Twitter: Zeke Elliott on what he wants to improve in 2017

[Deep_Freeze]

I am curious to see how Elliott develops. I see him has more of a bruiser...it seems his natural style. Emmitt and Tony were unique. Not sure how Elliott plays out long term. Seems to me he will be a killer for at least his rookie contract. If he wants longevity, l am assuming this is your point, then he will need to control those natural impulses and avoid brutal contact. So, the question is...will he and can he. Marshawn Lynch and his kind have a place in the league too. Every great athlete gets compared to other great athletes.

Lynch is actually a person to think about, he was awful in Buffalo cause they didn't have a passing attack, but he turned it around with balance in Seattle. Zeke has alot more speed than Lynch ever wished for though. I agree its so hard to see what they will be so early in their career, and wish people would stop doing that....but its hard not to do that at other positions. At RB, its right there in front of everyone to see on Sunday, at DB, its not so easy.

Anyway, I do see Zeke as a tweener, which is exactly what Emmitt was. Emmitt could run around you, juke you, run through you, or be at your house in the morning eating your Cheerios. Either way, they need to give Zeke the ball and go from there. A bruiser in todays game, he shouldn't be.....Herschel Walker was a better bruiser than Zeke could ever be, that didn't last long. Zeke has to work on moves to be great, he's just not big enough to be a bruiser for very long.

 

[fishspill]

Those weights are relative to the time they played though, to me Zeke at 225 isn't far away from Emmitt's era at 208. Players are just bigger now. In Jim Brown's era, he was a freak of nature at his size, agility, power, and speed. Payton wasn't far from Emmitt's size and weight, but he looked so much bigger than Emmitt cause of who he was playing against were smaller.

Earl was an exception, so was Bettis, I don't want to see Zeke in the mold of either one of them. Earl was just plain nuts (don't make me mention his drop foot), and can barely walk cause he would take on 3 guys instead of just going out of bounds. Bettis had great feet, and much bigger than the size they listed him.

Would rather Zeke mold his game into a modern day Emmitt than pretty much anyone else in the game according to his metrics. Zeke is different, he's his own and shouldn't be compared to others, but making people miss should be more a part of his game instead of hurdling people.

The Cowboys may loosen his leash and let him catch more snaps, but if not I'd still like to see a hammer get early carries and those they hand out for a series each half. I think that would suit the idea of wearing teams down better than dudes like DMac and Morris. I'm still dreaming of Blount force trauma getting in here and setting a tone. Long odds on that.

 

[haleyrules]

Lynch is actually a person to think about, he was awful in Buffalo cause they didn't have a passing attack, but he turned it around with balance in Seattle. Zeke has alot more speed than Lynch ever wished for though. I agree its so hard to see what they will be so early in their career, and wish people would stop doing that....but its hard not to do that at other positions. At RB, its right there in front of everyone to see on Sunday, at DB, its not so easy.

Anyway, I do see Zeke as a tweener, which is exactly what Emmitt was. Emmitt could run around you, juke you, run through you, or be at your house in the morning eating your Cheerios. Either way, they need to give Zeke the ball and go from there. A bruiser in todays game, he shouldn't be.....Herschel Walker was a better bruiser than Zeke could ever be, that didn't last long. Zeke has to work on moves to be great, he's just not big enough to be a bruiser for very long.

Herschel was 225. Emmitt could bruise...but was a unique talent and had the great wall and Moose as well. Herschel, to me, was a greater threat catching the ball coming out of backfield, very versatile. I believe Walker only had 1 season, with the Cowboys, where he had a 1000 yrds actually running the ball...many of his yards were catching. Time well tell if Elliott becomes an Emmitt. Tough to get to Smiths level. Its not so obvious with RB's...they are so dependent on other factors...OL is everything the HC's overall vision. Football intelligence?? We shall see.

 

[haleyrules]

The Cowboys may loosen his leash and let him catch more snaps, but if not I'd still like to see a hammer get early carries and those they hand out for a series each half. I think that would suit the idea of wearing teams down better than dudes like DMac and Morris. I'm still dreaming of Blount force trauma getting in here and setting a tone. Long odds on that.

Interesting. Blount never thought about him. Nice fit and a great addition. Why did the Patriots cut him loose? Too much money??

 

[Bullflop]

Herschel was 225. Emmitt could bruise...but was a unique talent and had the great wall and Moose as well. Herschel, to me, was a greater threat catching the ball coming out of backfield, very versatile. I believe Walker only had 1 season, with the Cowboys, where he had a 1000 yrds actually running the ball...many of his yards were catching. Time well tell if Elliott becomes an Emmitt. Tough to get to Smiths level. Its not so obvious with RB's...they are so dependent on other factors...OL is everything the HC's overall vision. Football intelligence?? We shall see.

Although Herschel was able to catch well, his style as a runner made it difficult to be elusive. He was pretty much a straight-line type who didn't have the knack of juking people into missing him that much. From what I'm seeing of Zeke, he has that ability to a far greater extent than what Herschel did. His cuts are sudden and explosive whereas Herschel's were more subtle.

What Zeke meant by learning to avoid tacklers on the second level is that he's been prone to blast past people rather than trying to emphasize avoiding them completely once at the second level. Seems to me that he wants to adjust his mindset to become more elusive once he arrives there. It should be interesting to see if he's able to enjoy longer gains this year with that in mind. Either way, it's likely he'll do just fine.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

The Cowboys may loosen his leash and let him catch more snaps, but if not I'd still like to see a hammer get early carries and those they hand out for a series each half. I think that would suit the idea of wearing teams down better than dudes like DMac and Morris. I'm still dreaming of Blount force trauma getting in here and setting a tone. Long odds on that.

