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Not a "workhorse" running back

This is why I don't watch these guys. Totally ridiculous statement in so many different ways. Again, might as well talk football with the drunk guy at the local hooters.
 
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If i was a coach/GM i would not make Barkley a 'workhorse' running back. He is too talented. I would figure out a way to optimize his touches per game. No reason to run him 25+ carries per game and take a pounding and shorten his career span and potentially get him worn down, he is too dynamic. I figure out a way to get Barkley 15-20 touches per game both in the running and the passing game (where he could be lethal in the NFL trying to be covered by a LB or safety). Rotate him with another back who takes some load of the running game. Keep Barkley fresh for the 4th quarter and fresh for end of season and playoff run. When the playoffs role around, I up that workload to 20-25 touches per game to increase his activity when it really matters.
100% agree. There shouldn't be workhorse backs anymore. As a Falcons fan, Quinn has done this very well with Freeman and Coleman.
 
This is why I don't watch these guys. Totally ridiculous statement in so many different ways. Again, might as well talk football with the drunk guy at the local hooters.

I’d rather talk with the local hooters.
 
Who in the NFL is Barkley most often compared? LeVeon Bell because of their running and pass catching skills? Bell had 321 carries -- 34 more than the second most (McCoy) and sat the last game. He also had 85 receptions -- more than all but 9 wide receivers. Kamara and McCaffrey had 81 and 80 receptions, but only 120 and 117 carries.

No way does a healthy Barkley, drafted in the top 5, get less than 200 touches combined.

Fournette, for the record, had 268 carries and 36 catches (304 touches). Barkley had 217 and 54 (271 total). Barkley also returned a bunch of kicks as well.
 
Barkley wasn't a 'workhorse running back' in college because JoMO had no idea how to utilize his talents. He had five or six games less than 20 carries and less than 75-80 yards. With his talent a good OC would have designed a better running attack instead of a read option style where the D just keys on the best guy on the field and takes him out of the game.

Can't wait to see how he does in the pros if he gets to a team that has a true running attack.
 
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With his talent a good OC would have designed a better running attack instead of a read option style where the D just keys on the best guy on the field and takes him out of the game.

I would agree with you if we weren't setting offensive records in so many other places on the field. When there is talent everywhere, sometimes your best player is a decoy. A good offensive coordinator uses all of his resources, not just one, to produce the best overall product.
 
I would agree with you if we weren't setting offensive records in so many other places on the field. When there is talent everywhere, sometimes your best player is a decoy. A good offensive coordinator uses all of his resources, not just one, to produce the best overall product.
With a better running game, we beat the Buckeyes and are less affected by the weather at Sparty...
 
Whatever. Barkley is the best RB prospect to enter the NFL in at least a generation, and there are about 32 teams in that league that would love to have him suit up in their backfield.

These talking head sports shows try to generate discussion and controversy. It is tough to generate much controversy around such a player, and Klatt made a weak effort at doing so.
 
Not going to jump on him but I thought Joel Klatt was a little brighter than this.


Everyone has an opinion and we’ll find out who is right over the next few years.

He’s a former Colorado player and likes to go against the grain generally. I think he also tends to downplay most big ten teams (buying into the ‘east coast bias’ claims that are common in PAC 12 territory).

In any event, IIRC he still has Barkley going 2nd to the Giants.
 
Barkley wasn't a 'workhorse running back' in college because JoMO had no idea how to utilize his talents. He had five or six games less than 20 carries and less than 75-80 yards. With his talent a good OC would have designed a better running attack instead of a read option style where the D just keys on the best guy on the field and takes him out of the game.

Can't wait to see how he does in the pros if he gets to a team that has a true running attack.

I feel the same way except, I see it as more of a sideffect than a flaw in the offense. While the D may key on the RB, it leaves them vulnerable to the QB run or pass. The 40 points per game avg didn't happen by accident.
 
With a better running game, we beat the Buckeyes and are less affected by the weather at Sparty...

With a better running game, AND all else remaining equal. If we tweaked things to improve the running game, are we taking away something else (Gesicki as a mismatch??) and ending up with a worse overall performance?

It's always so easy to coach from the sidelines.
 
