I don't think LenDale is close to game shape yet

Someone please point me in the direction of all this Chris Henry footage you all are using to bash this guy unmercifully....To the best of my knowledge (which is right since I'm looking at his stats right now) the dude has had less then 40 total touches in his one year as an NFL rookie...and has scored two TDs. Why don't you give the guy a little time to develop before you start calling him a 'deer in headlights' for Christ's sake. I seem to remember him running pretty hard the couple times I did see him, and I also seem to remember him having some preseason ankle issues last year... lets see what this guy is made of before we just scrap em.

 

dude just runs into blue jerseys..

 

they don't have to be titan blue either.

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He fails to break the LOS in PRACTICES a lot of times. We've seen him have chances to walk in to the endzone - and fall down. We've seen him have huge holes, and turn to run in to a defender that was out of position. We've seen him just stop - stand- freeze - and get crushed by the Colt player on the kick return.

Some things you can't teach. Instincts and vision are something you have or don't. And unfortunately, he doesn't have them. No matter how many touches he gets, he isn't going to magically begin to see holes that most backs would.

 

I believe this organization drafted CJ with the mindset that he could carry the majority of the load. They knew what was going on with Lendale and they understand that Henry doesn't have the vision to be a featured back. He might not be ready to do that right now but he might have to. Lendale might be fat and unmotivated but he's not soft. He runs hard and plays hurt. We all know this. He's hurt right now but he will be fine. I think they will split the carries this year with Lendale getting just a few more. This is going to be a powerful running attack with one of the best offensive lines in the game. Add to that a great defense with playmakers and lots of speed. There are going to be some serious battles in the AFC South this year.

 

^ honestly, I'm not sure "majority of the load" was on their mind when they drafted CJ

more like 10 touches a game rushing
possibly 10 targets in the flat (maybe 5 rec. a game)
some mis-direction / decoy stuff on short yardage

I still see White gettting the smashmout 2 yard / 3rd downs
as well as 85% of goalline rushing attempts
and wouldn't put it past 15-25 carries a game

I don't see many games where CJ gets more carries than White, unless it's due to an inury

 

I seem to remember him being productive against the Texans. I've actually been wondering about Henry, because despite hearing damn near nothing about him this offseason, the Tennessean has many pictures of him in their training camp photos where it looks like he is making huge plays.

He only played in two games last season where he had more than a few carries. One of them, he was very productive while showing the excellent vision and instincts so many like to claim he lacks, and he sucked in the other game. I don't see how anyone can write him off just yet with basically two games under his belt.

Regardless, you have to admit, the guy can take a hit.

 

Well doesn't LenDale just look FABULOUS?



I'm starting to want CJ to win the starting job more and more.

 

Chris henry got more yards per rushing attempt than a lot of high priced backs out there and the same ypc that our other backs had. I guess we could come to the conclusion that all our backs sucked last year but we were 5th in the league in rushing and won 10 games.

Thomas jones-warrick dunn-julius jones-rudi johnson-reggie bush-deshaun foster-larry johnson-shaun alexander-edge james

Were either no better or less productive every time they carried the ball than chris henry. To me it is not a matter of developing him but rather letting him play enough to truly see how good he is. How could a GM love a guy enough to take him in the mid 2nd rd and just a year later be willing to give up on him? Chris henry must have called MR's wife ugly or something.

Bottom line is that gloat thinks henry sucks but loves CJ. What more information do you need to know that henry will be better?