Huge Singleton AND Allen fan here. IMO, one thing Nick needs to work on is getting tripped up by arm tackles below the knee...for a kid with his incredible talent, he seems to go down too easily at times.
Singleton's Speed
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I think with experience he’ll handle it better. He might not be used to guys having that chance, I bet in high school he was past most of those .
If we're talking track times, Journey Brown was faster than all of them (He broke Leroy Burrell's PIAA 100 record set in 1985. Yes, the Leroy Burrell who would go on to set the World Record in 1990.).
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Perhaps... time will tell.
Me either... but his 40 time...
Aw, man, the first thing that comes to your mind is explosive," said Bobby Engram, Carter's former roommate at Penn State and a 14-year NFL veteran who is now the wide receivers coach in Baltimore. "He was fast. He was powerful. He had good vision. He was a legit, a low 4.3. I saw him run it on the Accutrak, so it wasn't any hand-held time.
As some of you know, my daughter goes to Arkansas, so I am now a season ticket holder. That #5, Rocket Sanders, is unique. Has the ability to take over games late when everyone else is tired. Can't wait to get Dominique Johnson back. We'll need him for A&M, Alabama, BYU, Liberty and Ole Miss.
Most didn’t take bad angles. Give Singleton credit. He outran players who took good angles and got burnt.
You guys are great at distracting me. Kijana Carter was one incredible back.
Not to take anything away from KiJana, but he had some pretty impressive blockers in front of him most of the time.
He definitely is not a trained sprinter as his form is, as you said, very choppy. When you look at him run from behind his legs and body are moving all over the place, not smooth and in perfect rhythm. Look at film of Carl Lewis and compare it to Bob Hayes. Lewis was smooth as silk, not a wasted movement, a perfect sprinter. Hayes was odd and choppy and his legs were out of rhythm and moving all over, much like Singleton. A football player running track. Both were blazing fast. The great thing is that Singleton will get even faster.
I don't pay attention to times on a track or times with shorts on. I pay attention to what I see on a football field, and what I'm seeing on a football field is this: Nobody can catch this kid in the open field. Nobody.
Sometimes short-&-stocky sprinters do have a more choppy stride because they are taking more strides over the span they're running. They're are many world-class sprinters with shorter strides that look extremely choppy relative to a long-strider like Bolt.
Agree. I wonder if some training from a sprint coach could smooth his stride out some and maybe lower his 40 time further.
I recall watching Saquon run in the open field and his head didn't seem to move. Totally coordinated.
One significant aspect of this running style could be on downfield pass receptions (if the coaches use #10 on go routes or wheel routes occasionally) where a smooth style makes it easier to focus and catch the football.
interesting observations.
I've spoken to RBs and I've heard them say that they forgot to "run fast". I always thought it was a joke ("think fast, run fast") but a college RB in the MAC told me that they are taught to take short, choppy steps and keep fast feet. 99% of their running is in traffic where you need to plant and cut. You need to be aware that a defender can "sweep tackle" you by taking out your ankles if your foot is on the ground too long. So they get used to quick feet and not long strides. So when you do break into the open, you need to change your running style. I am willing to bet this is a topic of conversation with Singleton and Allen, or will be in the off season.
You are right. In traffic shorts steps with knees up so you are not dragging feet to avoid tripping over stuff on the ground. That's why you have them doing drills by running through ropes and stepping over bags. Short & choppy makes it easier to make quick side to side moves as well - turnover rate is faster so feet are on the ground more often. Also gives more power and better balance for the same reasons.
Also why RBs are often built more "compact" and usually not tall. They naturally have a lower center of gravity and are more "powerful" runners lb-for-lb... There are always exceptions to the rule though, Dickerson often ran more upright like a sprinter, as did LJ for that matter.
To me, Journey Brown had more pure speed than any PSU RB. In fact, Brown looked like a track athlete with that perfect form.
Enjoy all the discussion, I watching old vids of PSU and I think Nick is like Mike Archie, type back. Kijana and LJ so much bigger. My thoughts. Of course Nick will grow and be a giant I am sure. Love this team.
...................Singleton is 220 lbs as a true Freishman. Kijana played at 225 as a junior,
I think we missed a real treat when Journey was forced to retire. He seemed to finally “get it” his last few games to become a running back with top end speed instead of a speedster playing running back. Similar to when LJ finally got it and became unstoppable instead of good.
I was in a store after the 1994 season following the wife. A PSU highlight film was running and I tried to check it while feigning interest in what the wife was shopping for. At first I thought they were playing the same 3 or 4 plays on loop where Carter was scoring untouched on sweeps. I finally realized it wasn’t on a loop!
