Mendenhall May Start?.......Say What?

The crowd that's worried he wouldn't know or be caught up with the new offense,
Let me calm your nerves right now. There's nothing new for him to learn.
The running back position is the same in every offense. Find daylight and hit the hole
I have confidence that Mendy remembers how to do it.

 

well thank you BW, i feel much better now. LOL

 

I've never been one to shy away from making bold predictions and here's my latest:

Jonathan Dwyer will entrench himself as the Steelers' feature back by the halfway point of the season, regardless of whether or not Mendy is 100%.

 

Bold prediction indeed.

Certainly, now is Dwyer's chance to shine if he's going to.

 

I think it's quite possible that Dwyer will look good enough this year for them to let Mendy walk after the season, but I do think that in 2012, as long as Mendy is 100% he will be the starter. Once he gets on the field.

 

Dwyer reminds me a little bit of Barry Foster the way he runs. He can be explosive up the gut and rarely ever goes down with the initial contact. I think he could be a very effective RB for the Steelers. Mendy has more God-given athletic ability but he just has a tendency to dance behind the line too much. I love Redman as a red zone / short yardage option but Dwyer is more explosive. I thought he earned the starting job hands down in the pre-season.

 

We'll see how Mendy's surgically repaired ACL responds. He's such a quick-twitch RB that I am a little concerned he'll be able to get all the way back to 100%. If he loses some of his pure speed, Mendy turns into an average back the way he tends to dance.

 

Dwyer reminds me a little bit of Barry Foster the way he runs. He can be explosive up the gut and rarely ever goes down with the initial contact. I think he could be a very effective RB for the Steelers. Mendy has more God-given athletic ability but he just has a tendency to dance behind the line too much. I love Redman as a red zone / short yardage option but Dwyer is more explosive. I thought he earned the starting job hands down in the pre-season.[/quote:17xhdh0g]

He also reminds me a bit of the Bus only a smaller version

 

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...without-knee-brace?module=HP11_headline_stack

New news is, he was a full participant in practice again today, this time with no knee brace.

 

No brace today at practice! Wow.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000 ... line_stack

 

all i can say is wow. way to go mendy. give each guy a quarter and pound them into submission. every once in awhile we will throw a TD pass over top of them. we are going to break the bronco's. i feel it. :darkness:

 

I would be very suprised to see Mendy playing a whole lot in Denver,
He has not had much physical contact up to this point, his game conditioning
along with about three other Steelers really has to be questioned also.
I have serious doubts that mendy will make a difference in Denver. We have
replacements capable of handling the load for this game. Mendy will take over after the BYE.

 

First I will say I am very glad that Menenhall is healing so well...I have no doubts that Mendenhall will make a difference in the Game,he already has...Just the threat that he might play is huge for the preperation of Denver....Denver already knows that Redman can plow through them and Break tackles through the A gaps.....Denver has seen the tape on Dwyer from the Pre Season and the know he is a great threat coming through the B and C gaps....Now when you add the threat of Mendenhall who can work from the A gap to the edge it is really hard to Coach the fits and devise a plan...Add in Rainey who can split out at WR and hit the corners as well now Denver has all kinds of stuff to get ready for....Not to mention the Broncs have a new DC in his 1st. real game and they have switched schemes,that alone will confuse them from time to time and I am sure this is the plan...

Haley is the type of Coach that will come into a game with multiple Attacks,he will attack certain points on the field with different guys,he will let the situations and the type of Defense played dictate his calls.....Not only is this for the running game ,but also very much in the passing game...This is why I Love the run 1st. mentality and the use of PA....Where you run opens up different pass Trees...The style of the runner opens up different pass Trees..For example with Mendenhall as the runner the open spots will be on the hashes underneath...The reason is he has the ability to bounce it outside and outrun a Defense...This forces Teams to play off the WR'S on the edge and keep the Safety help available to get to the edge...BA did not use this in his scheme he didn't have a clue..

In contrast you have Redman the tough inside runner who requires more inside help from the Defense

 

Part 2......His inside running forces the D to use Safety help in the box this frees up a lot of areas....It helps yake away the double Team which allows more one on one stuff on the outside,it also opens up the hash mark PA game because the LB''S must pinch in and fill the A gaps....This is the reason I prefer a Power running game to a Zone or a stretch running game....

