LeGarrette Blount’s Success A “Myth”
April 6th, 2011
If one had to rank the top two Bucs from the 2011 season, Josh Freeman is easily No. 1.
One would not look like a fool picking LeGarrette Blount No. 2.
Think about the Bucs offense before Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik snatched Blount off waivers and he got in the lineup: The rushing attack was as stagnant as a moss-covered Midwestern pond. The passing attack was simply average.
It is no coincidence that when Blount was given plenty of touches, the offense blew up, beginning with the Arizona game. All of a sudden, defenses, which completely ignored the Bucs running game and focused solely on shutting down the pass, now had to change tactics which opened up the pass as evidenced by Arrelious Benn’s blooming.
But Andy Benoit doesn’t see it that way. Blogging for the New York Times, he pored over tape of Blount from last season and has determined that Blount’s Pro Bowl-like rushing was, well, mythological.
Myth Buster
LeGarrette Blount is a budding star
Character wasn’t the only reason Blount went undrafted. And there’s a reason the Titans cut him after training camp. Blount has little speed and struggles to change directions. That’s fine for a power runner. But Blount’s not a power runner. He’s just a runner who happens to weigh 250 pounds. To his credit, Blount broke a lot of tackles in 2010 (it was amazing the way defenders would slowly trickle off of him). But far too often he left yards on the field by bracing for contact or not pressing his holes. And he couldn’t be counted on in the passing game or short-yardage situations. It will be difficult for Blount to carve out a long-term niche in the N.F.L.
Well, let’s be honest here: Just what running back can be counted on to provide a long-term niche in the NFL? Running backs are a dime a dozen and one reason for that is the brutal punishment they take.
Joe watched the games just like Benoit. If Benoit couldn’t see the difference in the Bucs offense once Blount got rolling — it wasn’t as if defenses ignored Blount — then Joe might offer his own glasses to Benoit.
Joe believes Blount is sort of a hybrid: Not cat-like quick yet not an overpowering bruiser either. Just a little of both.
Joe wonders what Lawyer Milloy thinks of all of this?
April 6th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TClRXTk4Yio
Andy who? Oh, some guy in the media again downplaying a Bucs player.
*yawn.*
April 6th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Andy Benoit is tripping.
Blount’s the real deal. If the offensive lines stays healthy Blount gains 100+ yards in 2011.
As for the type of running back – he reminds me of Alstott; not fast but brutal and effective!
April 6th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
I doubt this guy watched many Bucs games last year.
He’s flat-out wrong.
April 6th, 2011 at 12:28 pm
Wow! That guy couldn’t be more off base. It is obvious he didn’t watch the games.
Also, a RB 250 lbs that can move like he did is what makes him amazing. Compared to Johnson he is slower, of course, but Johnson isn’t 250 lbs either. Being 250 lbs is an advantage so long as you can move which he can. a lot of DBs are in thw 200 lb range, Blount makes them look like little leaguers.
I knew Blount was a bull the first time I saw him at the Steelers game. He ran over Troy Polimalu, the best Safety in the world.
April 6th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
“Just what running back can be counted on to provide a long-term niche in the NFL? Running backs are a dime a dozen and one reason for that is the brutal punishment they take.”
Beat me to it, Joe. Beat me to it.
I’d love to see LB get the rock at least 20 times a game. Like Joe always says, run him until someone stops him. Period.
April 6th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
I’m not sure how you can call a 1000 yd rusher a myth. His 5 yards per carry average is the stuff of legend maybe, but not myth.
April 6th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
By the way, nice 5 yard hurdle, LB. Never realized that until I watched it in slow motion.
April 6th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Blount is by no means a complete back, but a very effective one-cut RB. If he can work on his short-yardage game, this guy will be scary good.
April 6th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
Blount is a bigger, faster version of Alstott. He plays big but runs more like a scatback and has very decepting speed. Anybody who watched tha Cardinals game saw that burst of speed after he hurdled Kerry Rhodes. It took a diving, shoe string tackle by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who ran a 4.29 40 at his combine.
April 6th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Here’s to hoping that Blount goes from Myth to Legend in 2011.
April 6th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Blount isn’t perfect- no one is! But, Man, I believe the best is yet to come!!
April 6th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
I guess he didn’t see Blount knock Malcolm Jenkins out in week 17 which ended up costing the Saints in Seattle.
I guess he didn’t see Blount hurdle Kerry Rhodes and go on a 50 yard foot race against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
I guess he didn’t see Blount go all AND 1 playground football on the Carolina Panthers with a helicopter 360 goal line dunk.
I guess he didn’t realize that Blount accomplished a large majority of his yards with a pieced-together offensive line, put together with rookies.
April 6th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Who’s this Benoit douche, anyway? Blount has moves like Morpheus!! What was this Andy smuck watching?
April 6th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
What MObucs said…
April 6th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Ill bet defensive cord. dont think its a myth.
April 6th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Lets face it, any player that makes the Buc offense look good will be deemed mythical.
April 6th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Capt.Tim:
If you were a regular viewer of the man’s channel, the NFL Network, as Joe is, you would readily recognize Mr. Benoit.
April 6th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Blount may not have that 5th gear in straight-line speed, but he is one of the most agile 250lb RB’s I’ve seen in a while.
