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RB John Clay Waived/Inj, RB Jay Ford Signed

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012.

  1. TerribleTowelFlying

    TerribleTowelFlying Staff Member Site Admin Mod Team

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    Oct 12, 2011
    Per Bob Labriola~

    [​IMG]
     
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    #1
  2. TerribleTowelFlying

    TerribleTowelFlying Staff Member Site Admin Mod Team

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    Jay Ford finished his senior season with 600 yards and seven touchdowns on 155 carries. He ended his college career with 1,962 yards, 16th best in Illinois' school history. He was academically ineligible for the school's bowl game last year.

    Here is some info on him at draftscout:

    http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/ds ... &genpos=RB

    Ford went undrafted out of Illinois, but here's something I found on him from back in April before the draft.

    ...Ford has appeal to two sets of teams.

    He could reprise his role at Illinois and be a big, powerful running back in the mold of his favorite player, the Jets’ Shonn Greene. For his career, Ford ranks second in school history with 26 touchdowns and 16th with 1,962 rushing yards.

    “I take a lot of pride in my accomplishments,” Ford said. “Of course, I would have liked to have had a better season and gotten more rushing yards and hopefully gotten into the top five, but I take pride in scoring touchdowns and being able to be the short-yardage or goal-line running back who never gets stopped.”

    His second possible role in the NFL would be as a John Kuhn-style fullback. One scout told Packer Report that Ford could be a “terrific” West Coast-style fullback. He ranked fourth on the team with a career-high 19 receptions and finished with 46 grabs for his career.

    “If they need a running back, I can step in and do that, and if they need a fullback who can make plays out of the backfield or make a lead block, I can do that,” Ford said. “Even special teams — I played all the special teams throughout college.” ...
     
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    #2
  3. TarheelFlyer

    TarheelFlyer Well-Known Member

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    Interesting read...and it makes sense to sign a player like this. Batch and Rainey pretty much have that scat back role tied up. Redman and Dwyer can provide the other role, but only once they get back. Mendy is a tweener. That puts Ford in competition with ....W. Johnson. IMO, we may see him do both on Saturday. Some Fullback in the 1st and 2nd quarters for Batch and Rainey, and in the 3rd and 4th dead time, he may just carry the rock a lot. Good opportunity for him to show the team something.
     
    TarheelFlyer, Aug 14, 2012
    TarheelFlyer, Aug 14, 2012
    #3
  4. TerribleTowelFlying

    TerribleTowelFlying Staff Member Site Admin Mod Team

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    I agree. It'll be interesting to see how they work him. He participated with the Texans as a FB in OTA's before being released. Here's a pic of him ahead of Arian Foster~

    [​IMG]
     
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    #4
  5. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    I have had a busy weekend so I may have missed it. what is Clay's injury?
     
    thorn058, Aug 14, 2012
    thorn058, Aug 14, 2012
    #5
  6. TerribleTowelFlying

    TerribleTowelFlying Staff Member Site Admin Mod Team

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    They're not positive yet, but I read a little earlier that it's believed to be a torn quadriceps muscle. He was carted off the field during practice on Sunday.
     
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 14, 2012
    #6
  7. nitrous12

    nitrous12 Well-Known Member

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    I have never heard of a quad tear. That sounds very painful and also difficult to do.

    This Jay Ford addition is an interesting compliment to what we have and what we lost in DJ going down. Not holding my breath, but I guess we'll see what he can do.
     
    nitrous12, Aug 14, 2012
    nitrous12, Aug 14, 2012
    #7
  8. DDinAZsteel1

    DDinAZsteel1 Well-Known Member

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    We had better hope redman doesn't go down. I'd consider shutting him down for any remaining goal line type drills in practice. and defintiely not play him the 4th game of pre-season. Btach dwyer and rainey ain't gonna cut the mustard til sir dance-a-lot gets back from the knee injury. How quickly we went from having so many options at RB to so few. Yikes.
     
    DDinAZsteel1, Aug 14, 2012
    DDinAZsteel1, Aug 14, 2012
    #8
  9. edog55

    edog55 Well-Known Member

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    I like this signing, a true FB who should be able to block. Now Will Johnson can concentrate on being a true TE, especially since Weslye Saunders will be out the first four games. This guy shouldn't have to learn how to block and will not be splitting time between the TE room and the RB room.
     
    edog55, Aug 14, 2012
    edog55, Aug 14, 2012
    #9
  10. gpguy

    gpguy Well-Known Member

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    I've seen it take a good 8-12 months for some to come back from Quad Tears.
     
    gpguy, Aug 14, 2012
    gpguy, Aug 14, 2012
    #10
  11. gpguy

    gpguy Well-Known Member

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    Johnson is listed as an FB and brought in to be an FB not a TE...he's been at FB the whole time...they have enough TEs to pick from for now.
     
    gpguy, Aug 14, 2012
    gpguy, Aug 14, 2012
    #11
  12. RobVos

    RobVos Well-Known Member

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    I watch the PSU-Illinois game last fall and Ford looked very impressive. He had 100 yards and a 4.2 ypc that game. He looked very good in that game. Alot of power and hard to bring down (reminded me of Redman, but maybe a little quicker/shifty). I like him on the team. :thumbs_up:
     
    RobVos, Aug 14, 2012
    RobVos, Aug 14, 2012
    #12
  13. Iowasteeljim

    Iowasteeljim

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    This could be a nice little pick up for the team. I saw him play a few times and I liked what I saw.
     
    Iowasteeljim, Aug 15, 2012
    Iowasteeljim, Aug 15, 2012
    #13
  14. TerribleTowelFlying

    TerribleTowelFlying Staff Member Site Admin Mod Team

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    Oct 12, 2011
    [​IMG]
     
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 16, 2012
    TerribleTowelFlying, Aug 16, 2012
    #14
  15. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    i hate to hear that about clay going down. :cool:
     
    mac daddyo, Aug 16, 2012
    mac daddyo, Aug 16, 2012
    #15
  16. HugeSnack

    HugeSnack Well-Known Member

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    Me too, but realistically I think he was on the outside looking in. Dwyer was substantially ahead of him, I'm pretty sure. Hopefully he catches on with someone next year.
     
    HugeSnack, Aug 16, 2012
    HugeSnack, Aug 16, 2012
    #16
  17. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    Oct 22, 2011
    i don't know a thing about ford. i hear he's built like a fireplug. :cool:
     
    mac daddyo, Aug 16, 2012
    mac daddyo, Aug 16, 2012
    #17

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