Texans Running Backs

[Vinny]

Slaton sure does have little skinny thighs.

[pittbull3]

He's a little guy Vinny. Saw too much of him at WVU. Great speed and good in the open field. I worry more about his ability to hold on the ball, rather than those thighs though. Was fumble prone and tends to carry the ball on one side of his body. Hope the coaches correct that immediately! If they do, look out. Could ahve another home run hitter to go with the other playmakers!

[edo783]

Supposedly, Slaton came to OTAs at 201 and is now 210. If he has put on some muscle and maintained speed, that's a good combo. I doubt he will ever be a "Pile mover" type of back, but if he can squirt though the line and not get taken down with light contact, he could be a fun guy to watch.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by pittbull3

He's a little guy Vinny. Saw too much of him at WVU. Great speed and good in the open field. I worry more about his ability to hold on the ball, rather than those thighs though. Was fumble prone and tends to carry the ball on one side of his body. Hope the coaches correct that immediately! If they do, look out. Could ahve another home run hitter to go with the other playmakers!

Weren't his fumblitis and ball on the one side problems both because of playing with a broken wrist or hand or something?

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

Weren't his fumblitis and ball on the one side problems both because of playing with a broken wrist or hand or something?

This is the most in depth profile that I have come across of Slaton........feel free to review the rest of the analysis ("positives" and "injury history") in this LINK.

A consensus All-American and unanimous All-Big East Conference choice as a sophomore, Slaton put together a record-breaking 2006 campaign, despite being forced to carry the ball exclusively in his left hand most of the season due to a right wrist injury that would require surgery. His 1,744 yards on the ground and 2,104 all-purpose yards set school season marks, as he ranked fourth in the nation in rushing (134.5 ypg) and second in all-purpose yardage (161.85 ypg).

The wrist injury saw Slaton fumble the ball seven times on 248 carries, but he produced 16 touchdowns on the ground and 114 points. He also ranked third on the team with 27 catches for 360 yards (13.3 avg) and two scores. His 27 grabs were the third-best season total by a Mountaineers running back in a season.

Primed for a banner junior campaign with his wrist fully healed, Slaton ran into several roadblocks in 2007. He tried to get too fancy carrying the ball, spending more time dancing in the backfield than attacking the rush lanes. With frosh sensation Noel Devine now vying for backfield time, fumble issues caused the coaching staff to lose faith in its junior runner in crucial situations, as he saw his chances to carry the ball slowly get reduced each game.

Negatives: Lacks size and bulk you look for in a running back who will need to carry the ball 20-25 times per game, and with his long history of injuries the last two years durability issues are sure to arise … Needs to show more straight-line explosion and urgency hitting the rush lanes, as he got in trouble in 2007 by dancing around so much in the backfield, trying to pick that perfect hole to break it open for a big gain rather than be concerned with moving the chains … His right wrist injury forced him to carry the ball in his left hand, resulting in a high amount of fumbles in 2006, but even after he recovered from the injury in 2007 he failed to properly distribute the ball. When he began another rash of fumbles, he gradually saw his playing time reduced … Seems to be a reluctant entry in the draft, citing his coach leaving the school for the reason he came out, but it more than likely was due to losing playing time to frosh sensation Noel Devine and the prospect that he would have had to compete for his job next year with the new coaching staff in place … The old staff seemed to lose confidence in him during the second stage of 2007, as they became frustrated by his ball security issues and shyness taking the ball up the gut … Has marginal blocking skills, some due to a lack of desire, but mostly because his size prevents him from gaining leverage vs. the bigger defenders … Does not play up to his timed speed, as he does not consistently show the burst or suddenness out of his stance and into the holes as he showed earlier in his career … Most of his carries have come on pitches and tosses out of the shotgun formation and he will need time to adjust to pro sets and playing closer to the line than he is accustomed to … Might not be able to withstand the punishment of being a featured back and could be better suited for change-of-pace duties … Has improved his receiving skills the last two years, but has been confined to simple, controlled routes … Seems to struggle on long patterns trying to locate the ball in flight and has just marginal timing leaping and attacking the ball at its high point … Will drift and take soft angle cuts as a receiver … Does not have the power to move the pile or break many arm tackles (relies more on his quick feet, fakes and hip snap to elude), as he will generally be captured on the initial hit … Not the type who can digest a complicated playbook and needs more than a few reps to retain … Never used as a lead blocker and has to improve his angles when asked to cut block in the second level.

[pittbull3]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

Weren't his fumblitis and ball on the one side problems both because of playing with a broken wrist or hand or something?

No. He's always been more comfortable toting the ball in left arm anyway and had fumble issues throughout college. Again, saw too much of him, with me being a Pitt fan! WVU worked with him for the senior year in regards to the changes and it worked slightly. But, you can best believe in the league, this will get changed. A good mentor will be Green, who carries the ball similarly, due to his fumblitis, and this can aid Slaton's career early!

[Corrosion]

Running back Chris Taylor left toward the end of practice with what appeared to be cramping in his legs caused by the heat. That was something he struggled with last year as well.

I wondered who would be first , Green or Taylor . I'm not expecting much from either of them .... As long as they get one full season outa the lot of them I'll consider it a success.

