First of all let me say that I'm a big fan of us signing Gerhart, and I love power and downhill runners in the NFL. I'm a strong supporter of good defense and heavily running the ball. That being said, speed obviously isn't Toby's strong suit, which is fine with me, like I said, I like downhill powerful runners. But if you look at his old film with Minnesota, all of his best runs were results of incredible down-field run blocking and huge holes to run through, not to mention he just looks... well.. slow. I have yet to see any proof that the guy can use any type of burst or moves to get the yards that we're undoubtedly going to need from him. I don't want to come off as hating on the guy either, like I said earlier, I am a fan, but I'm just concerned. What do you guys think?
Quote:First of all let me say that I'm a big fan of us signing Gerhart, and I love power and downhill runners in the NFL. I'm a strong supporter of good defense and heavily running the ball. That being said, speed obviously isn't Toby's strong suit, which is fine with me, like I said, I like downhill powerful runners. But if you look at his old film with Minnesota, all of his best runs were results of incredible down-field run blocking and huge holes to run through, not to mention he just looks... well.. slow. I have yet to see any proof that the guy can use any type of burst or moves to get the yards that we're undoubtedly going to need from him. I don't want to come off as hating on the guy either, like I said earlier, I am a fan, but I'm just concerned. What do you guys think?
I think you're nuts. In his first game he had no chance in his first 5 carries. On the one time he did have a hole and wasn't being swarmed over in the backfield, he was gone like a light. Is he fast like Chris Johnson? No, but for a 240 lbs running back he has a pretty good burst.
We know he isn't a burner but I think he's plenty fast to do what we need him to do.
I'm a fan of running Toby up the middle, but trying to stretch him out to the corner is not a good idea.... he has a hard time changing directions once he get all that mass up to speed. I'm not saying he's a bad RB, I just think he's unproven as a starter. We will see what kind of back he is over the course of this season. He may improve under the new coaching staff and become the best back we've had since Taylor. I think he fits in until he doesn't do his job.
Quote:First of all let me say that I'm a big fan of us signing Gerhart, and I love power and downhill runners in the NFL. I'm a strong supporter of good defense and heavily running the ball. That being said, speed obviously isn't Toby's strong suit, which is fine with me, like I said, I like downhill powerful runners. But if you look at his old film with Minnesota, all of his best runs were results of incredible down-field run blocking and huge holes to run through, not to mention he just looks... well.. slow. I have yet to see any proof that the guy can use any type of burst or moves to get the yards that we're undoubtedly going to need from him. I don't want to come off as hating on the guy either, like I said earlier, I am a fan, but I'm just concerned. What do you guys think?
He looks like he has a good burst to me. He is patient, has good vision, and when he sees a hole he has a burst with power. I guess I am not seeing the same thing as you are.
He doesn't have elite speed, no. But his acceleration and his quickness to the hole is pretty darn good. I remember watching Emmit Smith and thinking the same thing about his speed. He wasn't fast, but the way he glided through his cuts as he ran off tackle or up the middle were fun to watch. He almost made it look effortless. Now I am in no way saying Gerhart = Smith, but I will say that their playing styles are similar. Thus, Gerhart should be used in a similar role.
But honesty, I think Gerhart was brought here to compliment Henne. If he can get 3-4 yards and a cloud of dust all those check downs that Henne throws should start adding up to first downs. Gerhart will break off a 10+ rush every four or five rushes. Don't panic yet. This team isnt going to have all our pieces this year.
The OL is the weakest link
If I were to work at a St. Augustine seafood restaraunt I would much rather be punched by Toby.....he's simply a better guy.
Slow or not, he's clearly our best running back.
I don't think he's in game shape yet. He just got back to practicing, and he only got 6 (?) reps in the Bears game. He looked a little bit slower than I've seen him in Minnesota, but I chalk it up to not being in real game shape yet.
Slow is good. Get the D lethargic then bring in OW to run the sweep.
He's an inside runner. Nothing wrong with that. Based on how the market for RB's ended up unfolding this offseason, he was overpaid, but I still think he'll be a nice fit for our offence.
I think running him outside is a bit pointless, but I wouldn't say he's slow. He's just someone who's at their best when they're going North-South.
First of all, I don't expect the run blocking this year to be all that good. Second, if you expected Gerhart to be a burner, I don't know what to tell you...
Jerome Bettis wasn't a speedster.
He did appear slower than I anticipated.
Quote:First of all let me say that I'm a big fan of us signing Gerhart, and I love power and downhill runners in the NFL. I'm a strong supporter of good defense and heavily running the ball. That being said, speed obviously isn't Toby's strong suit, which is fine with me, like I said, I like downhill powerful runners. But if you look at his old film with Minnesota, all of his best runs were results of incredible down-field run blocking and huge holes to run through, not to mention he just looks... well.. slow. I have yet to see any proof that the guy can use any type of burst or moves to get the yards that we're undoubtedly going to need from him. I don't want to come off as hating on the guy either, like I said earlier, I am a fan, but I'm just concerned. What do you guys think?
First off let me say what if the Jaguars hadnt of signed him, are you fine with it just being Toddman, D-Rob, and Storm Johnson (which arent actually that bad of backups really)?
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- <ul><li><span style="font-family:calibri;">Unanimous All-American (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">Doak Walker Award (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">Archie Griffin Award (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">Jim Brown Trophy (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">National Offensive Player of the Year (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">First-team All-Pac-10 (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">First-team Pac-10 All-Academic (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">NCAA rushing leader (2009)
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- <span style="font-family:calibri;">4× Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week
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- runner-up for the 2009 Heisman
What happened in 2010 that stoped all the above praise? He was drafted in the 2nd round by the Vikings and became the backup to Adrian Peterson whom nearly broke the most yards rushing ever award and is a 3 down back.
Despite that he had a few rushes while there....
He averages 4.7 yards per carry on 276 attempts and avg 7.8 on 77 receptions.
Last season, he led all backs with a ludicrous 3.8 yards per carry after contact (minimum 199 carries), and has a career average of 2.8 yards per carry after contact.
His 40 yard dash time is 4.53 its no CJ but he's not a snail either.
http://www.nfl.com/fantasyfootball/story...eddie-lacy The next Eddie Lacy not bad?
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