Keep Texans Talk Google Ad Free!
Venmo Tip Jar | Paypal Tip Jar
Thanks for your support! 🍺😎👍

I Don't Like The Way Arian Carries The Ball

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.

The Texans are winning now. Everyone is very excited and anyone who even vaguely appears to be rocking the boat need to STFU. Yeah, I get that mentality.

I love Arian Foster. He's a rare talent and seems like a great guy. I'm extremely pleased with his performance and have no room to complain. I am, in fact, not complaining.

I'm merely pointing out what I feel is an easily correctable flaw in his game.

While it's true that nobody is perfect, that shouldn't keep us from pursuing perfection. That's what the best coaches in history have done. I certainly hope the Texans coaches aren't so happy with what they've accomplished this year that they aren't taking the time to make small adjustments that could prevent a season-ending loss in the future.
 
foster+ball+handling.gif

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=304YwFYrbZ4

Hey folks, fast forward to about the 1:02(ish) mark.
 
The Texans are winning now. Everyone is very excited and anyone who even vaguely appears to be rocking the boat need to STFU. Yeah, I get that mentality.

I love Arian Foster. He's a rare talent and seems like a great guy. I'm extremely pleased with his performance and have no room to complain. I am, in fact, not complaining.

I'm merely pointing out what I feel is an easily correctable flaw in his game.

Agree 100% with you until the bolded....

To the bolded... You don't change a thoroughbred's gate.
 
I can see the reasoning in that perspective.

I just hope letting Arian be Arian doesn't wind up being the cause of a lot of broken hearts in Houston----and not just for the sake of the fans, but for his sake as well.

Why stress yourself out about the small ****, BTW, it's all small ****.

Arian hasn't given us a Kevin Mack/Cleveland Brown moment (that's a modern reference ;) ). Why assume he will?

*Disclaimer*
It's well documented that I am NOT a VY fan Boi, but:

Q: When did Texas with Vince Young at QB win a National Championship?

A: When Mack let VY be VY.
 
Why stress yourself out about the small ****, BTW, it's all small ****..

I'm not stressed. I'm on the couch with my laptop and my blood pressure is amazingly low, especially for someone who rarely engages in strenuous exercise.

But I'm not an NFL coach. I guarantee you there are no NFL coaches who believe you shouldn't sweat the small stuff. At least none who are going to be employed very long.

Again, while nobody is perfect and nobody ever will be, that shouldn't keep us from pursuing perfection relentlessly. The Raiders' motto says it all: Commitment to Excellence.

Yeah, the "let Vince be Vince" quote is very well known among Longhorn fans like me. That just meant that they stopped trying to turn Vince into a classic pocket passer and changed their offense to suit his skills. And, just between you and me, I think it also meant that they kind of dumbed things down a bit. ***sorry Vince!***

Obviously if changing the way Arian carries the ball is going to hurt his production, I'm not in favor of it. But I'm not buying that it would.

What I see when he's holding the ball away from his body by the palm of his hand is an accident waiting to happen. An accident that could easily be avoided.
 
I'm not stressed. I'm on the couch with my laptop and my blood pressure is amazingly low, especially for someone who rarely engages in strenuous exercise.

But I'm not an NFL coach. I guarantee you there are no NFL coaches who believe you shouldn't sweat the small stuff. At least none who are going to be employed very long.

Again, while nobody is perfect and nobody ever will be, that shouldn't keep us from pursuing perfection relentlessly. The Raiders' motto says it all: Commitment to Excellence.

Yeah, the "let Vince be Vince" quote is very well known among Longhorn fans like me. That just meant that they stopped trying to turn Vince into a classic pocket passer and changed their offense to suit his skills. And, just between you and me, I think it also meant that they kind of dumbed things down a bit. ***sorry Vince!***

Obviously if changing the way Arian carries the ball is going to hurt his production, I'm not in favor of it. But I'm not buying that it would.

What I see when he's holding the ball away from his body by the palm of his hand is an accident waiting to happen. An accident that could easily be avoided.

Obviously, you're set in your ways... We'll agree to disagree.

I've made several and I do mean several arguments dispelling your concerns, but in business, you are doing what we call "micro-managing".... Believe when I tell you that it never works out well...

In other words: Micro-management leads to ineffeciency and lack of production.

That said, I'm sure you'll find something else to over-analyze and that's fine. These boards are where you can do that......... Peace out!


*DONE*
 
In other words: Micro-management leads to ineffeciency and lack of production.

Micromanagement can be a problem in the business world, you bet.

But Google the word micromanager and combine it with the name of any of the best coaches in NFL history and I guarantee you'll get loads of matches.

I just randomly Googled micromanager + bill belichick and came up with numerous pages labeling him that.

Old ball coach, Steve Spurrier, fizzled in the NFL because he's not a micromanager. He thought he could coach an NFL team the way he coaches his college teams and spend just as much time as ever on the golf course.

Lombardi, Shula, Walsh, Gibbs. Big time micromanagers.

Really the only non-micromanager Super Bowl winning coach I can think of off the top of my head was Barry Switzer and he won with a team even I could have won with.
 
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.

