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I Don't Like The Way Arian Carries The Ball

TexansFanatic

TexansFanatic

Extremist
Am I the only one?

When I watch replays of him I have two thoughts:

(1) My God, what a special back. His moves are so fluid and effortless. It's like he's gliding.

and

(2) Dude, tuck that ball up close to your body!


I think it's a small miracle he hasn't fumbled the ball a hell of a lot more.
 
arian-foster-opwn-2710.jpg
 
They both need to go watch film of Tiki Barber as he changed from a fumbling machine to a VERY reliable carrier. I was a running back (not a very good one) and I can tell you from experience that you naturally tend to swing the ball out from your body. SEEMS to help with balance and to me seemed to help with my speed (heaven knows I needed all the help there I could get), but I think it is just a matter of gaining confidence in tucking it up tight to your chest in the crook of your arm. These guys can do it. I just hope they can get it done and confidence in it quickly. Nothing will bounce you from the playoffs faster than turn overs.
 
I've been saying this on the other MB for awhile....Foster swings the ball away from his body way too much, just asking for the ball to be knocked out, especially from behind. The bit*h of it is, he looked like he had a good hold on the ball when it was knocked out today in the first drive.
 
His sophomore season of 2006 saw a slight downturn in production, as Foster was limited for the majority of the season with injuries and missed games against Marshall and Memphis. Splitting time with LaMarcus Coker after returning from injury, Foster ended the season with just 322 rushing yards.[9] Tennessee's final game of the season was the 2007 Outback Bowl, in which Foster fumbled with ten minutes remaining deep in Penn State territory.[10] The ball was picked up by cornerback Tony Davis and returned 88 yards for a touchdown, breaking a 10-10 tie and providing the winning points in Penn State's 20-10 victory.
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His junior season of 2007 saw Foster take over as the main back, with Montario Hardesty coming in as a substitute. Against Florida, Foster fumbled a left-handed hand-off from injured quarterback Erik Ainge which was recovered by Gators linebacker Dustin Doe and returned eighteen yards for a touchdown.[12] Up to that point Tennessee had been gaining momentum and pulled to within eight points of tying the game, but the botched play made the score 35-20 and triggered a 24-point Florida run to close out the contest.
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Foster, who needs 422 yards to become Tennessee's all-time career rushing leader, was involved in a fumble at the goal line against Auburn where he didn't get the handoff cleanly from Crompton. The Tigers recovered for one of their two touchdowns.

Foster spent the second half of the Auburn game as the third-down back, and Hardesty was used as more of the feature back. Foster has been plagued by several costly fumbles during his career at Tennessee.
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Arian, you're a world-class running back. Please fix this problem.
 
I'm not the most athletic guy, so maybe someone that is can shed some light. Don't you move faster when you allow your arms to move a bit? You don't see sprinters in the Olympics running with their arms stiff against their bodies. I bet it likely aides in balance as well.

I would imagine Foster would likely lose some of explosiveness if he was forcing himself to run in a way that was unnatural to him. A better bet would be to put an emphasis in recognizing when he can have the ball slightly out to facilitate movement, and when he needs to tuck it in tight. And work on transitioning from one to the other efficiently and quickly.

I haven't looked at his previous fumbles much, but the one against the Panthers seemed like it was just excellent defensive plays. I don't think it had anything to do with him not having a good enough grip on the ball.
 
I kinda give Foster the freedom to do whatever he wants. He for the most part takes care of the ball, and does some amazing stuff with the rock in his hands. Yes he has fumbled a few times this year, but his positive plays far and away outweigh them.
 
I knew of another running back that would hold the ball like a loaf of bread, too. He turned out pretty good.


earl_campbell.jpg


The guy above had 17 fumbles in his first two seasons and was pretty dern good!! Arian Foster in basically two season has had 8. I'm not too worried about how he carries the ball.
 
Texan_Bill said:
I knew of another running back that would hold the ball like a loaf of bread, too. He turned out pretty good.


earl_campbell.jpg


The guy above had 17 fumbles in his first two seasons and was pretty dern good!! Arian Foster in basically two season has had 8. I'm not too worried about how he carries the ball.
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Love it! Repped.

