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Is Deangelo Williams a multiple 1000 yard all pro running back if he was never paired with stewart

Guest Irv

By Guest Irv,
in Carolina Panthers

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Chimera Community Regular

Chimera

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It was always a cherry picked stat....

Lots of RBs have had badass ypc numbers if you cherry pick the window/criteria

That isn't a Williams knock....but it is one of the reasons people almost turned him into some mythical RB that wasn't quite as good as many pimped

how is being one of two running backs in history to average 5 ypc for 1000 carries cherry picked?

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Frizzy350 Apprentice

Frizzy350

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Ehhh Williams has kinda always been in a bad situation here to really put his stamp on the league.  He was running behind DeShaun Foster (HORRID starting back, GREAT 3rd down back) for 2-3 years and when we let Foster go, we got Stu.  He's never really had an opportunity to showcase himself as a feature back here.

 

Kinda funny, DLo was my favorite college player for a few years and I didn't even remotely consider we'd take him.  We had other needs outside of RB, we had a fairly late draft pick and I figured he'd have been drafted seeing as he was the NCAA all purpose yardage leader.  Pre-draft I predicted Williams would be significantly more impactful in the NFL than Reggie Bush (I know, hindsight is 20/20).

 

I think if Foxy wasn't so stubborn and gave the job to Dwill a bit earlier and didn't move into a 2-back set he'd be sitting on a real pretty career.  No, Williams isn't the fastest or strongest guy out there, but he's the most Barry Sanders like runningback since Barry Sanders.  Great balance and insane lateral quickness.

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Frizzy350 Apprentice

Frizzy350

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The only thing that made Williams special was his top end speed. He doesn't have the physical power or catching ability that you would like your RBs to have. He was only good when we had that amazing OL several years ago. 

 

Williams does not have great top end speed at all.  Stew is significantly faster than him.  Cam is probably faster than him.

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Frizzy350 Apprentice

Frizzy350

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unfortunately, poor pass protection is what kept williams from supplanting foster from day one. he even admitted to such.

 

Wonderfully stupid.  Considering at that time we were a run first team, it isn't a priority.  Foster was a proven 3rd down back, but on early down runs the dude was more concerned with his hop scotch skills than gaining positive yardage.  Why we wouldn't put Williams in on first and second down then bring in Foster is beyond me.  Sure you can argue "if Foster is on the field the defense knows its a pass!", but you can just as easily run a play action with Williams to completely toss them off balance.

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Frizzy350 Apprentice

Frizzy350

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Watch his 20 plus yd runs in 2008. He isn't fast now because hes old. 

 

I've watched just about every pro game of his career and a large number of his college games.  His acceleration is off the charts and the dude loses nearly zero momentum on his cuts, his top end speed was never elite though.  If you dig around some of his highlights you can see him hit daylight and get caught from behind.  That doesn't happen to guys with true top end speed.

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Bozarden Newbie

Bozarden

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I've watched just about every pro game of his career and a large number of his college games.  His acceleration is off the charts and the dude loses nearly zero momentum on his cuts, his top end speed was never elite though.  If you dig around some of his highlights you can see him hit daylight and get caught from behind.  That doesn't happen to guys with true top end speed.

 

DeAngelo ran a 4.40 before the 2006 draft and JStew ran a 4.46.

While 4.40 might not be considered 'elite' it is still very good speed.

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Thorrez Collaborator

Thorrez

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Ehhh Williams has kinda always been in a bad situation here to really put his stamp on the league. He was running behind DeShaun Foster (HORRID starting back, GREAT 3rd down back) for 2-3 years and when we let Foster go, we got Stu. He's never really had an opportunity to showcase himself as a feature back here.

Kinda funny, DLo was my favorite college player for a few years and I didn't even remotely consider we'd take him. We had other needs outside of RB, we had a fairly late draft pick and I figured he'd have been drafted seeing as he was the NCAA all purpose yardage leader. Pre-draft I predicted Williams would be significantly more impactful in the NFL than Reggie Bush (I know, hindsight is 20/20).

I think if Foxy wasn't so stubborn and gave the job to Dwill a bit earlier and didn't move into a 2-back set he'd be sitting on a real pretty career. No, Williams isn't the fastest or strongest guy out there, but he's the most Barry Sanders like runningback since Barry Sanders. Great balance and insane lateral quickness.

Williams bulked up a bit after the season we had Testaverdes (giving credit to him for showing true work etique) so he was not ready for the full load his first year.

Like you say, lateral and cuts are his assets. Ironic enough he is actually better against safties in the box because that makes it one cut and you are passed (and not caught for 30+ yards) instead of being angled towards the sideline and caught from behind 5 yards later.

The problem is you can only use this if the line gets you to the second level and that has not happened on a consistent basis since Otah went down.

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