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Davis/Hollings competetion...

P

pittbull

Rookie
There seems to be a common notion amongst the media reports, that Hollings will give Davis a run for his money this season. What many of these experts fail to understand, Davis played running back his entire life at a high level, while Hollings is still in project mode. Although Hollings may well develop into a good NFL back, Davis already has the instincts to make cuts, follow blockers, and explode through holes the way instinctive NFL(PROS) backs do, while Hollings is relying on taught ideals from 4 games in college, after switching from other positions. Look for Hollings to be a good breather back for the Texans, but Davis is the future...........For Now!
 
Davis is obviously more developed at this point, but keep in mind that Hollings rushed for 2750 yds and 30 TD's in his last two HS years so the 4 college games were hardly his first experience at rushing. Yes different level of competition, but it was time during which he was developing the instinct to make cuts, follow blockers and explode through holes that you mention.

As an aside, both were two way players in HS--as DB's Hollings had 7 INT's and DD had 9 INT's.
 
infantrycak said:
As an aside, both were two way players in HS--as DB's Hollings had 7 INT's and DD had 9 INT's.
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Both were 2 way players in college. Davis actually started 1 game as a nickel DB (vs Kentucky). Domanick had 8 career tackles at LSU.
 
The thing that sticks out in my mind that differs the two, is the ability to run over or shed tacklers. Domanick Davis runs with a purpose that makes him hard to tackle. Hollings tends to go down with the first hit. Whether that was due to the injury or not remains to be seen though.
 
El Tejano said:
The thing that sticks out in my mind that differs the two, is the ability to run over or shed tacklers. Domanick Davis runs with a purpose that makes him hard to tackle. Hollings tends to go down with the first hit. Whether that was due to the injury or not remains to be seen though.
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Comparing a healthy Dom Davis to an injured Hollings isn't fair. You don't really know how hard Hollings is to tackle yet.
 
El Tejano said:
The thing that sticks out in my mind that differs the two, is the ability to run over or shed tacklers. Domanick Davis runs with a purpose that makes him hard to tackle. Hollings tends to go down with the first hit. Whether that was due to the injury or not remains to be seen though.
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But you also have to take into consideration that, though DD is fast, he doesnt have the breakaway speed to run from the top DBs in the league, whereas Hollings has burner speed and will leave anyone in his dust if you give him a step or 2. So its really more like thunder and lightning. DD will run through tackles, making the first and second guy miss, but the guy who can get on the corner and just turn it up is Hollings, though how he progresses in our offense is yet to be seen. DD will start this year, though because of his versatility. He is great catching out of the backfield, blocking and running. Thats where I give him the advantage.
 
Quite a different scenario from the first season. Then it was 'Lets hand off the ball to Wells or that other guy...hmmm I'm thinking rapper...can't be JayZ or 2pac.... :idea: oh yeah....Allen'.
 
Last year Davis earned the #1 back job next year. Therefore the competition will be who will back him up. That most likely will be Hollings. Hollings will get this year and one more in the shadow of Davis. Then there won't be enough touchs for both of them to stay on this team. I see the Texans trading Hollings in two years for a starting linebacker and a high draft pick. Davis is the future of the Texans for a long time. He already has repore with the fans. Great players often go to teams and never develop repore with the fans. Something about watching a player come into his own and show doubters that he is capable of starting in the NFL makes the fans feel like they were apart of it. That will take Davis a long way here in Houston. That is the whole reason JJ has kept his return duties. He is fun to watch and all the Texan fans like him. However he may never have the speed to be a premir return man in the NFL. He maybe in the top two in the NFL with quickness but he just does not have the speed. He reputation with the fans gave him the edge last year over Avion Black who had the speed but lacked the quickness.
 
Davis gets caught from behind but they have to catch him from behind alot. I really thought Davis showed some real toughness inside the 20 yard line. The last Colts game was evidence of that.

I don't dislike Hollings and I did mention that the injury could be why he came down after the first hit. I just think Davis brings more agressiveness to the table based on what I have observed and that is the only thing I can go by.
 
Ah yes, but that was DD's first year here and quite a few of the Texans opponets did not have enough game film to setup a defense to stop him. This year MAY be a different story, especially if we have the "run to setup pass" offense.

Throwing Hollings in this year will mess with the team's minds once again for a different type of runner, not enough film on, and keeping their defense guessing. I agree with the above note, that it's a good to have such problems.

My thought is they both get touches for years to come (assuming both do well after the honeymoon is over).
 
DD and Hollings will both be showcasing themselves this year...bottom line is that this year DD is the goto guy barring injury. Hollings would have to have rockstar preformances in pre-season to seriously push for DD's job.

What I am interested in is actually next year; let's say that DD racks up around 1700 all purpose yards this season and Hollings puts on a good show with some significant playing time as well. That's when the front office will be in good position to wheel and deal. The thing is we have a good idea of DD's production potential and we are just guesstimating on Hollings right now.
 
I tend to agree with ___V___ on this one. You wont find many NFL teams with only one quality RB on the roster. In this day and age you need at least two, much like you need a good starting and backup QB to be successful. Even a team like Green Bay who has Ahman Green in the backfield have a couple quailty guys backing him up. Davenport and Fisher. The same story is repeated around the league. Besides I don't think Hollings would merit a tremendous amount of trade value anyway unless he has an amazing season which is unlikely with DD likely to carry the bulk of the load on offense. Corey Dillion was traded for a 2nd Round pick, and most thought Cincinatti wouldn't be able to get that high of a pick for him. :twocents:
 
What will seperate DD and Hollings is DD's ability to find daylight and make something out of nothing. That's something you can't teach. It's all instincts and so far I've been disappointed in Hollings. But, he should get plenty of opportunities because as much as I like DD I'm still not sure if he can hold up a full year of pounding week to week. Hopefully, DD will. Anyways, I fully expect DD to get even more yards behind a better overall OL with Wade involved. Outside of Houston, DD will be a major fantasy "sleeper" if he can stay healthy.
 
