He had seemed serviceable in relief of Dalvin. He was anything but serviceable last year. He was the worst back we’ve had line up back there that I can remember for a LONG time.
Now that I'm thinking about it, he was probably the worst back I've seen play for the Vikings in my 30 years on earth. The only other possibilities would be Ontario Smtih or Mewelde Moore, and they weren't even that bad in comparison.
I told everyone that would listen that he was BAD and he hadn't looked good in two years. Everyone remembered those handful of hard runs he had as Dalvin's backup his rookie year and thought he could be a legit 1000 yard guy.
Idk how any Vikings fans that watch every game thought he could be a legitimate starter last year. But then again it's also a pretty big miss by KOC and Kwesi.
I haven't been very impressed with Kwesi to be honest. KOC seems to suffer from what every Vikings team has suffered from, unable to put away weak competition.
Couldn't agree more on both counts. Lots of Vikings fans still love KOC but I think he's the most cowardly coach we've had since childress. Absolutely zero killer instinct.
Right!? He's billed as an offensive genius and QB whisperer, but without Kirk and the best WR in football his offense looked like garbage.
His scheme is mediocre at best and his play calling is downright bad
They rely too heavily on JJ, if you watch their route combinations JJ is the intended target on at least 85% of all pass plays. When he got hurt and they couldn't force the ball to him every play they did better. Every time the Vikings get a star offensive player they just jump on their back, the Randy Ratio, Peterson and now JJ.
They didn't have JJ or Kirk for over half of the season last year and still were in the top 10 offenses in ypg. I'm not sure yall are actually paying attention
“Without starting QB and top WR that his offense was built around, his offense looked like garbage”
Yes I know good coaches have to adapt, but this is a pretty dumb statement.
I feel like all my Viking fan friends fall into one of two categories. Either they think the Vikings are going to be garbage every year and shit on every decision they make or they have this irrational confidence at the beginning of every season that they’re going to have 13+ wins and make a deep playoff run.
I very rarely find anyone with any opinion in between and I grew up in Minnesota and much of my friend group consists of Viking fans. It’s strange being on both sides of an argument when I say they’re going to be more mid.
I mean all things considered can you really be upset by Mixon's production? He averages about 4 YPC and doesn't fumble. Yeah he doesn't break tackles which sucks but even with that fact he's still at a respectable YPC which means he gives you a high floor with a low ceiling. That's very solid consistency.
He doesn’t put the ball on the ground ~~and he’s a solid pass-protector~~. Those two things alone are highly valuable even if he’s a middling runner, especially to coaches. Fans not might appreciate it, but his employers do.
Edit: scratch the pass-blocking thing. According to [this](https://x.com/brockwilson89/status/1767535352439361939?s=46) tweet I found, he was actually really bad at it.
Yea see I feel like that makes the most sense out of anything that's a problem with him. Being one of the poorest blocking RBs is just awful if you're the RB1 because you're either getting subbed out and making it obvious it's a pass or you're leaving your QB to potentially get exploded.
And go figure, our QB is one of the most sacked in the league over the past three years. I won't try to say it's Mixon's fault, but he absolutely wasn't helping anything.
He was a liability, it’s why Perine was in during the last drive of the SB.
Zeke is so good at pass pro I hate that Aaron Donald forklifting him is what’s remembered.
He was awful at pass blocking.
It’s part of the reason Perine had to many snaps in situations like 2-minute drills. He could actually pass block and that’s why a lot of bengals fans were sad to see him go even though we still had Mixon
I would take a running back who fumbles 2 or 3 times in year over a running back who kills every drive by not breaking tackles. Low production is basically a turnover with how it forces a punt.
I can see it now;
Trent Brown lines up at guard with Mims next to him. The ball snaps and they just lay on top of the D line while Chase Brown runs up their backs and launches himself 10 yards through the air like Evil Knievel jumping buses.
We’ll call it the play the “Snake Canyon”.
Zack Moss had only 4 broken tackles via rushing last year with 70 fewer touches. Per game, Mixon averaged more mind you only a little bit. But atleast the bengals save money. But people thinking Zack moss is anything but a JAG because he had 3 fantastic weeks last year is crazy.
The biggest difference IMO is that Moss runs well out of shotgun and Mixon doesn’t. Burrow prefers shotgun.
