Kenjon Barner

[SCP]

When the OP is about Barner becoming the feature back this year - the RB depth chart at the 1st preseason game shouldn't be ignored

If Getts was comfortable with Poole and Smith, Barner wouldn't have been drafted. Stew is an unknown and at this point I highly doubt he makes it through the season. Deangelo isn't getting younger and Tolbert is not an every down back. Barner has a real shot at a lot of playing time this year if he can pass protect. He can make the first guy miss which is huge when you have an oline like ours.

[CRA]

Hopefully you were kidding

Because if Stewie can't even practice yet he will not be able to tote the rock 20 times a game. Two ankle surgeries and he hasn't sniffed the field yet. I like Stewie but I am concerned. At least Beason participated in minicamp. Stewie has been preparing for the Tour de France all summer.

Kidding? We don't use a featured RB in Carolina....

Williams isn't going to be a featured RB....not on this team unless we see massive injuries.

[Mr. Scot]

Kidding? We don't use a featured RB in Carolina....

Williams isn't going to be a featured RB....not on this team unless we see massive injuries.

Worth remembering Chudzinski doesn't work here anymore.

[CRA]

Worth remembering Chudzinski doesn't work here anymore.

Worth remembering there is only one football.....and we have Cam, Williams, Stewart, Tolbert, and Barner. Our team isn't built to have a featured RB....

Doesn't matter who the OC is.....he isn't going to not have Cam, Stewart, Tolbert and Barner run to feature Williams. A 30 yr old RB who fit doesn't all the different aspects of this offense we work in.

[RelaxImaPro]

Weren't some of the biggest knocks on Barner going into the draft his propensity to run upright, to the sideline, and avoiding contact?  I don't know about you guys, but he seemed to have corrected ALL of that pretty fuging quickly... I saw one little, quick, physical, low-running, mean, shifty ass running back out there.

 

Even if he does have a fumbling problem (which I don't think he does) he at least seems to be very coachable.  Not something I'm worried about.

 

I don't remember him catching any passes (I might be wrong), but him having pretty good hands was supposed to be one of his strengths IIRC.  I think this dude is going to be one of, if not THE steal of the draft.

[Mr. Scot]

Worth remembering there is only one football.....and we have Cam, Williams, Stewart, Tolbert, and Barner. Our team isn't built to have a featured RB....

Doesn't matter who the OC is.....he isn't going to not have Cam, Stewart, Tolbert and Barner run to feature Williams. A 30 yr old RB who doesn't all the different aspects of this offense we work in.

Few teams do anymore.

But with that said, I do think there'll be more running and passing out of the backfield this season than the past two, and I do believe Williams will get a pretty healthy chunk of that.

Enough to be called a feature back? Unknown, but more than before seems likely.

[DoctorPanther]

Weren't some of the biggest knocks on Barner going into the draft his propensity to run upright, to the sideline, and avoiding contact?  I don't know about you guys, but he seemed to have corrected ALL of that pretty fuging quickly... I saw one little, quick, physical, low-running, mean, shifty ass running back out there.

 

Even if he does have a fumbling problem (which I don't think he does) he at least seems to be very coachable.  Not something I'm worried about.

 

I don't remember him catching any passes (I might be wrong), but him having pretty good hands was supposed to be one of his strengths IIRC.  I think this dude is going to be one of, if not THE steal of the draft.

 

I believe his first play was the screen out of the backfield that he caught and looked super smooth doing (until the ball got knocked out from behind)...seemed to be very fluid catching the ball though!

[RelaxImaPro]

I believe his first play was the screen out of the backfield that he caught and looked super smooth doing (until the ball got knocked out from behind)...seemed to be very fluid catching the ball though!

 

Damn, was it?  I thought his first play was a standard running play... but like I said, I can't remember. :P

[CRA]

He had that shoestring 3rd down catch where he then juked his way to a first down. Probably his best play from the game

[C47]

Damn, was it?  I thought his first play was a standard running play... but like I said, I can't remember. :P

 

He had a couple of catches, his first touch was the screen which was perfect till the ball got knocked free...

