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t hollings

T

thetexanator

Veteran
hollings looked pretty good except for his fumblitis. i only saw two fumbles but i heard he ended up with 4! kinda scary to think he could see sig pt if dd goes down.
on the plus, j wells looks like hes faster than year 1. he looked like a different player.
 
I think they counted the one after Banks handed off to him as a fumble by Banks. I was very impressed by Robinson.
 
He better get all those turnovers out of his system during the pre-season, because he will be riding the pine if he does it in the regular season.
 
As much as I agree about Hollings needing to control the fumbles (showed issues last year as well), I still say that first one was nothing but a solid helmut to the ball. That would've been difficult for anyone to hold on to.

A couple of the other ones though were not excuse.
 
That was my only real question about the game, why couldnt Hollings hold on to the ball? That first one was a good helmet to ball and I understood that, but on the next one he dropped a good hand off and in the second half he gave away the Texans only turnover under the pile.

Hopefully DC gives him some laps or push ups or whatever punishment the pros get so he can stop all that fumbling and learn to keep 2 hands on the ball.
 
I'm willing to eat crow and say Hollings may turn out to be alright after all. Remember he does not have alot of experience at the RB position, there are fundementals that still need to be ingrained and he needs to develop better upper body strength. However having said that, he impressed me with his acceleration and explosivness, something that last year I was unconvinced he would be able to regain. Mad props to the medical team & trainers. Let's be patient with Tony and give him time to develop, today was just the beginning. :soapbox:
 
I have been waiting to see Hollings good some extended action and he is a hard runner, excellent burst and able receiver. What he is not is a sure handed "trust with the rock in critical situations" guy yet...After the 3rd ball hitting the turf he was involved in I immediately started refering to him as Tiki2. This was the knock on him last year was slippery hands as well. Hope that this gets rectified!
On another note I noticed Wells got nicked up...but he looks incredibly improved over the last couple seasons.
 
BuffSoldier said:
....but on the next one he dropped a good hand off and in the second half he gave away the Texans only turnover under the pile.
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The one he lost was because he was out of the game for 2 quarters and had to come in for Anderson when he got hurt, he was cold and his mind wasnt in the game anymore, he didnt think he was going to play again...

beerlover said:
I'm willing to eat crow and say Hollings may turn out to be alright after all
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:hehe: Remember who stuck up for Hollings when you doubters said that Hollings couldnt regain his speed or quickness and that he would not be able to break tackles??? That was me.

But remember, we did not talk about fumbles.... :tiptoe:
 
ThirdEyeBC32 said:
Other than the fumbles,one was caused by a good hit, he looked good.
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This won't be a joking matter to any of us if he continues to cough up the football. It doesn't matter how good he runs out there, or how much yardage he gets. If he makes this a habit, Capers won't let him play.

I'm worried about it, because historically, players that have the propensity to fumble, will always have the propensity to fumble. If Hollings develops a rep, the opposing teams will concentrate that much harder to force him to fumble, sometimes at the expense of wrapping him up. Risky, but worth it in red-zone situations.

Against Pittsburgh, I'll be watching Hollings, not to see how much he runs, but if he can hold on to the egg. If he can't, he'll put Capers on the spot.
 
Marcus said:
This won't be a joking matter to any of us if he continues to cough up the football. It doesn't matter how good he runs out there, or how much yardage he gets. If he makes this a habit, Capers won't let him play.

I'm worried about it, because historically, players that have the propensity to fumble, will always have the propensity to fumble. If Hollings develops a rep, the opposing teams will concentrate that much harder to force him to fumble, sometimes at the expense of wrapping him up. Risky, but worth it in red-zone situations.

Against Pittsburgh, I'll be watching Hollings, not to see how much he runs, but if he can hold on to the egg. If he can't, he'll put Capers on the spot.
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Tiki Barber, Ahman Green, and Travis Henry all have fumbling problems, although Henry cleaned his up last year. The first fumble was helmet to ball, what was he suppose to do??? The second one was with Banks at QB, so Hollings had to adjust to a different QB handing him the ball. And the one he lost in the redzone, he had just sat on the bench for 2 full quarters and his mind wasnt in the game.
 
