Starks - Breakaway Speed?

[Lurker64]

for his size he has alot of speed. could be a lethal combination

No offense to Tom Crabtree or Ben Roethlisberger, but you don't find a lot of Miami Red Hawks in the NFL these days.

[Harlan Huckleby]

thanks for the clip. Starks looked like a bean pole in college.

[Deputy Nutz]

Peterson and Johnson are the only two backs in the NFL that can run away from an NFL Cornerback. Very few guys in the NFL have the Speed to beat the angles of the game, especially with the hash marks so close together. Even the longer runs busted by Peterson and Johnson happen because they break tackles at the second level.

[Brandon494]

Peterson and Johnson are the only two backs in the NFL that can run away from an NFL Cornerback. Very few guys in the NFL have the Speed to beat the angles of the game, especially with the hash marks so close together. Even the longer runs busted by Peterson and Johnson happen because they break tackles at the second level.

Might want to add Jamaal Charles, CJ Spiller, Reggie Bush, Felix Jones, McFadden, McCoy, and Best to that list of RBs who can outrun an NFL CB.

[RashanGary]

Well, Grant has breakaway speed, and Starks just seems way more slippery. If we could combine the two...

Speed - Grant ran a 4.43 at the Combine, Starks a 4.50. At this age, it's a push.

Power - Grant is knocked for not breaking tackles, but he puts his pads down and delivers a blow. Last year I'd give the edge to Grant. Looking at Starks this year and Grant having lost 5 lbs, I'm guessing it's a push.

Decisiveness/zone instinct - Subjective. Harry Sydney on the fan 107.5 says this is one of Grant's strengths. He hits the hole, hits it hard and churns out steady yards. Lurker said Grant is home run or miss. Sydney says he's steady. I'm with Sydney. Grant had one run over 40 yards in 2009 yet he averaged over 4 per carry. That's steady not home run or miss.

Breaking tackles / Making guys miss - Big advantage Starks. Grant is north/south. He can't avoid contact, so tacklers typically get a good shot on him. He runs with great north/south lean, but his lateral balance after that first cut is nil.

Catching the ball - Advantage Starks. Did it alot in college and Grant is proven to be blah at it.

Summary - Grant will get you the quick, tough yards. He runs north/south, has good instincts and speed. He can't really use his speed because he's typically down at first contact as he can't avoid direct hits. He's a good fit in our offense because he keeps us in 2nd and 6 or 7 and gives AR steady down and distance.

Starks is similar, but he can also make guys miss. He should be able to break more 20+ yard runs and more 40+. The difference between 4.4 and 4.5 once a back has a lead is minimal. With Starks agility, he should get away more and break more. He also catches the ball better. With Starks build, it seems smart to split carries. He's long and runs a little high.

I give the edge in talent/skill to Starks, but he's also a bigger injury risk. The Grant/Starks duo should be able to wear teams down and keep the both of them more fresh as the season wears on.

Grant is still a good fit because our passing game is our bread and butter. Grant still keeps us in good down and distance. Starks just adds to the show.

[Brandon494]

Harry Sydney is fucking annoying and has no clue what he is talking about half the time.

[Brandon494]

I honestly believe we'll have a top 10 rushing attack this season. Grant and Starks as the one two punch will be hard to contain and Green can step right in if one of those two guys have to miss a couple of games. We are so stacked on offense just thinking about it makes me go from 6 to midnight.

[Zool]

We are so stacked on offense just thinking about it makes me go from 6 to midnight.

It's currently high noon on my sundial.

[Deputy Nutz]

Might want to add Jamaal Charles, CJ Spiller, Reggie Bush, Felix Jones, McFadden, McCoy, and Best to that list of RBs who can outrun an NFL CB.

Maybe, but they can't run away from the angle of pursuit.

[Lurker64]

Maybe, but they can't run away from the angle of pursuit.

But Peterson and Johnson can?

Based on combine data: Jamaal Charles (4.38), Reggie Bush (4.37), C.J. Spiller (4.27), Darren McFadden (4.33), and Jahvid Best (4.34) are all faster than Adrian Peterson (4.40). None of them have the combination of "physical" and "fast" that Peterson has shown, but "running away from a CB" is about speed, not power.

[Deputy Nutz]

It is breaking a long run, not exactly having to run away from people. Thanks for posting 40 times though, because they don't actually mean a hill of beans on a football field. Getting from point "A" to point "B" on a football field, and no one does it better than Peterson. It isn't a race.

[Pugger]

I honestly believe we'll have a top 10 rushing attack this season. Grant and Starks as the one two punch will be hard to contain and Green can step right in if one of those two guys have to miss a couple of games. We are so stacked on offense just thinking about it makes me go from 6 to midnight.

I'm hoping Grant and Starks can be this team's Levens and Bennett from our 96 SB team.

[MadScientist]

I just hope the line can actually open some damn holes for the backs. Other than that one run in the KC game, the line looked scary bad in the preseason.

[Packgator]

What is his longest run or catch so far in his short career?

Starks longest run during the regular season was 16 yards. Longest run during playoffs was 27 yards vs Philly. Not sure about longest catch.

[RashanGary]

Peterson has about 5500 yards. He has about 8,000 to go until he catches Ladanian Tomlinson and Tomlinson will continue to rack up yards for a year or two more. Chances are, Tomlinson will finish with a thousand or two more than he has now. He had 900 last year alone.

To catch Tomlinson, Peterson would have to rush for 1,200 yards every year for 8 years (until he's 34 years old)

We can all sit around sucking Peterson's dick, but he's got a long way to go before he shows the extended dominance that Tomlinson has shown

And Tomlinson has over 4,000 yard receiving and 144 touchdowns. (compared to 1200 and 52)

Nothing wrong with Peterson. He can be one of the most dominant RB's for a short time, or he could end up being a dominant runner for a long time. So far he has 4 good years. He's a great player, but I'm not afraid of no Peterson. We'll whip his ass every year he's in Minnesota and I have a feeling he'll be getting progressively worse from here on out.