Time to play Keiland Williams?

[RenegadeTK]

we dont have a back fast enough to get to the outside. please reference larry johnson on that pitch in the 4th quarter from sunday lol.

I still think CP has the speed to get to the outside. Is he AP or CJ? No, but i think he still has the quickness to turn the corner. I know this is blasphemy on this board, but I will wit for CP to prove me right. Unfortunately, I DON'T think our oline is ready to pull the way we need them to.

[TSO]

I was just saying yesterday that we should cut LJ and bring Torain up from the PS. CP's seemed to lose his burst and that falling in the open field **** is annoying.

lol, every year Portis gets bashed for this same thing at the start of the season only to end up having a great year (barring injury) with everyone kissing his butt.

It never fails.

I've learned to NOT bet against Portis. You'll end up looking foolish every time. Ask McD5. :pfft:

[Always A Commander Never A Captain]

agreed with that.

i still think williams has 0 burst as a RB tho. from all ive seen he just seems like a lumbering kinda guy. we need a guy with some electric speed. a brandon banks type in the backfield.

I hope you realize there are VERY VERY VERY few guys with Brandon Banks speed in the NFL. Anthony Alridge...but he couldn't hold onto the ball to save his life. And Chris Johnson. 31 teams will be searching for the next Chris Johnson in the draft, and I don't think anybody will find one for a long time. 4.24 speed from a legit running back simply just does not happen. Chris Johnson is a fluke.

[holmester]

what i cant figure out is how our pass protection has been so solid yet our run blocking has been so poor. how can a group of guys be good at one skillset and just not good at all at the other? its really strange to me.

It hasn't been all that poor. Its been explained that in this run game you are going to see an ugly 2, ugly 3, ugly 4, and then bam, a big hole for a big gain. I have seen that hole about 5-7 times a game only to see Portis lose his balance making his cut and not have the speed nor/moves to get past the second level. I mean in the last 3 years how many times have you seen CP make the last defender miss? I think the answer is literally zero. He just doesn't have it anymore. The 5-7 yard carries that he has gotten the last 2 games could have been some huge gains if we had a decent RB. I do agree though that with Heyer in we are going to need CP's blocking.

With Keiland I would say he is probaly just as fast as CP but has more balance/agility so he may be a bit of an ugrade on earyly downs.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

I still think CP has the speed to get to the outside. Is he AP or CJ? No, but i think he still has the quickness to turn the corner. I know this is blasphemy on this board, but I will wit for CP to prove me right. Unfortunately, I DON'T think our oline is ready to pull the way we need them to.

if he does ive yet to see it this season. i love CP dont get me wrong, im just not sure he has that NFL RB burst that we need. when you watch youngsters like CJ, AP, jahvid best, guys that can just flat out fly, we need a guy like that somewhere on this offense. maybe we'll see CP break out this weekend. id love to see it.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

It hasn't been all that poor. Its been explained that in this run game you are going to see an ugly 2, ugly 3, ugly 4, and then bam, a big hole for a big gain. I have seen that hole about 5-7 times a game only to see Portis lose his balance making his cut and not have the speed nor/moves to get past the second level. I mean in the last 3 years how many times have you seen CP make the last defender miss? I think the answer is literally zero. He just doesn't have it anymore. The 5-7 yard carries that he has gotten the last 2 games could have been some huge gains if we had a decent RB. I do agree though that with Heyer in we are going to need CP's blocking.

With Keiland I would say he is probaly just as fast as CP but has more balance/agility so he may be a bit of an ugrade on earyly downs.

fair enough, i guess i just havent seen those holes. maybe once or twice but i guess we still need a youngster that can cut and go very quickly. portis just doesnt seem to have that burst we need. im assuming next year we'll invest in a young stud back to compliment our passing game. im expecting some big offensive upgrades next season at RB/WR/OL.

[THEREALTOR1]

good post. as some others said before a guy like alridge was the perfect fit for this but the only thing i can think of was that he had fumble issues. the guy was a perfect edge back. and also as someone else pointed out, this is why portis was so nasty with denver. they would stretch that edge, then send him up the middle with the defense stretched out and he'd slay everybody. portis just doesnt have that explosiveness anymore.

