How much credit does a RB deserve?

[NashDishesDimes]

Thinking about this Chris Johnson injury, we all know he hasnt been great the past few weeks. I find it rediculous that some people think it is such a big deal. I saw someone else on this board mention that RB is the easiest position to replace. I completely agree. It seems like the good running backs every year adhere to no correlation to draft status, college value, or anything. There are some good 1st round RBs i.e. Gurley, AP but plenty of busts to counter. On the flip side, look at some of the other good backs the last few years: Devante, arian foster, ellington, langford, hillis, demarco, cj anderson, Rawls etc.

How much credit does the RB really deserve? No disrespect but seriously. The Cards will have no drop off in the run game with DJ and AE. The only issue I could see would be maybe pass pro. Id give 75% of the run game credit to the Oline, potential passing attack, scheme, and freshness of RB legs. Demarco is a great example of how a team can make a good RB look.

I will say there are some RBs that are in another league such as AP that regardless of situation they are still great. AP however is a generational player.
Thoughts?

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Thinking about this Chris Johnson injury, we all know he hasnt been great the past few weeks. I find it rediculous that some people think it is such a big deal. I saw someone else on this board mention that RB is the easiest position to replace. I completely agree. It seems like the good running backs every year adhere to no correlation to draft status, college value, or anything. There are some good 1st round RBs i.e. Gurley, AP but plenty of busts to counter. On the flip side, look at some of the other good backs the last few years: Devante, arian foster, ellington, langford, hillis, demarco, cj anderson, Rawls etc.

How much credit does the RB really deserve? No disrespect but seriously. The Cards will have no drop off in the run game with DJ and AE. The only issue I could see would be maybe pass pro. Id give 75% of the run game credit to the Oline, potential passing attack, scheme, and freshness of RB legs. Demarco is a great example of how a team can make a good RB look.

I will say there are some RBs that are in another league such as AP that regardless of situation they are still great. AP however is a generational player.
Thoughts?

That was me who said that.

I agree with what you say and I think the main thing is finding the right type of RB to fit your scheme. The old Denver teams were great and finding one cut runners that fit their scheme perfectly and it seemed whoever they plugged in would have success.

On the other hand look at DeMarco Murray. The Dallas scheme with him being in a deep I formation was perfect for him and he went to Philly's scheme and is just another guy this year.

You're right in that guys like AP, Barry Sanders, etc., are going to be great in any system but that's the exception. Great RB's can make their OL look better too because the RB makes the right read and hits the hole faster, thus the OL don't have to hold their blocks as long or be as precise.

Getting a RB that fits the system and works in tandem with the OL is the key.

I actually think the Cards were living on borrowed time with CJ and David will actually give the running game a boost, providing he holds on to the ball.

 

[BigRedRage]

The Cards will have no drop off in the run game with DJ and AE.

We'll see.

 

[Jim Otis]

Everyone needs to take a close look at the KC Chiefs . They centered their offence around impact/player RB Jamal Charles and were struggling early in the season . Charles is lost for the season to injury and we think gosh that was the last thing the Chiefs needed to happen . NO!! Revamping the offence to not include Charles has made them better and tougher to defend , hence , all the winning they are enjoying now .

 

[BullheadCardFan]

We'll see.

+1

CJ ran hard and made sharp cuts. He also knew when to cut and turn up field. The Oline giving up so much pressure in the last couple of games altered his running style.

Oline has to open holes for any RB to be successful in our system. DJ can't do it alone especially if he gets hit in the backfield over and over.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

This is such a multi-faceted question to answer.

When it comes to getting a hand off and running it is quite easy, but....
- still have to see the whole and hit the hole
- still have to hold onto the ball

if you can do those two basic things you can do fairly well in the NFL if your offensive line is good.

The next part of the job is pass protection, which in today's NFL is a big deal. Your QB is too important to allow your running back to be deficient in this area.

At this point, if a back can do these three things? They can play and succeed in the NFL. How well the back does is very much reliant on the offensive line tho. See Emmitt Smith, or in our case, see Stepfan Taylor.


Now, when you start to talk about the ability to make guys miss tackles, when you talk about pure speed, when you talk about pure power, and when you talk about patience/setting up blocks, you start getting into a different level of running back.

Chris Johnson had speed and patience, which made him better than the normal every day Arizona Cardinals running back that we are all used to seeing.


Then you can go even further, and start talking about the prototypical 3rd down back, that may not have the quickness, moves, or patience, but can catch the ball out of the backfield. Then there are the uber receiving backs, aka Marshall Faulk, that are not only an effective running back but are just as good a receiver.


Thus it is relative to how much credit a running back deserves.


I always get into this conversation when talking about all time great backs.

Best back I ever saw run was Barry Sanders.

If I am making my own all-time football team, I choose Earl Campbell if I am allowed to have a 3rd down back. Yet, if I can only have one back, I choose Marshall Faulk.

When people start talking about Emmitt Smith? I just say that I think he is overrated. Great back and all, but I think a lot of running backs would have the same stats as Smith behind the line he ran behind.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I actually think the Cards were living on borrowed time with CJ and David will actually give the running game a boost, providing he holds on to the ball.

This is my hopeful line of thinking as well. CJ just looked beat up the past few weeks, and he went back to the old habit of trying to take every run outside the tackles. He was more successful earlier in the year just take one cut and taking the ball inside, but I think that took a toll on his body and he was to the point of trying to avoid contact.

DJ is stoutly built and is probably faster than CJ at this point. I'm excited about him.

 

[Brak]

If only DJ could block like Kulabafi. Pull up Taylor's highlight reel of the Stanford/USC game on YouTube. It shows a ton of blitz pickups and overall excellent blocking in the backfield. We need a hybrid of the 2 guys.

 

[Stout]

The answer? A lot.

Sincerely,

Barry Sanders.

 

[HeavyB3]

I think the biggest drop off will be blitz pickup. Pass protection is so hard for young running backs and CJ picked it up pretty quickly as a veteran. RB's always have to know who is priority in various blitz packages based on O-line protection schemes on any given play or if he needs to get out as an outlet. He's gotta be in the right position immediately, hesitation gets your QB sacked.

People who think the running back is just take the ball and run underestimates what they have to do.

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

With as bad as our line has been forever, I always hoped we would land a bruiser at RB, A Bettis or Lynch type of runner who was capable of moving forward more times than not, regardless of what the line did...and sadly, we kept picking up RB's who were completely dependent on a mammoth sized hole to move forward....Early this season, CJ gave me the best hope at the position I've had since the Cards got to AZ, Injuries and/or just running out of gas has dashed that hope....I'm extremely worried about the RB position going forward.