Fiddy said:
Tiki Barber, Ahman Green, and Travis Henry all have fumbling problems, although Henry cleaned his up last year. The first fumble was helmet to ball, what was he suppose to do??? The second one was with Banks at QB, so Hollings had to adjust to a different QB handing him the ball. And the one he lost in the redzone, he had just sat on the bench for 2 full quarters and his mind wasnt in the game.
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You're making excuses for Hollings' fumbling. From what what I have learned about Capers, he doesn't want to listen to them. You've got to hang onto the ball . . period!

And as far as Tiki Barber, Ahman Green, and Travis Henry are concerned, I would wage that if you asked DC if he would want any of those three on his football team, you'd be disappointed in his answer. Coughing up the rock is that big of a pet peeve of his.

And yes, Hollings does remind me of Tiki Barber, and I don't mean that as a compliment.
 
Marcus said:
You're making excuses for Hollings' fumbling. From what what I have learned about Capers, he doesn't want to listen to them. You've got to hang onto the ball . . period!

And as far as Tiki Barber, Ahman Green, and Travis Henry are concerned, I would wage that if you asked DC if he would want any of those three on his football team, you'd be disappointed in his answer. Coughing up the rock is that big of a pet peeve of his.

And yes, Hollings does remind me of Tiki Barber, and I don't mean that as a compliment.
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Yeah I am making excuses, but they were resonable excuses. You can blame him for the fumble on the goal line that he recovered, although that was credited to Banks in the offical stats, but I have yet to see a back in the league that can hold onto the ball when the defender's helmet hits the ball right on, and the one he lost, come on, the guy was sitting on the bench, talking and joking with other players and now he has to go back on to the field when he thought his day was over...

As strict as Capers is with fumbling, to say that he would not pick up Barber, Green, or Henry is kind of out there because they do so many good things that overshawdow the bad.

And how can you not be complimenting Hollings when you say he reminds you of Tiki Barber, Vinny said it best in another thread, Hollings and Tiki have great speed and are able to make big plays on screens and runs...
 
Last night one of Hollings fumbles is almost impossible to hold on too. When that defender just gets the perfect postion on the ball with his face mask, no one is able to hold on. Overall though I thought Hollings looked very good.
 
Fiddy said:
And how can you not be complimenting Hollings when you say he reminds you of Tiki Barber, Vinny said it best in another thread, Hollings and Tiki have great speed and are able to make big plays on screens and runs...
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Because Barber is well known for coughing it up at the worst times. Just go the Giants MB and ask them about it if you don't believe me.

I'm just hoping that the word "Hollings' and the word 'fumble' doesn't become part of the same sentence on a weekly basis this season. If it does, that's a problem.
 
Marcus said:
Because Barber is well known for coughing it up at the worst times. Just go the Giants MB and ask them about it if you don't believe me.

I'm just hoping that the word "Hollings' and the word 'fumble' doesn't become part of the same sentence on a weekly basis this season. If it does, that's a problem.
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But Barber gets the Giants into situations when he is not suppose to fumble...

I do hope, also, that 'Hollings' and 'fumble' wont be in the same sentence that often....
 
I've got top disagree with fublelitis comment, Hollings controlled the ball most every carry. Defense caused 1st fumble that no one even DD could have handled, can't think of any RB in NFL who could have kept that one.

2nd one I lay solely at feet of incosistent Banks, he didn't impress me too much. Capers tolds him he would be there for 1/2 the plays and he seemed to act like he wasn't ready to play, you might disagree with him but I recall Joe Theisman at 1st Texans-Cowboys game saying bad handoffs and bad passes are the fault of QB. He said it is your job to handoff or make the throw, so I think Banks should get a fumble on the handoff AND Hollings deserves kudos for recovering the fumble keeping the drive alive.

:soapbox:
 
Hollings did show some handling problems, but I don't think it will be a problem. That's the reason you play preseason games...to get the bugs and bad habits out. The fumbles were more just him not covering up when he needed to...he'll watch game film and fix what he needs to.
 
I agree that 2nd fumble was more Banks fault. Looked to me like Hollings had his pocket there, Banks just didn't get the ball in. And anyone who knows football knows that as long as the RB has that pocket ready, he's not responsible for getting the ball. At least that's what I teach my kids, that it takes 2 to tango on the exchange.

A note on Banks, he looked bad. Threw 2 balls at Kendrick Starling's feet that should have been easy completions, one for a TD.
 
All this back and forth is bunk. EVERYBODY knows If Hollings continues to fumble like he did against the Cowgirls not only Is he off the team but more than likely out of the league. No matter the reason or excuse or special circumstance...gone, outa here, see ya later, hasta taco...Just the fact of life in the NFL.
 