I'd rather he do it now, get pissed at himself for it and stop it in the future. In the press conference after the game he said he had 3 lost fumbles last year, 3 so far this year, so he believes that it's done for the year. Doesn't want to disappoint the team anymore.
 
The way he carries the ball is part of his fluidity. It provides a lot of production, and each fumble is the price he must pay for it.

And I doubt it can be changed. The way Foster moves is a full-body coordination, like a dancer. It he tucks in the ball, you won't see the unconscious body control and nuance that makes him so successful.
 
Well this thread certainly took an unexpected turn. I'm sort of surprised to see so many posters shrugging off poor ball carrying technique.

I certainly hope, for Arian's sake, we don't lose a playoff game because of a fumble.

And for the record, just because some of the great running backs in NFL history were prolific yard gainers, that doesn't excuse carrying the ball like a loaf of bread. Some of the great ones also had a reputation for fumbling.

Walter Payton is second on the list of running backs in NFL history for fumbles with 86.

Eric Dickerson had 78 in a shorter career.


Dickerson's Fumble Is Costly, Houston Wins
September 05, 1988| From Times Wire Services

INDIANAPOLIS — Eric Dickerson's fumble gave the Houston Oilers another chance, and Tony Zendejas atoned for two earlier misses with a 35-yard field goal in overtime to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-14, Sunday.
 
TexansFanatic said:
Well this thread certainly took an unexpected turn. I'm sort of surprised to see so many posters shrugging off poor ball carrying technique.

I certainly hope, for Arian's sake, we don't lose a playoff game because of a fumble.

And for the record, just because some of the great running backs in NFL history were prolific yard gainers, that doesn't excuse carrying the ball like a loaf of bread. Some of the great ones also had a reputation for fumbling.

Walter Payton is second on the list of running backs in NFL history for fumbles with 86.

Eric Dickerson had 78 in a shorter career.


Dickerson's Fumble Is Costly, Houston Wins
September 05, 1988| From Times Wire Services

INDIANAPOLIS — Eric Dickerson's fumble gave the Houston Oilers another chance, and Tony Zendejas atoned for two earlier misses with a 35-yard field goal in overtime to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-14, Sunday.
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Yeah, and Payton is 2nd on the list of career rushing attempts too. And Dickerson was top 10 in carries as well.

Foster went 11 straight games without a fumble. Even though he has put it on the ground the last 3 or 4 games, with still just 4 for the season, I don't think he's all of a sudden a fumble machine.

And it hasn't been in open field where he's carrying the ball out like that where he's been losing it. It's pretty much been in tight quarters. The fumble yesterday, the ball was against his body. Now he maybe should have gotten another hand on it, but he wasn't carrying out away from his body like the pics in this thread show.
 
Urban Dictionary: Fostering

A condition in which a person has trouble either catching, or maintaining possession of an item. Usually refers to a pigskin, football or the "rock" but can be applied to dropping Momma's fine china on Thanksgiving Day or dropping a condom behind the headboard during application prior to coitus.

Stems from the word "Fumble" in football, in which a player loses possession of the football. Almost always occurs during moments of acute stress specifically when the desired end-state of a situation is within the grasp of an individual but then victory slips through the fingers of the fostering individual resulting in disaster.

Fostering is not limited to sports:

1) Dude why did you just foster the christmas turkey on the floor? Now we gotta eat spam covered with brown sugar instead.

LINK
 
Speedy said:
Yeah, and Payton is 2nd on the list of career rushing attempts too. And Dickerson was top 10 in carries as well.
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Walter Payton, carries 3838, fumbles 86

Eric Dickerson, carries 2996, fumbles 78

Curtis Martin, carries 3518, fumbles 29

It's possible to get a lot of carries and a lot of yards and take care of the ball.
 
you do know why he has the ball out like that right, you have seen some of the moves he puts on guys, where do you think the balance comes from, if he tucks it in all the time it will greatly affect his running style. Its a win lose situation, BUT i think his running style pays off more often than not.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
How many of the above pictures show them in traffic? It is true that many famous RBs will hold their arms out from their bodies at times to achieve better balance. But most will tuck in traffic.
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while in traffic he is still trying to make guys miss. For foster he always has a chance to break out of traffic. Kind of like the move he made on Troy .P behind the line of scrimmage. You think he could of done that if he had the ball tucked in close ? Foster has some of the best cut backs and jukes i have ever seen a running back have, and he does it all and does not lose much if any speed.