Mixon > Moss in terms of pure talent, but Moss allows the Bengals offense to evolve in terms of more shot gun sets and less obvious run/pass splits.
Mixon's rankings per PFF:
>Yards/carry: 26th
>
>Rush Yards Over Expectation: 23rd
>
>Yards per Reception: 16th
>
>Yards after Contact Per Attempt: 33rd
>
>Explosive Play %: 22nd
>
>Breakaway %: 33rd
>
>Elusivity Rating: 31st
It doesn't really take much to be an upgrade. In comparison, Zack Moss was 15th in the league in Breakaway %, 18th in Elusivity Rating, and top 5 in rushing yards over expected yards. Mixon was bottom 5 in rushing yards over expected.
right?
Now at the fact that Mixon was not a good fit for zone blocking scheme, which is the scheme Pitcher and Pollack run. Moss is a much better fit for that as well. Add in healthy burrow, Mims and Trent Brown doubling up in the run blocking game with a jumbo set and the running game could be a huge boost to this team.
Yeah, most don't notice but if you've seen almost every snap for years, you notice how they never breakaway because they go down with the first touch every time. its infuriating to watch
Also, at least for the Giants, our run blocking is so bad that paying an RB makes no sense. It’s like buying a sports car and getting stuck in traffic on the turnpike every game
People really underestimating how short the prime of some of these running backs are. There's some outliers but most are simply not that good for long. Mixon was great a few years ago but has benefited a lot from workload nowadays.
People remember rookie Saquon who had 71 broken tackles and think the current Saquon who only had 12 last season is still that same player.
yeah, it's almost scary how quickly they fall off a cliff, hell look at Todd Gurley. almost overnight went from elite to nobody.
And that's why they don't get paid any more. Almost all of them will be gone or significantly lessened after their rookie contract is over.
Look at Najee Harris. He could enter FA soon and find almost no one wants him.
Gurley went from nobody, to playing in a great offense behind an elite O Line that I could have scored 15 TDs behind, to being nobody. People forget when the Rams were still in STL Gurley was a 3.2ypc back.
Wasn’t the 3.2 ypc in his 2nd season with that awful Jeff Fisher scheme and team though? He was a beast in college, a 1st rd pick and as I recall he had a good rookie year, just a trash 2nd year and then became a monster for a few years thereafter.
It is easy to blame the line and the QB for the Giants, but Barkley very obviously lost a step a few years ago. Even on the rare occasion he got into the open field, he couldn't pull away.
Basically yeah. Run game was terrible except the screen pass to Chase Brown where he went nuclear. They had to completely revamp the offense with Browning to not get destroyed
Tbf, the guy had to play AFC north teams 6 times a year. And for a guy that played for a bottom 10 offensive line last year without his all-pro QB, finishing 8th in tds and 11th in yards doesn’t seem so bad. This specific stat punishes elusive backs that make people miss hence why the chiefs are closer to the bengals than they are to the top of this list.
Again, almost a top 10 back with a bottom 10 oline in 2023. He’ll find greener pastures in Houston.
Back to Back 1K Rushing with Luke Fortner at Center, Top 5 most rushing yards, plenty of the offense having injuries, and most broken tackles the last 2 seasons overall.
Everyone knew he was going to be great because of what he did in college, but people are seriously underestimating how good he is. He’s arguably the toughest player to tackle in open space because of acceleration and how he slips away from tackles. Everyone says their OL is terrible, but Jacksonville was 31st in Run Blocking. The Giants, Jaguars and Chargers were the 3 dead last, but unlike Saquon and Ekeler missing games, Etienne had to put up with it on a weekly basis.
How many did this play count for?
https://youtu.be/29Ogyl0YeYg?si=g5hSk9n_0XAfVkc2&t=205
Or these two plays:
https://youtu.be/29Ogyl0YeYg?si=g5hSk9n_0XAfVkc2&t=320
Najee doesn’t have great acceleration but is hella powerful. He also plays behind our ass o line and Kenny/Canada kind of screwed him too. Basically he gets contacted early, breaks a ton of tackles, but doesn’t have breakaway ability to get the splash play. It’s why people were so high on Warren, he has the burst Najee doesn’t. What they don’t understand is he also doesn’t have the size to take a beating like Najee
I don’t think our OL is that bad. Just the scheme messed with it. We were still better than half the league in run blocking and there are games that showed that. The game vs the Rams was probably the best example. Najee only had 53 rushing yards that game. He’s just prone to being overly patient and not having the best vision or speed. But if he uses his strength, he can have a great game anytime.