[RelaxImaPro]

Wow, I must've been completely out of it that game... I might've been suffering from the football high I was experiencing after football finally being here.

 

Either that or it was from all the beer I was drinking from football finally being here.

[dugbug]

Marty in his drunk Harry Caray voice: "But good RBs are so hard to come by! Look at the kid in the sombrero!"

 

"If you were a hot dog, and you were starving, would you eat yourself?"

[CPcavedweller]

I hate to use this as an example but here we go. Appalachian had a feature back for their three National Title runs and his name was Kevin Richardson. His junior or senior season he ran for about 1,500 yards and 30 touchdowns and guess what, App wins. They were the best team in the country for 3 seasons and were able to land a couple votes in the final poll for the AP Top 25, when they had a competent offensive line and a FEATURE back. Three years go by after he graduates with no one stepping up as a feature back and I believe Devon Moore was able to go over 1,000 yards once, however no national titles, no playoffs past the quarter finals.

 

Last season, team averages around 450 ypg, running back has 1,400 yards running and 300 receiving and around 17 total TDs(now with the Lions) and App has an offense in the Top 10, also put up 470 yards against ECU. 

 

Bottom line is that when there is continuity in the backfield the oline builds a chemistry with a player that can not be matched by running a two and three back system. We will wear down the defense, actually be able to use a change of pace back because the defense will get used to one style, and we will then be able to control the clock at the end of the game, as we did the last five games of the year.

 

Stats: Last 9 Games of 2012

 

At Wash:                                    Cam 8 Car. 39 yards: Stew 10 att. 51 yards: Dwill 6 att 37 yards : Win 21-13

Denver:                                     Cam 4 att 7 yards: Stew 8 att 31 yards: Dwill 6 att 6 yards : loss: bad

Tampa:                                     Cam 11 att 40 yards: Stew 15 att 43 yards:  Dwill 7 att 18 yards : win 27-21

Philly:                                        Cam 14 att 52 yards: Stew 8 att 27 yards: Dwill 11 att 21 yards: Win 30-22

Chiefs:                                       Cam 7 att 78 yards: Stew: IR Dwill:12 att 67 yards: Tolbert 2 Att 15 yards: Loss 27-21(Rigged)

ATL:                                          Cam 9 att 116 yards: Dwill 17 att 56 yards: Tolbert 5 att 20 yards

Go Fug yourselfs (San Diego): Cam 4 att 7 yards: Dwill 22 att 93 yards: Tolbert 9 att 40 yards: Win 31-7

Raiders:                                    Cam 12 att 60 yards: Dwill 10 att 19 yards: Tolbert 5 att 28 yards: Win 17-6

Aints:                                         Cam 7 att 34 yards: Dwill 21 att 210 yards: Tolbert 10 att 25 yards: Win 44-38

 

Aside from the Raiders, in those last 6 games, Dwill really got after it. My case for there being a feature back could never be proved by stats from a game Chud was an offensive coordinator in, but I know if we had been able to run off 6 minutes of clock to close out the game against Chicago, or Atlanta, we would have been looking at 9-7 the other way around.

 

A feature back can do this for you, and with a true change-of-pace running back like Kenjon it would serve us well to utilize one back that gives us the best chance. Stew has got to get healthy but one back should be featured per game, as the swapping seems to get us no where unless they are both on the field together. 

 

The Redskins full house pistol formation with Stew, Dwill, and Tolbert, or pull out Dwill or Stew and substitue with Barner would be deadly.

[Beast_3000]

how often does a panthers featured back consistently carry the ball 20x a game?

Very true I only recall one time last season... But I will say our most successful season in the last 5 years had a ton of 20 carry games between Stew and D-Will.

In 2009 when we had our last dominant season our backs averaged around 15 carries a game. They had several games over 20 carries that year.