On the plays he was tackled, the defenders started in front of him and had angles to pin him to sidline or between 2 defenders….
which is certainly going to happen more times than not for any RB regardless of his speed.
On the other hand… there are a few plays that show how he can be more than just a homerun hitter… such as a run grom the 5-yard line where the hole is closed down… he slows up and waits patiently for an opening… and then his crazy acceleration keeps him from being touched before the endzone.
Achane has more long speed… but Deuce isn’t a slouch either. He has been timed 4.44 in the 40, and had a long TD against Baylor while being chased by a DB that supposedly runs 4.37 in the 40.
Deuce also went for an 88-yarder against Bama…
and nobody ran him down.
Deuce’s height may hurt him with some teams…
but Sproles, MJD, and Jacquizz Rodgers were all under 5’7” tall and had productive careers.
And… one final note… is that Deuce has 91 catches over the past 2 years… and they aren’t just swing passes and screens.
He caught a deep dig route against TCU from a slot alignment , had a seam route for a TD against Texas, and had a nice catch on an out route that I vaguely remember.
I really like Deuce… and agree with @CasanovaJack1 that he would be a great add on day 3.
I’m kind of liking the idea of taking the Packer approach (Jones & Williams draft approach).
Draft both a Swift type and a Jamaal type on day 3.
My current preference for the Swift type is Kenny McIntosh. He’s ready on day 1 to be split out and run a relatively diverse tree. He’s the right mix of decisive and yet patient in the screen game. I don’t think his instincts in the run game are great but in a gap scheme he’s fearless and will hit it hard. He’s also a solid kick returner.
But I’m okay with Deuce as well. Just don’t think he allows for near the same level of pass game creativity that McIntosh does. Ultimately Kenny’s work in the receiving game may get him popped in round 3 or 4 though.
He has zero fumbles in his career, zero, but neither has Achane. Deuce had almost 100 more carries last season and never any significant injuries. Get a starting RG and Deuce and the running game just got really, really good.
Yeah and I think Deuce has A LOT more juice than those guys. I comped him to Marcus Jones in that RB comp post cause he’s just more electric than most of the other small-ish RBs. Sproles was quick but didn’t have anything like Vaughn’s long speed. He might not beat Achane in a race, but he’d be damn close IMO.
Height can be a concern in the pass game… but those backs showed they can be productive receivers, and Deuce showed plenty of ability as a pass catcher.
The biggest problem with Deuce is of course the same problem with Achane, there are certain scenarios that regularly come up during a game where they’re always gonna struggle, no matter how hard they try.
They’ll never be plus blockers, an OC would be a fool to try and use them that way. But then you’re limiting yourself as an offense. I think with both Deuce and Achane you can give them a few inside handoffs to keep defenses honest - both were really good in college - so it’s not like they’re as limiting as your McKissic or Theo Riddick types, but you’re still gonna reduce the assignments of the defense whenever you bring them in. That’s behind the 8-ball in today’s NFL.
I trust Ben to put either one in position to succeed, but to me any back who won’t be asked to fulfill one of the standard tasks of the position becomes a gadget player. And that’s great, gadget players have their uses for sure. But I wouldn’t spend a lot of capital on them.
Which is why I end up with Vaughn far more often than Achane.
So I’ve been having this thought. I don’t really love Achane as a change-of-pace running back for us, while he’s tough I just don’t think he’s got the instincts and his pass-blocking is abysmal.
But what if you could turn him into Tyreek Hill?
They’re roughly the same size and like Achane, Hill was a RB in college and was never really noted for his receiving ability. The Chiefs changed everything about his career and I wonder if Achane can make the same switch? It will be the first time in his life he’s focused 100% on football.
Now I think while Achane is just as fast and explosive as Hill, Tyreek has more lateral agility. Achane surprisingly lacks elusiveness outside of his ability to outrun everyone and he seems to gather himself whenever he has to cut. But to me that’s yet another reason to move him to WR, there’s a lot more room to maneuver to take advantage of his freaky gifts.
I think Brad sees things through this lens, & I think it is a very smart way of thinking. I think he will consider OL @ positions other than they played in college too. I like it.
I agree… It would certainly be wise to try WR for Achane.
His value as a RB would always be limited to some degree… but his value at WR would be significant just by backing safeties up in a hurry!
Heck… even if he could become a poor man’s Deebo at WR… and still give a team 10 snaps at RB… that would be very valuable.
Just looking back at the Super Bowl… some of the biggest plays in the game came on those jet motion passes where the Eagles defense over-pursued the motion and the Chiefs got easy TD passes. The speed Achane has could stress defenses vertically and horizontally as a WR.
Imagine what DBs would do teying to defense a bunch formation with Jamo, ASB, and Achane flying at them!
