I do not think that the way the media has "tackled" the subject of Trent Richardson has done justice to what he probably is going to do this year. Of course, they aren't going to go out on a limb and predict great things for a back they never have seen in college competition.
I was thinking about this while watching my favorite re-run from last season, the Tennessee game. Eric Berry was the defensive darling of that game, with his plastering of both Marquis Maze and Glenn Coffee.
Eric Berry doesn't just tackle; he HITS. Somewhere along the way, he learned that if you hit a runner with your shoulder pads just right, at the right spot on the runner's anatomy, it doesn't hurt you the tackler, but the runner knows he has been hit, and so does everybody else.
But you know what? If Eric Berry comes up and tries to hit Trent Richardson like he hit Glenn Coffee -- or Marquis Maze -- last season, Eric Berry may find himself waking up in the dressing room after the game, and he may not find his head clear until the next morning when he wakes up after a night's sleep.
You remember Kenny King from Daphne, don't you? I believe that is his name. Big defensive lineman for Bama eight or ten years ago. He squatted 600 pounds. Now, this linebacker we looked at last week is supposed to squat 700 pounds, but I wonder if he really can, because 600 by King is the most I can remember any ballplayer recruit squatting.
Well, Richardson squats 580 -- AND IS A RUNNING BACK! And benches in the high 300's?
Emmitt Smith played at the same Escambia High School in Pensacola. Smith was said to have such large thighs, his mother couldn't find jeans with big enough legs in 'em. Have you taken a good look at Richardson? He is so muscled up, he looks like a toy in his photos. It's one of those perspective oddities.
I'm telling you, I think that once the word gets around about what it is like to hit this guy, defensive backs are going to be doing a lot of "Ole's" -- and just let him "walk on by."
Julio squatted 515 in high school. It sometimes takes five and six tacklers to get him down. What is it going to take to get Richardson down? And will they even WANT to get him down?
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