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Most dangerous open-field runner in the NFL? (1 Viewer)

Please read the text before voting

  • Darren Sproles

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Devin Hester

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Adrian Peterson

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Jerious Norwood

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Chris Johnson

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Leon Washington

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Ahmad Bradshaw

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Joshua Cribbs

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Percy Harvin

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Maurice Jones-Drew

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Brian Westbrook

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • DeSean Jackson

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Reggie Bush

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Steve Smith (Carolina)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • OTHER

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
Raider Nation

Raider Nation

Devil's Advocate
Ball on your own 16 yard line. Swing pass to one of the RBs, or a bubble screen to one of the WRs.

Runner gets past the first wave of tacklers, and there's only a couple of defenders down field to prevent an 84-yard TD scamper.

Who ya got?

If you vote "OTHER" (Felix Jones, Ted Ginn, Darren McFadden, etc), please specify who you're voting for.

 
GoinDeep said:
This was a tough one. I really like Sproles, C. Johnson and F. Jones. I voted other for Felix.
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Originally had Felix as one of the 14 choices, but his resume is limited so I replaced him with Westbrook. BW deserves a spot in the main poll for his body of work, even though injuries are taking their toll. He is still explosive.
 
From the games I've watched this season, which is as many as I possibly can.... :banned:

....Chris Johnson, Percy Harvin, and DeSean Jackson seem to possess a gear that no other NFL player has.

 
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Great question. I was worried that everyone was out-thinking themselves, but the poll looks like I think it should. While Chris Johnson and Percy Harvin and DeSean Jackson probably have the best "football speed" in the league right now, Peterson's capable of making plays that no other human being on the planet could even imagine. Witness his run in week 1 where he did a behind-the-back stiff arm, came to a full stop, and then restarted and managed to accelerate away from everyone again.

My second choice would have to be Hester, who again isn't quite as fast as Harvin/Jackson/CJ, but who is really only good at one thing, and that one thing is making people look ridiculous in the open field. How many NFL coaches have ever said "man, this guy is SO GOOD at making people look ridiculous in the open field that we're going to actually change his position"? And more importantly, how many times has it actually worked?

 
SSOG said:
Great question. I was worried that everyone was out-thinking themselves, but the poll looks like I think it should. While Chris Johnson and Percy Harvin and DeSean Jackson probably have the best "football speed" in the league right now, Peterson's capable of making plays that no other human being on the planet could even imagine. Witness his run in week 1 where he did a behind-the-back stiff arm, came to a full stop, and then restarted and managed to accelerate away from everyone again.My second choice would have to be Hester, who again isn't quite as fast as Harvin/Jackson/CJ, but who is really only good at one thing, and that one thing is making people look ridiculous in the open field. How many NFL coaches have ever said "man, this guy is SO GOOD at making people look ridiculous in the open field that we're going to actually change his position"? And more importantly, how many times has it actually worked?
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My thoughts exactly, I would put Peterson at 1 and Hester at 2. While Peterson might not be the fastest, the extremely slight drop in speed you get from Peterson compared to CJ3, Percy and DeSean is more than made up by his far superior ability to break tackles. Hester's at number 2 because he's one of the best return men of all time, which is just open field running.
 
HHZ2000 said:
SSOG said:
Great question. I was worried that everyone was out-thinking themselves, but the poll looks like I think it should. While Chris Johnson and Percy Harvin and DeSean Jackson probably have the best "football speed" in the league right now, Peterson's capable of making plays that no other human being on the planet could even imagine. Witness his run in week 1 where he did a behind-the-back stiff arm, came to a full stop, and then restarted and managed to accelerate away from everyone again.My second choice would have to be Hester, who again isn't quite as fast as Harvin/Jackson/CJ, but who is really only good at one thing, and that one thing is making people look ridiculous in the open field. How many NFL coaches have ever said "man, this guy is SO GOOD at making people look ridiculous in the open field that we're going to actually change his position"? And more importantly, how many times has it actually worked?
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly, I would put Peterson at 1 and Hester at 2. While Peterson might not be the fastest, the extremely slight drop in speed you get from Peterson compared to CJ3, Percy and DeSean is more than made up by his far superior ability to break tackles. Hester's at number 2 because he's one of the best return men of all time, which is just open field running.
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the key is its open-field. therefore, they probably won't have to break tackles, they can just make people miss.
 
