Always---I was saying I thought they were indeed ready last year. I think we had a tandem similar to Mark/Trent etc.. It just never seemed to get a chance to develop last year for some reason.
Link: Yeldon's Demise has been Greatly Exaggerated
- Thread starter RTR91
- Start date
Replacing Yeldon with Drake would've increased the chances of a second fumble dramatically. Good backs don't fumble twice in the same game, and Drake's a known fumbler. Replacing a guy who just fumbled (and thus is unlikely to fumble again soon) with a known fumbler is, IMO, a terrible idea. And we know Drake has gotten in trouble off the field and is constantly in the dog house. Yeldon's PT in big games last year simply dwarfed Drake's. Fact is CNS doesn't quite trust Drake.
Apart from Henry, what had he shown CNS at the point? He had shown him NOTHING, nothing but his high school tape. I don't think CNS is gonna give a guy his first snaps in college football during a critical game. Not when Yeldon has came through and proven himself so many times. Fact is he couldn't trust Henry at anything.
Against OU Henry had already showed some of his amazing skills in live games and reportedly had improved his pass blocking.
Henry took advantage of his opportunity against OU, but let's not forget he was behind Tennpenny most of the season. Tennpenny was injured, so he didn't play much in the game. Drake didn't even play in the Sugar Bowl.
Give Derrick the credit for making the most out of his opportunity, but he's still going to be in a battle with Drake and Tennpenny for the #2 and #3 spot.
Give Derrick the credit for making the most out of his opportunity, but he's still going to be in a battle with Drake and Tennpenny for the #2 and #3 spot.
I think he starts the season a solid number two and pushing for number one by year end.
This whole thread brings back memories of Shaun Alexander. He wasn't playing much because he supposedly wasn't as good a pass blocker as Dennis Riddle.
So we go down to LSU and our offense is struggling their butts off and losing the game.
Second half we put in Shaun and he rushed for over 250 yards and four TD's. That's over 250 yards in one darn half!!
The next week there was ole Dennis, right back in the starting spot and Shaun actually played only sparingly the rest of the season. I didn't understand that decision at all and I don't understand why Henry didn't play more last year. In my opinion, he should have.
sip
Sip, you're one of my favorite posters mainly because I agree with you sometimes and disagree with you other times. This is one time I no doubt agree with you. For the rest of my life I won't understand why we did what we did in the Auburn game essentially going to one running back. Especially when that running back didn't seem to be playing at his full capacity. Look at Kiffin's quote, Henry weighs 235 and runs 4.4 didn't take long to realize giving the ball to him is a good idea. Apparently it's going to take us at least a year.
Sometimes a kid is simply too talented and too dominant, and too good to not play him. To me, Derrick has as much if not more talent than any running back we've ever signed.
I'm not saying he's the best running back we've ever had. He has to prove that, but he certainly has the ability to be.
I would hate to see his college career go like Barry Sanders'. I was just looking his stats up the other night. Take a look:
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 1986 | Oklahoma State | Big 8 | RB | 8 | 74 | 325 | 4.4 | 2 | 74 | 325 | 4.4 | 2 | |||||
| 1987 | Oklahoma State | Big 8 | RB | 11 | 105 | 603 | 5.7 | 9 | 4 | 58 | 14.5 | 1 | 109 | 661 | 6.1 | 10 | |
| 1988 | Oklahoma State | Big 8 | RB | 11 | 344 | 2628 | 7.6 | 37 | 19 | 106 | 5.6 | 0 | 363 | 2734 | 7.5 | 37 | |
| Career | Oklahoma State | 523 | 3556 | 6.8 | 48 | 23 | 164 | 7.1 | 1 | 546 | 3720 | 6.8 | 49 |
Granted his senior year was insane, but they basically got one year out of him. I know he was behind Thurmon Thomas, but still...
My biggest problem with only playing TJ against AU is that TJ had a gimpy ankle in that game. We have two absolute studs on the bench while TJ was out there not even close to 100%. Very frustrating as a fan to try and understand what went into that decision making process.
I just stopped trying. Did Henry really get THAT much better between that Auburn game and the Oklahoma game? He was so bad at pass blocking that he couldn't have given TJ a spell for one possession? Oh wait, clearly I haven't stopped trying.
Yea its get old hearing that DH wasn't playing b/c of his lack of pass blocking skills. When an SEC championship birth is on the line you play to win the game. Choose another time and place to show that a player has to know all facets of his position to get PT. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't seem to recall DH pass blocking much in the OU game.
Well here are Henry's stats...and they state loudly.."I should be playing"
| CAREER STATS | RUSHING | RECEIVING | ||||||||
| SEASON | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
| 2013 | 36 | 382 | 10.6 | 80 | 3 | 1 | 61 | 61.0 | 61 | 1 |
The one positive I can say from how we handled him the first year is that he is no doubt humbled and now knows the work necessary to be a champion. I saw an interview with him where he basically said he came in with the wrong attitude and that it really did click for him in bowl practice. If what happened last year means we get an angry, incredibly hard working, motivated Derrick Henry than I'll live with it. Since the bowl game Coach has taken pretty much any opportunity when asked to praise Derrick, to me this means that he is doing everyting that Coach Saban expects and he should be unleashed this year.
That's my hope at least.
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