Barry sanders, Dickerson and all big time old prolific ball carriers were good, and could juke, but if you watch they nearly had to come to a complete stop do do what foster does at full speed. IMO they will show videos of foster one day and people will be amazed no matter how often they see it !!!
 
I doubt the players read comments by the public but you have to assume they hear about it from coaches and family. That's not necessarily a good thing. Think about how many balls Yates tried to aim yesterday, all the low passes. Overthrowing appears to now be in his head. We don't need Arian focused on holding so much he losses his creativity. The best runs he had this year he was very loosey goosey with the ball moving it from one hand to the other after making the breaking away cut. Hate to see him lose his confidence because of this. It killed Slaton, people harping on it constantly.
 
Super Mario said:
I kinda give Foster the freedom to do whatever he wants. He for the most part takes care of the ball, and does some amazing stuff with the rock in his hands. Yes he has fumbled a few times this year, but his positive plays far and away outweigh them.
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Agreed. Its not a problem until its a problem. I mean, who are we to pick apart shortcomings of the reigning NFL rushing champ?

He's fine. Im sure the RB coach is watching very closely.

I would also like to see where the ball is in relation to his body when he's in the open field and where its at when a defender is in his "bubble".
 
Jaysol said:
Love it! Repped.

I'd rather he do it now, get pissed at himself for it and stop it in the future. In the press conference after the game he said he had 3 lost fumbles last year, 3 so far this year, so he believes that it's done for the year. Doesn't want to disappoint the team anymore.
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RunTexans said:
walter-payton.jpg


images.jpg


images-1.jpg


images-2.jpg




i think he'll be ok....
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People sometimes get locked into "the now" and don't remember "the past".... Some of the greatest running backs - EVER, carried the ball "loose" or like they used to say about Earl... "like a loaf of bread"!

But hey!! Whatever floats people's boat and all that jazz.
 
TexansFanatic said:
Walter Payton, carries 3838, fumbles 86

Eric Dickerson, carries 2996, fumbles 78

Curtis Martin, carries 3518, fumbles 29

It's possible to get a lot of carries and a lot of yards and take care of the ball.
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Earl Campbell... Two seasons, 17 fumbles. Arian Foster (basically two seasons) 8...

But what the ****, we're Texans fans, we need something to ***** about, no?
 
2slik4u said:
Agreed. Its not a problem until its a problem. I mean, who are we to pick apart shortcomings of the reigning NFL rushing champ?

He's fine. Im sure the RB coach is watching very closely.

I would also like to see where the ball is in relation to his body when he's in the open field and where its at when a defender is in his "bubble".
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"Chick" is on it. He'll get it corrected.... But in the meantime, "the sky is falling"!!
 
EllisUnit said:
you do know why he has the ball out like that right, you have seen some of the moves he puts on guys, where do you think the balance comes from, if he tucks it in all the time it will greatly affect his running style. Its a win lose situation, BUT i think his running style pays off more often than not.
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/END THREAD

Well, almost. There may be another post or two I need to cherry pick! :ant:
 
TexansFanatic said:
Well this thread certainly took an unexpected turn. I'm sort of surprised to see so many posters shrugging off poor ball carrying technique.

I certainly hope, for Arian's sake, we don't lose a playoff game because of a fumble.

And for the record, just because some of the great running backs in NFL history were prolific yard gainers, that doesn't excuse carrying the ball like a loaf of bread. Some of the great ones also had a reputation for fumbling.

Walter Payton is second on the list of running backs in NFL history for fumbles with 86.

Eric Dickerson had 78 in a shorter career.


Dickerson's Fumble Is Costly, Houston Wins
September 05, 1988| From Times Wire Services

INDIANAPOLIS — Eric Dickerson's fumble gave the Houston Oilers another chance, and Tony Zendejas atoned for two earlier misses with a 35-yard field goal in overtime to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 17-14, Sunday.
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Ummm. **** happens! signed, Kevin Mack and Ernest Byner... I had a close call myself! Signed, Jerome Bettis.

