Yes but he should have played with more passion.Originally Posted by boxerdog
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Yes but he should have played with more passion.
I remember Russell Shepard very clearly. He was a great athlete, but not a QB and not a great football player. He was a good enough athlete that he's made it three years in the NFL, so I wouldn't call him a complete bust (he most certainly was a bust when you look at his college production). That said, Russell Shepard never showed anything close to what Leonard Fournette showed last year.
I mean, the kid rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a freshman in the SEC. He scored 11 touchdowns. Yes, he was a no-show against Arkansas. But he only got five touches, and the rest of the offense didn't show up either. Even with that game factored in, Fournette averaged 98 yards per game over his final five games. He had two other games where he rushed for over 100 yards.
All across the country, including in Ruston, fans are super excited when a freshman shows even glimpses of being productive. Guys like Dixon and Fournette don't come along very often. They were both ready to contribute at a high level immediately. Sure, Fournette struggled at times with consistency. Many freshmen do, even the best of the best. Ryan Moats rushed for 38 yards as a freshman, and we all know what he did the next two years in Ruston. Some of you guys on here, especially you Don, are acting as if it's out of the realm of possibility that Leonard Fournette might actually improve during the offseason before his sophomore year.
Whether or not Leonard Fournette is a great running back (he is) has nothing to do with whether or not Kenneth Dixon is a great running back. Sure, it's fun to talk about them and debate which one is better, but here's a newsflash for you: they both can be better this year than they were last year. It's not like their productivity is tied together, and if Fournette gets 58% better, than means Dixon must be 58% worse.
Who knows if Leonard Fournette will ever reach his true ability. Les Miles has a funny history with RBs, just like he does with QBs. But from a physical talent standpoint, Fournette is the best running back to attend LSU in almost two decades, and the Tigers have had a pretty good stable of backs through the years. He'll likely be one of the top running backs in the country this year. You know what? That's OK, because it has absolutely nothing to do with what will happen in Ruston this fall!
the bold, the beautiful, theprofessor
Yep, I agree. They are both fantastic backs and it's almost useless to make comparisons of players that play in different conferences, playing against different defenses, used in different ways, etc. If I am not mistaken, both of them have nearly identical, career 5.5 yards per carry.
I agree the success of Fournette doesn't imply anything about Dixon nor vice-versa. The reason I compared the two is to challenge assumptions--assumptions that are propagated in order to maintain the upper hand. Do y'all remember what Dykes said when he was asked how his team was able to play with SEC teams (specifically--they were talking about Miss State). Dykes basically said it was because our players were as good as their's. Dan Mullen felt the need to respond to that assertion. Why?
What does it mean in terms of recruiting if Louisiana Tech has the best running back in the state of Louisiana? What if there isn't a DL on LSU's roster better than Vernon Butler? What if Barnes is better than White? What if Woods is better than Mills? That doesn't take anything away from Fournette or White or Mills--all of whom are very good players.
But if those assertions are made, there will be a reaction.
Have you considered those Dogs?
You pay too much attention to stupid stuff that people like Mullen say.
How are we measuring best? It might change my answer.
Most difficult for the opponent to stop--by virtue of power, speed, creativity, agility, heart, endurance, etc.,.....
Makes those around him better--by virtue of blocking, decoying, encouraging, modeling, etc.,...
Scores touchdowns/gets first downs--by any means....
I suppose that actions contrary to the aforementioned things--fumbling, quitting, penalties, half-assing, etc.,... should be considered as well.
Have you considered those Dogs?
Sheperd's high school highlight videos are some of the most impressive I've seen. I remember thinking LSU was crazy for moving him to receiver. Maybe he would've been a great QB at a smaller school, who knows. He has stuck in the NFL so like professor implied, his lack of production in college was probably a result of incompetent offensive coaching.
As for Dixon, I expect him to have monster numbers this year, assuming he stays healthy. If he cleans up the fumbles he might be a 2nd-3rd draft pick. But Fournette will probably be drafted higher regardless of college production.
I saw Fornette play against Arkansas. He has a stand-up-straight running style that will only work against players that are a lot smaller than him like they were in high school. He has no lateral movement at all, so, he needs a big hole to run through. You should have watched the Arkansas game and you would have seen what I mean.
WOW!!! You just brought back memories of Bill Carter.
I'm surprised that you brought this up. If you remembered that Dixon had negative yardage against Tulane, You should also remember that he received a serious injury in the first quarter of the Lamar game played the week before the Tulane game. He left the Lamar game early in the first quarter with only 4 carries. Tevin King started the Tulane game and Dixon came in in the first quarter and tried to play, but, the injury the week before kept him from playing. I remember a very emotional Dixon crying on the sideline because he felt like he had let his team down. He had 4 carries and left the game in the second quarter and didn't come back. Maybe I should have said a healthy Dixon for a dumbass like you.
Similarly, Fournette was playing injured in the game against Arkansas and Frank Wilson gave up on him. Yet, it was it was brought up on this thread how poorly he played in that game. Obviously, the coaches thought Dixon wasn't injured enough to keep him on the bench.
Fornette was not hurt in the Arkansas game. He was pulled because he couldn't pick up yards with his straight up running style. Don't you remember Dixon getting hurt against Lamar? He left early in the first quarter and didn't come back in. Scotty young threw one of his usual bad passes to Dixon out in the flat on the west side and the Lamar player put his helmet on his knee and it looked really bad. Are you really a Tech fan? You don't know a thing about Kenneth Dixon. If he could walk, he was going to tell the coach he could play.
Fournette was hurt but there wasn't a lot of excuses being thrown around about it. Yes, I remember the Lamar game. The game I was talking about was the Tulane game. Hey, if you don't like me using the Tulane game, there are others... But why argue? Both are great players.
Dixon was badly injured in the Lamar game. There was alot of press coverage about the injury and many thought his season was over. It was well-documented both before and after the game against Tulane. It was no where near the same "injury" that Fournette had.
I'm pretty sure Dixon was shelved for a while after he limped around against Tulane.
Have you considered those Dogs?
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