Slaton to [Work More with the First Team]!

[Arky]

Originally Posted by RunninRaven

Looking at the statistics, it would appear that Slaton and Taylor both ran at the same efficiency yesterday, but the statistics can lie. I was MUCH more impressed with Slaton's job. Almost all his carries were against the Dallas first team defense, and he broke off a couple good, long runs I have deeply missed watching Ron Dayne out there for the past couple years. Slaton's stats are skewed somewhat because there were a couple run plays where the offensive line just completely blew up and Slaton got gang tackled 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. LT wouldn't have been able to do anything with those carries. I didn't see any such line breakdowns on any of Chris Taylor's carries.

Well, while I agree that Slaton looked like the best RB out there, the statistics are what they are. For example, though Slaton played a lot against the Dallas' 1st team defense, he also had the Texans 1st team offense blocking for him. Studdard, the guy who was getting blown up (and getting murdered on some messageboards), was subbing for an injured Pitts and playing 1st team. This makes Slaton's good runs that much more remarkable. All this proved to me was that while Studdard did well against New Orleans 2nd team defense, he's (Studdard) still not ready for prime time. Taylor, I believe, put up his stats with both 1st and 2nd team blocking and combinations thereof against similar and equal Dallas fronts. So, IMO, both backs did well with what their teammates provided for them.

One cannot selectively pick and choose stats to prove a point. Well, you can, but it is a bit disingenuous. Rushing stats against 1st team/2nd team, 8-9-10 man fronts, goal line defenses...... they all count on the stat sheet. Another variable in statistics is the sample size. We're talking about 1 preseason game here. The larger the sample size, the better. Let's check the stat totals after all 4 preseason games.... Even better would be 1 full year of regular season games ...

Some games you have a backup guard playing and the rushing stats aren't as good as they could have been. Some games the defense has a backup lineman starting and the rushing stats look better than they normally would have. It works both ways....

Not picking at you RR, "stat spinning" is something I keep seeing on messageboards and I wanted to get it out of my system so I'm addressing it here... Give me enough time and I could probably take Ron Dayne's stats and make him look like an explosive scatback....

If anything, one should realize that all stats should be consumed with a grain of salt. Slaton's speed doesn't show up on the stat sheet and that should lead to the point that stats are just a part of the big picture....

The offense just ran so much smoother once Slaton got in the game. Unless Ahman Green gets healthy, I think I'd rather see Slaton as the starting RB against Pittsburgh (and maybe even if Green IS healthy).

The Texans are being very coy about both Green and Brown so it's hard to tell what they're up to - they are not tipping their hand. What I'm getting right now is that neither one is going to play till Pittsburgh. Then again, I'm not sure if one or both is going to make it to Pittsburgh..... We probably won't know till they make the cut @ 53.....

[NBT]

I agree. There is something about Green and Brown that just does not meet the eye. I am completely underwhelmed with both of them. I'm sure the Titans are giggling their foolish little girl heads off about now about Brown.

Something else I'm bummed about is the defense. Of course Kubiak didn't want to give away his defensive strategy for combating the 3-4 defense that Pittsburgh will also be using, but jeez we looked like milk-toast out there against Dallas.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by NBT

I agree. There is something about Green and Brown that just does not meet the eye. I am completely underwhelmed with both of them. I'm sure the Titans are giggling their foolish little girl heads off about now about Brown.
Something else I'm bummed about is the defense. Of course Kubiak didn't want to give away his defensive strategy for combating the 3-4 defense that Pittsburgh will also be using, but jeez we looked like milk-toast out there against Dallas.

Let me be the third to agree with and Arky. Something just doesn't add up here ? But I can't believe that both Green and Brown make it past the 53 man cut-down on the 30th. Actually I'd be pretty dang excited if Kubiak cut 'em both. Neither one of them is on the field very long under any scenario it seems.
I contacted a friend of mine in WV and asked him about Slaton. He said one of the reasons that Slaton left early was that some other back WV has, some freshman last year named Devine, was cutting into Slatons playing time in college. Wow ! That's one college team with some great backs if this Slaton has to go to the NFL to get on the field ?
My friend in WV is also a bit Steelers fan, and said the Steelers had some real personnel issues, and their OLine was struglling. I dunno, maybe we'll have a chance after all at winning the season opener up there ?

[cadams]

the offense played dramatically better when slayton got into the game. i don't care what the stats say, 1st team, 2nd team, whatever. There was a noticable change in the offense when slayton got into the game. he was gettign extra yards that taylor wasn't on similar plays.

[RunninRaven]

Originally Posted by Arky

Not picking at you RR, "stat spinning" is something I keep seeing on messageboards and I wanted to get it out of my system so I'm addressing it here... Give me enough time and I could probably take Ron Dayne's stats and make him look like an explosive scatback....

It's cool, Arky, but I think you kind of missed my point. Just looking at the stats one might think both guys performed equally, but my EYES told me that what Slaton did was much more impressive. He did it against Dallas better defenders, the way he performed leads me to believe he can repeat it from week to week. He seems to run very well in traffic, and he seems quite good at not going down on first contact. He is slippery, but fast. I have every confidence that if given equal opportunities, Slaton would outperform Chris Taylor.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by RunninRaven

It's cool, Arky, but I think you kind of missed my point. Just looking at the stats one might think both guys performed equally, but my EYES told me that what Slaton did was much more impressive. He did it against Dallas better defenders, the way he performed leads me to believe he can repeat it from week to week. He seems to run very well in traffic, and he seems quite good at not going down on first contact. He is slippery, but fast. I have every confidence that if given equal opportunities, Slaton would outperform Chris Taylor.

Yes, I agreed with you that Slaton looked like the best back out there.

It's just that I didn't feel there was a need to "tweak" the stats - and yes, this is one of those situations where two eyes work better than stats... I just wanted to point out (and not necessarily to you) that although Slaton got stuffed a couple of times due to poor blocking, it still counts on the stat sheet....