Rashard Mendenhall set for first contact practice

I can't hold off of this "dancing" subject. Ever watch running backs like Walter Payton, Barry Sanders? I'd say those are two decent backs (sarcasm). There are times that they would run behind the line looking for a hole and you would have thought they were performing Swan River. He dances too much...give it up already! I'm not saying that Mendy is the second coming of Payton but some of you act like he took your lunch money.

 

If you can't see the difference between Mendy's style of dancing and Walter/Barry's, I am not sure I can explain it to you. Seems plain as dya to me. Of course, payton and Barry both had excellent offensive lines. Mendy gets bumpkis

 

Maybe it can't be explained because there really isn't that much difference. Isn't dancing to find an opening the same no matter who it is? May not look exactly the same but the purpose is the same. However, I do agree that they had more to work with most of the time.

 

Are you guys crazy? Barry not only never once had even a decent offensive line, he also never had a passing game or a defense. He did everything he ever did by himself. Compare that to someone like Emmitt Smith or Terrell Davis, who had most of their yards handed to them on a silver platter and still couldn't put up the numbers Barry did, and it's a wonder why there's even one person (there are actually tons) who considers either of those players better.

The "dancing thing" is crazy to begin with. If you watch Isaac Redman, he "dances" just as much as Mendenhall. People only see it with Mendy due to the power of suggestion. Note, I'm not saying it's wrong for either of them. I mean, what they're actually doing is trying to evade being tackled, right? That's their job, right? The problem is that Steelers fans would rather they try to plow through people instead of going around them every single time no matter the circumstance. And that's just stupid. There are times to go through and times to go around. I'm sure someone will quickly say Mendenhall never goes through and always dances. That's simply not true. He plows through guys regularly. These same people also conveniently ignore all of the times that "dancing" yields a positive gain.

You're right though, that Mendy has no OL. In fact, it's not so different from Barry's. A great center, and a whoooooole lotta nothing else. Defenders in the backfield 2 out of 3 plays. Although Barry did have Hartings at guard for a couple of years. And if Hartings had played another 2 years Mendy would have had him too.

 

I remember how tough those years were and how Barry Foster was the difference. Had he stayed healthy and had a long career, I believe he would be Top 3-5 no question in my mind. He was a beast. Everyone knew we were running and we did it anyway.

 

Am I crazy? I guess that would be in the eye of the beholder, however, I was talking about Walter Payton and Barry SANDERS. Each of them had their share of good and bad lines. Really, my point was exactly what you got at in your post, Snack. There is a time to "dance" (which is a terrible term for what a running back does) and a time to "go through" someone. There are folks on here that want to believe Mendy both "dances" and fumbles more than your average back and neither suggestion is true. As for agreeing that the two above had more to work with, most of the time, well, in that situation I am comparing them to what Mendy has had to work with and I believe they had more to work with, most of the time. As always, that is only my opinion!

 

Nah, I think we can all agree that you're crazy. I was also talking about Barry Sanders, and I remember him pretty much never having a good offensive line or good run blocking. There'd be the occasional good blocking on one play like Mendy gets, but mostly it was just no holes and lots of guys in the backfield. Kevin Glover was the center I was talking about, and he wasn't even there the whole time. He also never had a fullback until 1997, when he ran for over 2,000 yards.

In my opinion it's hard to compare who had it better, because they are in different eras and both had terrible OLs. I was just disagreeing with the idea that Barry's was actually ever good. Barry definitely didn't have the defense or passing game that we have today. However he also played in a time when running the ball was an acceptable thing to do.

 

You have a point there for sure. I think Barry probably made his line look better than they were. There is no disputing the difference between someone like him and what E. Smith had a Dallas. I think I could have gained yards behind their line. Like I said, my point was that I can't stand this perception that Mendy dances. How good of a back he is or isn't people can debate all they want but to call what he does dancing is obsurd!

 

I think I've seen Redman dance worse in the last 3 games than I saw Mendy do in all of last year. Haven't seen it mentioned here once.

 

Exactly!!!

 

The difference is, Mendenhall's 'dancing' is more or less directly linked to the idea that he's not 'man enough' to be a Steeler running back, which is - for reasons I still can't quite fathom - linked to the fact that he uses Twitter.