__V__ said:
NFL teams need two quality backs. Hollings isn't going anywhere. ;)
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Vinny...I thought we signed Hollings for a 3yr deal, that's why I was going with the next year train of thought. I figured that if he displays some quality skills that he would want to shop around for a better chance to start or ask for more money than CC was willing to put on the table.
 
Houston Fan said:
What will seperate DD and Hollings is DD's ability to find daylight and make something out of nothing. That's something you can't teach. It's all instincts and so far I've been disappointed in Hollings. But, he should get plenty of opportunities because as much as I like DD I'm still not sure if he can hold up a full year of pounding week to week. Hopefully, DD will. Anyways, I fully expect DD to get even more yards behind a better overall OL with Wade involved. Outside of Houston, DD will be a major fantasy "sleeper" if he can stay healthy.
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Thats why most people are saying that we need 2 quaility backs, which I agree with. Not many RBs in the league play every game in the season, because the position takes too much punishment. I wouldnt even be against the RB by commitey like Philly did last year with Staley and Westbrook. Oh and DD wont be a sleeper this year, not after the way he tore up the fantasy boards last year with his combo, rush-catch threat. Fantasy football players no about him, even if no one else does.
 
It is going to be an intresting battle to watch during the season. You will see Davis play more against Cover 2 teams, like the Colts, because of his hands, and you will see more of Hollings playing against teams that run blitz because of his speed.
 
So far DD has proven himself as a solid back for our offense. It isn't fair to compare the two until they both get enough time on the field to showcase what they have. It doesn't matter who has what kind of speed or power as long as they make plays. IMO DD has the upperhand because of his NFL experience...although Hollings could prove to be a better fit for our offense. Here is something to think about though- So far we haven't stuck with the same starter 2 years in a row. Either that or the guy can't keep his starting position.
 
NFL teams need two quality backs. Hollings isn't going anywhere.
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Yes, NFL teams need two quality backs, but Hollings still needs to prove that he is a quality NFL back.

Being able to run 4.35 or whatever is nice but Tony needs to really step up this year and prove that he can be quality NFL back, i.e., being able to recognize and hit holes and cut back lanes quicker and with more authority (especially now with the zone blocking), holding on to the ball, blitz pick-up, and showing that he can function between the tackles from time to time so that other teams will have to respect him for more than just an outside threat on toss sweeps and screen passes.

Hopefully my list of concerns (just a few things I noticed in many of his 38 regular season rushing attempts and 41 preseason rushing attempts last year - nothing major) are just an aberration because of his inexperience and the knee rehab. I gave him pretty much a free ride last year - but I couldn't help but notice those "opportunities for improvement."

He's still a pup - he's only 22 - so hopefully this year he will feel more comfortable in mind and body. We really do need him to be a productive player because DD won't be able to do it all and unless someone really surprises, we have no one else on the depth chart behind him who can do any better.

I think anyone who seriously thinks there is or will be a competition between DD and Hollings for #1 RB in camp hasn't been watching close enough. Tony may have it in him to claim a #1 spot on merit someday somewhere, but I don't think that's happenin' this year.
 
A quick note. DD was a sleeper last year. As I picked him up as a FA in week 2. Who woulda thunk he would oust Mack. This year DD is not a sleeper. He is a legitimate second-tier RB. He could possibly be a first tier depending on how well the line performs during preseason.

TH needs to work on
1.pass blocking
2.picking up a blitz
3.running between the tackles harder
4.breaking tackles
5.scaring DB's :)

I think TH is still in a developmental stage. I am sure we will see flashes of brilliance. I would like to see him put the defense on their heels. It became apparent to me last year that TH was mainly rushing outside. This makes it all to easy for the opposition, because they will cheat to the outside. He may get a couple runs by them, but without being a legitimate threat to take it the distance up the middle he will not beat out DD. Maybe I am being a little critical, but that is my assessment.
 
i'm not so much worried about their "break away speed" comparison, but instead that i hope hollings can show he's a serious threat on sweeps and pitches to the outside. domanick simply isnt, the only times he successfully ran to the outside was with great blocking ... which with the addition of bruener/joppru/wade might actually happen a lot more frequently. anybody remember the patriots? we tried to send dd to the outside on the left, twice ... he just doesnt have it. i hope hollings proves capable and can stretch teams laterally when he's in the game.
 
Scooter said:
i'm not so much worried about their "break away speed" comparison, but instead that i hope hollings can show he's a serious threat on sweeps and pitches to the outside...
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He has already proved that, remember against the Chiefs. He had 7 carries for 41 yards and a long of 15 that came on a sweep, and I remember another nice run on a sweep. Then they called a draw for him and he went through the hole standing up, got hit, fumbled, and then benched.


Here are the carries, I knew he had 2 nice runs

Tony Hollings (HOU) rushed up the middle for 2 yards.
Tony Hollings (HOU) rushed left side for 15 yards.
Tony Hollings (HOU) rushed right side for 5 yards.
Tony Hollings (HOU) rushed left side for 14 yards.
Tony Hollings (HOU) rushed left side for 4 yards.
Tony Hollings (HOU) rushed up the middle for 1 yard.
Houston fumble by Tony Hollings (HOU), recovered by Dexter McCleon (KAN), returned for no gain.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playbyplay?gameId=230921034
 
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