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Shocked that noone started this thread, but looks like we have a good backup/fill in RB in Ward! Anyone know what went down in TB with him and why he was released/cut?
Shocked that noone started this thread, but looks like we have a good backup/fill in RB in Ward! Anyone know what went down in TB with him and why he was released/cut?
Shocked that noone started this thread, but looks like we have a good backup/fill in RB in Ward! Anyone know what went down in TB with him and why he was released/cut?
i'll give him credit, but i really think his success had more to do with his blocking. the guy is slow as molasses.
i'll give him credit, but i really think his success had more to do with his blocking. the guy is slow as molasses.
Yeah, I was pretty happy about that as well. Slaton even had a few nice runs finally. The entire running game looked great yesterday. We finally have a running game on the Texans.
I would bridle the optimism, or at least I am anyway, given how terrible Oakland's run D is.
I would bridle the optimism, or at least I am anyway, given how terrible Oakland's run D is.
either that or #33 from the raiders seems pretty damn fast, it's not like the raiders hire football players, they hire track stars..
Yeah, but we're heading out of week 4 now with 2 great running performances already this season and a guy who is a stud #1 RB, and our back ups played very well yesterday. I couldn't be happier with the running game currently, and it's such a huge step from the direction that Kubiak's had the running game in for the majority of the time that he's been here. He finally has it going very nicely this season, and it's great to finally have confidence in that part of our offense.
I think the running game in the past was more a product of the lack of talent Kubiak was left with along the OL and at RB .... They have built that line and RB group on his watch.
Kubes made some terrible decisions early on by thinking Lundi could handle the job along with Morency and then he had faith in Green of all people and then Brown. He's been pretty bad with RB's and that history doesn't just erase itself. He sort of got lucky with Slaton somehow having that huge season and then stinking it up. He also kept Foster out of the mix last year as and could have had him playing. I'm just glad that we've got a work horse now and that the running game is finally consistent and effective. This is the running game that people expected Kubes to bring in when he came here. It wasn't supposed to take him until his 5th season to make that happen though. I'm just glad that's it here now.
The history's a little wrong there, I think. I'm not arguing that mistakes weren't made but...
Kubiak never had any faith in Morency and Morency never played a down for Kubiak. Kubiak traded Morency in the preseason for Samkon Gado, a guy who has ended up being in the league a lot longer than Morency. That first season, we ended up relying on Dayne.
And Kubiak never expected to have to rely on Brown as more than a backup for Slaton. But he ended up putting Brown in the line up a lot more than he wanted to because Brown was the one running back we had that we could trust to pick up the blitz.
Specifically relating to Ward, he looked very good in my opinion. Specifically, his zone vision. For having as little time with the team it's clear that he already understands the concept better than Slaton ever will. Slaton is just too instinctive. Ward did a much better job of being patient and reading the line. He's going to be a very good option as a #2.
True to the Denver concept, it's not about guys being superstars. It's just about finding the guys who understand how to read it. Ward, after basically one game, seems to get it.
The history's a little wrong there, I think. I'm not arguing that mistakes weren't made but...
Kubiak never had any faith in Morency and Morency never played a down for Kubiak. Kubiak traded Morency in the preseason for Samkon Gado, a guy who has ended up being in the league a lot longer than Morency. That first season, we ended up relying on Dayne.
And Kubiak never expected to have to rely on Brown as more than a backup for Slaton. But he ended up putting Brown in the line up a lot more than he wanted to because Brown was the one running back we had that we could trust to pick up the blitz.
The history's a little wrong there, I think. I'm not arguing that mistakes weren't made but...
Kubiak never had any faith in Morency and Morency never played a down for Kubiak. Kubiak traded Morency in the preseason for Samkon Gado, a guy who has ended up being in the league a lot longer than Morency. That first season, we ended up relying on Dayne.
And Kubiak never expected to have to rely on Brown as more than a backup for Slaton. But he ended up putting Brown in the line up a lot more than he wanted to because Brown was the one running back we had that we could trust to pick up the blitz.
That's not true. We had a QB that was really good at "picking up the blitz."
Specifically relating to Ward, he looked very good in my opinion. Specifically, his zone vision. For having as little time with the team it's clear that he already understands the concept better than Slaton ever will. Slaton is just too instinctive. Ward did a much better job of being patient and reading the line. He's going to be a very good option as a #2.
