Running Game

[JuranBoldenRules]

Sheets would be a good option if he wasn't able to crack the Raiders. It would be nice to have Alex Hall back too. I think he would help tremendously against the run.

 

Hall is a pure pass rusher.  A healthy Vega would really help against the run, too bad we don't have any depth to give him a couple games to get healthy.

[Floyd]

Since every thread seems to have been taken over by Grigsby...  Found his scouting profile on sporting news...  The Grigsby we have now is not changing any time soon.  Time to move on, unfortunately.

 

 

 

Strengths: Is versatile as a runner and receiver. Shows good burst when hitting the hole and runs with nice body lean. Has the agility to make tacklers miss and pick up extra yards. Uses his hands well when catching the ball in the open field. Also has the instincts to gain extra yards when running after the catch.

Weaknesses: Size is a concern, which could limit him to a third-down role in the NFL. Has struggled to stay healthy when asked to carry the load. Lack of speed limits him when trying to get outside. Doesn’t have a second burst to run away from defenders. Struggles to pick up blitzes because of slender build and can be driven backward by pass rushers.

Bottom line: Grigsby consistently picked up big yardage and moved the chains when given the opportunity as a runner and receiver at Arizona. But he lacks speed and tends to hesitate before attacking the line. Grigsby will make a nice late-round selection, as he has the talent for third-down work. Expect to see him as a backup in the NFL.

[17to85]

The tends to hesitate before attacking the line is the thing that bugs me most about him. If he'd just hit the line with speed he might break free more often. 

[max power]

Heard someone on 1290 (Bauming?) imply strongly that O'Shea considers grigsby their best blocker, which is why he is starting and they cut Ford.

[KptKrunch]

Poor running back and poor run blocking aren't mutually exclusive. Sure there isn't much he can do wheb too guys are on him in the backfield, but he's shown he can't break a tackle or make a guy miss in the open field.

 

I"ll give you that - and I think Cotton, from what little i've seen of him, has a bit of the edge there. But I've seen Grigsby make people miss in the open field though, he even got a nice TD run doing a little stutter step. Amazing how fans remember only bad things. Bottom line is - we had no oline last year, and this year it has improved but not a lot. We still need more. 

Here's the deal a lot of you guys are missing, a running back, even an amateur one, never loses yards, or at least very rarely loses yards. When a running back carries the ball 15 times and has 25 yard, and 17 of those came on one run, that is NOT the running back, that is the OLINE (and one could argue play calling and running schemes used). That's why I'm snickering at the 'put in Cotton' folks. It doesn't matter, and personally I like Cotton, I think he's better and can make people miss, but unless you are getting a beer every time the bombers are running, and don't have a PVR to replay it, then even a blind man can see why Grigsby isn't getting any traction. He can't, he's gotta duck and run for his life as soon as the ball is handed to him. 

 

Until we get holes where our RB's can actually run through, I can't judge them. 

[pigseye]

When you don't commit to running the football it shouldn't be a surprise when you can't. All year our run game has simply been used to set up the pass.

[Mark H.]

When you don't commit to running the football it shouldn't be a surprise when you can't. All year our run game has simply been used to set up the pass.

 

Which seems like it's becoming less effective - Chick sure didn't seem to bite on the play action too often.

[Mr Dee]

Here's the issues I have with the running game:

 

They're still predictable as to when they run the ball.

Grigsby, for my liking, doesn't hit the hole fast enough when the hole IS open.

It would be nice to use Pontbriand more, for those tough 2 yard plays or, as a diversion.

 

I realize that the O-Line is continually in flux due to injuries, so they get a little leeway, and O'Shea did mention, in a quiet way, what they are doing different, as of last game, to change how they attack the running aspect of our offence…so they are aware of lack of production.

Still a work in progress.

[Mark H.]

I realize that the O-Line is continually in flux due to injuries, so they get a little leeway, and O'Shea did mention, in a quiet way, what they are doing different, as of last game, to change how they attack the running aspect of our offence…so they are aware of lack of production.

Still a work in progress.

 

Fair point. If we've learned one thing about O'Shea so far, it's that we won't hear a lot of criticism through the media.

[17to85]

 

Poor running back and poor run blocking aren't mutually exclusive. Sure there isn't much he can do wheb too guys are on him in the backfield, but he's shown he can't break a tackle or make a guy miss in the open field.

 

I"ll give you that - and I think Cotton, from what little i've seen of him, has a bit of the edge there. But I've seen Grigsby make people miss in the open field though, he even got a nice TD run doing a little stutter step. Amazing how fans remember only bad things. Bottom line is - we had no oline last year, and this year it has improved but not a lot. We still need more. 

Here's the deal a lot of you guys are missing, a running back, even an amateur one, never loses yards, or at least very rarely loses yards. When a running back carries the ball 15 times and has 25 yard, and 17 of those came on one run, that is NOT the running back, that is the OLINE (and one could argue play calling and running schemes used). That's why I'm snickering at the 'put in Cotton' folks. It doesn't matter, and personally I like Cotton, I think he's better and can make people miss, but unless you are getting a beer every time the bombers are running, and don't have a PVR to replay it, then even a blind man can see why Grigsby isn't getting any traction. He can't, he's gotta duck and run for his life as soon as the ball is handed to him. 

