I look forward to (a return to) the days where a RB can run untouched, and pretty much in a straight line, into the endzone or secondary. When that happens straightline speed will be more important than the kind of tackle-breaking that Hart and Smith excel at.
Really, think about it. The Texans haven’t missed Arian Foster. Buffalo’s young backups have outplayed LeSean McCoy. The Steelers have had one of the league’s best offenses without Le’Veon Bell, although they might be tested in the postseason if DeAngelo Williams has a high ankle sprain. The Chiefs have gotten better without Jamaal Charles. Seattle’s offense kicked into high gear without Marshawn Lynch and even looked fine these past two weeks without Thomas Rawls. Arizona has gotten contributions from Chris and David Johnson. Jeremy Langford is allowing the Bears to let Matt Forte leave. All of Philadelphia’s cheaper backs look better than DeMarco Murray. Even the Saints have managed to improve while replacing Mark Ingram with Tim Hightower. Teams around the league have been stuck going to the well at running back but have come away without losing much at all.
On the subject of what led to the better run game production in the Citrus Bowl, Doug Karch was there and shared some thoughts that line up with the argument I’ve been making in other threads
“What really stood out, talking to the coaches before the game, was the effort that went into improving the run blocking. I’ve talked for years about the 15 bowl practices. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more effective use of the 15 bowl practices than Coach [Tim] Drevno and Coach [Jim] Harbaugh produced, and the work they did with the offensive line.
“I thought that was an amazing example of a difference that coaching can make. That group up front looked like a vintage Michigan offensive line. It was the first time in years, and that’s against a defense that’s chock full of NFL players.
a) Yes, I already read that article. And while I appreciate Doug Karsch, I also don’t know that he’s an expert on football. He’s a broadcast/communications/radio guy. I disagree that it looked like a vintage Michigan offensive line.
b) There’s also an article from MGoBlog that – aside from the commentary – shows a screenshot of a cut that De’Veon Smith made that he does not normally make. And this is exactly the type of thing I’m talking about, which is that a good chunk of yards produced were from cutbacks on otherwise poorly or only adequately blocked plays. Despite the “vintage offensive line” play, there’s very little to the playside, but there’s a gaping hole backside. The difference in this game was that Smith both recognized it and was able to get back to it. http://mgoblog.com/content/existential-exponential
LOL. topical
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I look forward to (a return to) the days where a RB can run untouched, and pretty much in a straight line, into the endzone or secondary. When that happens straightline speed will be more important than the kind of tackle-breaking that Hart and Smith excel at.
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Bill Barnwell points out an interesting RB trend in the NFL:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14499383/handing-awards-mvp-coach-year-many-others-2015-nfl
Really, think about it. The Texans haven’t missed Arian Foster. Buffalo’s young backups have outplayed LeSean McCoy. The Steelers have had one of the league’s best offenses without Le’Veon Bell, although they might be tested in the postseason if DeAngelo Williams has a high ankle sprain. The Chiefs have gotten better without Jamaal Charles. Seattle’s offense kicked into high gear without Marshawn Lynch and even looked fine these past two weeks without Thomas Rawls. Arizona has gotten contributions from Chris and David Johnson. Jeremy Langford is allowing the Bears to let Matt Forte leave. All of Philadelphia’s cheaper backs look better than DeMarco Murray. Even the Saints have managed to improve while replacing Mark Ingram with Tim Hightower. Teams around the league have been stuck going to the well at running back but have come away without losing much at all.
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On the subject of what led to the better run game production in the Citrus Bowl, Doug Karch was there and shared some thoughts that line up with the argument I’ve been making in other threads
https://michigan.n.rivals.com/news/karsch-from-the-sidelines
“What really stood out, talking to the coaches before the game, was the effort that went into improving the run blocking. I’ve talked for years about the 15 bowl practices. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more effective use of the 15 bowl practices than Coach [Tim] Drevno and Coach [Jim] Harbaugh produced, and the work they did with the offensive line.
“I thought that was an amazing example of a difference that coaching can make. That group up front looked like a vintage Michigan offensive line. It was the first time in years, and that’s against a defense that’s chock full of NFL players.
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a) Yes, I already read that article. And while I appreciate Doug Karsch, I also don’t know that he’s an expert on football. He’s a broadcast/communications/radio guy. I disagree that it looked like a vintage Michigan offensive line.
b) There’s also an article from MGoBlog that – aside from the commentary – shows a screenshot of a cut that De’Veon Smith made that he does not normally make. And this is exactly the type of thing I’m talking about, which is that a good chunk of yards produced were from cutbacks on otherwise poorly or only adequately blocked plays. Despite the “vintage offensive line” play, there’s very little to the playside, but there’s a gaping hole backside. The difference in this game was that Smith both recognized it and was able to get back to it.
http://mgoblog.com/content/existential-exponential
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