Trent Richardson is a beast, not a bust

[Barian Fostate]

From this article: http://www.battleredblog.com/2014/7/8/5 ... is-a-beast

Even more surprising, out of 42 "bad runs" that went for three yards or less in those five games, only four of those bad results were directly the fault of Richardson himself. That means that a staggering 90% of Trent Richardson’s so-called bad plays were caused by the abysmal run blocking that Indianapolis and Cleveland put in front of him last season. There were times while watching Oniel Cousins and Samson Satele get defeated over and over where I was almost in disbelief with just how impossibly hard it was for Richardson to find a well-blocked lane. If Satele was not beaten, then surely Gosder Cherilus had blown a block, or Anthony Castonzo, or Hugh Thornton, or one of Indy’s many tight ends who could not seal an edge if their lives depended on it (I’m looking at you, Coby Fleener) had. In short, I would argue that Richardson got his 2.9 yards per carry in spite of the blocking in front of him. Had a lesser talent been behind that line, it could have been much, much worse.

[ConnSKINS26]

So...the OL decided to block for everyone else. But when Trent came in, they just collapsed into the backfield?

Right.

[Hottoddies]

I guess I need some math help. Is Donald Brown a lesser talent and somehow 5 ypc is "much, much worse" then 2.9 ypc? Or does San Diego have super beast buried on their depth chart?

[RavingLunatic]

I am cautiously optimistic about Trent, and I only have him in one of 5 leagues.
Not sure what his deal was last year, but I am pretty confident that Donald Brown is not the better RB.

[laxinx57]

Both of your concerns would be answered if you actually read the linked article.

Its a nice detailed and thoughtful article. I just drafted Trent with the thought in mind that I truly believe he will improve and can very well put up similar numbers to his rookie year. This article makes me think I made a good choice. Thanks for the link.

[duckman92]

Both of your concerns would be answered if you actually read the linked article.

Its a nice detailed and thoughtful article. I just draft Trent with the thought in mind that I truly believe he will improve and can very well put up similar numbers to his rookie year, and this article makes me think I made a good choice. Thanks for the link.

He had a 3.6 YPC his rookie year. I wouldn't want similar numbers.

[italian_stallion21]

Both of your concerns would be answered if you actually read the linked article.

Its a nice detailed and thoughtful article. I just draft Trent with the thought in mind that I truly believe he will improve and can very well put up similar numbers to his rookie year, and this article makes me think I made a good choice. Thanks for the link.

He had a 3.6 YPC his rookie year. I wouldn't want similar numbers.

Exactly, his TD's kept him startable, although he should get plenty of opportunity for that in Indy going forward. Isn't his biggest problem the fact he has zero acceleration? Like he breaks all these tackles, but always gets tackled by the second guy because it takes him so long to get going again. I remember reading that somewhere and then watched a video and it makes perfect sense.

[sugbear65]

Wow I'm a guy that likes pictures when I'm reading so I don't get confused, but man that article was a bit much. Basically what I got from it was the novel idea that if Trent had a better offensive line, he'd put up better stats. Oh and if we take away all of Brown's biggest carries, and pretend he received more carries then he did, but also pretend he got stuffed on said carries, then his YPC would have been just as bad as Trent's. So obviously the "Brown looked better theory" holds no water, lol.

[DJB]

lol. Dis Trent write that article himself?

[Phaded]

I do have faith he will bounce-back.

Is Trent a future top 5 back? Probably not.

However, he is better than his statistical line dictates last year.

He will be better this year.

[laxinx57]

Both of your concerns would be answered if you actually read the linked article.

Its a nice detailed and thoughtful article. I just draft Trent with the thought in mind that I truly believe he will improve and can very well put up similar numbers to his rookie year, and this article makes me think I made a good choice. Thanks for the link.

He had a 3.6 YPC his rookie year. I wouldn't want similar numbers.

I dont really care if he gets 5 YPC for 1000 yards and 10 TDs or 3 YPC for 1000 yards and 10 TDs. They both translate to the same amount of fantasy and isnt that what this is about? Obviously a back that has a higher YPC is more ideal from a reality standpoint, but points are points in fantasy. Leveon Bell averaged 3.5 YPC and he's still widely regarded as a top 10 dynasty back, and Trent was the #2 RB after his rookie year and a 3.6 YPC.

I just dont believe that Trent is all of a sudden not talented, and offensive lines clearly play a large part in a RB's success. Matt Forte and Demarco Murray had great years with improved OL play. SF in recent years has had a very good OLs and Frank Gore continues to put up numbers. Same with the Bengals and Eagles recently. If the Colts OL improves, which should happen, Trents numbers should get better.

[ericanadian]

Someone else pointed out how Trent's success in Alabama was largely under a zone-blocking scheme and that a lot of his struggles can be attached to his difficulty in adapting to other schemes. Given that Indy is still a power running game team, I fully expect Trent to continue to put up terrible YPC numbers. Some think Hamilton will adjust, but let's be honest here and acknowledge the fact that Pep Hamilton has never been known as an offensive innovator and the likelihood of him making a drastic change such as heavily moving to a zone blocking scheme are somewhere between zero and none.

[DLFiend]

So because some $hitty blog blames the o-line we're supposed to completely overlook Donald Brown and Ahmad Bradshaw running rampant behind the same o-line and ignore the fact that Trent looks plodding and slow?

Yeah, no. He sucks.

[the_future]

Someone else pointed out how Trent's success in Alabama was largely under a zone-blocking scheme and that a lot of his struggles can be attached to his difficulty in adapting to other schemes. Given that Indy is still a power running game team, I fully expect Trent to continue to put up terrible YPC numbers. Some think Hamilton will adjust, but let's be honest here and acknowledge the fact that Pep Hamilton has never been known as an offensive innovator and the likelihood of him making a drastic change such as heavily moving to a zone blocking scheme are somewhere between zero and none.

Trent's success at Alabama was because every player on his team was a 5 star stud that was better than the guy across from him. The guy ran behind THREE mid 1st round picks, a 2nd round pick and a 4th rounder. Pretty sure I could squeeze out 3 yards a carry with that o-line...

[holy_stromboli]

The GIF of Coby Fleener "tackling" Trent himself. Hilarious. They need Dwayne Allen badly.

All in all, interesting article. For the most part, those breakdowns were very well covered. However, there were a couple where I disagreed with the author. On about 2 or 3 gifs, it looks like Trent either stutter steps just enough before handoff to lose a split second or he could have burst through a hole or 2 for a hard-earned 5 yard gain rather than a 1 yard gain of going towards his original path. Now part of the latter could either be bad vision, or going to where the play is designed. If he really has a better handle on the playbook this year, he cannot possibly do any worse. I expect improvement, but I just wonder if it will be more than his rookie year stats. The author makes mention of improved line this year, but he didn't really mention a likely improved WR group with the additions of Nicks and Moncrief, along with getting Wayne back and another year of seasoning on Hilton and Rogers. I'd be happy to gamble on Trent as my RB3.