Jwwillis said:
EVERYBODY knows If Hollings continues to fumble like he did against the Cowgirls not only Is he off the team but more than likely out of the league.
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So the Texans are going to cut a 2nd round draft choice and if he is cut or not resigned no team will take a flyer on a guy that can outrun almost anyone in the league and whose only problem is fumbling???
 
Fiddy said:
So the Texans are going to cut a 2nd round draft choice and if he is cut or not resigned no team will take a flyer on a guy that can outrun almost anyone in the league and whose only problem is fumbling???
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No, I don't think that will be the case. But you have to put the "whose ONLY problem is fumbling" in the correct context.

By and large, the unwritten rule in the NFL, (and a rule that Capers swears by) is that the team who wins the turnover battle, wins the game. THAT is life in the NFL.
 
Jwwillis said:
All this back and forth is bunk. EVERYBODY knows If Hollings continues to fumble like he did against the Cowgirls not only Is he off the team but more than likely out of the league. No matter the reason or excuse or special circumstance...gone, outa here, see ya later, hasta taco...Just the fact of life in the NFL.
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The guy is not going to be out of the league. Hell the Dolphins were taking a look at Stacey Mack, and you don't think they'd salivate if they saw Hollings name floating out there on the waiver wire? That's like saying a reciever with bad hands will not make it in the NFL. Look at Seattle. They have a couple recievers who are feast or famine, granted they've improved over the years, but they still have below average hands. With a guy like Hollings you have a big play threat, and the same is true of the Seattle wideouts. When you have a big play threat coaches are more likely to tolerate the fumbles or the dropped balls. Doesn't mean they like it, but they tolerate it in exchange for the big play threat. Fiddy mentioned a few backs earlier with fumble problems, and they're still in the league (Green, Henry, Tiki).
 
Fiddy said:
The one he lost was because he was out of the game for 2 quarters and had to come in for Anderson when he got hurt, he was cold and his mind wasnt in the game anymore, he didnt think he was going to play again...
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I too was impressed with Hollings last night, but to say thats the reason why he fumbled the ball is ridiculous. NFL players have to be ready to go anytime their coach calls their name and they better have their head in the game or they're gonna get hurt. If he messes up just say he messed up, we dont have to make excuses for him.(Thats what cowgirl fans do :hehe: )

One thing I would like to see from Hollings though is stronger runs up the middle. The guy runs on the outside like a madman and I was very impressed with his speed. DD is a better inside runner though. Having to good backs is a problem I dont mind having. Hollings and DD compliment each other great. One guy cand get you the tough yards up the middle and the other hits homeruns on the outside. Our offense is about to explode and I think it is going to happen this season. David Carr played Flawless last night, thats what made me the happiest.
 
The question marks surrounding Tony Hollings have migrated from his wheels to his hands.

History shows that the dropsies can be chronic, but that they can also be treated and cured. Some time back Fresno State had a running back named Derrick Ward who averaged around eleven yards a carry and two fumbles a game for the first four games of his freshman season. He never started after that and eventually transferred out of coach Pat Hill's program because the philosophy is simple; a running back must hold onto the ball.

I'd be far more worried about the fumbles if Hollings had been carrying the rock since high school. The fact of the matter is that he's still learning how to be a ball carrier. I think his case of the dropsies is of the curable variety and I get vertigo thinking about his upside.

I also love the way he'll run you over if you're in his way regardless of the logo on your helmet.
 
Hollings ran very well but there's no sense in making excuses for his fumbles. As an NFL running back, you should rarely fumble the ball once, much less three times regardless of the circumstances. If we're closing in on a winning TD and Hollings fumbles, giving the game away, I'm not going to say, 'Oh, well it's ok, he just came off the bench.' That said, it's still the pre-season and he has time to work on it, I think he'll be excellent this season.
 
bad said:
...I'd be far more worried about the fumbles if Hollings had been carrying the rock since high school. The fact of the matter is that he's still learning how to be a ball carrier. I think his case of the dropsies is of the curable variety and I get vertigo thinking about his upside...
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I agree. I thought he looked great, for a guy with so little experience at the position. Weren't we supposed to be worried about his ability to catch balls out of the back field? I think he showed nice hands on the passes his way. Let's give him a couple of more games before we panick on fumbles.
 