[TexanBacker93]

Originally Posted by corrosion

I wondered who would be first , Green or Taylor . I'm not expecting much from either of them .... As long as they get one full season outa the lot of them I'll consider it a success.

A few plays earlier than Taylor went out Green came up limping and I didn't see him back in there again. I haven't seen anything official so it must not have been anything big, but others in my area noticed the same thing. Definitely a downside to the 80 man roster.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Slaton sure does have little skinny thighs.

Vinny, I can't make out who's coming in on him (Chaun Thompson?), but that player looks like he may have even thinner legs than Slaton.

[PHAROAH]

If Ahman Green can stay healthy I think he is the best option as the combination runner but for the running game to explode Steve Slaton has to be rotation because he brings the explosion that the others don't have SPEED.

[Texecutioner]

Amaan Green being healthy? For me, their just isn't any reason to expect that to happen. He hasn't played a full season in like 3 to 4 years now. He might gives us a few nice games, but he'll most likely be on injured reserve at some point. I'm more concerned about keeping Brown healthy. If the Texans can keep Chris Brown healthy at RB for most of the season, then that will be pretty nice.

[Vinny]

Chris Brown looked slow to me at practice....he wasn't as quick as the other backs and he may have lost a step.

[J-Russ]

Questions already arising in Texans running back situation

Chris Brown is already being forced to the sidelines with aches and pains. The Texans signed Brown as a free agent to help spell Ahman Green. But they knew Brown came with injury issues of his own. And those issues are already starting to creep up.

He has a sore back that has forced him to miss Monday morning's practice. It's not a good sign for a player who has only played in 17 games with four starts over the past two seasons.

The good news is it's giving the younger guys like Chris Taylor, Steve Slaton and Darius Walker more repetitions. But they aren't all looking like they are taking full advantage of it. Taylor is having problems keeping hold of the ball, and Slaton has struggled with that at times, too. He got the ball popped out of his hands today by DeMeco Ryans.

It's good they are all getting that work now though. It's clearly better to drop in practice than the games. And with Taylor being out of football for a year, it's going to take him some time to get back to where he was before.

Green is still not having any knee issues — knock on wood. And the coaches are resting him so that he's only a once-a-day practice player.

Running back is one of the most integral positions on the team this season. Sore backs and dropped balls mean little now, but there is concern about how healthy and productive this unit can be when the games become important. How do you see the situation working itself out? Who will get the bulk of carries this season?

http://blogs.chron.com/gamedaytexans...sing_in_r.html

Doesn't look good too far. Gibbs better turn water into wine, or else we'll be in for another long season.

[Kaiser Toro]

some of Kubiak's Day 4 quotes from the .com

(on how he feels about RB Chris Brown’s continuous injuries) “It’s part of camp. You’re always going to have things to deal with. But for him to help his football team, he has to be on the field. He has a lot of teammates out here that he has to come with and go to work with, and missing time is not good. But if his back is bothering him, it’s bothering him, you know? Hopefully, he will be back on the field tomorrow.”

(on if the entire team is present) “Yeah, everybody’s here today.”

(on the running backs) “Well, its interesting that you would ask because I was so impressed with (Chris) Taylor, Ahman (Green), 37 (Darius Walker) - yeah, I call them all kinds of names - and (Steve) Slaton. Just really, really an impressive morning from the group because they were short a guy, one of their partners was down and they had to pull on each other a little. But the running back group had a hell of a practice.”

[HOU-TEX]

Originally Posted by J-Russ

http://blogs.chron.com/gamedaytexans...sing_in_r.html

Doesn't look good too far. Gibbs better turn water into wine, or else we'll be in for another long season.

Chris Brown has been by far the least impressive of the bunch anyways.

I went to both practices over the weekend and didn't see the ball hit the ground once by RB's. There were a couple botched snaps, that's it. If Slaton put the ball on the ground today then it's probably the first.

I think the RB group (besides Brown) has done a decent job considering it's the first week of camp.

*edit: From KT's post above.........I think I'll take Kubiak's opinion before Manful's. LOL

[Ole Miss Texan]

I had high hopes for Chris Brown at RB... but I'm starting to already talk about him in past tense. Sounds like he's starting to be on the outside looking in. Glad to hear the young guys are doing well.

[Toro59]

Something tells me we'll be seeing alot of Mr. Walker. IMO

[buddyboy]

Originally Posted by Toro59

Something tells me we'll be seeing alot of Mr. Walker. IMO

Or, apparantly, number 37 as Kubiak likes to call him.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by J-Russ

http://blogs.chron.com/gamedaytexans...sing_in_r.html

Doesn't look good too far. Gibbs better turn water into wine, or else we'll be in for another long season.

No surprise here. I wasn't happy about getting him in the first place. I figured that they would have learned from grabbing Green the year before. I don't think we'll be seeing much of Brown or Green this year. It will be Slaton, Walker, and Taylor which none of them I'm stoked about.

If Brown or Green could stay healthy, I think we could have a decent running game, but that is so highly unlikely.

If Chris Brown doesn't get on the field he's gonna get cut