleman is an exception.
Cue in the cut Yeldon threads by camp
There's going to be a lot of you who's upset when Yeldon is still a piece of this Offense next season.
He's a 3 down RB at the end of the day. He's far and away the best pass protecting RB on this roster. He's also the best pass catching RB on this roster. A RB who can pass protect is very much needed in this league.
The run blocking was awful this year, period. Some of you can try and say it was fine, but we had 2 RBs who didn't do anything (Ivory and Yeldon).
I could understand some kind of an argument about the run blocking being decent, if it was just Yeldon who was the so called issue. However, Yeldon and Ivory are two completely different type of runners and both of them looked pretty bad this year. Ivory also had more fumbles than Yeldon did, even though Ivory had less carries.
Grant deserves some touches each game, but he's mostly flash and dash. He'll never be able to carry a full work load. He's way too small to hold up in pass protection. He's a kick return guy and somebody you try and get a handful of touches per game type of guy.
Let Denard walk and draft a RB in this draft. Just don't spend a high 1st round pick on one because that'll be a big mistake. Round 3, or later and add him into the mix with Yeldon and Ivory. Best man wins and if any of them get hit with injuries, there's still 2 other RBs who can step up into that role. We know Ivory and Yeldon can both play in this league. They might not be super stars, but they are solid RBs in the NFL.
he'd be much better if he was Le'veon Bell
I can name 30 RBs I would prefer to have as a starter.
Quote:He's just a guy.
I agree. Yeldon is just a guy. Like I said when we drafted him, if we drafted any RB in that draft, it shoulda been Ameer Abdullah. And I know he is hurt, but that guy is good.
I can't recall him ever doing anything positive. Bye Felicia! :kiss:
Quote:I can name 30 RBs I would prefer to have as a starter.
I'd say 31 if you allow me to throw in 5 star Cam Akers who committed last month to FSU.
I love that we can each have and voice our own opinions.
But this freedom sometimes drives me absolutely nuts.
Go watch TJ's highlight's from last year.
And then watch cooks.
Blocking looks strikingly similar and bad.
Holes are not present.
The difference is visibly apparent.
Cook is violently aggressive
TJ is soft
He's had a few flashes but seems a little fragile. The book on him coming out of college is he played a little to upright and not particularly fast which means to be successful, he'd have to be a durable, pass-catching style running back. I suspect we've basically seen his best although it would be interesting to see what he could do as a primary back if he could stay healthy. He's probably the third best back on the team right now though, unfortunately.
If he a had a better line, sure.....however, MJD never had an all pro line to run behind and he was a force who won games on his own. As a poster above noted TJ is just a guy, not terrible, but definitely not a difference maker. Defintely need to upgrade and this may be the draft to find him.
Quote:Not a fan. Can't believe we took him over Tevin Coleman, David Johnson, and Jay Ajayi...
I'm pretty sure we had David Johnson for a whole week during one of those senior bowls. Way to go, Dave
Yeldon may not be starting material, but he's plenty good enough for the backup role and does a great job imo finding and exploiting holes. He's not as bad as some in this thread would have you believe. At the very least, he's better than Denard.
Quote:Yeldon may not be starting material, but he's plenty good enough for the backup role and does a great job imo finding and exploiting holes. He's not as bad as some in this thread would have you believe.
At the very least, he's better than Denard.
I don't even see this as true.