Carr Bomb said:
NFL players have to be ready to go anytime their coach calls their name and they better have their head in the game or they're gonna get hurt.
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I agree with that...if it was a regular season game. Once you sit during a preseason game, you are not thinking that you are coming back in. G-Funk said it best in a interview I saw on some channel: After you play you series or two, a preseason game gives you 3 hours to act like kids...
 
I was impressed more by the offensive line than I was with Hollings. Not only did they not give up a sack to a very good defense, but they were mowing the D line down. Look at how good Wells was doing. Hollings is just like he was last year. Fast and quick, but coughs up the ball. It doesn't matter if you give him excuses or not, that's just a fact. Hollings proved one thing so far, Dominik Davis is the starting running back and Hollings is the second.
 
Hollings obviously has the potentail to be "special" as his coach in Georgia reportedly told Texans coaches which was the basis for them selecting him in the 2 round of the supplemental draft. And his hands aren't that bad - he caught a couple passes. No matter, he forfeits any chance he has to paly for
us (or any other NFL team), if he continues to fumble on a regular basis in games. He can routinely gain > 100 yards per game but won't play if he fumbles multiple times per game. Protecting the football - #1 assignment of any RB.
 
You have to realize Hollings fumbled 3 times in that game ( Banks got shafted with one of them ). NOBODY can tell me that if ANY player coughs up the ball 3 times a game he gets to continue to play in the NFL. Now that being said, I do not believe this will become a trend I just get tired of the lame excuses that in the long run wont amount to squat. I saw one guy post detailed exceuses for everyone of his fumbles. :rofl: Pro-Football is a bottom line sport and If Hollings doesnt correct his fumble problems there wont be much If any room for him in the league. Good news is he is young an has plenty of time to learn.
 
Holliings fumbled 3 times in that game. I don't like to see fumbles (who does other than defenses?) but I'm not ready to panick over what I saw last night. Fumble number one, the defender popped the hell out of the ball. That was a good play on the defenders part and Tony needs to work on protecting the ball. Fumble number two I have a problem with. No excuse for that mess. The third one was just no focus on Tony's part. He's young, healthy for the first time in his pro career, and jacked up. He needs to settle down, let it come to him, and concentrate on what he's doing.

He'll get it. He's a good ways away from reaching that "bottom line" and finding himself unemployed.
 
Hollings will have plenty of chances to redeem himself and hopefully he will show us better ball handling skills in the future.

Also, the way the O-line looked out there, when you plug good 'ol Domanick back in the mix, who looked head and shoulders above the other players early in camp, he should be explosive and add some real punch to our offense.

Jonothan Wells looked like a legitimate back-up as he hit the holes and looked quicker with some power.

Hope that Hollings fixes his fumbling and that DD and Wells will get better soon. It is nice to talk football after seeing some play...even if it was preseason. I will say that Hollings looked better than last year and I don't recall if Hollings had a problem holding on to the ball last year (stat machines do your thing) but I remember Portis having the fumbler moniker early on to and he turned out all right. The sky is not falling but the TEXANS DO LOOK MARVELOUS.
 
This is what preseason games are all about: evaluating players and correcting mistakes before the real games begin. I can guarantee you that holding on to the football will be a major point of emphasis this week with all running backs, receivers, and even quarterbacks. If Hollings continues to have problems holding on to the ball, his playing time will be affected.

When he held on to the ball, he had a tremendous game. He made the Dallas starting defense look pretty ordinary, even though it was just the first preseason game of the season. If Hollings can take care of the ball, he is going to be a big part of the offense.
 
Its preseason. It really means nothing. It was an evaluation period - not a gague as to what to expect from guys every sunday. If Hollings fumbled 3 times every game - or if the coaches thought that he would - I doubt very seriously that he'd still be on the team. But if Hollings does have a fumbling problem I will be the first in line to hand him the pink slip. Cannot fumble.
 
Mistril48 said:
I agree. I thought he looked great, for a guy with so little experience at the position. Weren't we supposed to be worried about his ability to catch balls out of the back field? I think he showed nice hands on the passes his way. Let's give him a couple of more games before we panick on fumbles.
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I think he showed good hands too. I haven't seen anyone mention that one handed catch on the screen pass yet. It was a terrific grab for a guy who's pass catching ability has been in doubt. Looks as though he's worked hard to improve upon it, but I'd like to see more of it. Hopefully, we will see more screen passes his way when we take on the Steelers.
 