Remember the breakdown that the cowboys blogger did before the cowboys game referencing the texans ZBS blocking and how now that they have the proper lineman in place to execute you could really see the lanes open up in the middle of the field? It would be interesting to see an overhead comparison of the skins and texans running similar plays just to see how much more of a difference there is between the two teams. I would hope that if were not getting the proper blocking to create these running lanes, that we adapt somehow. And it would seem to me that the easiest way to adapt this year would be to bring in a speed back so we can starting threatening the edges versus trying to replace the middle of the O line to create running lanes in the middle. I think it will be interesting to see how well good coaches are at adaptation as the weeks progress, and it will be interesting to see where that leads us to by say the half way point of the season.

[Vooskin]

Portis has been done for so long I still cant believe people dont see it. Yes he is a great blocker on third down but he has NO BALANCE. He goes down anytime someone touches him. He has been doing that tripping sheet for years now. He has had holes and cutbacks but he cant cutback anymore and just falls down when he gets touched. Look at any good running team and guess what? Their running backs break arm tackles, they break tackles in general. Im tired of seeing portis running. Love the guy but as a RB hes done cept for blocking.

[Xero21]

Having Williams and Portis split time would be fine. We have no running game right now, we need to try something.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

Remember the breakdown that the cowboys blogger did before the cowboys game referencing the texans ZBS blocking and how now that they have the proper lineman in place to execute you could really see the lanes open up in the middle of the field? It would be interesting to see an overhead comparison of the skins and texans running similar plays just to see how much more of a difference there is between the two teams. I would hope that if were not getting the proper blocking to create these running lanes, that we adapt somehow. And it would seem to me that the easiest way to adapt this year would be to bring in a speed back so we can starting threatening the edges versus trying to replace the middle of the O line to create running lanes in the middle. I think it will be interesting to see how well good coaches are at adaptation as the weeks progress, and it will be interesting to see where that leads us to by say the half way point of the season.

i was at the texans game in the endzone upper deck so i could see every play coming at me or going away. when the texans ran running plays, holes would open up or at least small enough holes for foster to slip through. when we ran most of the time there was a huge mish mash of dudes and portis literally had to claw his way through them for a few yards. the little extra push the texans oline helped them gain 3-5 yards per rush instead of our line which was getting 1-3. thats a huge difference over the course of a game so hopefully we can figure this out sooner than later. portis can still be effective between the tackles for sure. but i do not trust his edge speed anymore.

[THEREALTOR1]

i was at the texans game in the endzone upper deck so i could see every play coming at me or going away. when the texans ran running plays, holes would open up or at least small enough holes for foster to slip through. when we ran most of the time there was a huge mish mash of dudes and portis literally had to claw his way through them for a few yards. the little extra push the texans oline helped them gain 3-5 yards per rush instead of our line which was getting 1-3. thats a huge difference over the course of a game so hopefully we can figure this out sooner than later. portis can still be effective between the tackles for sure. but i do not trust his edge speed anymore.

That's exactly what I would have guessed was the difference between the two teams. I view the ZBS as a manipulation of the D line, almost like when you take a braided piece of rope and twist it opposite of how the strands are wound it appears to stretch out and the strands open up from one another and create holes. If were not able to "twist" the D line enough to open up those holes its going to be a long year. Like I said i'm sure the coaches will figure out how to best make use of what "twist" we can get and hopefully we can adapt from there. One key aspect I have in this staff -vs- the staff of the last 2 years is their football knowledge and the ability to use what we do have to the best of their ability until we are able to new pieces in place.

[RFK Lives]

Hate to take the Rome Wasn't Built in a Day viewpoint but I think the line is still learning the new zone scheme. Portis has shown some burst when he has had some room. I think it will get there soon, it might be this week. I would agree with the OP that maybe Williams should get the carries Portis does not, because Johnson, well, I don't see much burst there. I would be curious if Williams may have ball security issues in practce. Not that a reporter could tweet that from practice.