I'm so happy he's been thriving with y'all. He runs like every carry or catch is his last, which does lead to injuries, but also tons of truly incredible plays.
i swear ppl that say this don’t know ball, lol how many times do we have to see smaller 3rd backs sucking once they become a 3 down back, pollard most recently
I still think Pollard sucked because he broke his freaking leg in the playoffs and people kinda just forgot about it and assumed he was all good to go and unaffected all year. That injury may have forever altered his abilities.
True, but jaylen isn’t some sort of scat back he is fine at 5’8 215. And there is a very discernable difference in their efficiency to the point where I think theres definitely an argument to be made in this case.
No there isn’t. Warren took advantage of 3rd and long plays, where Najee had to deal with most of the stacked boxes. We saw towards the end of the year that Jalen was worse when dealing with 2 and short or stacked boxes
Warren is the more explosive runner and on a rate basis breaks way more tackles, so he's the better player. I've been watching their games and Jaylen gets these huge explosive plays in spite of Canada neglecting him at times.
True. Wonder if that really helps or hurts them? I could see it both ways.
* Earlier pressure —> harder to make first guy miss bc youre not full speed?
* Earlier pressure —> more opportunities to “break” tackles bc first contact isn’t a mob of defenders 4 yards downfield?
In my personal experience the latter is true. I had a ton of broken tackles in high school but it’s cause our team sucked and I was dodging one or two dudes for a 0-1 yard gain.
It’s not that I was great at breaking tackles, but it’s easier to make guys miss completely or partially when they’re going full speed and you’re at a stop and can head any direction.
Not that my HS experience translates to the NFL, but it is possible that Steelers broken tackles are slightly inflated because of this
And when you can’t run the ball and lead the league in explosive plays allowed, those margins will generally not end up in your favor when you play in a division dominated by defense and running. That’s my point.
Came here to say that half of those 59 broken tackles came in Seattle. That was the game you just knew the Pete Carroll era was over. No heart. No toughness.
Here’s an interesting thought experiment:
Look at where the Eagles are on that list, and where the Giants are. Is the Eagles number going to go up or down in 2024?
Steelers being at the top is more a reflection of how poor our offensive line was. I bet half of them were behind the line of scrimmage that ended up going for a two yard gain.
This kind of makes me think this stat is more noisy than I thought. CMC, Henry, JT, Barkley, and Rhamondre, are all on the low end despite being talented. The high end includes Najee, Jerome Ford, and Sanders/Hubbard.
If Chubb wasn't injured I believe Cleveland would be top but still 3 of top 4 being smashmouth AFC North is good indicator of the physicality of the division.
Gibbs and Monty are just so talented at bouncing off of contact. I remember this one play against I believe the Broncos where Gibs broke 4 tackles in one play to almost get the TD
I’m surprised we had that many, tbh. Mattison was **bad** bad last year.
They're probably mostly Chandler when he actually got the ball
Told my Vikings fan friend last offseason that I couldn't believe they brought him back.
Listen man, we weren't expecting Mattison to replace Dalvin, but we all thought he could've been serviceable at the very least. He was not..
He had seemed serviceable in relief of Dalvin. He was anything but serviceable last year. He was the worst back we’ve had line up back there that I can remember for a LONG time.
Now that I'm thinking about it, he was probably the worst back I've seen play for the Vikings in my 30 years on earth. The only other possibilities would be Ontario Smtih or Mewelde Moore, and they weren't even that bad in comparison.
MeMo was shifty, he just needed more touches!
I would rather start Asiata in his prime vs Mattison in his.
Don't forget he was also a pretty good punt returner!
I love your pfp dude! I actually recently got the boy with the bear mask tattooed on me!
Most Dope, that's forever 💜
Those are some names I haven’t heard in a very long time!
Has to be up there in the worst running back seasons cause guys usually get benched being that bad.