SSOG said:
Great question. I was worried that everyone was out-thinking themselves, but the poll looks like I think it should. While Chris Johnson and Percy Harvin and DeSean Jackson probably have the best "football speed" in the league right now, Peterson's capable of making plays that no other human being on the planet could even imagine. Witness his run in week 1 where he did a behind-the-back stiff arm, came to a full stop, and then restarted and managed to accelerate away from everyone again.My second choice would have to be Hester, who again isn't quite as fast as Harvin/Jackson/CJ, but who is really only good at one thing, and that one thing is making people look ridiculous in the open field. How many NFL coaches have ever said "man, this guy is SO GOOD at making people look ridiculous in the open field that we're going to actually change his position"? And more importantly, how many times has it actually worked?
Click to expand...
You think Westbrook should have no votes? I voted for him.
 
The Man with the Plan said:
Probably Brandon Jacobs or Michael Turner. It's dangerous for anyone trying to tackle them at full speed.
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I thought the same thing. I would not want to try to tackle Jacobs when he gets up to speed. He's dangerous because he wouldn't try to go around you, he's just lower his shoulder and keep going
 
To be fair, When Desean Jackson gets beyond that last guy he still has a 20% chance of fumbling the ball during a premature celebration....

 
Given the definition I use for open field running I picked D. Jackson. This is a very difficult decision though.

 
Despite the "swing pass or bubble screen" question setup, I immediately thought of return men. I voted Hester based on what he's done in the "open field".

 
Jacobs, Chris Johnson, Hester, ADP all great suggestions.

I have a feeling Vick still is, would like to see a healthy Tomlinson in that spot.

Ed Reed or Antrel Rolle probably are too.

I think it'd be more fun(for a second) to go with any lineman bumbling down the field as most dangerous as both sidelines would be excited and worried at the same time.

Throw in one more Danieal Manning who probably has better open field results(yards) than anyone else in the last year or so.

 
Roscoe Parrish is worthy of consideration. There's a reason he's been the top punt returner for the past couple years.

Steve Smith and Reggie Bush should probably top the list now. Westy in his prime was great in the open field, too.

 
I don't know how anyone votes anything other than Devin Hester here. It's not a hypothetical in his case - he's housed a bunch of long, open field runs.

 
When I read the question, the first 3 players that come to mind are Sproles, Chris Johnson and Anquan Boldin. Although DeSean is probably more dangerous than Boldin now.

 
The best thing about this question is that it compels you to visualize each of these players at their highlight-film best. Thanks for putting it together. I voted Hester, FWIW, but you really could go in so many directions.

 
Peterson...speed, power, and the moves. Disgusting really. Even if you catch him, he might just run you over.

 
sho nuff said:
Peterson...speed, power, and the moves. Disgusting really. Even if you catch him, he might just run you over.
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:excited: I think the announcers for one of his games called him Earl Campbell, wrapped in Jim Brown and fried in Walter Payton.
 
Sproles seems to have some of the best instincts and outstanding small-area quicks/elusiveness

Jackson/Hester/Johnson have outstanding speed to go with just slightly weaker instincts than Sproles

Peterson isn't quite as elusive or fast (but has breakaway speed, no doubt) or inventive, but has the power

These are your top 5, and any of them are a fine answer.