[Grimm]

Having Williams and Portis split time would be fine. We have no running game right now, we need to try something.

I would add cut Johnson and bring Torian up from the PS.

[DGREENHULK]

I voted yes but only to more PT for K Williams its still CP's job but LJ shouldn't touch the field again...I forget who made the joke that LJ thought he turned into Barry Sanders spinning reversing field bringing back the shake and bake 10 yards behind the line of scrimage....that was the perfect description.

[COWBOY-KILLA-]

Well Damn! Johnson cut? No I don't have a crystal ball, just some damn common sense..

[fifthorkid88]

I know CP is a great blocker and I am probably his biggest fan, but man our run game needs to get it going. What do you guys think about kickin the tires and seeing what we have with him? It can't be worse and we saw enough in him to sign him and put him on the 53. Time for a change?

Dude, he is on the 53 AND he played last weekend vs. Houston

[cphil006]

play him? It's time to start him...

[moondog]

This is like when everyone was begging for Campbell over Brunell. The backup is always more popular. Williams should see time over Johnson and he will now that Johnson's been cut, however, no way he should start over CP.

[hailskins11]

i was at the texans game in the endzone upper deck so i could see every play coming at me or going away. when the texans ran running plays, holes would open up or at least small enough holes for foster to slip through. when we ran most of the time there was a huge mish mash of dudes and portis literally had to claw his way through them for a few yards. the little extra push the texans oline helped them gain 3-5 yards per rush instead of our line which was getting 1-3. thats a huge difference over the course of a game so hopefully we can figure this out sooner than later. portis can still be effective between the tackles for sure. but i do not trust his edge speed anymore.

I agree with you 100%

I noticed that as well and it was the same deal against the pukes too. This is the first time we have had a game where our passing game clicked. If we have another game or two like that, watch how holes will open up as teams will not jam the box every play against us. The game on Sunday was all deep vertical passing. The best way to open up holes for the run game is having a team fear the pass. It also works the other way as well.

This is all my opinion with no facts but there are a lot of examples of this.

[Adam291]

I think CP can still get it done, and I would rather have him on the field as much as possible simply for his blocking ability on non-running plays. KW should get more time, but if the o-line can start to gel and get the ZBS down, CP is still fully capable of a huge season. I don't blame the o-line for a slow start; I think it probably takes time to get this sort of scheme down, especially when there is still uncertainty on who is even in the lineup. But once they get it, there's no reason to take out CP.

[PorkSkins]

We should have drafted a legitimate running back with one of our picks after Trent Williams. Mike Hart, Michigan's all time leading rusher was available with our 6th round pick. Instead we drafted a project for TE. Go figure? We need young legs in the backfield, this year.

[jsco1112]

We should have drafted a legitimate running back with one of our picks after Trent Williams. Mike Hart, Michigan's all time leading rusher was available with our 6th round pick. Instead we drafted a project for TE. Go figure? We need young legs in the backfield, this year.

Mike Hart was drafted 2 years ago.

[DexterSackMachine]

Williams is not ready to start. He's barely ready to be a #2 back, but he has to be now. He was an undrafted rookie who barely played in college, he needs some seasoning. He might be something down the road, but keep your head on you shoulders guys, CP is still a rock solid pro back when given some blocking. Keiland's time will come...just like Arian Foster's did (no I'm not saying he's Arian Foster).

[BuddyLeeGhostHunter]

I was gonna start this thread, glad someone else did.

Let's see what he kid has. He seems tough.

[Mahons21]

BLC is spot on with his assessment. I too was also seated an an endzone and could see all the plays going towards and away from me. There were absolutely no holes for Portis to go through, the line created 0 push, and he took what he could get. On maybe 2 plays did he see the holes foster was getting every down.

Hell even watching the replay tonight you can see a huge difference, notice when the Texans run the ball their linemen push our guys 2 yards upfield almost every time. However when the skins run the ball, not only are the linemen not getting the necessary push, they're frequently getting pushed backwards.