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Bill Belichick: David Johnson isn't Marshall Faulk
- By Rambitious1
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 4 Replies
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...l-belichick-david-johnson-isnt-marshall-faulk
- By Chris Wesseling
- Around the NFL Writer
- Published: Sept. 5, 2016 at 10:03 p.m.
- Updated: Sept. 6, 2016 at 12:32 p.m.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't ready to break out the anointing oils for Cardinals running back David Johnson.
The Arizona braintrust spent the offseason lavishing unusually lofty praise on their uniquely talented second-year star.
Head coach Bruce Arians set the bar high when he acknowledged in February that Johnson has a chance to be one of the all-time best at his position. Running backs coach Stump Mitchell believes there's a Hall of Fame bust in the former Northern Iowa star's future.
All Pro defensive back Tyrann Mathieu drew comparisons between Johnson and St. Louis Rams legend Marshall Faulk. General manager Steve Keim raved about Johnson as a peerless receiving back.
"A lot of people have compared him to Marshall Faulk, and our coaches had Marshall Faulk in Indy," Keim explained last month, providing a hint at Johnson's future role. "I think he's very similar in some ways athletically and in terms of ball-catching skills to Marshall."
Those Faulk comparisons landed on Belichick's radar this week as he prepares to do battle with Johnson in the season debut of Sunday Night Football.
"When (the Rams) went to a three-receiver set, they just split (Faulk) out as a third receiver along with the other two receivers and a tight end. So they ran an 11-personnel looking formation but he was the third receiver," Belichick explained during a Monday conference call. "I don't know that's quite David Johnson's skill set. I don't know if there's many players in the league who could do what Marshall Faulk did. He was a pretty special and unique player.
"Johnson's a good receiver, he catches the ball well and has good run-after-catch skills. He can make people miss. Again, he's got the strength to break tackles. And he's got some speed to separate. Marshall Faulk, that's putting the bar pretty high with him."
Starting with Johnson's third NFL game in late September of last season, Arians did indeed begin splitting his rookie out wide or in the slot for 11-personnel (one back, one tight end) packages. If not for Chris Johnson's season-ending injury that forced the younger Johnson into a workhorse backfield role, Belichick would have seen that alignment more often from mid-November through January.
Now that he has the luxury of backfield depth again, Arians can continue to concoct new methods to take advantage of Johnson's mismatch potential in the passing game.
That said, it's easy to see why Belichick would reject the notion of placing Johnson in Faulk's class.
On a fabled "Greatest Show on Turf" team loaded with Kurt Warner, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, the transcendent Faulk was the focal point of Belichick's masterful "Bullseye" game plan in Super Bowl XXXVI.
"What sets him apart from everybody else is that he can go from a standing start to full speed faster than anybody I've ever seen," former Colts coach Ted Marchibroda said in David Halberstam's 2005 book, The Education of a Coach. "When he runs the ball and is forced to hesitate, his next step is full speed."
Warner believed it was Faulk's quarterback-like field vision that set him apart from other backs of his era. Former Rams player personnel chief Charley Armey bolstered that assessment.
"He runs with his eyes probably as well as any back in pro football, probably in the history of pro football," Armey told Halberstam. "His legs allow him to do what his instincts and eyes tell him to do."
The Cardinals have seen Johnson's exploits on a daily basis for over a year now. As hyperbolic as their assessment might seem from afar, the game film suggests they are about to unleash a transcendent talent in 2016.
Even if Johnson proves to be the rare back with natural receiving skills on par with Faulk's, though, what are the chances that he can also duplicate the Hall of Famer's unparalleled instincts, vision and suddenness?
High praise from Belichick is regarded as the "white whale" for NFL players. Perhaps Johnson can join Faulk on Belichick's opponent Mt. Rushmore with a memorable performance versus the Patriots on Sunday night.
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Belichick Fan?Nope me either,but today I hate him a tiny smidge less.
So freakin tired of the David Johnson/Faulk comparisons.
Johnson hasn't even played a full season and he is getiing compared to
The Greatest COMPLETE back to ever play the game.
So F.U. Arians and anyone else making this comparison,Johnson hasn't earned the
right to even be mentioned in the same breath as the 'Great One".
Oh yea did I mention..... F.U. Arians
Cortland Finnegan released by Saints
- By -X-
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 1 Replies
Awww. You changed the title before I could post this.
A lot invested in Goff
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 17 Replies
I am glad that I never got a Bradford Jersey. Friends almost talked me into it. I only buy past player jerseys. No regrets.
That is funny that you say that. I am in the 'only on Sundays' crowd. Jerseys aren't a practical everyday clothing item anyway. And the only guys I see wearing them daily have beer guts and are still feeling the testosterone from high school. So, I currently own a Faulk jersey. My kid does too and I wear mine on game days. Linc wears his whenever, but he is in 4th grade. I never really liked wearing another man's name on my body, especially if I don't know if he is an admirable human being off the field.
I always felt that we should get the shirts and jerseys for free because it is like paying to advertise for a rich owner. They should pay us to advertise their team.
I still have a Warner jersey, but haven't worn it in years....I was indirectly "jersey" shamed a couple of years ago, because non-sports fans see jersey wearing as infantile, and others agreed with them...Others said they only wear theirs when going to a game, or on Game day at a Party.....I normally don't care what others think about "style", but it made me reconsider jersey wearing after that....
That is funny that you say that. I am in the 'only on Sundays' crowd. Jerseys aren't a practical everyday clothing item anyway. And the only guys I see wearing them daily have beer guts and are still feeling the testosterone from high school. So, I currently own a Faulk jersey. My kid does too and I wear mine on game days. Linc wears his whenever, but he is in 4th grade. I never really liked wearing another man's name on my body, especially if I don't know if he is an admirable human being off the field.
I always felt that we should get the shirts and jerseys for free because it is like paying to advertise for a rich owner. They should pay us to advertise their team.
At Last.. Tre Mason still absent from Rams
- By Bruce2980
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 21 Replies
Maybe we can some nice draft picks for a couple of them RBs? Or maybe they are "too good" to let out?How can you not be very pleased with the 2016 Rams stable of runners......Gurley, Cunningham, Tavon Austin, Brown, Reynolds, Magee & Green ....well done Snead & Fisher for the best cadre of RB's not seen here in a long time.
New Practice Facility
- By DaveFan'51
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 7 Replies
I think the Rams Plans for a permanent Practice Facility are already in the works. The Big Question is how long it will take them to Build it!
I would expect something along the lines of what the Cowboys just opened!
:mrburnsevil:Carson Wentz named starting QB
- By Mojo Ram
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 38 Replies
If the Eagles finish 3-13 w/Wentz taking his lumps no one will blink an eye.
The Rams can't afford that luxury. Goff simply isn't ready yet.
The Rams can't afford that luxury. Goff simply isn't ready yet.
2016 FINAL 53
- By hotanez
- RAMS / NFL TALK
- 80 Replies
It would explain why all of a sudden Williams sucked at OLT when last season he looked good and made the team. It really sucks that Williams and Battle are hurt. This really messed up our depth at tackle. Hope nobody gets hurt.Ok, I just went back & re-watched the Vikings game getting some other information on another post on Murphy & had the opportunity to observe Darrell Williams & his play @ OLT.
DW had both wrists wrapped but his right wrist was the one that was larger & thicker. It was his right hand that he was not using when he made contact with his assignment player. I am not sure which wrists that he had the complete dislocation & ligaments & tendon tears in in game #9 last season that sent him to the IR, but I would guess it was his right wrist on what I saw.
Good observations there