Texansbacker said:
… I will say that Hollings looked better than last year and I don't recall if Hollings had a problem holding on to the ball last year (stat machines do your thing) but I remember Portis having the fumbler moniker early on to and he turned out all right...
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Career numbers
Hollings - 40 touches - 2 fumbles – 20 touches/fumble
D. Davis - 285 touches - 4 fumbles – 71 touches/fumble
Portis - 634 touches - 8 fumbles – 79 touches/fumble

Hollings has a problem with fumbles. He knows it, Capers knows it, and the league knows it. Defenses will try a little harder and put a little more effort in stripping the ball from Tony because he’s shown a predisposition to coughing up the ball.

Don’t kid yourself into thinking this isn’t a big deal. Turnover ratio means everything to Dom Capers. Hollings has 3 games to convince the coach that he can put this behind him. If not, Tony will find a place on the end of the bench. And that would be a shame, because Hollings can be a real weapon for the Texans.
 
Well, ok. 40 touches and 2 fumbles. That ratio doesn't look good but I really believe it's a little soon to be getting worried about it becoming a trend. They'll work on it and they'll get him settled down and focused. Sure fumbles are bad news and nobody wants to see a turnover (by their team of course) but at this point I just think it's much ado about not much. For all practical purposes he's a rookie with little experience at the position (but tons of potential). He's pushing. He'll calm down.
 
Right now I have this love hate thing going when I watch him run the ball. I love the effort he gives on every run for a back his size but I hate the fact he puts the ball on the ground. He had me jumping in and out of my seat because he would have a good run and follow it up with putting the rock on the floor.
 
BigDTexansFan said:
I've got top disagree with fublelitis comment, Hollings controlled the ball most every carry. Defense caused 1st fumble that no one even DD could have handled, can't think of any RB in NFL who could have kept that one.

:soapbox:
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I would think that Jamal Lewis is a pretty tough guy and he does not fumble much. Thats a guy Capers would love to have.
 
Lucky said:
Career numbers
Hollings - 40 touches - 2 fumbles – 20 touches/fumble
D. Davis - 285 touches - 4 fumbles – 71 touches/fumble
Portis - 634 touches - 8 fumbles – 79 touches/fumble
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Thanks for the stats Lucky on Hollings, Davis and Portis. It appears that Portis has corrected the problem he had holding onto the ball early in his NFL career. Can you find Portis's ratio (touches to fumbles) for his first 40 carries?
 
Texansbacker said:
Can you find Portis's ratio (touches to fumbles) for his first 40 carries?
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Portis didn't fumble in his 1st 61 touches in the NFL. His 1st fumble came in his 6th game against Miami and he fumbled 5 times in 306 touches his rookie year. Not sure where his reputation for fumbling came from. Maybe college?
 
:boxing: I'll be recieving some flaming for this probably but......Hollings didn't seem too fast...not how you guys make him out to be. He is fast but man...you guys make it seem like he's fast as a Clinton Portis or something....
 
I don’t think Hollings is appreciably slower than Portis from point A to point B. It’s Portis’ ability to make tacklers miss that separates him from most other backs.
 
I don't know...it's just that in my time examining Portis, the guy seems to go from 0 to 50 (exaggeration of course) in no time. I'm hoping Hollings does end up being like that but from Saturday's game...he's not that. I'm sure the coaching staff will be molding this guy very well...I'm just excited to see how it pans out.
 
I don't think Hollings has ever been a "0-50 in nothing flat" guy. He's more of a long strider and does not have the cutback ability, lateral moves or explosiveness of a Portis. Hollings has more of a straight ahead running style but he has plenty of speed. That was evident on his run around left end on the first drive and the screen pass.

Hollings put the ball on the ground in preseason last year too. That and becoming more effective between the tackles are his biggest challenges to overcome now that the knee appears to have healed.
 
You are right. In addition to the fumble in preseason, he had one in the KC game and one at Tampa or Jax as well (I think it was Jax).
 
Hollings has shown fumble issues so far in a limited amount of carries. It needs to be addressed.

There have been a few RB's that have been very productive inspite of their fb problems, however. As mentioned, Tiki Barber, Ahman Green, and Travis Henry have had FB problems. Heck even Jamal Lewis has fumblitis. Ricky Watters won a Super Bowl with fumble issues.
 
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