Sorry Doc, didn't mean it as an attack. I think the counter argument here is pretty much a wall that goes 10,000 miles wide, 10,000 high and 10,000 miles deep. I feel like this is just somebody trying to light fires for no reason. Yeah, fumbles are a problem but just go over some of the points brought up here and tell me it doesn't seem like maybe, just maybe this is a bit of weak sauce:

-He was carrying the ball properly when he fumbled last game
-He gets more touches than anyone in the league
-He has only 3 listed fumbles which is fairly average, 2 fumbles coming early in the game where the team had plenty of time to overcome them
-He has elite production and much respect from his adversaries
-He has crazy jukes moves that involve his whole body
-Jacoby Jones is a terrible downfield blocker
-We are LUCKY to have this guy on our team, for all the diamond in the rough talk let's not forget how ROUGH it was with some of the guys we've seen here

Everyone has flaws. Tom Brady can't run. Dallas Clark can't block. Drew Brees is short. Perfection DOES NOT exist. So why complain about a guy who is only doing it 98% right?
 
Yep. Emmitt rarely fumbled.

Which was why it was so amazing when the Oilers beat the Cowboys way back in 1991 thanks to an Emmitt Smith fumble in overtime.

Emmit Smith and Barry Sanders were also 5'8" and 5'9", when you're as tall as those backs are your center of gravity allows you to run more compact, thats the benefit of being that short.

When you have backs that are 6' or close you need a lot more balance when you run, which means you need more counter balances in order to be shifty and agile. Thats why the pictures i posted with Gayle, Eric, Payton all showed guys who were taller that needed those arms for balance.

not that it contributes to fumbling, but having the compact running style obviously enables you to run with less counter balances, not the case with the taller backs...
 
Emmit Smith and Barry Sanders ...

Emmitt was incredibly shifty in short space. Not make you miss entirely Sanders shifty but well planned out make a shoulder tackle into and arm tackle and then run through it shifty. Sanders' attempts to try to make people entirely miss also let to a bunch of no gain or negative gain plays. Smith's other talent which often goes unnoticed was the use of his hands. He often deflected arms just pushing them aside. Arian also has great short space awareness and movement especially for a biggish RB.
 
I feel like this is just somebody trying to light fires for no reason.

I'm sensing that you've taken this thread a little too personally and allowed my posts to get under your skin. And I hope thats not true because I've always thought of you as a solid, even-keeled poster and I think people who let message boards get them riled up are silly.

Light fires for no reason? What fires? It's a message board. I made an observation about the way the running back handles the ball, something I think should be addressed before it becomes a problem.

You disagree and that's fine. But perhaps we can keep the disagreement about the subject matter and not about you and me? I can't imagine the subject matter is so objectionable that it calls for an ad hominem attack.
 
Cool. We disagree then. If you would like to respond any of the points I have, his amount of touches, not fumbling more than anyone else, still having elite production, feel free. Otherwise I'll be quiet, seems like I'm offending folks even though I'm not trying to.
 
Cool. We disagree then. If you would like to respond any of the points I have, his amount of touches, not fumbling more than anyone else, still having elite production, feel free. Otherwise I'll be quiet, seems like I'm offending folks even though I'm not trying to.

Not at all. We're good.

And I'm happy to belabor the issue (just in case anyone was unclear on that).
smilie2.gif


He was carrying the ball properly when he fumbled last game
True. And I'm not concerned with that.

He gets more touches than anyone in the league
I haven't checked this but I don't doubt it.

He has only 3 listed fumbles which is fairly average, 2 fumbles coming early in the game where the team had plenty of time to overcome them
True. And what I stated in the first post is that I think it's a minor miracle he hasn't fumbled more.

He has elite production and much respect from his adversaries
True. And I'm pretty sure I've said as much in this thread already.

He has crazy jukes moves that involve his whole body
I'm going to admit that it's possible that part of his magic is that he uses his extremities as a counterbalance when he's faking suckers out of their jocks. It's possible, but I'm not completely buying it.

We are LUCKY to have this guy on our team, for all the diamond in the rough talk let's not forget how ROUGH it was with some of the guys we've seen here
True. And again, I believe I've already stated as much at least once or twice in this thread.

Everyone has flaws. Tom Brady can't run. Dallas Clark can't block. Drew Brees is short. Perfection DOES NOT exist.
Tom Brady's inability to run isn't something he can correct. It's genetic. Drew Brees' height isn't something he can correct. It's genetic. Dallas Clark catches passes well and isn't expected to be a great blocker.

What I've pointed out with the way Arian carries the ball is something that is easily correctable.

So why complain about a guy who is only doing it 98% right?
I'm not complaining---that seems to be a recurring misconception on this thread. I'm pointing out something that should be and can easily be corrected before it becomes an issue. And I would always push a guy even is he's doing 98% right if I know he can get 99% right.
 
Emmitt was incredibly shifty in short space. Not make you miss entirely Sanders shifty but well planned out make a shoulder tackle into and arm tackle and then run through it shifty. Sanders' attempts to try to make people entirely miss also let to a bunch of no gain or negative gain plays. Smith's other talent which often goes unnoticed was the use of his hands. He often deflected arms just pushing them aside. Arian also has great short space awareness and movement especially for a biggish RB.

I used to fence in the collegiate nationals, and Emmitt's hand moves reminded me of "parrying" with the foil, using the foil to deflect the foil of your opponent and using your opponent's inertia to send him right past you.

VIDEO (see move at 37 seconds)
 
I used to fence in the collegiate nationals, and Emmitt's hand moves reminded me of "parrying" with the foil, using the foil to deflect the foil of your opponent and using your opponent's inertia to send him right past you.

VIDEO (see move at 37 seconds)

Too funny. My son just moved out of fencing after several years and is taking up martial arts. Your analogy is apt. Parry, riposte. Same theory with different terminology.
 
Back
Top