Rashard Mendenhall set for first contact practice

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...t-contact-practice?module=HP11_headline_stack

Should they let him take the bulk of snaps in a game or continue with Redman and Dwyer based on the first couple games?

 

That depends on how he reacts to a full practice. If he feels good afterwards then let him run wild because the Redman experiment is ugly.

 

if we need to play mendy to beat the raiders we are in serious trouble.. so any player that is not close to 100% why would we risk them this week when we have the following week off and give them a good 2-3 week rest... only bad thing is now,,, is dwyer out? with his turf toe? can red, batch, rainey handle the load? if swyer can ply why use mendy .. give him 2 more weeks..

HINES

 

if he can hold onto the ball lets play him if he can't I prefer he stay on the bench

 

He averages a fumble every 135 carries not including catches which would make it even more the nfl average in 06 which is the last season i cam find this stat on is a fumble every 106 touches for an nfl running back. I will take six fumbles on 850+ carries all day long.

 

Sadly your efforts are probably for nothing. I'm sure the Mendenhall fumbles myth will continue until the end of time.

 

True, he has been good at actually not fumbling much thoughout his career - well above average. And everyone remembers the one in the SB and 95% of RB get that ball popped out in that situation.

 

Let Mendenhall rest,is better to give him the time he needs...Also there is no need to get him killed when the OL is not blocking very well....I remember Mendenhall having a 2.1 YPC over a 2 or 3 game stretch at one time in his career...If he had been playing these last 2 games I think his average would be worse than that.....Mendenhall is not a great vision runner and he does look for holes to open,there have been none...

Mendenhall is a open field runner he can't help us if the D is 4 yards in the backfield when the RB gets the ball...

It's not like our RB'S are to slow to get to the hole,it's not like they are waiting and dancing behind the line...The bottom line is there has been no where to go more often than not.......The Power of Redman and the Vision of Dwyer have been the only reason we can gain yards to this point...A patient look for the whole explosive open field runner is not the answer to the running game at this time....Mendenhall does have more take it to the House ability,but as I said that ability can't be used without some open field....The same reason that Rainey has not been effective.....

We must block better and that's the bottom line...

 

The Pgh Steelers will be, I think a RB by committee.
I like all our RB's, it will be tough to deal out the 30 some odd
carries to this stable of RB's. I fully espect Mendy to touch the ball
about 10 times this week.

 

I would play him for maybe a series, depending on how he practices. But he definitely would not play the entire game.

 

Yeah, definitely. Start small and see how he goes. If we're winning like we should be, we probably won't need him so much anyway. Ideally for me, he looks great getting 5-10 touches, gets an extra week rest and can start against Philly.

 

Hopefully when he plays he isn't getting hit as soon as he gets the ball. Run blocking last two weeks has been down right awful.

 

I can't imagine that is going to change much unless we play a team with a horrible d-line.

 

i find it very hard to put the blame on Redman and if you think by just changing rb's is going to make a difference than your wrong. when thrb is getting hit on almost every carry 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage, it makes it very tough to run effectively.

if you look at the very few nice runs that Redman and Dwyer have had this year it has been all them. they have turned nothing into a nice run.

until the oline can start pushing the dline back or atleast holding them at the line of scrimmage it wouldnt matter if Franco Harris suited up.

 

i wouldn't mind seeing rainey and mendy flairing out of the backfield, one to each side. that puts them out in alot more open space. nothin but a longer handoff. they have to account for each of them somehow which has to open up something else. i don't think rainey's been the same since he got his bell rung in preseason.

 

Both his punt return TDs were after his bell got rung. He hasn't been the same since the season started because defenses know about him and he's actually been given the ball way more often than he's been used as a diversion

 

aw yes the infamous block in the back punt returns. i'd still like to see him on the edges out of the backfield at least to give the illusion. maybe even will j out one way and rainey out the other. or mendy or dwyer, or batch, or redman. all i know is we have a guy that needs to see the ball more on the edges. make that D run to him.

 

aw yes the infamous block in the back punt returns. i'd still like to see him on the edges out of the backfield at least to give the illusion. maybe even will j out one way and rainey out the other. or mendy or dwyer, or batch, or redman. all i know is we have a guy that needs to see the ball more on the edges. make that D run to him. [/quote:1m4x2395]
What are you saying, he didn't really have two punt returns for touchdowns? Obviously they don't count because they were called back, and they double don't count because it was preseason, but he still did it. On one of them it's possible he wouldn't have made it all the way if not for the hold. On the other, he would have scored anyway for sure. He still did it.

