Training Camp Thread

[Arky]

Day 4 pics:

http://www.chron.com/sports/photogal...AMP_DAY_4.html

[painekiller]

Brown should watch Walker play. The kid is going hard every play and I would rather have a "slow" Walker who tries hard a hurt all the time Brown.

I am starting to think Walker maybe bursting the Bubble and Brown is crawling on top of a bubble.

[Bigtinylittle]

On paper, a guy who weighs 205 and runs a 4.55 forty probably shouldn't be in the NFL, and maybe Walker soon won't be. But I DO think he has what it takes to stick with a team and maybe it will be the Texans. The thing I like about him the most is he seems to have great vision, great decision making. I think he is definately better than Gado, Lundy or Echimandu.

[coloradodude]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

On paper, a guy who weighs 205 and runs a 4.55 forty probably shouldn't be in the NFL, and maybe Walker soon won't be.

Just out of curiosity, do you know how much Terrell Davis weighed and what he ran the 40 in?

[papabear]

Originally Posted by coloradodude

Just out of curiosity, do you know how much Terrell Davis weighed and what he ran the 40 in?

I believe he was in the 4.7 range. 40's are so overated.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by papabear

I believe he was in the 4.7 range. 40's are so overated.

Mid 4.6's might be closer, but in paid in the open he was gone, just like Jerry Rice another "slow" player.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Mid 4.6's might be closer, but in paid in the open he was gone, just like Jerry Rice another "slow" player.

That kinda sets up my point. Whether he ran a 4.65 or a 4.73 makes a big difference in some peoples opinion (not saying you PK), even though if two guys ran a 40 yard race that would be damn close....close enough to not matter 99% of the time on the football field.

People point to Walker's 4.55 forty time as someone who will have a hard time in the NFL at RB, but if he had run a 4.48 you might not here it quite as much. In either case the difference is only a step or two. Granted, that might be the difference in a 12 yd gain vs. taking one to the house, but that difference in the 40 time can come down to who spent the most time with a good track coach working on technique.....and have absolutely nothing to do with how fast they they play with pads on when its gametime.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with bigtiny. Guys like Walker slide every year apparently because of their forty time so it appears to be a big deal to NFL teams as well...it just doesn't make sense to me in a lot of cases. Teams do need some kind of baseline to judge these guys on. I think a lot of it is they want to see how committed the kids are. In other words, who put the work in to get ready and how they handle themselves in that environment.

[coloradodude]

Originally Posted by papabear

I believe he was in the 4.7 range. 40's are so overated.

That's correct and he entered the league at 206. I'm thinking Walker's in good company especially if he's picking up the nuances of the ZB scheme. Also, I like his game speed.

[Bigtinylittle]

Originally Posted by coloradodude

Just out of curiosity, do you know how much Terrell Davis weighed and what he ran the 40 in?

I think you missed my point. I was just saying that not many of the guys with those stats make it in the NFL. The ones who do have to have something special going for them. Obviously, Davis was one of those guys who did. So did Emmitt Smith. Interestingly, both those guys were drafted much lower than they should have been. Teams were scared off by their low top end speed.

I think in general, top end speed is somewhat overrated in the NFL. Guys like Reggie Bush, who probably has as much top end speed as any back in the NFL, has struggled mightily the last two years. Top end speed really only becomes a factor when you make it to the open field, and even for the best runners, that doesn't happen very often. Especially if you are a dancing wuss like Reggie. If I remember correctly, Ron Dayne had a longer run last year then Bush.

Walker is very fluid, with great vision and no hesitation in his game. He seems to have the ability to instantly cut back without losing any speed, and he seems to have a good idea of when to do it. I think that's what will help him stick in the league, and that's why I really enjoy watching him run.

I noticed that Kubiak said that this year he has put behind him the problems that Kubiak mentioned last year. Kubiak never got too specific about them, but I wonder whether part of it was that Walker didn't really want to hit the weight room seriously.

I haven't seen him yet this year. Does anyone know whether he has put on a little but more muscle?

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

I haven't seen him yet this year. Does anyone know whether he has put on a little but more muscle?

I think it was McClain who asked Kubes about that....he said he's in good shape this year and that he just thinks Walker is one of those guys who is just a little thick in the mid-section. In other words he doesn't have ripped abs, but he's worked hard and he's in good shape.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

Walker is very fluid, with great vision and no hesitation in his game. He seems to have the ability to instantly cut back without losing any speed, and he seems to have a good idea of when to do it. I think that's what will help him stick in the league, and that's why I really enjoy watching him run.

Yep, good eye. I think he does that better than anybody on the team (backfield).

I noticed that Kubiak said that this year he has put behind him the problems that Kubiak mentioned last year. Kubiak never got too specific about them, but I wonder whether part of it was that Walker didn't really want to hit the weight room seriously.

I think it was attitude mainly. The whispers I heard were that he came in with a I'm-from-Notre-Dame-and-my-caca-don't-stink attitude. I think Kubiak gave him an attitude adjustment by cutting him and then either before or after the recall, finally convinced him that he was going to have to put in lots of work to make it in this league.

I think a lot of whether he stays or goes will depend on what Mr. Gibbs thinks of him.....

[RunninRaven]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

On paper, a guy who weighs 205 and runs a 4.55 forty probably shouldn't be in the NFL, and maybe Walker soon won't be. But I DO think he has what it takes to stick with a team and maybe it will be the Texans. The thing I like about him the most is he seems to have great vision, great decision making. I think he is definately better than Gado, Lundy or Echimandu.

I'm wondering if Walker might have upped that 40 time some since entering the NFL. Someone that was at a practice mentioned that he looked as fast as any of the other RBs out there. I just hope he isn't the odd man out in a numbers game and then goes on to be a good-great RB somewhere else.

[KJ3]

you know the general knock on walker is he is slow and undersized. he never has looked slow to me, quite honestly he's always looked pretty worthwhile and undersized guys are everywhere in the nfl so it doesn't really matter.