Denard durability questions. Research anyone?
Thought for someone who wants an idea to research. Everyone is talking about how many hits Denard is taking and could he withstand a full season. Is anyone or could anyone put together a database of WHO is hitting him. How many are from db's, safeties, lb's, and dl. How many are shoe string tackles, him running out of bounds, as opposed to squared and wrapped tackles. I see a lot of trip ups, a lot of tackles in stride, and a hell of a lot of DB's who are about his size making hits on him. Maybe it's just me
September 14th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^
Denard us durable like Brett Favre, my only concern is Denard retiring.
September 14th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^
Nah. If he's like Favre, he could retire after every game and still never miss a snap.
September 14th, 2010 at 12:51 PM ^
The tricky thing about runners is that sometimes you get injured by non-contact stuff too. One bad cut on some rough turf and he could pull a Stanzi. (knock on wood he doesnt)
Just saying "injury" is nebulous and doesn't have to be a "big hit". It's luck (or lack thereof)
September 14th, 2010 at 12:54 PM ^
...series.
September 14th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
No thanks. i will not research this. I will watch the games and wait for him to break a big play. Not watch to see if he gets hurt. Let's just not talk about this anymore. Enjoy the Michigan Magician.
Just think, RB's take 20-25 hits per game sometimes. No one worries about them getting hurt every week. If it happens it happens.
September 14th, 2010 at 1:09 PM ^
Research question: how many of those RBs take every snap of a game and are asked to throw 20-40 passes per game?
September 14th, 2010 at 1:11 PM ^
Is he going to get a concussion from throwing the ball? I still haven't seen him get hit hard on a drop like a standard drop-back passer would.
September 14th, 2010 at 1:35 PM ^
Why are you guys so hung up on him getting hurt or sustaining a major injury? Handling the ball that frequently has effects other than exposing you to major injury.
September 14th, 2010 at 1:45 PM ^
I'm trying to say stop being so hung up on it. I think exhaustion plays a factor with the amount of touches he has, but so far he has shown that he is in incredible shape and has amazing endurance.
September 14th, 2010 at 1:14 PM ^
34 of them.
September 14th, 2010 at 1:15 PM ^
Not the RB thing but on the snaps/game thing.
September 14th, 2010 at 2:57 PM ^
runs the ball 6 times versus UMASS and 7 times versus Bowling Green can we STFU about his carries?
September 14th, 2010 at 1:02 PM ^
The only serious injury on my team a few years back was a screwed up knee that my friend got from having a unlucky cut...no one was within 5 yards of him. So it truly is the lack of luck like someone said above. Granted, big hits aren't good, but any player can get injured at any time doing anything on the field.
September 14th, 2010 at 4:04 PM ^
I dont think that anyone who fears Denard being injured will feel better because there was only one fluke injury on your football team a few years back.
With that being said I agree with the point that it could happen at any time.
September 14th, 2010 at 6:07 PM ^
Obviously no one cares about that...Are you serious? Its just an anectdote.....You got my main point...which is the point of an anecdote......
September 14th, 2010 at 1:11 PM ^
Another research question: How many threads can be started on the topic of Denard and the amount of carries he's been getting?
September 14th, 2010 at 1:17 PM ^
Listening to Scott Van Pelt and RR from yesterday, made a similar comment about Chris Johnson. No one gets clean hits so it's difficult to measure actual number of "true" hits he is taking.
September 14th, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^
Two words...errr wait, three words-ish: Antwaan Randle El
Per Wikipedia:
"He finished his college career as the fifth on the all-time NCAA total yardage list, and became the first player in college football history to record 2,500 total yards for four consecutive years. He finished his career with 7,469 passing yards, 3,895 rushing yards, and 92 touchdowns running and passing."
September 14th, 2010 at 3:04 PM ^
857 carries in 44 games, which is 19.5 carries a game. He also had 1,060 pass attempts, which would be an average of 24 pass attempts per game.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nfl/2002draft/wrs/antwaanrandleel.htm
September 14th, 2010 at 3:27 PM ^
He was a special player. It's unbelievable that he never got to play in a bowl game. Cam Cameron was a great assistant, but evidently not the greatest HC.
September 14th, 2010 at 3:52 PM ^
Thank you for breaking down my lazy research -- well done.
September 14th, 2010 at 2:07 PM ^
i'm a little worried about people trying to headhunt alot with him. seems to be a growing trend (or maybe just my perception) that there are alot of people diving onto piles trying to hit people high up with or without the intention to hurt them. noticed this more last year than this year but with the extra attention paid to head injuries this is a frightening trend to say the least.
September 14th, 2010 at 2:52 PM ^
...is to worry about getting injured. Luckily, Denard is too busy thinking about the team to worry about it.
September 14th, 2010 at 3:22 PM ^
I can't offer any research, but I have a couple thoughts.
1. People shouldn't compare him to a tailback when it comes to injuries. Tailbacks are expected to throw their bodies around in a way that we do not ask of Denard. If a tailback runs out of bounds rather than take a hit, he's called a wimp. If Denard does the same thing, it's considered a smart play. Also, tailbacks have to pass protect, and that's where a lot of them get hurt. Picking up a blitzing linebacker can lead to some violent collisions. I don't think Denard ends up taking as much punishment in a typical game as a featured back does. Which leads me to #2:
2. We may be looking at this whole thing backwards. Is a QB really more at risk of serious injury when he's running - and likely can see defenders coming and can react - than he is when he's standing in the pocket, looking downfield and at risk of being completely blindsided? Even with late-hit rules that are supposed to protect them, pocket passers still take some nasty hits. (And if I'm not mistaken, didn't Pat White get hurt against Pitt on a pass play?) In our case, our offense is designed for Denard to get rid of the ball quickly on pass plays, and on those plays where he does have to wait longer, he's so shifty that he's not going to get sacked very often. (Not to mention that blitzing him is probably a bad idea.) It's entirely possible that RR is ahead of curve and that down the road, even the NFL will go away from the statuesque QB.
September 14th, 2010 at 3:51 PM ^
You know the only time Tebow got hurt in his career(and while Denard might run more often his collisions aren't nearly as violent as Tebow's probably were) was on a pass play when he was blindsided. So the idea that he is automatically going to get hurt is stupid.
September 14th, 2010 at 7:04 PM ^
There was a diary about this very topic. The conclusion: Elite dual threat quarterbacks do not get injured much, if at all. Denard is too fast for the defense to get a good enough angle on him. As the next 2-3 weeks play out, Denard will get some rest and hopefully a RB or two separates themselves from the rest of the pack as someone that can frequently take the load off of Denard.