 

I agree with this assessment of our running game to date this season, PWP. I would be interested to know whether you think Dwyer is making a case for leapfrogging Redman on the roster, though - as so far, vision seems to have produced better than power. Obviously, I'm not saying we don't use them both - just which one should be the feature back at this point.

 

You have to go with vision....The Vision guy give you the best chance to gain yards,if there are no holes...The power RB needs the LOS at least at which point he has a full head of steam and can power his way for more yards....If Mendenhall comes back,he will be the least effective of the 3 because he needs day light,at least 3 yards on the other side to make his open field running go....

Now if the OL starts making big holes that's another debate.....Do you need the Vision guy to turn 10 yard runs into 30 ?Do you need the Power guy to turn 5 yard runs into 10 ? Do you need the open field runner to turn 10 yard runs into 50 ???Well I have my own thoughts on this and prefer the Power game to control the clock,help the D rest,open up the seam PA game, and open up the deep ball.....

Here is a brief summary of what I have seen in my life around Football...

The Vision guy does not always force the LB'S to pinch in or think run first or require DB help in the box.....
The Open field guy does not force LB'S into the box,nor does it make them think run first,it actually forces Defences into more Zone help to hel run him down...
The Power guy forces the LB'S to think run first,it forces DB help in the box,it forces Teams to play more man...

So I hope this explains a bit about why I love the inside run from Power guys..They allow the O to use the PA and work the deep ball,the power game creates more 1 on 1 coverage all over the field,the Power game beats up on speedy DB'S and forces Teams to change personnel ...

Some would say a fast runner or a open field runner could do the same....Those people would be wrong....As the types of guys you would put in to stop guys in space are the same types of guys who can cover and close on balls in the air...Is why the TE is a huge advantage because if you go small he can out power the D,and if you go Big he can out run him....

So my perfect attack is with Power at RB and a skilled TE with a Fast group of WR'S with a QB who will hit the open guy off of PA and has the skills to make all the throws...

Sounds just like our O.....Except we need the OL to make some holes to maxize the PA game all over the field...I believe we will see all of this soon..

 

What are you saying, he didn't really have two punt returns for touchdowns? Obviously they don't count because they were called back, and they double don't count because it was preseason, but he still did it. On one of them it's possible he wouldn't have made it all the way if not for the hold. On the other, he would have scored anyway for sure. He still did it.[/quote:3qmjgp54]


well actually no he didn't have 2 TD's because they didn't count. did he run clear down the field with the ball? yes he did. i was however mearly aknowledging those two plays and what happened on them.

 

I notice on alot of our running plays Ben seems to really telegraph the play and it seems to take a long time to get the RB the ball, which allows the defense to see what is coming and start penetrating toward the hand-off. I think there is some sort of "tell" often too.

 

What are you saying, he didn't really have two punt returns for touchdowns? Obviously they don't count because they were called back, and they double don't count because it was preseason, but he still did it. On one of them it's possible he wouldn't have made it all the way if not for the hold. On the other, he would have scored anyway for sure. He still did it.[/quote:26qavofn]
well actually no he didn't have 2 TD's because they didn't count. did he run clear down the field with the ball? yes he did. i was however mearly aknowledging those two plays and what happened on them. [/quote:26qavofn]
Why are you being so difficult?

I thought the point was that he hasn't played as well since the hit against the Colts. I thought that his two disallowed preseason punt returns for touchdowns were examples of good (actually, better) play, and they happened after the hit against the Colts. Apparently that wasn't the point, so I was wrong.

 

It is good to see that PWP is still pimping his boy Redman. I thought for sure I'd see some give after the way Redman has started but, alas, it is the lines fault. Someone with Redman's great vision and power certainly couldn't be responsible for the numbers he is posting, right? And...no way would Mendy do any better (especially since he is not on the field to defend himself) because the idea is just preposterous. Funny though, when Mendy was running behind a less that great line he was at fault for his ypc but when Redman runs behind a less than great line it's the lines fault for his ypc. I do admire you, PWP, for sticking with your guy to the bitter end!

 

IDK, I think Mendy could have done some serious damage against the Jets.There was a play where Redman had a huge hole and then a lane opened up to a lot of green. Redman slowly powered away a gain when he saw it but I think Mendy would have been off to the races on that one.

IMO