Rashard Mendenhall (1 Viewer)

[amnesiac]

I love how people can predict with such certainty that Mendenhall will bust after 4 preseason games.

coming from a Browns fan, i think he looks good.honestly, the Steelers don't seem to draft bad players.

 

[AngryPatriot]

From what I've seen his arms are just too big (and short) to properly secure the ball. This is probably due to excessive weight lifting. If you notice backs with smaller arms, like LT and ADP, have the ball tucked in and cradled much better. I don't recall a tailback with such balloon arms in recent memory.

 

[Psychopav]

From what I've seen his arms are just too big (and short) to properly secure the ball. This is probably due to excessive weight lifting. If you notice backs with smaller arms, like LT and ADP, have the ball tucked in and cradled much better. I don't recall a tailback with such balloon arms in recent memory.

Seriously?

 

[Hipple Long Ware & Peete]

Hopefully they stay away from the highway scene.

 

[Liquid Tension]

From what I've seen his arms are just too big (and short) to properly secure the ball. This is probably due to excessive weight lifting. If you notice backs with smaller arms, like LT and ADP, have the ball tucked in and cradled much better. I don't recall a tailback with such balloon arms in recent memory.

I don't have the picture, but take a look at Thomas Jones...the guy is like a body builder

 

[Xue]

From what I've seen his arms are just too big (and short) to properly secure the ball. This is probably due to excessive weight lifting. If you notice backs with smaller arms, like LT and ADP, have the ball tucked in and cradled much better. I don't recall a tailback with such balloon arms in recent memory.

The longer your arms, the harder your biceps have to work to cradle the ball.

 

[yinzer]

Well I just watched the entire game and I thought Mendenhall looked very good

#1) That fumble was about as little to fault on the runner as possible. Watch it again. He was mid-spin, pulling his right arm down to secure the ball with both hands, and suddenly a tackler from behind gets his helmet on the ball just before he has 2 hands on it.

#2) A few have said he lacks vision because he didnt do much without a lane. Well, he had about 4-5 carries where he was immediately tackled after he got the ball in the backfield, so thats hardly his fault. Thats on the 2nd/3rd team OLine. Any runs that were congested, he got your standard 2-3 yards on

I dont understand the whole explosion on this post after finally seeing the game. This fumble was mostly happenstance, and dont blame Mendenhall much. From what I saw in this game, I think its much more positive and not negative, esp. since the fumble came on like his 2nd carry and then afterwards he had a lot of good runs

 

[AngryPatriot]

True about Thomas Jones, he is huge. Maybe someone that has worked with rb's, coaching can chime in but my hunch is that it goes against common reasoning: the more muscle mass on the arm can lead to difficulty holding the ball. ...like a football trying to hold a football. The strength is great but this "weakness" can be exposed with nfl linebacker level hits. I've seen many weightlifters try to hold baby's and have them jarred loose (just kidding). I think it can be corrected but he has some adjusting to do. I did not see this last fumble, just what I noticed from the first 2.

 

[Irish]

True about Thomas Jones, he is huge. Maybe someone that has worked with rb's, coaching can chime in but my hunch is that it goes against common reasoning: the more muscle mass on the arm can lead to difficulty holding the ball. ...like a football trying to hold a football. The strength is great but this "weakness" can be exposed with nfl linebacker level hits. I've seen many weightlifters try to hold baby's and have them jarred loose (just kidding). I think it can be corrected but he has some adjusting to do. I did not see this last fumble, just what I noticed from the first 2.

He is carrying the ball too loose away from his body that is what caused his first two fumbles. Nothing to do with arm size. Last fumble was just a helmet on the football.

 

[treat88]

True about Thomas Jones, he is huge. Maybe someone that has worked with rb's, coaching can chime in but my hunch is that it goes against common reasoning: the more muscle mass on the arm can lead to difficulty holding the ball. ...like a football trying to hold a football. The strength is great but this "weakness" can be exposed with nfl linebacker level hits. I've seen many weightlifters try to hold baby's and have them jarred loose (just kidding). I think it can be corrected but he has some adjusting to do. I did not see this last fumble, just what I noticed from the first 2.

He is carrying the ball too loose away from his body that is what caused his first two fumbles. Nothing to do with arm size. Last fumble was just a helmet on the football.

Plus he's running with poor pad level and leaving the ball exposed to contact.The arm size theory is whack.

 

[Delusions Of Adequacy]

Q: How many elite NFL talents are sitting on the bench because they fumble too much?A: Zero.It's not good for him to be coughing up the ball this much and it will hurt his chances of making an early impact, but long term it's a non-issue IMO.

Tiki Barber didn't get enough playing time to become an elite NFL talent until he learned to quit fumbling.

 

[Otis]

Athletically, I would compare Mendenhall more to someone like Ronnie Brown. Brown is not super explosive, but he's a big back with speed and a little bit of wiggle.

IIRC, Brown had one of the better combine's anyone's ever had, particularly for a guy his size. You're saying Mendenhall is the athlete Brown is?

 

[fruity pebbles]

Athletically, I would compare Mendenhall more to someone like Ronnie Brown. Brown is not super explosive, but he's a big back with speed and a little bit of wiggle.

IIRC, Brown had one of the better combine's anyone's ever had, particularly for a guy his size. You're saying Mendenhall is the athlete Brown is?

Their numbers look virtually identical to me. 40 time 4.45 versus Ronnie's 4.43broad jump of 9-9, same as RonnieVertical of 33.5, versus Ronnie's 34225 bench press 26 times versus Ronnie's 18

 

[EBF]

Athletically, I would compare Mendenhall more to someone like Ronnie Brown. Brown is not super explosive, but he's a big back with speed and a little bit of wiggle.

IIRC, Brown had one of the better combine's anyone's ever had, particularly for a guy his size. You're saying Mendenhall is the athlete Brown is?

You remember incorrectly. His combine was nothing special. His performance was overblown in the press because he ran a reported 4.3 40, even though his actual machine time was over 4.40. Here are his numbers compared to some truly elite athletes:Ronnie Brown

40 - 4.43

Vertical Jump - 34"

Broad Jump - 9'9"

LaDainian Tomlinson

40 - 4.46

Vertical Jump - 40.5"

Broad Jump - 10'4"

Reggie Bush

40 - 4.37

Vertical Jump - 40.5"

Broad Jump - 10'8"

Adrian Peterson

40 - 4.40

Vertical Jump - 38.5"

Broad Jump - 10'7"

Jonathan Stewart

40 - 4.46

Vertical Jump - 36.5" (Note that the actual jump was probably 1-3" higher. The jump marks were off this year.)

Broad Jump - 10'8"

Marion Barber

40 - 4.49

Vertical Jump - 40"

Broad Jump - 10'7"

Brown is a lot like Mendenhall. Good size and good speed in the 40, but limited explosiveness in the jumps. Neither player stacks up against the elite athletes at the position.