3-headed RB brewing in Houston? (1 Viewer)

[Urinal Mint]

I have nothing to substantiate this other than my observations of their talent over the past three years and a sneaking suspicion that Gary Kubiak will bring in the Denver line-blocking system, and along with it, multiple RBs carrying the ball at all times.

I just don't see how Davis, despite his clear talent to run and catch the ball, can shoulder the load by himself with his touchy knees.

Does anyone else feel the same way?

 

[MelvinTScupper]

these are good every year.

 

[Banger]

In general, a large % of the FF community has been trying to replace DD since he got the starting gig a few years ago. First it was Hollings, then Morency, then Bush, now whoever....Until I see otherwise DD is the starting back and will get the lionshare of the work (assuming healthy enough to play).

 

[PatsWillWin]

I think people are forgetting that the "Denver system" is NOT inherently a platoon RB situation. That happened last year, yes, but it was out of necessity, not design. Previous to last year's Anderson/Bell backfield, Shanahan had used a primary feature RB, and if he had someone who he thought could do it, he probably would again.

The RB platoon is not something that they TRY to get - it's something that happened in one year.

 

[eoMMan]

I think everyone agrees that Davis has an annoying tendency to get hurt often, but there's nothing to indicate that he won't be the MAN this year. He has a lock on the starting, assuming he's healthy.

 

[Traders2001]

I think everyone agrees that Davis has an annoying tendency to get hurt often, but there's nothing to indicate that he won't be the MAN this year. He has a lock on the starting, assuming he's healthy.

Yes but he is nt healthy and indications are he wont be either , and even if healthy he will play 4 or 5 games and get injured again ( That s a gimme )

 

[Warhogs]

I agree that DD will get a large majority of the carries IF healthy. Based on history though DD will most likely miss afew games and the knee thing does reate concern. I am more interested in who will get the carries in the few games I expect him to miss. Will morency be healthy enough? Will it be old man Antwain Smith? Somebody else?

 

[bueno]

One cannot rely on Dom. Morency should be a late round flyer for any shark worthy of salt water.

 

[eoMMan]

I think everyone agrees that Davis has an annoying tendency to get hurt often, but there's nothing to indicate that he won't be the MAN this year.  He has a lock on the starting, assuming he's healthy.

Yes but he is nt healthy and indications are he wont be either , and even if healthy he will play 4 or 5 games and get injured again ( That s a gimme )

Give me a link that says he won't be ready to go. Last I saw, his knee was fine to play on.

 

[John Mamula]

these are good every year.

He sure can't carry the load...

+--------------------------+-------------------------+                 |          Rushing         |        Receiving        |+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+| Year  TM |   G |   Att  Yards    Y/A   TD |   Rec  Yards   Y/R   TD |+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+| 2003 hou |  14 |   238   1031    4.3    8 |    47    351   7.5    0 || 2004 hou |  15 |   302   1188    3.9   13 |    68    588   8.6    1 || 2005 hou |  11 |   230    976    4.2    2 |    39    337   8.6    4 |+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+|  TOTAL   |  40 |   770   3195    4.1   23 |   154   1276   8.3    5 |+----------+-----+--------------------------+-------------------------+

 

[bueno]

I think everyone agrees that Davis has an annoying tendency to get hurt often, but there's nothing to indicate that he won't be the MAN this year.  He has a lock on the starting, assuming he's healthy.

Yes but he is nt healthy and indications are he wont be either , and even if healthy he will play 4 or 5 games and get injured again ( That s a gimme )

Give me a link that says he won't be ready to go. Last I saw, his knee was fine to play on.

It keeps swelling up on him. Find your own link or subscribe to the newsletter.

 

[JimmyD]

One cannot rely on Dom. Morency should be a late round flyer for any shark worthy of salt water.

However I would edit your message to say mid-round pick. With DD's history his backups will be gobbled up like the last turkey leg at Thanksgiving.

 

[bueno]

One cannot rely on Dom.  Morency should be a late round flyer for any shark worthy of salt water.

However I would edit your message to say mid-round pick. With DD's history his backups will be gobbled up like the last turkey leg at Thanksgiving.

Perhaps. There are a lot of backups that are being gobbled up in the mid-rounds. But if you are in a competitive league and jump on a backup with a mid-round pick, you're behind in the draft. I see it all the time where the guy who grabs say, Dayne and Bell, ends up with a scrub at some position in his lineup as a result.

 

[MLBrandow]

There will be no RBBC. If, for some reason, DD gets injured, he'll be replaced by Morency, who will be a fantasy monster.

That said, again, you guys are making too big of a deal about it. Every three days there's another DD is still hurt thread. Give him a month and he'll be at full steam.

 

[eoMMan]

I think everyone agrees that Davis has an annoying tendency to get hurt often, but there's nothing to indicate that he won't be the MAN this year.  He has a lock on the starting, assuming he's healthy.

Yes but he is nt healthy and indications are he wont be either , and even if healthy he will play 4 or 5 games and get injured again ( That s a gimme )

Give me a link that says he won't be ready to go. Last I saw, his knee was fine to play on.

It keeps swelling up on him. Find your own link or subscribe to the newsletter.

Yeah, I know there's a little swelling NOW, but there's nothing out there ruling him out for week 1. A lot of guys are resting a little right now. This doesn't worry me right now. If it's still giving him problems in August, then we can talk.

 

[gman8343]

There will be no RBBC. If, for some reason, DD gets injured, he'll be replaced by Morency, who will be a fantasy monster.

That said, again, you guys are making too big of a deal about it. Every three days there's another DD is still hurt thread. Give him a month and he'll be at full steam.

Plus this is all going off news that is a month old - there has been NOTHING since then. Maybe he's healing nicely, maybe not, but we just don't know right now.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

[Plus this is all going off news that is a month old - there has been NOTHING since then. Maybe he's healing nicely, maybe not, but we just don't know right now.

July 7 (reported by KFFL):Megan Manfull, writing for the Sporting News, reports Houston Texans RB Domanick Davis' (knee) knee problems are forcing the Texans to look for another running back. Their only other option is to quickly develop a running back in training camp or veteran RB Antowain Smith.

 

[zamboni]

With a new coaching regime and DD's history, I'm not that certain he has the job totally cemented. He'll almost certainly get a chance to be the guy, but you never know with a new staff.

 

[gman8343]

[Plus this is all going off news that is a month old - there has been NOTHING since then. Maybe he's healing nicely, maybe not, but we just don't know right now.

July 7 (reported by KFFL):Megan Manfull, writing for the Sporting News, reports Houston Texans RB Domanick Davis' (knee) knee problems are forcing the Texans to look for another running back. Their only other option is to quickly develop a running back in training camp or veteran RB Antowain Smith.

That's also from a month ago -- the Texans' mini-camp ended the second week of June -- NOTHING new has come out since then.

 

[fruity pebbles]

[Plus this is all going off news that is a month old - there has been NOTHING since then. Maybe he's healing nicely, maybe not, but we just don't know right now.

July 7 (reported by KFFL):Megan Manfull, writing for the Sporting News, reports Houston Texans RB Domanick Davis' (knee) knee problems are forcing the Texans to look for another running back. Their only other option is to quickly develop a running back in training camp or veteran RB Antowain Smith.

That's also from a month ago -- the Texans' mini-camp ended the second week of June -- NOTHING new has come out since then.

The surgery was 6 months ago though. You wouldn't expect it to be swelling anymore. Not sure how much good an extra 2 months is going to do.

 

[wannabee]

[Plus this is all going off news that is a month old - there has been NOTHING since then. Maybe he's healing nicely, maybe not, but we just don't know right now.

July 7 (reported by KFFL):Megan Manfull, writing for the Sporting News, reports Houston Texans RB Domanick Davis' (knee) knee problems are forcing the Texans to look for another running back. Their only other option is to quickly develop a running back in training camp or veteran RB Antowain Smith.

That's also from a month ago -- the Texans' mini-camp ended the second week of June -- NOTHING new has come out since then.

The surgery was 6 months ago though. You wouldn't expect it to be swelling anymore. Not sure how much good an extra 2 months is going to do.

Good point. In addition, I would think we would hear some glowing fluff piece about how well Davis was doing if he made any improvement. I take the silence as a negative. I could be wrong, but it sure does not look good.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

I hate this time of year. We're past minicamps but there's no training camps going on. There is NO news to speak of unless someone gets in a car accident or something.

We have no idea whether or not DD will be ready for this season til he puts pads on and people start hitting him.

Let's wait til the end of July before we try to evaluate this.

 

[gman8343]

[Plus this is all going off news that is a month old - there has been NOTHING since then. Maybe he's healing nicely, maybe not, but we just don't know right now.

July 7 (reported by KFFL):Megan Manfull, writing for the Sporting News, reports Houston Texans RB Domanick Davis' (knee) knee problems are forcing the Texans to look for another running back. Their only other option is to quickly develop a running back in training camp or veteran RB Antowain Smith.

That's also from a month ago -- the Texans' mini-camp ended the second week of June -- NOTHING new has come out since then.

The surgery was 6 months ago though. You wouldn't expect it to be swelling anymore. Not sure how much good an extra 2 months is going to do.

Good point. In addition, I would think we would hear some glowing fluff piece about how well Davis was doing if he made any improvement. I take the silence as a negative. I could be wrong, but it sure does not look good.

This I can agree with, though certainly no one knows for sure.

 

[Mystery Achiever]

the lead story on nfl live today was the texans' concern about davis and how they are trying to get bennett from the saints. clayton was qupted as the source. i would think that would at least require some updating/confirming if this info was gotten back in the second week of june. but regardless, just reporting it was put "out there again today...

 

[MLBrandow]

In that case, Morency becomes a 10-12th rounder IMO where all of the other higher-potential backups are going.

I still am not worried at all. If his operation took 50% longer to heal than normal (very unlikely), he'd still be full throttle a month before the opener.

 

[pmcdade]

Just for the record, DD was already running the Zone Blocking a.ka.a the Denver system which has been implemented by Houston for the past two years. Atlanta has also been running it.

That being said, Kubiak may improve its execution...

 

[MLBrandow]

Just for the record, DD was already running the Zone Blocking a.ka.a the Denver system which has been implemented by Houston for the past two years. Atlanta has also been running it.

That being said, Kubiak may improve its execution...

Considering his numbers were backwards in key places that ZB is supposed to minimize/maximize, I'd say we should expect a definite improvement.There was a cool graph I saw one time showing DEN RB averages with Davis', and Davis had a lower YPC than he should have, but more long plays, which didn't make much sense since ZB is supposed to increase YPC by a lot, and it's harder too get the big play as much.

I might have that backwards, but you get the idea. If someone knew what the hell I just said and knows where that graph is, I'm sure it would be beneficial at this moment in time.

 

[coolnerd]

In that case, Morency becomes a 10-12th rounder IMO where all of the other higher-potential backups are going.

I still am not worried at all. If his operation took 50% longer to heal than normal (very unlikely), he'd still be full throttle a month before the opener.

The problem with this theory is that Davis' surgery was not considered to be "serious." He was expected to be able to particiapte in the OTAs etc in the offense and the swelling is the same problem that ended his season early last year. On a more general note, there have been at least 5 separate threads that dealt with this issue in some way. There seems to always be two sides, the people who are worried to death sending dom to the retirement home and people who are claiming that it is a non-issue almost sticking thier head in the sand. I am trying to figure that there is some middle ground of watching in camp w/o sending DomDavis to the scrap heap.

 

[joffer]

On a more general note, there have been at least 5 separate threads that dealt with this issue in some way. There seems to always be two sides, the people who are worried to death sending dom to the retirement home and people who are claiming that it is a non-issue almost sticking thier head in the sand. I am trying to figure that there is some middle ground of watching in camp w/o sending DomDavis to the scrap heap.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

On a more general note, there have been at least 5 separate threads that dealt with this issue in some way. There seems to always be two sides, the people who are worried to death sending dom to the retirement home and people who are claiming that it is a non-issue almost sticking thier head in the sand. I am trying to figure that there is some middle ground of watching in camp w/o sending DomDavis to the scrap heap.

Post #22.

 

[coolnerd]

On a more general note, there have been at least 5 separate threads that dealt with this issue in some way. There seems to always be two sides, the people who are worried to death sending dom to the retirement home and people who are claiming that it is a non-issue almost sticking thier head in the sand.  I am trying to figure that there is some middle ground of watching in camp w/o sending DomDavis to the scrap heap.

Post #22.

Oversight on my part, here is your acknowledgement.

 

[KCC]

There will be no RBBC. If, for some reason, DD gets injured, he'll be replaced by Morency, who will be a fantasy monster.

That said, again, you guys are making too big of a deal about it. Every three days there's another DD is still hurt thread. Give him a month and he'll be at full steam.

I'm not saying I'm buying into it, but Fantasy Football Index believes Houston will be going RBBC this year.

 

[WhoDat]

One cannot rely on Dom. Morency should be a late round flyer for any shark worthy of salt water.

Every bit the football player T. Bell was at OSU and, considering Kubiak would have watched enough Cowboy game tape to gag anyone not an OSU alum, he is armed with a working knowledge of what Morency can and cannot do. I agree he is worth picking up at some point in a draft this year. Morency is a good football player and could be productive in Kubiak's offense. Davis is talented when healthy...very talented. In previous years the Texans had nothing or no one behind Davis. Thus, Davis' job was always there for him upon returning to form. Now, though, it looks like the Texans are attempting to do a better job at having some sort of depth at the position. Morency, Smith, Lundy and the alleged pursuit of Bennett is not striking the fear of God into any defenses but it is a little better than what the Texans have previously had on the depth chart.

Hypothetically speaking, it might not be so easy for Davis to recapture his job if he gets hurt. Of course, you cannot predict injury, which is the difficult part, but I am of the belief this is D. Davis' job to lose but, if he misses any time this season, it will not be nearly as easy for him to get his starting job back.

Until Davis starts losing first team snaps to another player or it becomes clear the RB check down has been completely removed from D. Carr's arsenal I do not see any worry to panic.

 

[Traders2001]

I think everyone agrees that Davis has an annoying tendency to get hurt often, but there's nothing to indicate that he won't be the MAN this year.  He has a lock on the starting, assuming he's healthy.

Yes but he is nt healthy and indications are he wont be either , and even if healthy he will play 4 or 5 games and get injured again ( That s a gimme )

Give me a link that says he won't be ready to go. Last I saw, his knee was fine to play on.

What he could not even practice , he had more swelling.Unless the last time you saw was in 2004 then his knees are not fine at all.

 

[jbird]

One cannot rely on Dom.  Morency should be a late round flyer for any shark worthy of salt water.

However I would edit your message to say mid-round pick. With DD's history his backups will be gobbled up like the last turkey leg at Thanksgiving.

A few weeks ago I read that the Houston Chronicle reported Vernand Morency missed the Texans' recent OTAs due to a case of plantar fascitis which is a painful inflammatory condition caused by excessive wear to the plantar fascia of the foot. The pain usually is felt on the underside of the heel, and is often most intense with the first steps of the day. I'd be more inclined to take Antowain very late or, better yet, stay away from the HOU RBs altogether in 2006.

 

[MLBrandow]

There will be no RBBC. If, for some reason, DD gets injured, he'll be replaced by Morency, who will be a fantasy monster.

That said, again, you guys are making too big of a deal about it. Every three days there's another DD is still hurt thread. Give him a month and he'll be at full steam.

I'm not saying I'm buying into it, but Fantasy Football Index believes Houston will be going RBBC this year.

Well, that shows you how smart they are.

 

[SSOG]

Here's what I said the last time someone mentioned the possibility of a 3-headed RBBC brewing somewhere.

That's just asinine. When was the last time a team used a 3-head RBBC? Look back at the famous RBBCs in the NFL and you'll see a pair of RBs with different skillsets. Something like Dunn and Duckett, where one is the speedy guy and one is the grinder. Same thing with Bell/Anderson. Both RBs brought something different to the table, so it made sense to use both of them.Let's say that there are two fundamental types of RBs- "Grinders" and "Flashers". Some RBs rank high in both categories- for instance, Tomlinson would score a 10/10 both as a Grinder and a Flasher. Well, let's say that last year Anderson was a 10/10 as a Grinder and a 1/10 as a Flasher, and Bell was a 10/10 as a Flasher and a 1/10 as a Grinder. It makes very good football sense to mix the two types together. Now, let's say Anderson's backup, Dayne, ranks as a 9/10 Grinder and a 1/10 Flasher. It makes NO SENSE to start throwing him into the committee just to get another person in the committee, because he doesn't provide anything that isn't already BETTER COVERED ELSEWHERE.In short, 3-headed RBBCs are an urban legend, a fantasy myth, a bed-time story used to scare young fantasy footballers. IT DOES NOT EXIST.

 

[MLBrandow]

Haven't you ever heard of DVD? Dunn Vick Duckett??

That was the hot moniker of a few years ago, and it annoyed the hell out of me.

It was a 3-headed RBBC though.

add: Somehow I don't see Carr providing that third dimension though.

Morency has a similar skillset as Davis, and Smith just sucks.

 

[cowpie]

why didn't the texans take bush???

because they had enough faith in d davis when healthy.

he has been a top 10 performer in thepast in points per game.

not per year, per game.

infact, any rb on that team has performed well and they do not tend to split time at all unless unhealthy.

i continually target d davis in the second round and it always helps me jump ahead of other teams just be sure to get his backup.

in 10 of his 11 games last year, he had either 100 total yards or a td.

he had almost 1000 yards in 11 games ( 976yrd) and had 337 yards recieveing

in only 11 games. not too shabby. some how he was the 17 ranked RB last year with 5 less games than many in front of him. plus he only had 2 rushing tds last year. don't you thingk he should have at least 6?

 

[Ron_Mexico]

Kubiak is very high on Wali Lundy.

Morency will not take the reigns if DD goes down.

 

[SSOG]

Haven't you ever heard of DVD? Dunn Vick Duckett??

That was the hot moniker of a few years ago, and it annoyed the hell out of me.

It was a 3-headed RBBC though.

add: Somehow I don't see Carr providing that third dimension though.

Morency has a similar skillset as Davis, and Smith just sucks.

Vick, despite his rushing yardage, is not a running back. The majority of his runs are on called passing plays, and as a result, he's not part of a "committee". Vick's carries do not, for the most part, come from the RB Carries pool. If a coach is going to call 500 runs and 500 passes, and Vick runs 100 times, maybe 20 of those will come from the pool of 500 called runs. As a result, that's not a 3-headed RBBC by any stretch of the imagination. It's just a 2-headed RBBC with a skittish QB handing off to them.

 

[rock753]

In general, a large % of the FF community has been trying to replace DD since he got the starting gig a few years ago. First it was Hollings, then Morency, then Bush, now whoever....Until I see otherwise DD is the starting back and will get the lionshare of the work (assuming healthy enough to play).

The denver system makes a star out of a mediocre back. Thus why they passed on Reggie Bush, and Thus, if Davis is not healthy, why Vernand Morency could end up being the steal of the year.

 

[rock753]

why didn't the texans take bush???

because they had enough faith in d davis when healthy.

I don't beleive this. I think Kubiak passed on bush, because he beleives in what he learned in Devner. He thinks that in no world is a running back worth a 1st round pick. He thinks he can create super starts. That is what Denver did. They only had one first round pick and RB, and they traded him as soon as they could. The rest of their stars came later in the draft and were taught how to run well.

 

[Big Score]

The only 3 headed RBBC I can think of, is what evolved in Oakland a couple of years ago.

Zereoue (112 carries), Wheatley (85 carries) & Crockett (48 carries).

The fact that Norv signed LaMont Jordan immediately following that season, tells me he wasn't exactly enamoured with that particular 3 headed RBBC. I also think it was more out of necessity than any specific plan on Norv's part.

 

[MLBrandow]

The only 3 headed RBBC I can think of, is what evolved in Oakland a couple of years ago.

Zereoue (112 carries), Wheatley (85 carries) & Crockett (48 carries).

The fact that Norv signed LaMont Jordan immediately following that season, tells me he wasn't exactly enamoured with that particular 3 headed RBBC. I also think it was more out of necessity than any specific plan on Norv's part.

Hell, we all forgot about PHI.Look them up with Staley + Buckhalter + Westbrook.

 

[Big Score]

The only 3 headed RBBC I can think of, is what evolved in Oakland a couple of years ago.

Zereoue (112 carries), Wheatley (85 carries) & Crockett (48 carries).

The fact that Norv signed LaMont Jordan immediately following that season, tells me he wasn't exactly enamoured with that particular 3 headed RBBC. I also think it was more out of necessity than any specific plan on Norv's part.

Hell, we all forgot about PHI.Look them up with Staley + Buckhalter + Westbrook.

Yup. Forgot the Iggles.

 

[SSOG]

why didn't the texans take bush???

because they had enough faith in d davis when healthy.

I don't beleive this. I think Kubiak passed on bush, because he beleives in what he learned in Devner. He thinks that in no world is a running back worth a 1st round pick. He thinks he can create super starts. That is what Denver did. They only had one first round pick and RB, and they traded him as soon as they could. The rest of their stars came later in the draft and were taught how to run well.

Portis was a 2nd rounder.

The only 3 headed RBBC I can think of, is what evolved in Oakland a couple of years ago.

Zereoue (112 carries), Wheatley (85 carries) & Crockett (48 carries).

The fact that Norv signed LaMont Jordan immediately following that season, tells me he wasn't exactly enamoured with that particular 3 headed RBBC. I also think it was more out of necessity than any specific plan on Norv's part.

Hell, we all forgot about PHI.Look them up with Staley + Buckhalter + Westbrook.

Yup. Forgot the Iggles.

Didn't Buckhalter only get carries because Staley was perpetually injured?

 

[DocNiner52]

Seems to me since DD is still having knee issues that the Texans would aggressively take care of Morency's problem. I've had Plantar Fascitis in both feet. I had one cortisone injection in the right foot and have had no trouble since. I had two injections in the left foot and still had problems. I ended up having two surgeries on the left foot which is called a Tarsal Tunnel procedure. It involves clearing away tissue compressing around the nerve and more or less making a tunnel for the nerve to sit in unobstructed. I was off work 8 weeks both times because you need at least a good month before even walking on the particular foot, and I am not a football player.If you're considering taking Morency monitor his situation. Best case scenario for him is one injection and minimal or no problem with the foot. Worst case, surgery on the foot,if it is painful enough and injections don't work, and he'll be sidelined for around 2 months. If the injection works he'll probably also need to use orthotic supports in his shoes. They really do help.

 

[KnowledgeReignsSupreme]

The most recent >2 RBBC team I can remember is the 2003 Cleveland Browns.

They even had WR and QBBC that year. What a frigging mess.