I think the biggest issue with this Benoit guy’s argument is that he claims that all these reasons are why he won’t repeat his success. But if you ask me, if Blount was able to put together the results he had despite his unpolished skills, shouldn’t that be an argument why he can/should improve upon those stats with a little polish to his game and a healthy OL?
I mean this guy is basically saying Blount lucked into a 1000 yard season. Anyone with two eyes knows that’s not the case.
April 6th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
How about the fact that Blount had 3.7 yrds per attempt AFTER CONTACT…HATER
April 6th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Blount is a rookie and played at times like a rookie.
He’s not a power back? Could of fooled me.
He is not polished. He does need to learn how to pick up the blitz. He does need to hit the hole better on short yardage. That said, when was the last time us Bucs fans felt that our running game can equal an opponent’s running game?
I say the Bucs contract now and concentrate on futbol. HAHA
April 6th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Blount was a ROOKIE! He put up a grand in less than a season. What more does the guy want, and he shouldn’t judge Blount as a 5 yr. pro.
Blount will improve, count on it.
April 6th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
Andy is totally off. Blount is a poor short yardage back which is unusual for a 250lb back. He also is not good until he is in the secondary which will be the great majority of his runs.
Andy is wrong though if he thinks that Blount is not above-average and dangerous once he gets into the seconday level. He is dangerous because his combination of size and at full speed (which takes a while) makes him tough for DB’s, most guess and go low – and we have seen the result.
April 6th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Anybody who listened to the radio yesterday knows the New York media is made up of d-bags.
April 6th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Blount is fast enough to bust 40 or 50 yd runs. So maybe a back will catch him, but he’ll get dragged for another 10 or so. No complaints here with Blount. The O line deserves some of the credit too.
April 6th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Andy Benoit’s comments regarding Blount “getting cut” were misleading. The Titans wanted to put him on their practice squad. It wasn’t like they were totally getting rid of him.
The knock on him not being a power back is off, and so is the knock on him not being a short yardage back.
Most of those holes last year were made BY Blount, because the oline wasn’t doing as good a job as it should have been. I would love to get a FB in that is great at blocking, catching and running.
April 6th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
Here was my comment on the New York Times website for Andy the brainchild reporter. I was so fired up i had to register and post to his garbage analysis.
“To say that LeGarrett Blount will “have a hard time carving a niche in the NFL” is almost laughable. The guy is a 250 lb beast who can hurdle tacklers and those that did not tackle him did not “slowly trickle off of him” they generally landed on their backs. If you watched enough of the Bucs season to make an intelligent comment you would realize that his 1,000 yards in only 12 games was no MYTH it was downright impressive. This guy is the real deal. I guess you would rather have LT or maybe a washed up Brandon Jacobs but down here in Florida we have the real deal “carving out his niche” little by little. Andy go watch a little more Buccaneer football before you write anymore brainless articles like this one.”
April 6th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Blount led the league in broken tackles and im pretty sure that he was 2nd in the NFL in rushing from week 11 to the end of the season. Not 2nd for rookies… 2nd for the entire NFL. That’s behind a patchwork o-line. This Andy guy is a bad joke.
April 6th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TClRXTk4Yio
April 6th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Andy Benoit is an idiot.
True, Blount needs to hit the holes a little harder (ie. 4th and goal situations).
Other than that, I did not see much wrong with him.
Of course he is from NY and they are probably just jealous because their big, bruising back is a pansy who would rather run like Barry Sanders.
April 6th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
Joe- it was rally a rhetorical/sarcastic question, than a query for information
April 6th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
The only thing I like about this guy is that he stayed in New York instead of a lot of them who end up down here crowding up Dale Mabry with their same dbag attitute. I love how he contradicts himself within his own article. Blount isn’t a power runner, he just weighs 250 and breaks a bunch of tackles. Yeah.
April 6th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
Nick2,
Nice job.
I hope you took a shower after posting on the NY Times’ Website.
April 6th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Blount is Blount. Just because he isn’t your stereotypical running back with 4.5 speed with a terrell Davis frame doesn’t mean he’s a myth- Just ask Jerome Bettis, Peyton Hillis or Maurice Jones Drew..
April 6th, 2011 at 7:23 pm
This guy is a moron, and I live in NY. Left yards on the field? The only thing he left on the field was jock straps of the guys he jumped over.
April 6th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
Are we supposed to give a sh*t what New York media thinks of our players? Not a power runner? Blount makes New York’s Brandon Jacobs look like a joke in comparison. Typical New York b.s. Talk sh*t about every other cities players until they become free agents and George Steinbrenner can buy them for the yank…oops, wait we’re talking about football here… and a salary cap. What a damn shame the city of New York can’t just cherry pick every star from every team it feels like to buy its way to championships in football too.
April 6th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
Andy should lay off the crack pipe before blogging. What a dumbass!!!
April 7th, 2011 at 10:52 am
@ Capt. Tim – “Blount has moves like Morpheus!! ” BRILLIANT! You could put that on t-shirts and sell them! Or it can be a lyric for a Buccaneer rap song. : ) Son of a b!!!! They need to get this lockout resolved. I want more Blount force trauma and more 4th quarter magic from the magic man himself # 5. This young team has me stoked for more.