Darius Leonard calls Zeke the hardest player in the NFL to tackle

BigCatMonaco

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"Elite" players are irreplaceable. Zeke is not that. I nicknamed him two-yard Zeke this year because most of his carries up the middle got two yards. Problem is, Pollard was our best option for running wide last year because Zeke didn't have the speed to do it. You can replace power rushers with decent speed pretty easy in the draft and for ALOT less than what Zeke costs. We're stuck with Zeke for now, so I will support him. But this was not a good decision on Jerry's part...
In a “down year” he was second in the league in scrimmage yards.
 

ksadler1

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Zeke is the best RB I have seen for us in a couple of decades.

He has almost single handedly reintroduced running back to the NFL.

Until this season nobody compared to him.
as a RB.

Henry has been in the NFL about as long as Zeke but only broke thru.

So this year we throw the ball with Dak and the offense and Zeke has to try to do things with less carries and without being our main weapon?

And when the team struggles with Zeke for the first time in his career..

now he's a problem?

Insane fans here at times.

:thumbdown:

If Zeke has done anything, he showed other GMs that drafting a RB at #4 and backing a Wells Fargo truck up to his front door is not the way to build a team. You draft your QB high and build your team around him. It took Jerry paying Zeke to make most realize that he was not this team's savior. Of course, if Jerry hadn't paid him, everyone would have claimed we would have won at least 12 games with him. We'll see what McCarthy can do to help Jerry save face...
 

ksadler1

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In a “down year” he was second in the league in scrimmage yards.

No offense, but l'm not impressed with individual accomplishments. This TEAM finished 8-8. But hey, we were 2nd place in our division in a "down year". See how that sounds?...
 

Hadenough

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Was listening to today’s Pardon My Take podcast with him as a guest (Barry Sanders also which was an awesome interview) and they asked him who was the hardest person to tackle.
“From the running back position I’d definitely say Zeke. He runs behind his pads well and is really hard to bring down”
I've got some friends that college ball in the big 10 and one of the guys played against Zeke and he told me you hit him as hard as you can and really feel it but Zeke pops up like it's nothing.
 

Vanilla2

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Like he’s gonna say the guy he’s faces twice a year is the hardest to tackle.
 

ColoradoCowboy

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Cuz that is all he can say because DH doesn't run with the power that Zeke does.

Just watch how DH runs. He runs like Eric Dickerson if you are old enough to remember him. DH runs straight up and down. If he ran leaning forward like Zeke, he would be a much more punishing runner. Zeke is a much more punishing runner than DH and D Leonard is right.
This is 100% true. The straight-upright running style has been a knock on Henry since High School. It hasn't prevented him from being a great RB, but it does limit the amount of brutal punishment he inflicts on would-be tacklers. The other part of this is speed. DH has speed, but it quite famously takes him a couple of strides to get up to full speed. Until this year, Zeke had that INSTANT acceleration to full speed. If I was Skip Peete, I'd have Zeke laser focused on speed/agility this offseason.
 

Beast_from_East

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And yet he finished fourth in rushing and second in all purpose yards. Disappointing by his/our standards, but incredible by all others

That's true, he is extremely durable because he added the weight to handle the load of being a bell cow. Lots of carries for 10-15 yards.

Problem is that he lost his breakaway speed, most defensive backs and even some LBs can chase him down pretty easily now. That is why his longest run of the year was only 33 yards, in fact, I believe he only had 3 runs of 30 or more yards the entire season.

That is not say Zeke is not a great back, he is, he is just not a homerun threat anymore at this point in his career.
 

Froski

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That's true, he is extremely durable because he added the weight to handle the load of being a bell cow. Lots of carries for 10-15 yards.

Problem is that he lost his breakaway speed, most defensive backs and even some LBs can chase him down pretty easily now. That is why his longest run of the year was only 33 yards, in fact, I believe he only had 3 runs of 30 or more yards the entire season.

That is not say Zeke is not a great back, he is, he is just not a homerun threat anymore at this point in his career.

I would compare Zeke to Leveon in this instance. As he REALLY doesn't have break away speed but is still considered a great back. It comes down to utilizing zeke in ways he can capitalize on and not running him down the teeth of a defense.
 

Redball Express

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That's true, he is extremely durable because he added the weight to handle the load of being a bell cow. Lots of carries for 10-15 yards.

Problem is that he lost his breakaway speed, most defensive backs and even some LBs can chase him down pretty easily now. That is why his longest run of the year was only 33 yards, in fact, I believe he only had 3 runs of 30 or more yards the entire season.

That is not say Zeke is not a great back, he is, he is just not a homerun threat anymore at this point in his career.
If Zeke is used his whole career as it has been..

it is going to be very short lived.

Pollard is the best chance to extend Zeke going forward.

We need to be prepared also to see more passing to avoid having to run all game long.

There is only so many touches available. Some passing, some running. We need to get accustom to alternating b/w the 2 styles in order to win.

There will be games where Zeke is used less..Cooper and others more.

This is what we want. Expecting more is just expecting way too much fantasy football.
 

ESisback

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I would compare Zeke to Leveon in this instance. As he REALLY doesn't have break away speed but is still considered a great back. It comes down to utilizing zeke in ways he can capitalize on and not running him down the teeth of a defense.

LeVeon hesitates more behind his blockers, looking for a crease.
 

Adreme

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No offense, but l'm not impressed with individual accomplishments. This TEAM finished 8-8. But hey, we were 2nd place in our division in a "down year". See how that sounds?...

And the Patriots lost in the first round of the playoffs. Clearly that means their defense is overrated and needs to be gutted and replaced. See how that sounds?

Yes the overall result is the most important thing, but its simply silly to place all blame equally. Every team has strengths and great players and its silly to just pretend that they are not great players because the team did not win.
 

CowboyRoy

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Was listening to today’s Pardon My Take podcast with him as a guest (Barry Sanders also which was an awesome interview) and they asked him who was the hardest person to tackle.
“From the running back position I’d definitely say Zeke. He runs behind his pads well and is really hard to bring down”

Zeke is the type of player to run into and over you. But he wont run around you or past you. Probably head straight for you.

One player to beat for a 50 YD TD and Zeke cant make him miss because he heads right for him.
 

ESisback

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Zeke is the type of player to run into and over you. But he wont run around you or past you. Probably head straight for you.

One player to beat for a 50 YD TD and Zeke cant make him miss because he heads right for him.

Zeke isn’t the same rocket ship that destroyed Pittsburgh. Less speed, more bruiser, shorter career.
 

Proof

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definitely. What’d he say? He loved Henry as much as everyone else does and can’t wait to ride the bull next season?

he said “you have to gang tackle him. It’s rare you see him brought down by one guy, he’s basically a DE playing running back and has a nasty stiff arm”
 

Toruk_Makto

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Was listening to today’s Pardon My Take podcast with him as a guest (Barry Sanders also which was an awesome interview) and they asked him who was the hardest person to tackle.
“From the running back position I’d definitely say Zeke. He runs behind his pads well and is really hard to bring down”
Weird. Don't have this number for this year but these are Zeke's rankings in forced missed tackles per rush & reception.

2016: 31st
2017: 40th
2018: 35th

Doesn't seem that difficlt to tackle.
 
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