It is easier to defend the run and pass if a Team is a edge rushing Team,a Team who can run between the tackles effectively and consistantly and utilizes the PA game really can't be stopped..

 

And a combination of the two types of runs will make it even more interesting and harder to defend. Once they adjust to A Gap then you start to bounce it outside...

Bman

 

Exactly correct...I will also add this is where the trick plays,screens,swing passes and reverses are more effective.....It is Football 101 the more you can force a Team to protect the box the better the outside the box plays will work..I also think we will see some Rocket formations with Redman/Dwyer and Rainey as side cars to Ben in the Gun...This type of Offense needs the A game threat to utilize all the plays....To have that threat you must establish it first...BA only called runs because he was forced to,,Haley will call them because he believes in them and more than that he knows how to use his Playbook in progression.....Same as you eluded to we willhave a progressive playbook where one play builds upon another the way this Offense should have been done for years.....

I expect 40 runs and 25 passes or so this game ,I also expect Ben to complete at a high level and throw for over 300 yards....The amount of passes is not Important to me,the amount of success is...Running is a Attitude you must committ to it if you want to do it well...

 

I drafted Mendenhall in the 12th round of my fantasy football draft and boy were people riding me for doing that. Guess who's laughing now! Hopefully he comes back and starts soon and has a great season...BOOYA!

Blitz

 

From TTF's Scout.com link:

MENDENHALL LIKELY OUT

Running back Rashard Mendenhall looked very good on Monday, but he was nowhere to be seen Thursday. Did he practice?

“Not really,” Mendenhall said. “A little bit.”

So it’s unlikely that Mendenhall will play Sunday night in Denver, but that really hasn’t been in his plans. The key is that he’s nearing full strength after rehabilitating an ACL injury from New Year’s Day.

“I feel good,” he said. “I worked every day, so everything to this point is the best I could’ve done.”

Mendenhall said he’s been cutting on the leg since the team was in Latrobe and reports that all is well in that department.

“I’m making natural cuts with no hesitation or anything like that,” he said. “It can get sore here and there but that’s to be expected.”

The other issue with Mendenhall this week is his contract, which will expire at the end of this season.

Normally, the Steelers would be holding 11th-hour discussions with him, particularly since the Mike Wallace talks appear to be stalled, but Mendenhall hasn’t heard anything from his agent.

“I’ve been more focused on this rehab process,” he said. “At some point I’ll be talking to my agent and figure everything out, but I really haven’t started to get into that at all.”

But it remains a possibility all the way up until the door shuts on the team plane Saturday afternoon."



He's been cutting on it since they got to Latrobe, so that's awhile. That's good. Says he has no hesitation in his cuts and it feels natural. That's good.

I hadn't even considered the idea of re-signing him before the season. That seems nuts for both parties. We could drastically overspend or he could be drastically underpaid, depending on how this year goes for him. I'm not surprised he hasn't heard anything. But I do believe they'll make an effort to keep him if he returns to form.

 

I thought i read he fully participated in practice today

 

If Mendy starts in Denver Sunday night I will crawl to Baltimore.....blah blah blah...ya all know how this turns out.

 

Did I ever question our offensive philosophy?
No I said that I would be suprised if Mendy made much of a difference
in Denver. Oh by the way, the other team also pays their players,
and prepares to win just as the PGH Steelers do.

 

I just elaborated on why Mendenhall was Important for this game...I never thought he would play 1 snap,but the threat takes a lot of practice time which is a bonus for the Steelers....And it also might affect the overall game plan for the Broncs....

Just because the other Team gets paid is irrelevant they don't get paid in Time.....That is the key Mendehall has cost them precious time they can't get back and the DC has spent precious time worrying about so many different threats he now has less time to prepare his Team and Coach them up....

 

How many games will he get suspsended for illegal substances? Seems awfully quick recovery for that injury. If he gets popped, hopefully my dream of them getting rid of him will come true - I wanted him cut after his Bin Laden tweets...

 

R U 4 real?

 

Yup with you on your hands and knees. The only upside for you is if you already live in Baltimore ..