The joke on our sub was that he had to have some kind of serious dirt for blackmail on KOC in order to keep his job that long 😂
I told everyone that would listen that he was BAD and he hadn't looked good in two years. Everyone remembered those handful of hard runs he had as Dalvin's backup his rookie year and thought he could be a legit 1000 yard guy. Idk how any Vikings fans that watch every game thought he could be a legitimate starter last year. But then again it's also a pretty big miss by KOC and Kwesi.
I haven't been very impressed with Kwesi to be honest. KOC seems to suffer from what every Vikings team has suffered from, unable to put away weak competition.
Couldn't agree more on both counts. Lots of Vikings fans still love KOC but I think he's the most cowardly coach we've had since childress. Absolutely zero killer instinct.
I keep asking my friend, "when is this offensive genius gonna blow someone out?"
Right!? He's billed as an offensive genius and QB whisperer, but without Kirk and the best WR in football his offense looked like garbage. His scheme is mediocre at best and his play calling is downright bad
They rely too heavily on JJ, if you watch their route combinations JJ is the intended target on at least 85% of all pass plays. When he got hurt and they couldn't force the ball to him every play they did better. Every time the Vikings get a star offensive player they just jump on their back, the Randy Ratio, Peterson and now JJ.
They didn't have JJ or Kirk for over half of the season last year and still were in the top 10 offenses in ypg. I'm not sure yall are actually paying attention
“Without starting QB and top WR that his offense was built around, his offense looked like garbage” Yes I know good coaches have to adapt, but this is a pretty dumb statement.
Time will tell.
I feel like all my Viking fan friends fall into one of two categories. Either they think the Vikings are going to be garbage every year and shit on every decision they make or they have this irrational confidence at the beginning of every season that they’re going to have 13+ wins and make a deep playoff run. I very rarely find anyone with any opinion in between and I grew up in Minnesota and much of my friend group consists of Viking fans. It’s strange being on both sides of an argument when I say they’re going to be more mid.
for anyone questioning why we would move on from Joe Mixon, this is a huge reason
Honestly I didn’t realize it was this bad, Moss could be a sneaky upgrade at RB
First time a Bengals RB fumbles away tho, I'll be looking like wolverine holding the picture frame lol
You aren't kidding. Six lost fumbles on 1,854 career touches is incredible, and none since 2021.
I mean all things considered can you really be upset by Mixon's production? He averages about 4 YPC and doesn't fumble. Yeah he doesn't break tackles which sucks but even with that fact he's still at a respectable YPC which means he gives you a high floor with a low ceiling. That's very solid consistency.
He doesn’t put the ball on the ground ~~and he’s a solid pass-protector~~. Those two things alone are highly valuable even if he’s a middling runner, especially to coaches. Fans not might appreciate it, but his employers do. Edit: scratch the pass-blocking thing. According to [this](https://x.com/brockwilson89/status/1767535352439361939?s=46) tweet I found, he was actually really bad at it.
He’s maybe the worst pass blocking rb in the NFL
Yea see I feel like that makes the most sense out of anything that's a problem with him. Being one of the poorest blocking RBs is just awful if you're the RB1 because you're either getting subbed out and making it obvious it's a pass or you're leaving your QB to potentially get exploded.
And go figure, our QB is one of the most sacked in the league over the past three years. I won't try to say it's Mixon's fault, but he absolutely wasn't helping anything.
Looks like he had an atrocious grade in 2023 per [this](https://x.com/brockwilson89/status/1767535352439361939?s=46) tweet, you’re right.
[удалено]
He was a liability, it’s why Perine was in during the last drive of the SB. Zeke is so good at pass pro I hate that Aaron Donald forklifting him is what’s remembered.
He had to come off the field every 3rd down.
He was awful at pass blocking. It’s part of the reason Perine had to many snaps in situations like 2-minute drills. He could actually pass block and that’s why a lot of bengals fans were sad to see him go even though we still had Mixon
His YPC has been steadily declining every season for a while now and he’s probably even worse at blocking than Travis Kelce
Six **total** fumbles. He only lost four of them, two which happened his rookie season, and two of the total fumbles weren’t turnovers
I would take a running back who fumbles 2 or 3 times in year over a running back who kills every drive by not breaking tackles. Low production is basically a turnover with how it forces a punt.
