Zeke coaching up Hardy was good stuff

[RonnieT24]

Further evidence of Zeke's growth. Also a testament to Hardy's coachability and determination.

 

[Hennessy_King]

That was really good to see

 

[jazzcat22]

Zeke is a team player for sure.
Can't wait to see him run through the TB defense Thursday night.
And some on here will not like it.

 

[John813]

Was this from hard knocks? Or is a video not popping up for me?

 

[Ranching]

I thought he sucked? I heard it here......

 

[RonnieT24]

Zeke is a team player for sure.
Can't wait to see him run through the TB defense Thursday night.
And some on here will not like it.

Unfortunately you're correct. Seeing Zeke in this last Hard Knocks episode was an eye opener for me. Up to now we've only seen him in pads and in the sweats. Seeing him in the shorts and just the shirt and the compression pants the difference in his body was much more noticeable. To be honest I'm a little scared about his having the same power we've come to expect from him. I am also worried about durability at the smaller size. But Emmitt played his entire career at 215 or less until he hit 31 or 32. So it can be done but not with the level of contact Zeke takes. He's gotta be more of a make you miss guy at this size.

 

[Ranching]

Was this from hard knocks? Or is a video not popping up for me?

Not popping up for me, is worrisome....

 

[Carson]

Was this from hard knocks? Or is a video not popping up for me?

Hard knocks

 

[RonnieT24]

Was this from hard knocks? Or is a video not popping up for me?

It was Hard Knocks.. They edited together a sequence of Hardy running play wrong and getting stuffed and then Zeke pulling him aside and telling him how he's supposed to run it.. Then Zeke ran it the right way and got a big gain.. Then shortly after Hardy ran the play the right way and did the same. I'm sure they edited the while sequence down to make it shorter.. and the whole thing probably took over 30 minutes.. They pared it down to about 2 minutes. But it was a good add.

 

[817Gill]

He may act immature in terms of personality but the dude is extremely football smart. Sits in on QB and OL meetings.

 

[Carson]

He may act immature in terms of personality but the dude is extremely football smart. Sits in on QB and OL meetings.

I think he’s one of the players who gained the most from this.

People are seeing his smarts and how hard he works

 

[RonnieT24]

I think he’s one of the players who gained the most from this.

People are seeing his smarts and how hard he works

There will always be those who will claim this is the first time he's ever worked hard and downplay the work he puts in as being for the cameras. The fact of the matter is that no back is as good at blitz pickup as he is without having an extremely high football IQ and a level of toughness and want to that borders on super human. He obviously had a lot of growing up to do coming into the league.. and I think he has done just that..

 

[G2]

I would be more excited if he was on the roster.

 

[RonnieT24]

I would be more excited if he was on the roster.

I think he made too many mistakes to be on the roster. Too many drops and missed assignments. He's good with the ball under his arm but he needs work to become roster worthy. I'm happy he's going to get that chance though.

 

[jwooten15]

I agree! Hard Knocks showed people a different size of Zeke. He and Dak definitely run that locker room

I truly hope that, on the field, he’s close to 2016-2017 Zeke. I’m pulling for him

 

[8FOR!3]

He may act immature in terms of personality but the dude is extremely football smart. Sits in on QB and OL meetings.

Hard worker and he's starting to show a lot of leadership qualities. Also when he told Hardy to "watch this" it looked like it came easy to him. He understands the game. Teams better not sleep on Zeke this year.

 

[RonnieT24]

Hard worker and he's starting to show a lot of leadership qualities. Also when he told Hardy to "watch this" it looked like it came easy to him. He understands the game. Teams better not sleep on Zeke this year.

I don't think Zeke has set foot on a football field since he was maybe a sophomore in high school where he wasn't the #1 target of the opposing defense. He's always going to garner a lot of attention until DCs are absolutely sure he has nothing left. Teams used to load up on Emmitt when he was 33 years old. When a guys does what he did his first 3-4 years in the league defenses will not write him off after one injury ravaged season. Now if he stumbles against THIS year.. all bets are off.

 

[G2]

I think he made too many mistakes to be on the roster. Too many drops and missed assignments. He's good with the ball under his arm but he needs work to become roster worthy. I'm happy he's going to get that chance though.

I look at it like he's a young and immature kid. I think once he can absorb all that he's learning he will be better. He seems to have the physical gifts.

 

[817Gill]

I think he’s one of the players who gained the most from this.

People are seeing his smarts and how hard he works

Exactly, no surprise why he likes to let loose a bit. Just hope he comes into camp in this shape annually.

 

[odog422]

Unfortunately you're correct. Seeing Zeke in this last Hard Knocks episode was an eye opener for me. Up to now we've only seen him in pads and in the sweats. Seeing him in the shorts and just the shirt and the compression pants the difference in his body was much more noticeable. To be honest I'm a little scared about his having the same power we've come to expect from him. I am also worried about durability at the smaller size. But Emmitt played his entire career at 215 or less until he hit 31 or 32. So it can be done but not with the level of contact Zeke takes. He's gotta be more of a make you miss guy at this size.

Yeah Emmitt was listed at 209 but he was truly gifted in the way he was able to avoid direct collisions.

Zeke doesn’t have the shiftiness of Emmitt, but but I’m guessing he’ll start the season around five pounds lighter than when he came out of college. I think he probably got some direct hits the first couple years and rationalized he should bulk up. He always had power but it was complementary, not the overriding factor which is where I think he ended up with the extra weight. It changed how he ran and was able to run.

He had quite a few breakaway runs in college and year 1. Let’s hope this brings back some of that. He really looks good - albeit short clips - on Hard Knocks. Quicker for sure but still under control and fluid.