Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

I don't think he did, but as long as FWP stays healthy he has time to grow.

MJG, you partially satisfied?

[NorthCoast]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

In Tomlin's words, he represented himself well. But his game needs work no doubt about it. Needs to get his pads lower when he is running.

[pfelix73]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

He needs reps.

[flippy]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

He's athletic and fast.

And he looks great running through a huge hole.

But he runs upright. Seems a little hesitant. And goes down/backward a little too easy.

He's young and needs some work.

He was a bit of a project coming out of the system he played in college.

He should be decent in time.

I was more impressed by the line opening some holes tonight.

[Snatch98]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

He's athletic and fast.

And he looks great running through a huge hole.

But he runs upright. Seems a little hesitant. And goes down/backward a little too easy.

He's young and needs some work.

He was a bit of a project coming out of the system he played in college.

He should be decent in time.

I was more impressed by the line opening some holes tonight.

I thought he looked great. I respect your opinion but I don't know what games some of you guys are watching. Yes he def needs some work but he hasn't taken a lot of snaps yet either. He rarely fell backwards unless he was smacked immediately, hate great leg drive and vision and made the most of the holes he was given. I think he runs in a violent fashion and gets after it. If the o-line continues to make holes he's going to go 50/50 with Willie and may grab the lions share of teh carries down the road. I think he's looked great so far this preseason.

The team looked great period tonight.

[steelz09]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

He must not have done to well averaging just 3.0 yards/carry

[Starlifter]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

i'm not a mendy hater but i'm certainly not sold on him yet. generally you expect someone with limited reps to have lower production as a result of still learning the offense. they usually show glimpses of brilliance so you say 'once they understand the system they'll be great'. i don't really see that with mendy. it seems to me he understands the offense just fine, but isn't doing the natural athletic things you'd hope to see. from what i've seen this year:

he rarely hits the hole with speed.
he hasn't powered over anyone
he hasn't made that 'last guy' miss
he seems to go down pretty quick.

he may well end up being a solid reliable back. i've seen nothing yet to indicate he will be a special back that can change the course of a game.

[Snatch98]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

i'm not a mendy hater but i'm certainly not sold on him yet. generally you expect someone with limited reps to have lower production as a result of still learning the offense. they usually show glimpses of brilliance so you say 'once they understand the system they'll be great'. i don't really see that with mendy. it seems to me he understands the offense just fine, but isn't doing the natural athletic things you'd hope to see. from what i've seen this year:

he rarely hits the hole with speed.
he hasn't powered over anyone
he hasn't made that 'last guy' miss
he seems to go down pretty quick.

he may well end up being a solid reliable back. i've seen nothing yet to indicate he will be a special back that can change the course of a game.

Are you guys seriously watching the same games? He flew in to that one hole and shed a couple tackles...granted they were arm tackles but still and he's not always getting huge holes. Everyone is far too critical. You'd think you'd be happy with 50 yards on the ground on 14 carries with a TD. I'm not saying you can't be critical or not by in to the "hype" but he's legit and has looked good this preseason as far as I'm concerned. I'm not worried about the guy at all. Willie wouldn't have done any better and thats a fact.

[Starlifter]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

snatch, i tivo'd the game and watched the first half 3 times. i saw two runs where he hit the hole quick. both were off right side, one was a sprint draw and the other was his TD run. trust me i want the kid to succeed and have high hopes, i just haven't seen one play yet where he got up off the ground and i went 'wow'....

[BDESteel]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

I only saw the video highlights from NFL.COM. But, from what I saw on Delicious. I'm ready to go out and buy this man's jersey.

I was told he ran great. After looking at the highlights, I think he looked very promising for the regular season. He ran hard, not violently, but hard. And, he shows no ill effects of the broken shoulder.

I feel better today, than I did last week about the whole team. Maybe, we should just expect Buffalo to be a sorry azz team this year?

[stlrz d]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

He must not have done to well averaging just 3.0 yards/carry

Classic example of a stat not necessarily telling the story.

He didn't have any Parker length runs so the times he had nowhere to go bring that average down. When he had blocking and someplace to go he looked fine. He also had 2 receptions for 16 yards. One of them I know for sure was for a 1st down. I can't remember on the other one.

The team overall looked pretty sharp and they really controlled the game. Ben was awesome (as usual) in the no huddle and was also doing his thing making those 3rd downs into first downs.

[AngryAsian]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

Our backfield in '09:

Parker
Mendenhall
Moore
Redman
Davis


I thought Mendenhall showcased some of his talent last night. He made some decent catches in screen situations (can't believe we are seeing some of those sets from Arians), he had at least two runs where he found a seem and showed excellent acceleration to get through, a couple of plays ran with power (thought our short yardages sitches will probably be Redman). As for any speculation regarding him being the number one option this season... nothing was solidified. I'm just happy our running game has plenty of options and hopefully we'll be using the right tool for the job.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

Didn't like him coughing up the ball, which is becoming fairly common any time he has a decent amount of carries. At this point I somewhat question his field vision. Most his decent runs have come on plays where a UPS truck could drive through the hole. I have yet to see him physically shake a tackler and pick up decent yards after initial contact.

Surely haven't written him off as a bust, but think there are backs in every draft with what he has shown in the mid rounds. Hasn't shown me anything yet where I am wowed into seeing first rounder written all over him.

[Oviedo]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

Our backfield in '09:

Parker
Mendenhall
Moore
Redman
Davis


I thought Mendenhall showcased some of his talent last night. He made some decent catches in screen situations (can't believe we are seeing some of those sets from Arians), he had at least two runs where he found a seem and showed excellent acceleration to get through, a couple of plays ran with power (thought our short yardages sitches will probably be Redman). As for any speculation regarding him being the number one option this season... nothing was solidified. I'm just happy our running game has plenty of options and hopefully we'll be using the right tool for the job.

I agree. Mendenhall showed he has what it takes but it just needs developed which is not unexpected for a kid who wasn't even 21 when we drafted him last year. He is going to be a solid Pro runner with a great skillset. His ability to be an effective receiver out of the backfield is especially appealing. He is not a Bettis-type runner but IMO does compares more favorably to guys like Chuck Foreman (Vikings--dating myself I know) or Tiki Barber who were good at both run and receiver.

[Chavezz]

Re: Anybody think Mendy settled anything tonight?

As others have said, he needs more reps. How many carries has this guy got since he's been drafted?

He needs to be getting the carries that Justin Vincent is getting. Which leads me to this question. Why is Vincent still ahead of Redman in regards to coming off the bench? Vincent is getting a serious look and no one is talking about it.

If you consider the 3rd preseason game to be the dress rehearsal for the reg season then Vincent is ahead of Redman.


Also, that stretch play looked really good. It utilizes the speed of our RB's instead of just ramming them up the Centers azz all day.