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The Real Marty · 05-01-2021, 05:52 PM

(05-01-2021, 05:21 PM)Bullseye Wrote:
(05-01-2021, 04:48 PM)The Real Marty Wrote: Reggie Bush was the 2nd overall pick in the draft. Etienne was drafted with the 25th pick. That's a huge difference.

I am convinced that Etienne is a special player and he will do some great things for us. Remember, it's a 17 game season now, and bell cow running backs rarely last an entire season without missing games due to injury. You need more than one.
The point wasn't so much as to compare Etienne to Bush, but to illustrate that receiving backs don't maximize their productivity if they are not properly utilized. It seemed that the Saints never quite figured out what to do with Reggie Bush-as talented as he was. If you look back at Bush's career, he wasn't as productive as you might have expected. I think that is due in part to him being a receiving back, which reduced the number of touches he got, which, in turn, reduced his impact. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/p...shRe00.htm

If Etienne is going to be utilized similarly to Bush, then I'm left to wonder how productive he will be. Granted he wasn't picked to be #2 overall, but as a first round pick, he will carry high expectations. If he's limited to 3rd downs, how many touches could he realistically be expected to have? How will limited touches limit his impact? How likely would it be for him to meet the expectations of a first round pick?

If I had to give a more direct player comp with Etienne, it would be with CJ Spiller.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/p...ilC.00.htm

Let's just hope he manages to stay healthier than Spiller.

My direct comp to Etienne is Christian McCaffrey. See what I did there? It's easy to find a similar player who failed, and make that the comp, just like it's easy for me to compare him to a star player.

I don't think he's going to be strictly a "3rd down back," no matter what Meyer says now. He's way too good for that. They will get him 15-20 touches per game, and he will get us minimum 10 TDs in a season. That is easily worth the 25th pick in the draft.