rep wrote:i go back and forth on players like gion. i was really hoping to get a chance to see him play this season and didn't, so basically all i've got to go off of are stats (which, honestly, i am not a big believer in stats) and random anonymous people who for all i know, know nothing about football. his yards per carry average is really good, but in the end it is just a stat and stats lie all the time.
i think probably the big thing, is i question his durability. not so much season-wise. he's had some fairly ugly injuries and there really isn't much you can do about those, they happen and there isn't much rhyme or reason to them. at the same time he also hasn't gotten much of a chance to showcase his talent. he certainly is a lot different player now than he was his sophomore year. but i do question his in-game durability, as is most of the case with teams that blow out other teams in the regular season. in this year's playoffs, guys like gross proved they can handle 30-40 carries in a game. those are the running backs i dig on, guys that you can just feed throughout the game and they are difference-makers in the fourth quarter. gion hasn't had to/gotten a chance to as far as i know.
he's ripped off big runs consistently, and is usually on the sidelines by halftime, which says quite a bit about his ability, but i also think he hasn't played in a game where he's playing against people that are just as good as him and he has to find something else besides his athletic ability. again, i'm not ripping on the kid, i'm just not all that familair with him and am going off what little i do know about him.
that is partially why i defer to guys like gross being 'better' as a running back, which is basically a terrible word for this kind of comparision. gross is better at pounding defenses over the long-haul where i think gion has more big-play ability, is there really a 'better'? probably not, it just depends on what your preferences are and at that point, it makes an argument between the two fairly pointless.
Thanks for the english lesson. I know it is stupid to argue among two great backs, but you leave me no choice. You are telling me that gross is a pounding, long haul back. I guess the game I saw he didn't do much pounding at all. In fact, McCleary got most of the carries because he is the one that could pick up the "tough yards" against a great defense. I guess I wasn't impressed and maybe I was expecting too much from him.
It is really too bad that the we didn't get to see Gion play. I would have loved to see what he could do against a defense like NGS. I only saw him a few times, but in the games I saw, I cannot remember a time that he was stuffed (stuck for no gain). It would take 2-3 defenders to have a chance at him. I wish that I could find some stats (as much as you hate them) but his yards after contact were unbelievable. Pounding out 8-10 yard runs that should have been 2-3 yards.
I have seen good backs that are made to look GREAT by bad 9-man defense. I want a back that can perform the clutch, against a great defense. Don't get me wrong I think Gross is a good back, but I didn't see that from him. I think alot of yards were racked up on poor defenses.