In order to produce he will need to get more than 7 carries. Take it up with Tomlin or Ariens.Originally Posted by BIG FAN
In order to produce he will need to get more than 7 carries. Take it up with Tomlin or Ariens.
More fun taking it up with you, and we all get a better response.In order to produce he will need to get more than 7 carries. Take it up with Tomlin or Ariens.
Dont take me wrong, I like the the guy and think he was under utilised as well, but do you really think someone who cant crack a starting spot is all that. I didnt' expect you to defer to the coaches by the way. Kinda smacks of avoiding a valid statement.
[quote=BIG FAN]More fun taking it up with you, and we all get a better response.In order to produce he will need to get more than 7 carries. Take it up with Tomlin or Ariens.
Dont take me wrong, I like the the guy and think he was under utilised as well, but do you really think someone who cant crack a starting spot is all that. I didnt' expect you to defer to the coaches by the way. Kinda smacks of avoiding a valid statement.[/quote:1isj2j3c]
I can't read their minds. I suppose they didn't think he was ready much like they didn't find a place for Timmons last season. My only point is...in order for people to insist that he produce during his rookie season (UDFA a year out of football) he would need to get some carries. Seven doesn't really count. What their actions have shown is that they believe Russell is better than Davenport (by the Davenport cut). So, if they believe that why didn't he get some PT last year? That will be a mystery for the ages.
[quote=ShawnMedGuy]I can't read their minds. I suppose they didn't think he was ready much like they didn't find a place for Timmons last season. My only point is...in order for people to insist that he produce during his rookie season (UDFA a year out of football) he would need to get some carries. Seven doesn't really count. What their actions have shown is that they believe Russell is better than Davenport (by the Davenport cut). So, if they believe that why didn't he get some PT last year? That will be a mystery for the ages.[/quote:3cww123i]More fun taking it up with you, and we all get a better response.In order to produce he will need to get more than 7 carries. Take it up with Tomlin or Ariens.
Dont take me wrong, I like the the guy and think he was under utilised as well, but do you really think someone who cant crack a starting spot is all that. I didnt' expect you to defer to the coaches by the way. Kinda smacks of avoiding a valid statement.
He has more talent than Dookie, but the fact remains that he was woefully out of football shape when he was brought in as an UDFA. He had to make the typical rookie adjustment from college to NFL, but he had the additional obstacle of not having played organized football in over a year, so he was coming to the NFL after a full year by himself on the streets instead of on a football field somewhere. In spite of that, he still shined in his preseason action and improved throughout the year in practice. After a full offseason working out with the team, learning the playbook, etc. I look forward to seeing what this kid can do during this preseason. He still won't get much PT this season (barring injury) because he has Parker, Mendenhall, and Moore in front of him, but as a 4th option, he's a great option to keep in the stable.
The depth in the backfield is absolutely sick. I haven't been this excited about our offensive weaponry in quite a long while. It is this fact that keeps me hopeful about the OLine issues that hopefully will be worked to an acceptable level this year. I'm not asking for top ten in the NFL kind of play here, I'm talking middle of the road average. I'll take average because the talent we have in the skill positions is nasty. Of course we have our QB as well, who, IMO, will have PRO BOWL numbers.
SMG, you are right that 7 carries is not enough to judge Russell. He was stuck last year behind Najeh. Najeh proved he could not be a lead back if needed, so he was sent packing. I don't feel the release of Najeh has much to do with Russell as much as it does with Najeh's lack of talent.
Because of this Russell has a chance to prove his worth. But the problem is he can not get past 4th on the depth chart. Barring injury, Mendenall would have to show he needs time to adapt the NFL for Russell to see much PT. FWP is the starter and Moore is a prototypical 3rd down back. So it is more a numbers game than anything else for Russell.
I will say the Steelers must like him a lot in order for him to as stuck around as long as he has with so many other teams looking for RB help.
He who forgets, will be destined to remember.
An UDFA who didn't see the field all year...On the active list because of injury...Playing in a game with playoff implications...Hmmm.
If he is so good...why wasn't he called upon?
OK...If you were the coach would you put this guy in a bad situation?
Would you put some work load on this guy if you didn't have to?
Smart coaching! The only reason Russell even got playing time was Davenport needed a breather. There would be very few SUCCESSFUL coaches that would have called Russell's number. The only way Russell would have got significant time last year after Parker went down is if Davenport had an injury. There is allot to be said for the confidence one has in his ability as well as knowing his assignments at the NFL level. An unsure player is a liability on the field to himself and the team. There is no way a kid who missed his last year of college football, went undrafted, fell out of football shape, working his way back into shape, learning an NFL offense, never playing a down of NFL regular season football....Would be called upon to make a large contribution during a playoff run. It was a good decision not to put allot on Russell's plate. He was there is Davenport went down...That was his role! There could have been many things that went wrong and crushed his development. He should consider himself lucky...I am sure he does! Now is the time he could move forward. A year to learn the offense and play at football shape. He couldn't have asked for a better situation to succeed with the hand he dealt himself!
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