True to the Denver concept, it's not about guys being superstars. It's just about finding the guys who understand how to read it. Ward, after basically one game, seems to get it.
The thing I think that makes Ward a better fit, is his ability to break a tackle. That's always been a big thing with the Denver running backs, not just pushing the pile, but breaking tackles.
That 33 yarder that Ward ran in, it's not like he was completely untouched, he shed a couple of blockers off of him.
That 74 yarder Foster ran in, he shed Michael Huff as he was sprinting down the sideline.
Slaton was supposed to bring an elusiveness with him as he gets into the open field, but more times than not, if he can't make that first guy miss, or shed that first tackle, he won't be as successful as guys like Foster, Ward, Portis, Anderson, Gary, etc...
No, he brought Brown in to be the guy. Slaton was only supposed to be a 3rd down change of pace back and then started playing better than everyone while Chris Brown got hurt and he kept getting hurt over and over, which is exactly why bringing in Brown was a mistake, and Kubes kept playing Brown last season which cost us 3 games actually. He's made some awful mistakes in the running department and there's just no way around that being a fact.
I've heard it from several people that running in a zone blocking system is a lot different from regular blocking schemes. Some runningbacks are good in both, but most are either good in one or the other. I think Ward has enough vision to know where to run.
I think a 3 headed beast is a great idea. Keeping Arian fresh can both extend his career and make him more effective. If Tate comes back and is able to perform, we are going to have a good and interesting problem next year.
[Caller]: Seems like Foster rips off some nice runs then goes to the sidelines. I dont get that. Why are we taking him out and putting Slaton in?
GK: First off, Arian isnt off the field unless we think he needs a break. We're not looking to do that. Steve had 3 carries in the game and Ward had 2 himself. Arian will carry bulk of the carries. We wanna keep Arian fresh though.
Which is why we need to run more sweeps and screens for Slaton, instead of trying to pound him right up the middle. I don't understand why they keep doing that.
That's right, he traded Morency for Gado, but he was high on Lundi and thought that he would be the guy for us. That was bad.
No, he brought Brown in to be the guy. Slaton was only supposed to be a 3rd down change of pace back and then started playing better than everyone while Chris Brown got hurt and he kept getting hurt over and over, which is exactly why bringing in Brown was a mistake, and Kubes kept playing Brown last season which cost us 3 games actually. He's made some awful mistakes in the running department and there's just no way around that being a fact.
Again though, he seems to have it fixed now, so my original point was that I'm stoked about that finally happening.
We need to see him play against some other teams because the Raiders aren't exactly known for their run stopping. But I agree that he seems to have a much better grasp of the approach needed to run in a zone system. I hope that Slaton will learn something from watching Foster and Ward run because if he could develop that patience and vision, Slaton would scary again.
Ward critical of former team
Houston Texans RB Derrick Ward blames the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for spreading the word that he was overweight and unfocused, according to Mike Garafolo, of The Star-Ledger. Alhough head coach Gary Kubiak concurred Ward was out of shape and challenged him to "get down," Ward claims he was only 2 pounds over the 233-pound goal Houston set for him. He said he weighed 232 with the New York Giants. Ward's bitterness toward his former team revealed itself when he said the Texans are "a team that actually wants to block for their running backs, actually wants to win and doesn't set their goals to a (lower) standard." Ward added he even said he's blocked out his time in Tampa. "I feel like I went straight from New York to Houston," Ward said.
Read more: http://www.kffl.com/gnews.php?id=67...ck-ward-critical-of-former-team#ixzz11h8kJcfS
The Cowboys and Redskins both have at least decent D's, and Foster looked good in those games. Vs the Colts, Foster had 100 yards on MJD vs their defense. He is more than just a one hit wonder.
I totally agree with you about Foster.
It's just that we were talking about Ward. So far, we've only really seen him play against the Raiders and he looked good against them. We need to see him against some defenses that are more stout.
OTOH, he's playing against his old team this week. We should give him a good number of touches to get some revenge.
Glad to see he likes it here.
Actually I like how he feels the Texans want to win!
Nice change of pace to years past.
If by "pick up the blitz" you mean "curl up in a ball".... then yeah. He was pretty awesome at it.