We don't have the Emperor, if we had him they would predict run from the start due to our lack of creativity. With DMac and Morris under contract, yeah the odds are pretty long on it actually happening. DMac is there cause of his versatility, Blount just doesn't bring that to an offense, plus there are other free agents still available that could help the team alot more if needed.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Although Herschel was able to catch well, his style as a runner made it difficult to be elusive. He was pretty much a straight-line type who didn't have the knack of juking people into missing him that much. From what I'm seeing of Zeke, he has that ability to a far greater extent than what Herschel did. His cuts are sudden and explosive whereas Herschel's were more subtle.

What Zeke meant by learning to avoid tacklers on the second level is that he's been prone to blast past people rather than trying to emphasize avoiding them completely once at the second level. Seems to me that he wants to adjust his mindset to become more elusive once he arrives there. It should be interesting to see if he's able to enjoy longer gains this year with that in mind. Either way, it's likely he'll do just fine.

I do think Zeke has the ability to do it, just a matter of putting it into practice. Just seems like his emotions run high when he gets to the second level sometimes, like he's never been there before. Blasting past people works better in college, its just an adjustment that he can improve upon.

I also would like to seem them teach him more of the route tree, as he is probably more of a natural catcher of the football than Twill really. Don't know if he could get to a Marshall Faulk role, but there is room for improvement there as pointed out in the tweet.

 

[haleyrules]

Although Herschel was able to catch well, his style as a runner made it difficult to be elusive. He was pretty much a straight-line type who didn't have the knack of juking people into missing him that much. From what I'm seeing of Zeke, he has that ability to a far greater extent than what Herschel did. His cuts are sudden and explosive whereas Herschel's were more subtle.

What Zeke meant by learning to avoid tacklers on the second level is that he's been prone to blast past people rather than trying to emphasize avoiding them completely once at the second level. Seems to me that he wants to adjust his mindset to become more elusive once he arrives there. It should be interesting to see if he's able to enjoy longer gains this year with that in mind. Either way, it's likely he'll do just fine.

Absolutely. I think Elliott has far more potential as a RB than Walker and l was very fond of Herschel...indeed, Walker was not especially elusive. That was my point. Herschel had good hands. Elliott, with some time, could be a hybrid. Really don't think he will run like Smith...but if could learn to catch like Walker and use his own running stlye he will be a killer.

 

[Bullflop]

Absolutely. I think Elliott has far more potential as a RB than Walker and l was very fond of Herschel...indeed, Walker was not especially elusive. That was my point. Herschel had good hands. Elliott, with some time, could be a hybrid. Really don't think he will run like Smith...but if could learn to catch like Walker and use his own running stlye he will be a killer.

Agreed -- I see no reason why Zeke can't utilize the quickness and change of direction he already has to be more elusive on the 2nd level. He'll only need to use his natural ability and consciously seek to juke would be tacklers rather than power through and past them. With his talent, it doesn't seem like anything too difficult for him to manage -- it's just a matter of tweeking his mindset, really.

I'm betting his RB coach will be sure to hound him relentlessly to make it happen -- after all, that's his job. I'm just glad to see Zeke wants to get better after getting so much acclaim last year. Not just any RB would be determined to improve after enjoying such a high level of success.

 

[fishspill]

Interesting. Blount never thought about him. Nice fit and a great addition. Why did the Patriots cut him loose? Too much money??

Probably money. If he's not under contract he doesn't have to do offseason stuff too, I imagine that could factor in.

 

[fishspill]

We don't have the Emperor, if we had him they would predict run from the start due to our lack of creativity. With DMac and Morris under contract, yeah the odds are pretty long on it actually happening. DMac is there cause of his versatility, Blount just doesn't bring that to an offense, plus there are other free agents still available that could help the team alot more if needed.

He can pass block too. Lots of receivers to get involved. I'm not too excited by another year of DMac and Morris spelling Zeke. I could be talked into someone else that's cheaper and/or younger.

I also need to see how they run the offense with Switz in the fold now. Where they go with that may change my view.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

He can pass block too. Lots of receivers to get involved. I'm not too excited by another year of DMac and Morris spelling Zeke. I could be talked into someone else that's cheaper and/or younger.

I also need to see how they run the offense with Switz in the fold now. Where they go with that may change my view.

Switz will challenge their creativity, I'm interested also. Anytime you can get the ball in a good punt returners hands you should, and he can actually run routes. Out of all these rookies, for novice fans, I figure he could be talked about the most.

DMac is solid if healthy, he can block, catch, and do pretty much anything you would need from a backup. He's not flashy anymore, but I figure the guy your looking for at RB is coming in the next draft.

 

[fishspill]

Patriots extended a one-year, $1.1 million, May 9 tender to free agent RB LeGarrette Blount.

NFL teams never use this tender, so leave it to the Patriots to bring it to light. May 9 was the deadline for free agents to count in the compensatory pick formula. By extending this tender, the Patriots protect the comp pick and will get one if Blount signs elsewhere before July 22. If Blount remains unsigned after July 22, he can only negotiate with the Patriots through Week 10. The tender pays the player 110 percent of what he made the previous season, so it amounts to $1.1 million for Blount. It's unclear if the Patriots value Blount or the comp pick more, but we'd bet he signs with a new club before the July 22 deadline. Per the Boston Herald, Blount has no plans to sign the tender.
Source: Profootballtalk on NBC Sports
May 10 - 3:29 PM

These contracts are a bear.

 

[Rogerthat12]

 

[Texas_Pete]

If he keeps doing this, I'm happy: