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Hightower WONT lose snaps for fumbles... (1 Viewer)

DoubleG

Footballguy
Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt indicated Monday that Tim Hightower is not in danger of a reduced role despite two Week 1 fumbles.

"Because of who Tim is," Whisenhunt said. "I have no concerns that we’ll get this fixed. ... The fact we won the game makes it a little bit easier to live with." If Hightower doesn't lose snaps for the fumbles, it'll be because a better back is rejoining the offense. Beanie Wells is due back for Week 2.
Can someone explain this to me so it makes sense.And can we also stop the "Beanie will lose carries because he fumbles" logic - obviously Wiz don't care (or he's just an idiot if he reduces one players time for it, and not the others).

THT had more fumbles on less chances than Beanie too. So what does "Because of who Tim is" mean??? Is Hightower a distant relative of Wiz's? Is he dating KW's sister? AZ homers please help me understand the mind of your seemingly confused head coach.

 
I've never understood the Hightower/Wells thing. Last year when Wells would fumble he'd get benched. Then when Hightower would fumble, Wells would get benched.

 
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It has to be Tim's ability to block/pick up the blitz compared to Wells?
Could be - but then why does Wells get benched when he fumbles and not for missing blocks? And here's an idea for Wiz - if one guy fumbles more than the other...give the ball to the guy who fumbles less. What am I missing here??
 
I think Whisenhunt needs to be careful here. I think it's OK to have one set of rules for certain players and another set of rules for others. But the 'priviledged' set of rules needs to be reserved for your veterans who have earned such status.

Hightower is a 3rd year guy who has 9 fumbles in 400 career touches. While Beanie has 4 in 188 touches, it is about the same rate and only one RB is getting pinged for it while the other is getting stroked. Both should have the same standing in the locker room and feel the same consequences.

 
Not all coaches push the "Game Over MAN!!!!" button every time a player fumbles. Sounds like Whisenhunt is applying a steady hand to his squad, and realizes that any given fumble doesn't automatically mean that same player will keep fumbling over and over every game.

 
Whether Whisenhunt says it's a factor or not, it is. Coaches rarely take fumbles lightly, especially fumbles that are in crucial moments. LaRod Stephens-Howling had 10 touches to Hightower's 17, but I'm guessing LSH wouldn't have approached those 10 touches if Hightower hadn't fumbled twice.

I'd be a little more enthusiastic about Beanie taking over if he could stay healthy. I'm sure the Cardinals would love for Wells to seize the job, but he hasn't done it, yet. I'm looking forward to seeing him suit up this Sunday, hopefully.

 
Perhaps Whisenhunt knows that Wells may not be ready for next week and is just calming the waters and building confidence in THT.

 
Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt indicated Monday that Tim Hightower is not in danger of a reduced role despite two Week 1 fumbles.

"Because of who Tim is," Whisenhunt said. "I have no concerns that we’ll get this fixed. ... The fact we won the game makes it a little bit easier to live with." If Hightower doesn't lose snaps for the fumbles, it'll be because a better back is rejoining the offense. Beanie Wells is due back for Week 2.
Can someone explain this to me so it makes sense.And can we also stop the "Beanie will lose carries because he fumbles" logic - obviously Wiz don't care (or he's just an idiot if he reduces one players time for it, and not the others).

THT had more fumbles on less chances than Beanie too. So what does "Because of who Tim is" mean??? Is Hightower a distant relative of Wiz's? Is he dating KW's sister? AZ homers please help me understand the mind of your seemingly confused head coach.
Whisenhunt isn't saying the fumbles aren't an issue, he's saying that he knows Tim will work extra hard to make sure it doesn't happen again. It is actually a subtle warning to Hightower to get it taken care of.
 
Hightower is a 3rd year guy who has 9 fumbles in 400 career touches. While Beanie has 4 in 188 touches, it is about the same rate and only one RB is getting pinged for it while the other is getting stroked. Both should have the same standing in the locker room and feel the same consequences.
The big problem here is that Beanie Wells has a hell of a lot more than 188 touches, and Tim Hightower has a hell of a lot more than 400 touches. Whiz has seen both of these guys get several thousand touches each, and he's making conclusions over that radically higher sample size he has access to. As fans, however, all we get to see are the player's touches in official games.If a guy doesn't fumble a single time during TCs, Preseason, or weekly practice, and then goes out and fumbles twice in week 1, I'd imagine he's going to be treated much more leniently than a guy who fumbled 8 times in TCs, preseason, and weekly practice, but only fumbled once in week 1.Of course, I can't say that Wells fumbles more than Hightower in practice, because like everyone else, I have no idea what goes on in Cardinals practice. I'm just saying that perhaps The Whiz deserves the benefit of the doubt, here.
 
THT has always been a fumbler. B-Wells needs to get out of Arizona, just does not seem like a good situation for him there.

 
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Hightower fumbled early in the game and then went back out and helped lead the team down the field and punched in a TD, so the reality was he made up for fumble #1. What I can't seem to explain or find anything in print on is why Howling was then in the game for the better part of the 2nd half and then they give Hightower the ball late to run the clock out and he isn't in the flow of the game anymore consequently he fumbles the football.

I blame the coaches more on the 2nd fumble and maybe Whis feels the same way.

 
Hightower had 1 fumble. The 2nd one wasn't and was just a terrible call. The first fumble was really bad because he was basically in open field and it was going to be a big play.

Beanie is going to be fine, there is such a drastic difference in him running than Hightower that even Whis playing favorites with Tim won't last...as it didn't last year.

EDIT: LSH just makes plays when he's in there. I have no problem with him getting the touches he did, little dude is a playmaker.

 
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The really baffling thing is that as much flack as Peterson takes for fumbling, Hightower has actually been much worse.

Last season Peterson fumbled once every 51 touches, while Hightower fumbled once every 41 touches. Add in this year and he's fumbling once every 31 (!) touches. Even for their careers, Hightower fumbles more.

Meanwhile, Peterson manages to keep his job in spite of it because he's a supremely elite talent. Hightower manages to keep his job in spite of it because....um....incriminating photos?

 
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