Gibbs Talk

[CloakNNNdagger]

I'm a pretty big DD fan but that is over the top. The best you can argue for is ok. Green has a justified reputation for blocking. DD was serviceable in that regard. Now maybe something could be said of what if he had received better coaching in that regard.

When I referred to "one of the best," I was truly speaking in terms of the Carr/Morency/DD era, which I took Hervoyel to be speaking to.

 

[infantrycak]

When I referred to "one of the best," I was truly speaking in terms of the Carr/Morency/DD era, which I took Hervoyel to be speaking to.

Sorry--mistook that one. Wells and Mack were better, but yes on the scale of Texans RB's DD looks much better than against the league.

 

[Malloy]

Question: Was DD terrible at picking up a blitz or does he also get the benefit of the doubt because Carr was better at running into a blitz than any QB to ever play the game?

I thought he was good for picking up a blitz around 30% of the time but then if you factor in that David Carr was the one who was getting blitzed that probably climbs up into the mid 60% range.

Also he was more accustomed to being the "safety valve" (AKA: the guy you throw to when AJ is covered if you haven't already run into a defender) so DD wasn't asked to pickup the blitz as often.

My answer would be: Yes.

 

[Vinny]

Question: Was DD terrible at picking up a blitz or does he also get the benefit of the doubt because Carr was better at running into a blitz than any QB to ever play the game?

I thought he was good for picking up a blitz around 30% of the time but then if you factor in that David Carr was the one who was getting blitzed that probably climbs up into the mid 60% range.

Also he was more accustomed to being the "safety valve" (AKA: the guy you throw to when AJ is covered if you haven't already run into a defender) so DD wasn't asked to pickup the blitz as often.

I'd still classify him as "awful" when it came to blocking anyone at any time. Blitz or no blitz.

 

[Double Barrel]

Question: Was DD terrible at picking up a blitz or does he also get the benefit of the doubt because Carr was better at running into a blitz than any QB to ever play the game?

I thought he was good for picking up a blitz around 30% of the time but then if you factor in that David Carr was the one who was getting blitzed that probably climbs up into the mid 60% range.

Also he was more accustomed to being the "safety valve" (AKA: the guy you throw to when AJ is covered if you haven't already run into a defender) so DD wasn't asked to pickup the blitz as often.

Interesting angle. I overlooked the negative impact of a bad QB on the rest of the team.

Blocking was not his gig, but as Herv points out, much of the time he was only called upon to chip and go to be the safety valve. For perspective though, keep this in mind. After the Texans drafted DD, Shanahan told Casserly they had intended to take him a few picks later and that we had just drafted a heck of a RB. They were going to draft him as a RB while we were told he was a returner/3rd down back.

I never heard that about Denver. That does say something, considering their eye for RBs in later rounds.

 

[Rex King]

From TC

Though Alex Gibbs gets tons of credit for making the Denver line work, I've been told by Denver friends that RB coach Bobby Turner should get credit for having an eye for what sorts of backs may work in the system and coaching them up quickly in that system. Portis got in trouble early on for dancing, but they scared him out of that.

I would hope that Gibbs can help us there. IIRC, Kubiak had a choice of taking either Calhoun or Bobby Turner from the Broncos. Wish he’d taken Turner now. Though I think Chick Harris has done a decent job in his tenure here, Turner’s obviously more well-versed in Kubiak’s system