:cool:

Really? You do know, "that's why they play the games", right?
 
Texan_Bill said:
Earl Campbell... Two seasons, 17 fumbles. Arian Foster (basically two seasons) 8...

But what the ****, we're Texans fans, we need something to ***** about, no?
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Bill, we were both very fortunate enough to be able to watch Earl in person. In all fairness, Earl virtually always ploughed right through a wall of Ds while Arian tries to juge in order to avoid Ds.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Bill, we were both very fortunate enough to be able to watch Earl in person. In all fairness, Earl virtually always ploughed right through a wall of Ds while Arian tries to juge in order to avoid Ds.
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Yup, Earl would punch a hole in the wall and Arian would shift around it in a way that it just fall down on its own.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
How many of the above pictures show them in traffic? It is true that many famous RBs will hold their arms out from their bodies at times to achieve better balance. But most will tuck in traffic.
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FWIW, Arian had the ball against his body when he fumbled Sunday.
 
MadBurgerMaker said:
It's three or four. Not all that much, I guess, but it's been twice in two games now, yes? And early in the games, too, IIRC.
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Not all that much? Officially listed with 3 at NFL.com, http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst...263-s=RUSHING_YARDS&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-n=1 for a guy getting the ball as much as he does, it's really not as big of a problem as you guys are making. Go find a guy who does as much damage as Foster does and hangs onto the ball every time. He doesn't exist. And early in games? You mean like when it has the most chance of being irrelevant because there's still 59 minutes left in the game?

TexansFanatic said:
Well this thread certainly took an unexpected turn. I'm sort of surprised to see so many posters shrugging off poor ball carrying technique. Sorry coach lol...

I certainly hope, for Arian's sake, we don't lose a playoff game because of a fumble.

And for the record, just because some of the great running backs in NFL history were prolific yard gainers, that doesn't excuse carrying the ball like a loaf of bread. Some of the great ones also had a reputation for fumbling.
.
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Um. Yes it does. If Arian makes the HOF fumbling >5 times a year when he's getting the ball 400 times YES, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!! I guess you would rather have Samkon Gado or Adimchinobe Echimandu getting 1.5 yards per and never fumbling right?




Running backs will fumble the ball. Quarterbacks will throw interceptions. Texans will lose games. Perfection exists nowhere in the universe we inhabit, save for the minds of a few Texans' fans.


Oh yeah and lets bring up his college career like that matters in even the slightest sense.
 
TimeKiller said:
Not all that much? Officially listed with 3 at NFL.com, http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst...263-s=RUSHING_YARDS&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-n=1 for a guy getting the ball as much as he does, it's really not as big of a problem as you guys are making. Go find a guy who does as much damage as Foster does and hangs onto the ball every time. He doesn't exist. And early in games? You mean like when it has the most chance of being irrelevant because there's still 59 minutes left in the game?



Um. Yes it does. If Arian makes the HOF fumbling >5 times a year when he's getting the ball 400 times YES, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!! I guess you would rather have Samkon Gado or Adimchinobe Echimandu getting 1.5 yards per and never fumbling right?




Running backs will fumble the ball. Quarterbacks will throw interceptions. Texans will lose games. Perfection exists nowhere in the universe we inhabit, save for the minds of a few Texans' fans.


Oh yeah and lets bring up his college career like that matters in even the slightest sense.
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It's easy to overlook fumbles when your offense is scoring lots of points and your defense are playing lights out.
 
One of the G.O.A.T. running backs held it tight:

76_emmitt-smith-houston.GIF.gif


emmittsmith.jpg


emmitt-smith.jpg


Smith is no. 81 on the NFL Career Fumbles Leaders.

Barry Sanders also held it tight, much like Smith:

barry-sandersjpg-b08676b76a0d7bac_large.jpg


I'm not arguing pro/con here, but just mentioning examples for comparison.
 
TimeKiller said:
It's easy to complain too. You don't even have to be right.
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I fail to see what this jab added to this discussion. This thread is a discussion, isn't it? At least I thought was. I'll continue to read your posts as I enjoy your takes, whether they are affirming or presenting counter argument to mine.
 
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