Slaton to [Work More with the First Team]!

[coloradodude]

I JUST got done watching the Texans/Saints game and I said to myself, "Slaton's not here to be a special little third down back. That guy's goal is to start."

Well, he's starting against the Cowgirls...

I'd give you a link but for some reason the page doesn't come up. It's in the Chronicle.

You know who else is gonna be a ProBowler? Duane "shut your mouth" Brown. And that's right, I insinuated Slaton will be a PBer too.

[RunninRaven]

I'm excited to see what Slaton can do with the 1st stringers, but even if he does really well, I'm not sure I want him to be "the guy" at RB unless he just really goes crazy on the field. I'd prefer to keep it by committee to help save a guy like Slaton from injury and from getting run down. But I am very optimistic for his future.

As for Brown, so far he has looked pretty promising. I'll be interested to see what he does against a really big DE with rushing skills, but overall he has impressed so far.

[KJ3]

i'm on the thought that slaton is a perfect 2 in a 1-2 punch. also i heard that he wasn't starting but is just taking reps with the 1st team next game.

i forgot who it was but someone said slaton is the back to use when you open the running game using the pass, not when you're trying to establish the run. i thought that was pretty smart.

[Keith]

Yeah, I updated the thread title... Kubiak said on the 610AM radio show yesterday that Slaton isn't starting per se, but that he would be working more with the first team on Friday.

[Arky]

Whelp, I haven't caught Slatonmania, yet, but I like what I've seen so far. He's been running against 2nd and 3rd teamers in 2 preseason games so far.... His preseason stats say he is 24 attempts for 94 yds. for 3.9 ypa. His longest run was 13 yards. The latest (New Orleans) game however, he was 13 att/57 yds for a 4.4 ypa.... not bad.... those are some of the measureables...

Visually, he's showing speed and burst but still has some "rookieness". Kubes apparently likes his speed.... If he (Slaton) gets his backfield blocking down I think he could be a stand-in until the A Green situation gets resolved (or fails). Backfield blocking is not exactly rocket science: See man, block man. See blitzer, block blitzer. He needs more reps so the Dallas game should give him just that... I don't see him starting at Pittsburgh....

Currently, the backfield consists of 4 gimps and 2 imps. I think the youngest 3 would be my keepers with perhaps Brown for short yardage....

[coloradodude]

Get ready to change that title back soon.

Last night on the NFL channel, Rod Woodson said don't be surprised. Slaton could be a starter soon.

[jppaul]

Originally Posted by Arky

Whelp, I haven't caught Slatonmania, yet, but I like what I've seen so far. He's been running against 2nd and 3rd teamers in 2 preseason games so far.... His preseason stats say he is 24 attempts for 94 yds. for 3.9 ypa. His longest run was 13 yards. The latest (New Orleans) game however, he was 13 att/57 yds for a 4.4 ypa.... not bad.... those are some of the measureables...

I just wanted to point out statistically that his stats are bound to be a little deflated considering he was running into 9 and 10 man fronts, which are to be expected when you have a lead and are running out the clock.

13 for 57 yards. Just for the sake of this conversation, lets minus the last drive runs that Slaton had when he was running out the clock, which were 3 carries for 3 yards.

Then it becomes 10 carries for 54 yards which breaks out to 5.4 yards per clip.

The same can be done for the Broncos game after Slaton's 13 yard run to make the game winner a chip shot. In that span against those same 9 and 10 man fronts he had 4 carries for 4 yards.

His 11 for 37 turns into 7 for 33, then turns into 4.7 ypc.

Following this all the way through the total becomes 17 for 87, which is 5.1 ypc. An altogether more impressive number.

Just saying.