 

Until we get holes where our RB's can actually run through, I can't judge them. 

 

no you're wrong. There were plenty of times when he lost yards because he ran sideways or hesitated in the backfield and let guys get to him there. I'm not trying to absolve the o-line here, but Grigsby is making them look worse than they are by not simply slamming the ball up in there. 

[KptKrunch]

 

 

Poor running back and poor run blocking aren't mutually exclusive. Sure there isn't much he can do wheb too guys are on him in the backfield, but he's shown he can't break a tackle or make a guy miss in the open field.

 

I"ll give you that - and I think Cotton, from what little i've seen of him, has a bit of the edge there. But I've seen Grigsby make people miss in the open field though, he even got a nice TD run doing a little stutter step. Amazing how fans remember only bad things. Bottom line is - we had no oline last year, and this year it has improved but not a lot. We still need more. 

Here's the deal a lot of you guys are missing, a running back, even an amateur one, never loses yards, or at least very rarely loses yards. When a running back carries the ball 15 times and has 25 yard, and 17 of those came on one run, that is NOT the running back, that is the OLINE (and one could argue play calling and running schemes used). That's why I'm snickering at the 'put in Cotton' folks. It doesn't matter, and personally I like Cotton, I think he's better and can make people miss, but unless you are getting a beer every time the bombers are running, and don't have a PVR to replay it, then even a blind man can see why Grigsby isn't getting any traction. He can't, he's gotta duck and run for his life as soon as the ball is handed to him. 

 

Until we get holes where our RB's can actually run through, I can't judge them. 

 

no you're wrong. There were plenty of times when he lost yards because he ran sideways or hesitated in the backfield and let guys get to him there. I'm not trying to absolve the o-line here, but Grigsby is making them look worse than they are by not simply slamming the ball up in there. 

 

 

Not wrong, my opinion from what I see when watching games. I can easily counter - there's plenty of times when both he AND Cotton are nailed in the backfield because the defender is on top of them as soon as they get the ball. Happened to Cotton on his only carry on Thursday. And I see you forgot in the one game he did have some openings, he ran for over 100 yards (Toronto game). I'm not saying that he couldn't be more consistent, and sure he makes bad decisions. Walter Payton made bad decisions too. So did Joe Montana, Doug Flutie, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, etc. etc. My point? NO ONE is perfect - (well, 'cept for Mr Perfect lol ) so we can go back and forth. For every mistake you can come up with he made, I can come up with a good decision he's made. If they do start Cotton - you'll see what I mean. 

[17to85]

and if they do start him you will see what I mean. We're not getting a brand new offensive line in here any time soon, but we have the chance to play a runningback who was better in preseason and at this point you take the improvements where you can get them. 

[blitzmore]

and if they do start him you will see what I mean. We're not getting a brand new offensive line in here any time soon, but we have the chance to play a runningback who was better in preseason and at this point you take the improvements where you can get them. 

Actually in training camp I thought the backs who impressed in order, were Cotton, the Cdn kid Brooks, then Grigsby.

[Fatty Liver]

At this point difficult to make changes to the RB's or the O-line so I hope Marcel can quickly come up with a different plan of action for the Argo game.  If we see more of the same play calling ineptitude I'm going to lose it.  Is the lateral dead and forgotten?  Run outside, that is the only place that Ford finds success and it's going to be the same for for either Grigsby or Cotton with this O-line. 

[GCn20]

The lateral is technically considered a passing play. I'm not suggesting we don't use it, but you will note that not many teams do it very often. It is becoming obsolete. 20 years ago they were used a lot but now teams stay away from them because of the increased possibility of a turnover, and the RBs are so fast nowadays that the sweep is a better option. We could run more of those. Bring back the JET package. lmao

[Floyd]

The lateral is technically considered a passing play. I'm not suggesting we don't use it, but you will note that not many teams do it very often. It is becoming obsolete. 20 years ago they were used a lot but now teams stay away from them because of the increased possibility of a turnover, and the RBs are so fast nowadays that the sweep is a better option. We could run more of those. Bring back the JET package. lmao

 

I think it more evolved into the shovel pass...  

[Fatty Liver]

i guess the aversion to the lateral is that if mishandled it becomes a live ball as it is considered a backwards pass.  Also works best if RB is standing still and not already on the move.

[TBieber]

The lateral is technically considered a passing play. I'm not suggesting we don't use it, but you will note that not many teams do it very often. It is becoming obsolete. 20 years ago they were used a lot but now teams stay away from them because of the increased possibility of a turnover, and the RBs are so fast nowadays that the sweep is a better option. We could run more of those. Bring back the JET package. lmao

 

Lateral/pitch is a running play.

[iso_55]

 

The lateral is technically considered a passing play. I'm not suggesting we don't use it, but you will note that not many teams do it very often. It is becoming obsolete. 20 years ago they were used a lot but now teams stay away from them because of the increased possibility of a turnover, and the RBs are so fast nowadays that the sweep is a better option. We could run more of those. Bring back the JET package. lmao

 

Lateral/pitch is a running play.

 

Same with toss. It's also a running play.