Amon-Ra and the run game

Amon-Ra…90 for 912 7 carries for 61

Would really like to see the Lions use him in the run game more often. Not 59 carries like Deebo, more like between 2020 Robert Woods, (24 for 155), and Deebo so @ 34 or 2 per game. Anything we can do to keep the D out of sync, adding some pages to what the opposition has to account for, I’m in.

It’s an easier sell if you can run block when you go in motion, which is something he excelled at last season.

Now, this success was a direct contradiction to Lance Zierleins take pre-draft…
" His focus drops underneath are a concern and his run blocking can be woeful at times."

Amon-Ra is likely to get fewer opportunities at WR this season with an improved core of players at his position and the return of Hock and the addition of Mitchell. Adding some chances with running the ball, yeah, I’m for it.

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That is interesting since he finished with the best drop rate in the NFL last year

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Not only can the Sun God play running back, he’s also a very good blocker as a slot WR. He knocked some D-ends on their ass last year. Dudes were 50-70 pounds heavier than him. Kid is a stud.

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#truth
he is a good enough WR to pull CBs out of the play, a good enough blocker to knock them out of the play, and durable enough, tough enough, and athletic enough to run the ball. Love him. He truly plays above his level of talent already …AS A ROOKIE!!!

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I tried to find some Robert Woods highlights of his runs, to get a feel for what he did and didn’t do. Well, I had to get a highlight youtube to find a run. There are several, there’s even a play with Goff blocking for him down field. Well designed plays…

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Anytime Swift and Brown are in the game, defenses are vulnerable. Plain and simple.
Now, add Chark, JRey, and Hock.
Then, at some point, Jamo will be part of the mix.
This is going to be a very potent offense.
If the defense can be middle of the road, we should have a very good season.
I’m excited.

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The player Woods most reminds me of is Kupp. LOL. They are gonna be NASTY this year. Jefferson is an underrated piece out there too (though not as reliable).

That said, this video actually helps me to feel better about Goff. #1 priority for this season should be

  1. improvement on DL
    -stop/slow the run
  2. Create pressure
    then…
  3. PROTECT GOFF

OL will maul ppl in the run game…if they can be as successful in pass blocking, Goff should tear it up.

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Gotta be careful going overboard with it, receivers today can see what’s happening to RBs and don’t want to shorten their careers that way. The Niners basically ruined their relationship with Deebo because of it. Even the sun God agrees (2nd half of article):

I think we should try and keep it around 15 carries or so max.

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Third play in he throws it over 50 yards and hits Woods in stride, but there are also plays where Woods had to grab it just before it hit the ground. Lot’s of plays where he hits Woods in stride and in coverage. There’s a lot to like about some of those plays, how they worked their guys open. That playbook was not an option last year.

Amon-Ra can absolutely be the same kind of threat at RB. In space, Woods made some really great moves and I think Amon-Ra can be that player for us. BTW, Woods was also a USC grad and is almost exactly the same height and weight as Amon-Ra.

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All good points. I would also like to add that SunGod is far more handsome than woods.

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I started the thread by pointing out that Deebo had 59 carries, throw in his receptions and he had 136 touches last year. Amon-Ra did agree and no one is asking him to perform that type of task, certainly cutting down targets at WR by 1 a game and adding 2 total average carries a game is no where close to that. It would add 10 total touches per season, 107 vs 97. Not overboard at all.

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I could see 6-8 touches per game for St. Brown on average. Last year we were force feeding him the ball in December because we had so little other talent on the field. St. Brown went especially wild when Hock and Swift were out of the lineup.

It really depends on matchups and how defenses play us that will dictate where the ball goes. And there is only 1 football and a lot of mouths to feed now on offense, especially when J-Mo is back healthy. Hock, Swift, Chark, J-Mo, and St. Brown could all get 6+ targets per game potentially. And that’s not even considering Reynolds, Cephus or the new TE Mitchell.

Ideally the ball is spread around to everyone and to us being unpredictable on offense, which is a real good thing.

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Last year he averaged just over 5 1/2 touches per game. Adding just over 1/2 a touch a game would put him just over 6. I want the threat of the run when he’s on the field. Some weeks it simply wouldn’t work so why try, matchups are everything.

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I think he will play much less running back. He was playing some RB because Swift and J-Will were out late in the season. I do think St. Brown will get some carries on reverses and jet sweeps though.

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Why play Amin Ra at RB when you can play swift at WR

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Switch their jerseys at halftime! Think outside the box.

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Amon-Ra never played RB, he ran sweeps.

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Well that’s 1.

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I would expect St Brown to get 1-2 touches per game in the run game. That is not a crazy amount and it keeps defenses having to game plan for it. Remember, that Tom Kennedy TD pass was because of the success St Brown had previously running the ball. You want to keep wrinkles like that a viable option going forward and if you only use Brown on 10-12 runs over the course of an entire season it will be tougher to sell those plays.

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