Blount Doesn’t Know How To Gain A Yard
December 10th, 2010
There is no question the Bucs offense turned the corner when the Bucs offensive coordinator began to give LeGarrette Blount the damned ball.
Even Joe could tell the difference through the fog of several adult beverages.
It was the game at Arizona. Blount was running wild. So much so the Cardinals began stacking the box and suddenly the Bucs’ passing game blew up.
This was not a coincidence. For the first time all season opponents had to respect the Bucs’ running game which freed up so many other elements of the offense.
But the sad thing is, despite being a hulking 250 pounds, Blount has struggled to gain a simple yard when needed. That’s because the pride of Perry, when he played at Oregon, never, ever had to do such a thing, documents good guy Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times.
So while it might be surprising to see Blount get tackled for a loss on third and 1, remember, this is all new to him.
“You don’t take the ball and go downhill at Oregon,” Blount said. “You take the ball and go lateral. Then, when you see an opening, that’s when you get vertical. That helped me a lot with being patient.”
It’s a quality that has served him well at times, allowing blocks to develop, then slamming into available crevices. But that’s not the idea when all that stands between the Bucs and the end zone is 36 inches.
Yeah, it sounds simple to get the ball and run over a linebacker or a cornerback filling the gap. But when you have been taught for years to do other things in a different running style, just changing overnight isn’t as simple as it may appear.
Give Blount time. He’ll learn. Shoot, anyone remember how Mike Alstott used to put the ball on the ground almost as much as a Trent Dilfer pass attempt? Alstott adapted and changed and stopped the fumbling.
Blount can change as well.
For more on Blount, monitor Joe later this morning for a special Cosmic Schein.
December 10th, 2010 at 9:09 am
this has got to be the easiest thing to teach. If they can’t teach him this, then give damn ball to Graham for Christs sakes!
December 10th, 2010 at 9:44 am
i remember Brandon Jacobs having this same issue with his happy feet. I think its just a mental thing and it would help if olsen spread out the offense a little more on short yardage runs- that way the LB’s couldnt stack up and time their penatration and would have to stay honest for a potential pass play.
December 10th, 2010 at 10:13 am
JDouble had a point .. Its better to have a 5’9 thick running back around the Goal Line .. They have a low center of gravity and Bowl in there … When everyone on D knows LGB is getting the ball they just need to trip up LGBs legs.
For all the complaining about short yardage .. WHo gives a damn !!! Use Graham and not forget that this guys patient running style just gave us our 3rd 100 yd back in like 3 years or something horrible .. and that was done in the first 2.5 quarters of the game.
I even think Kareem Huggins if he returns healthy would be a great option .. The IDEA of Huge running back being great Goal Line backs is an Illusion somewhat.
December 10th, 2010 at 11:11 am
I hope it changes the next 3 weeks because he is on my Fantasy Team Dammit!!
December 10th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Blount can learn that and probably within a week or two. The biggest issue on the goal line or short yardage is GETTING LOW! It is why Brandon Jacobs is not good at it, he runs upright. Blount should be able to find a crease quickly and lower the shoulder and plow through it.
I have a feeling we will see him go over top a few times in his career as well.
I agree with the notion that a shorter thick guy (Jones-Drew, E. Smith, etc…) might be ideal but a bigger back can do it as long as they get low.
Remember how low Alstott would get his pads?
December 10th, 2010 at 11:18 am
I have wet dreams thinking about reuniting Blount with LaMichael James
December 10th, 2010 at 11:19 am
It starts with the line! if we cant be the low man and push the D back then we cant get the yard. We are so much better now that we have a run game. Take your time Bro! There is no way we are super bowl bound, and this year has been so much better then i expected all we are doing is fighting for pride and a late draft pick. The future is deffinitly bright!
December 10th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Blount will learn to lower his head and plow forward. Right now, he still runs very upright, which is why he can see the hole and make the moves he needs to gain 100 yards in a game.
Funny thing is, I remember Alstott running in short yardage situations and he wasn’t always the best about just hitting the hole either. Remember the Washington Redskins game YEARS ago, when the team was down near the goal line, they gave the ball to Alstott up the middle. Alstott hit the pile in the middle and got stood up, spun around and kept his balance and ended up taking it around the left edge for the score. Blount will learn to hit the middle hard, but he has to also learn the balance that Alstott had so that he can bounce off the hit and still make something out of nothing. Part of that was that Alstott was very good at squaring his shoulders to take the hit, allowing him to bounce off of it. Blount is still trying to slide off defenders, never actually squaring his shoulders. When he learns to do that, he’ll be incredible.
December 10th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
it’s amusing when people complained about our lack of a running game, yet when LaGarrette fixed it now people complain about him getting a yard. I’ll rather have problems with getting a yard than have a non existent running game. Honestly without him we would not have 7 wins and most likely having convos on picking top 5 in tha 2011 draft. Tha solution to our short yardage problem has been here for quite sometime. His name is Earnest Graham if anybody 4got.