White Closing in on 1,000 Yards

Eddie had injury problems and the other players you mentioned played a different style of football in a different era.

And yea, if you knew anyone in the NFL they would probably agree. NFL RBs start to decline around the age of 30. Heck, even idiotic ESPN says that.

But I want you to prove your point that RBs plateau at their second year. You still have not backed that up with any reasonable evidence.

 

Gunny i'm shocked..

He didn't get better he simply carried the ball more. His role changed. His yards per carry was less than 4 in 4 of his next 5 years. How does going from a 4.4 ypc to a 3.9ypc indicate he became better?

He went from 225 carries a season to 325 that's all. The 49er offense he played in was like the pats offense today. Then he went to philly and took on an eddie george type role. The eagles didn't have a HOF QB or the best WR on the planet.

 

Deluxxe, it's not a matter of a particular time a back plateaus. What i'm basically saying is that a back enters the league with 95% of the running ability he will ever have. It's simply a matter of getting out there and playing and getting a feel for nfl defenses and using his blocking. A guy like lendale white isn't going to get faster, quicker or have better vision and instincts.

About the only thing a back can do is maybe add some muscle and get stronger or build themselves up for better durability. Lendale has already showed good durability and has been strong late in games and late in the season.

 

That makes total sense, seriously. You are completely right in saying that RBs stay the same or very similar to their physical structure from their rookie years thruout their careers.

However, you are completely wrong in saying that their game plateau's at their second year. If this was the case, then there would be no such thing as a "franchise running back" and NFL teams would be going thru RBs like crazy. NFL RBs games improve over time. They learn things from their early play and improve upon that. That is why their game plateaus later in their career (maybe around the 5th or 6th year)

 

I'm more with RollTide on this one. The exceptions are guys who might not have been utilized early in their careers like Priest Holmes or Barber but typically RBs who come into the league and are getting significant carries typically don't improve greatly after year two or three. LT averaged 4.5 YPC his second year in the league which is his career average. Willie Parker was having a solid year before his injury but he was his YPC was 4.1, the lowest since he became a starter. Jamal Lewis had a moster year in his 3rd year (it was his 4th year but he missed a year due to injury) where he averaged 5.3 YPC but every year after that he has been right at or below his career average of 4.3. Actually if you look at most of the better NFL backs, with the occasional exception of an outstanding or lousy year mixed in, most of them stay pretty close to their career average for most of their careers. Edgerrin James best year as a pro was his second year in the league.

I do think RBs can get more savy with experience of knowing how to avoid injury and certainly some improve some aspects of their game such as blocking or receiving but as far as pure running ability they don't change much throughout their careers.

For LW there is some room for improvement IMO because I do think there is room to improve as far as burning off some fat and replacing it with muscle which could help his quickness some. How much he can improve however is questionable. I doubt he will ever be the next LT but he could improve his YPC if he can break off a few long runs he might not have.

 

^^With this mindset, all RBs would have declining stats after their 2nd year. This just isnt true. Like I said, young RBs generally have pretty good stats because teams dont have much film on them. Same reason why guys like Todd Collins and Shaun Hill have won games this year. If the RBs did not improve their play over time, then they would be easily stopped by defenses and their stats and play would never improve.

Saying that they do stay close to their career averages shows that they actually are improving, for reasons that I have said. They are staying with or ahead of the DCs trying to stop them.

 

LW is 22 years and 7 days old. Plenty of time to stop taking his good fortune for granted. LW can improve in many ways starting with taking off season conditioning seriously. That change alone will make every aspect of his game improve.

And I won't complain about another 8700 yards and another 73+ TDs

 

Emmit Smith believes the keys to improving are in two areas for Lendale, Blocking and running against 8 man fronts, which he says have a weakness that can be exploited.

 

Deluxxe, i didn't say guys plateaued at 2 years and then got worse. I simply said they don't get better. Plateau is a word and concept you have adopted.

Runningbacks cannot improve their speed, quickness, vision and power simply by playing more. These are things you really can't improve much.

As for this theory that lendale can improve by getting in better shape i really don't buy that because i don't think he is in poor shape now. Lendale looks like bettis who always seemed too fat but is on his way to the hall.

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Lendale and bettis have the exact same body type.

Sorry for the corny video i just needed it to make the point..

 

professional athletes"peak" "pleateau" "whatever" at 26, with rare exception. Barry Bonds durg enduced 35+ peak as an example. 26 seems to combine mental maturity with physical strength in the vast majority of athletes. Some positions, QB for instance, peak later purly because they require more mental maturity than physical strength.

don't take my word for it ...
http://www.sabernomics.com/sabernomics/index.php/2006/04/peak-age-another-estimate/

FWIW some studies show that players peak at 27, others at 29, but none state that players peak after two seasons.


why would RBs be different than other professional atheletes?