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With a better running game, AND all else remaining equal. If we tweaked things to improve the running game, are we taking away something else (Gesicki as a mismatch??) and ending up with a worse overall performance?

It's always so easy to coach from the sidelines.
its a good question. at tOSU we needed to control the clock. The staff was unwilling to throw (incomplete stopped the clock) so the defense had 13 guys keying on Barkley (with or LT on the sideline due to injury). Against Sparty, the wind and rain mitigated the progress via our typical running offense.

I believe the poster is suggesting more misdirection plays. Perhaps a fake to 26 while Sanders took a sweep coming from the flanker position. We tried shovel passes and QB draws but they weren't successful. When all three linebackers lurch to the side of the ball 26 was on, it should have opened up some kind of counter. If not misdirection, quick hitting dives to try and break a long one with the DL coming, the LBs blitzing and S playing up to stop the run. quick hitters meaning a handoff while the RB has a head of steam up chugging for the LOS. Too many times DE's and OLBs were waiting to see if Trace handed the ball off of kept it to tackle the guy. the tOSU play comes to mind where the DE tackled BOTH 9 and 26 at the same time.
 
The staff was unwilling to throw

Once Bates went down, there wasn't time to throw either.

I did actually like the offense we ran against Washington more, so maybe there is something to this. But we had a full allotment of starting linemen for that game. So who knows.
 
Once Bates went down, there wasn't time to throw either.

I did actually like the offense we ran against Washington more, so maybe there is something to this. But we had a full allotment of starting linemen for that game. So who knows.
Agree...the DE's were crashing and that stopped the run and throw. A couple of quick slants may have been in order but with the lead, we didn't want to take the chance. have to exploit the gap that the DE was abandoning. We tried to do some shovel passes to 88 but those didn't work.
 
Agree...the DE's were crashing and that stopped the run and throw. A couple of quick slants may have been in order but with the lead, we didn't want to take the chance. have to exploit the gap that the DE was abandoning. We tried to do some shovel passes to 88 but those didn't work.

Obli, what's the purpose of the photo of the TWA flight center? The blogger or just liked it?

LdN
 
Obli, what's the purpose of the photo of the TWA flight center? The blogger or just liked it?

LdN
just liked it....I thought the gal was hot.

Had one of the most difficult travel weeks in my life last week. After aborting two landings Thursday night due to wind shear, we landing in PIT. We stayed in Pit two hours to refuel (pilot didn't have enough fuel for a third fly around and had to go to PItt and CAK wouldn't approve a landing). After two hours, we pushed away at PIT only to go back because a gal was freaking out in the back of the plane. It took a couple of hours to get the paperwork that we were leaving off a passenger NOT on her ticket. We flew back to CLE and landing in 58 MPH wind gusts.
 
work·horse
ˈwərkˌhôrs/

noun
  1. a horse used for work on a farm.

The joke's on us.
 
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just liked it....I thought the gal was hot.

Had one of the most difficult travel weeks in my life last week. After aborting two landings Thursday night due to wind shear, we landing in PIT. We stayed in Pit two hours to refuel (pilot didn't have enough fuel for a third fly around and had to go to PItt and CAK wouldn't approve a landing). After two hours, we pushed away at PIT only to go back because a gal was freaking out in the back of the plane. It took a couple of hours to get the paperwork that we were leaving off a passenger NOT on her ticket. We flew back to CLE and landing in 58 MPH wind gusts.

Yeah it's lose lose for airlines with passengers when they land at other airports. They typically do not let people off the plane because it's still the same route even though they had to land elsewhere.

Two aborted landings? That's pretty extreme. I imagine CAK has plenty of runway space and multiple runways, but probably doesn't make it much easier.

Well hope travel gets better for you. My most recent trip was great. No weather, no delays. Amazing. Didn't think that could happen anymore.

When I travel with a colleague he always tells me I'm walking too slow. I say, when I travel I just pretend I'm on vacation. It's the only way to handle the potential stress. During travel there is so much to be stressed out about. because nothing is in your control. So just enjoy it.

He tried it and liked it.

LdN
 
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its just so weird. Barkely is
Yeah it's lose lose for airlines with passengers when they land at other airports. They typically do not let people off the plane because it's still the same route even though they had to land elsewhere.

