Posts tagged Jamaal Charles

Boycotting the Corner Store: A Lesson for RBs

0 Comments read Players, Running Back
Other than Reggie Bush, I can’t think of a back that loved “taking trips to the corner store” more than Bills RB C.J. Spiller. Now that he’s boycotting the corner store his production is blossoming. See what I mean below. Photo by Matt Britt.

Isaiah Pead is an NFL running back prospect for the 2012 NFL Draft. The 5’11”, 198-pound University of Cincinnati senior is agile, and quick. He earns his tuition gaining yards from spread and pistol sets. This morning I’m watching Pead gain 191 total yards from scrimmage and score two touchdowns against NC State.

I’m not surprised about his performance, because I’ve seen Pead before. In another sense, I’ve seen Pead many times before. The Bearcats’ star runner shares similar tendencies of most good college running backs. However, one of these tendencies is a bad habit in the NFL. I call it, “taking trips to the corner store.”

Most of us have a favorite corner store in our neighborhood. We go there for gas, cigarettes, junk food, energy drinks, beer, lottery tickets, you name it. Nothing there is really good for us, but we can’t resist the temptation. In football I see the “corner store” as a running back’s decision to bounce a run outside. Continue reading →

The RSP Blog’s Top 20 RBs (2006-2011) Pt II

0 Comments read Players, Running Back
Study this photo of Reggie Bush, becuase this talent that made him feared in college football has often reduced him to a pedestrian player in the NFL. Photo by JSnell.

The idea of compiling a rankings analysis across several years of Rookie Scouting Portfolio publications has been a popular request by readers for years, but something I have resisted doing. For a complete explanation why please read Part I. If you want to know how my ranking of these players differs from the actual process I use for the RSP publication please read Part I. And if you want to know why I view this exercise as an entertainment piece and not a more serious analysis please read Part I.

Moreover, if you want to see players 11-20, you know what to do. See, I didn’t even need to say it.

Continue reading →

RSP Flashback: RB Jamaal Charles

0 Comments read Players, Running Back
Jamaal Charles could captivate one play and frustrate the next.

He was going to make the school forget Adrian Peterson. That’s what Jamaal Charles told the media when he arrived at the University of Texas after Peterson had spurned the Longhorns for Oklahoma. Bold stuff, but Charles did enough to back it up that at times, you at least had a momentary lapse of memory if you were a fan.

I grew to appreciate Charles’ confidence when I watched him perform at Texas. In fact, there were decisions he made at the line of scrimmage that cold only be described as bold arrogance. He didn’t just challenge defenses, he was challenging himself. Kind of a personal competition to see if he could get to that huge cutback lane all the way across the formation even when it wasn’t the wisest decision.

As a teammate this would probably frustrate me. As a fan, I got the feeling Charles sometimes got bored with taking what was in front of him. He wanted to stretch himself and take what he could see. Charles is now one of the most exciting runners in the NFL, but for the first couple of years it was far from a guarantee that it was going to happen. Here’s one of the evaluations I did on Charles when I evaluated him for the Rookie Scouting Portfolio. For additional samples of player evaluations go to this page on this blog.

Game Stats vs. Arizona State 12/27/2007 Continue reading →