Still based on the set up, Sproles is the guy I would pick. He has the rare ability to load up a move on one tackler in the queue, and while he's executing that move, he can be processing the next tackler and setting him up. His moves seem to shock the defender - watch Ed Reed on Sproles 80 yard TD catch and run from week 2 - he looks like he was shot by a sniper when Sproles cuts back. The others are faster or stronger, but they aren't quite as sudden as Sproles when it comes time to make the tackler grasp at air.

 
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I'll take Hester one-on-one(one man to beat/etc) over any of them...

The smaller/shiftier RB's and WR's would fall in behind the freaks like Hester, and I'd take Chris Johnson/Sproles/Harvin first from that group.

Adrian Peterson is a beast, and certainly the best all-around runner, but in one-on-one situations there are others I'd rather have with the ball.

 
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shader said:
I can't believe people are voting Felix Jones.
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Why?There are certainly concerns about him, but you can make a case for him against anyone.The easiest one goes like this:He was basically the most effective runner in college history. His YPC crushed his peers (broke records). Now in the NFL, his YPC crushes his peers in both years he has been in the league.Granted, in the NFL we are working with a very small sample size, but when on the field, he gobbles up yards like nobody's business and he's done it on every level.YPC may not be a perfect match to "open field running", but there's obviously SOME correlation there.By the way, I'm not saying I'd vote for him, just that I don't mind him being considered (over several of the guys on the list). It would be hard for me to not pick Peterson for the scenario the OP described, and obviously CJ and Hester would be excellent candidates as well.
 
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I love Chris Johnson's speed, he's the guy who no one will beat on the footrace to the end zone. He also processes tacklers angles and makes efficient subtle cuts to elude tackles. Im not sure he has the "phone booth" quickness of Sproles/Hester/Jackson. If it was a flat footed tackler against a flat footed runner, I'm not sure Johnson would be the best. What is underrated about Johnson is the power/hip-lower body drive he creates. I could see Jackson/Hester/Sproles slithering out of a tackle, but not truly breaking one, but Johnson runs through arm tackles and generally makes a tackler come correct to get him down.

Great thread idea Raider Nation.

 
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Here's how you settle this in your mind.

Rules:

1) 10' wide alleyway.

2) One defender.

3) The defender is playing 2-hand touch to win.

4) The offensive player can only make one cut.

Which one of these guys gets past the defender the most in 100 tries?

 
I went Desean. Probably some Eagles bias, but in his short career he has made a lot of people look stupid on the field. I'd be interested to see where his 40 time is currently (I think he ran 4.31 in his combine).

 
KnowledgeReignsSupreme said:
Here's how you settle this in your mind.Rules:1) 10' wide alleyway.2) One defender.3) The defender is playing 2-hand touch to win.4) The offensive player can only make one cut.Which one of these guys gets past the defender the most in 100 tries?
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This pretty much isolates it to Sproles - if its two hand touch - in other words, runner has to completely elude the tackler, it's clearly Sproles.
 
Using the naked eye test, my impulse was to vote for Devin Hester.

When you go to the stats, though, one guy really jumps out -- Felix Jones.

As a rookie last season, Jones averaged an incredible 8.9 yards per carry. :thumbup:

This year Jones has improved on that and is averaging a mind-numbing 10.1 yards per carry. :eek:

 
Holy Schneikes said:
shader said:
I can't believe people are voting Felix Jones.
Click to expand...
Why?There are certainly concerns about him, but you can make a case for him against anyone.The easiest one goes like this:He was basically the most effective runner in college history. His YPC crushed his peers (broke records). Now in the NFL, his YPC crushes his peers in both years he has been in the league.Granted, in the NFL we are working with a very small sample size, but when on the field, he gobbles up yards like nobody's business and he's done it on every level.YPC may not be a perfect match to "open field running", but there's obviously SOME correlation there.By the way, I'm not saying I'd vote for him, just that I don't mind him being considered (over several of the guys on the list). It would be hard for me to not pick Peterson for the scenario the OP described, and obviously CJ and Hester would be excellent candidates as well.
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Felix is dangerous up to 9 carries.
 
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