Two aborted landings? That's pretty extreme. I imagine CAK has plenty of runway space and multiple runways, but probably doesn't make it much easier.

Well hope travel gets better for you. My most recent trip was great. No weather, no delays. Amazing. Didn't think that could happen anymore.

When I travel with a colleague he always tells me I'm walking too slow. I say, when I travel I just pretend I'm on vacation. It's the only way to handle the potential stress. During travel there is so much to be stressed out about. because nothing is in your control. So just enjoy it.

He tried it and liked it.

LdN
Nice. CAK was out because they had similar wind speeds. I enjoy travel, for the most part. Never had anything like that though. Staff and passengers were great. Very calm.
 

The trolling is real.
So...this thing known as "Penn State RB's" is a monolithic thing that are all associated? Franco, LJ, Bolton and Barkley are related how? That they all played on the same surface?

384161890_f02bc4f9c6.jpg
 
I don't like the term "not a workhorse back" but I get the McCaffrey comparison. He's bigger and stronger (and faster) than McCaffrey but he'll be used the same way in the passing game. Barkley likely will line up as a slot receiver. He'll probably get 70-85 catches but he'll get more carries than McCaffrey does. He'll also probably return kicks. I think Le'Veon Bell is the best comparison in terms how many much he'll be used but I understand why they said McCaffrey. I don't think Saquon will get as many touches as Bell...really no one should if you want the RB to last more than 5-7 years
 
There are valid criticisms of Barkley that can be made, and I have no problem with those, so it has nothing to do with raining on any parade. However, I do have a tendency to react to people who makes baseless statements just to be contrarian.

Any suggestion that a 6'0", 233 lb back who touched the ball 21-24 times a game at 19 and 20 years old can't be a workhouse is not only baseless, it's directly contradicted by his past performance. Then to cite people that he supposedly can't be similar to who are smaller, touched it less, and were injured regularly in college just compounds ignorance with stupidity.
Agreed. Some guy you may have heard of, who the Fantasy people love, David Johnson, is 6'1" 225 lbs. His rookie season he averaged 23.3 touches per game. 293 carries + 80 receptions. Johnson led the NFL in yards after contact, something that 26 excels at. Barkley will do similar. Had Johnson not broken his wrist on a freak tackle in Game 1 last season, Bruce Arians had him primed for 30 touches per game.
 
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So...this thing known as "Penn State RB's" is a monolithic thing that are all associated? Franco, LJ, Bolton and Barkley are related how? That they all played on the same surface?

384161890_f02bc4f9c6.jpg

Our CULTURE. :eek: ruined Saquon.
 
Our CULTURE. :eek: ruined Saquon.

i wonder if that idiot drives a car by looking through a rear view mirror.

Besides, Carter's knee injury was in 1995. Did he tear his ACL in the pros because he went to Penn State? Do you think surgical repair procedures may have change since then?
 
just liked it....I thought the gal was hot.

Had one of the most difficult travel weeks in my life last week. After aborting two landings Thursday night due to wind shear, we landing in PIT. We stayed in Pit two hours to refuel (pilot didn't have enough fuel for a third fly around and had to go to PItt and CAK wouldn't approve a landing). After two hours, we pushed away at PIT only to go back because a gal was freaking out in the back of the plane. It took a couple of hours to get the paperwork that we were leaving off a passenger NOT on her ticket. We flew back to CLE and landing in 58 MPH wind gusts.

Guy that I work with leaves his house at 4:15AM to catch a 6AM flight out of Pittsburgh to Richmond. After two aborted landings (sounds like same as you where they tried to land but pulled back up) they decide they cannot land. Closest airport that is landing planes is, you guessed it....Pittsburgh. So they turn around and fly back to Pittsburgh. By the time it is done, he is back at his house at about 3PM.
 
Guy that I work with leaves his house at 4:15AM to catch a 6AM flight out of Pittsburgh to Richmond. After two aborted landings (sounds like same as you where they tried to land but pulled back up) they decide they cannot land. Closest airport that is landing planes is, you guessed it....Pittsburgh. So they turn around and fly back to Pittsburgh. By the time it is done, he is back at his house at about 3PM.
Wow....my plane was supposed to spend the night in Chicago. I Figured they'd fly us back to Chicago where, being a United hub, we had more chance of getting home at a decent hour. There are no flights between CLE and PIT that I know of. But when we landed in CLE, there was a line of people waiting to board....seems they flew out of CLE back to Chicago and all was well.
 
i wonder if that idiot drives a car by looking through a rear view mirror.

Besides, Carter's knee injury was in 1995. Did he tear his ACL in the pros because he went to Penn State? Do you think surgical repair procedures may have change since then?

also remember that KJ tore his knee up his senior year of high school (only played like 5 games as a SR). So it was his 2nd major knee injury
 
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With a better running game, AND all else remaining equal. If we tweaked things to improve the running game, are we taking away something else (Gesicki as a mismatch??) and ending up with a worse overall performance?

It's always so easy to coach from the sidelines.
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Problem was that every D had five guys watching Barkley every snap. We needed to take advantage of that overload with counters and misdirection.

We coulda had multiple options. Use our standard single back set, fake to Barkley and handoff to Gesicki on an inside counter. After a couple of those, fake to G on the counter and let Mc keep it or pass off of it.

Use two back set with Sanders opposite Barkley. Give McS the option to read the D before the snap to see which way they are slanted and then turn and run the read the other way.

Put Sanders at a tight slot position and run some counters to him.

Once you do several of these plays, the D has to play more honest/straight up which would open up a lot more space for Barkley....and he doesn't need much at all. Plus, having multiple sets forces the D to think and a D that is thinking is going to react slower.

The key to being a great coach is to use the talent you have and adapt to what the opponent is doing. We did not adapt our offense much as season progressed.
 
Saquon has the speed to get to the edge more quickly than most backs, and to take it around end successfully. Nothing wrong with that! He also tends to step out of bounds to avoid needless contact, which I think is smart and will help lengthen his career. But it seems to me that some analysts look at those two things and draw the incorrect conclusion that he cannot run inside the tackles, even though there is ample evidence (not just his size and strength, but video of him repeatedly running inside and breaking tackles) to refute that conclusion.

If this kid has a flaw as a football player, I have yet to find it.
 
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Problem was that every D had five guys watching Barkley every snap. We needed to take advantage of that overload with counters and misdirection.

We coulda had multiple options. Use our standard single back set, fake to Barkley and handoff to Gesicki on an inside counter. After a couple of those, fake to G on the counter and let Mc keep it or pass off of it.

Use two back set with Sanders opposite Barkley. Give McS the option to read the D before the snap to see which way they are slanted and then turn and run the read the other way.

Put Sanders at a tight slot position and run some counters to him.

Once you do several of these plays, the D has to play more honest/straight up which would open up a lot more space for Barkley....and he doesn't need much at all. Plus, having multiple sets forces the D to think and a D that is thinking is going to react slower.

The key to being a great coach is to use the talent you have and adapt to what the opponent is doing. We did not adapt our offense much as season progressed.

Judas priest we averaged 41.1 pts per game and were the #6 scoring team in the country.
Some of you guys need to submit your resume. :rolleyes:
 
Hope he gets used somewhat like Kamara in New Orleans. He's an every down back.. that makes him a workhorse or whatever in my opinion. He'll block on passing downs, catch the ball out of the backfield, line up out wide, run the ball between the tackles, run the ball in short yardage situations.. every situation for a football team, Barkley is the best option to be on the field. Whoever gets him doesn't just get a running back, they get a complete football player.
 
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Judas priest we averaged 41.1 pts per game and were the #6 scoring team in the country.
Some of you guys need to submit your resume. :rolleyes:

We're #6! We're #6! We're #6! We're #6!

Seriously, one drives for perfection, even though it is unachievable. I like this offense...I like JoMo. But we lost two games and didn't make the series.

While you can blame tOSU's loss on the D, we also didn't sustain anything resembling a drive in the 4th Q when we needed it. In fact, we were AWFUL in short yardage all season. Against Sparty, the weather (and an excellent Sparty D) limited us in scoring.

bottom line is you always have to get better. recognizing flaws in our offense isn't the worst thing in the world.
 
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