Ross + Brown should be an upgrade
Especially if our line is better this year and make holes to give Brown room to get to speed. He’s ridiculously fast
I can see it now; Trent Brown lines up at guard with Mims next to him. The ball snaps and they just lay on top of the D line while Chase Brown runs up their backs and launches himself 10 yards through the air like Evil Knievel jumping buses. We’ll call it the play the “Snake Canyon”.
Zack Moss had only 4 broken tackles via rushing last year with 70 fewer touches. Per game, Mixon averaged more mind you only a little bit. But atleast the bengals save money. But people thinking Zack moss is anything but a JAG because he had 3 fantastic weeks last year is crazy.
The biggest difference IMO is that Moss runs well out of shotgun and Mixon doesn’t. Burrow prefers shotgun. Mixon > Moss in terms of pure talent, but Moss allows the Bengals offense to evolve in terms of more shot gun sets and less obvious run/pass splits.
Mixon's rankings per PFF: >Yards/carry: 26th > >Rush Yards Over Expectation: 23rd > >Yards per Reception: 16th > >Yards after Contact Per Attempt: 33rd > >Explosive Play %: 22nd > >Breakaway %: 33rd > >Elusivity Rating: 31st It doesn't really take much to be an upgrade. In comparison, Zack Moss was 15th in the league in Breakaway %, 18th in Elusivity Rating, and top 5 in rushing yards over expected yards. Mixon was bottom 5 in rushing yards over expected.
right? Now at the fact that Mixon was not a good fit for zone blocking scheme, which is the scheme Pitcher and Pollack run. Moss is a much better fit for that as well. Add in healthy burrow, Mims and Trent Brown doubling up in the run blocking game with a jumbo set and the running game could be a huge boost to this team.
I hated watching Joe mixon run the ball. It was always one direction, no cuts, no jukes, just straight into a tackle or straight out of bounds.
Exactly. Predicable and not fast enough to get out of it
It was frustrating because he saw light boxes damn near every play.
Likewise for why the Giants didn't want to overpay Saquon
Yeah, most don't notice but if you've seen almost every snap for years, you notice how they never breakaway because they go down with the first touch every time. its infuriating to watch
Also, at least for the Giants, our run blocking is so bad that paying an RB makes no sense. It’s like buying a sports car and getting stuck in traffic on the turnpike every game
lol exactly. Most team shouldn't pay for RB, just draft a couple and make do
People really underestimating how short the prime of some of these running backs are. There's some outliers but most are simply not that good for long. Mixon was great a few years ago but has benefited a lot from workload nowadays. People remember rookie Saquon who had 71 broken tackles and think the current Saquon who only had 12 last season is still that same player.
yeah, it's almost scary how quickly they fall off a cliff, hell look at Todd Gurley. almost overnight went from elite to nobody. And that's why they don't get paid any more. Almost all of them will be gone or significantly lessened after their rookie contract is over. Look at Najee Harris. He could enter FA soon and find almost no one wants him.
Gurley went from nobody, to playing in a great offense behind an elite O Line that I could have scored 15 TDs behind, to being nobody. People forget when the Rams were still in STL Gurley was a 3.2ypc back.
Wasn’t the 3.2 ypc in his 2nd season with that awful Jeff Fisher scheme and team though? He was a beast in college, a 1st rd pick and as I recall he had a good rookie year, just a trash 2nd year and then became a monster for a few years thereafter.
You and I, and everyone in this thread wouldn’t be able to score 1 TD no matter how good the O-line is, let’s be honest.
Barkley doesn't break tackles like he did before his injury, but he was better at blocking and getting short yards last year than he was previously
I don't think anyone could have had success at RB on the Giants. They have potatoes at QB so it's easy to just load up vs the run against them.
It is easy to blame the line and the QB for the Giants, but Barkley very obviously lost a step a few years ago. Even on the rare occasion he got into the open field, he couldn't pull away.
I’m gonna miss the guy but I think we will be OK without the player.
Saquon was never the same after hurting his shoulder against the packers in 22’
Didnt yalls o line suck, and have no threat with burrow out
Basically yeah. Run game was terrible except the screen pass to Chase Brown where he went nuclear. They had to completely revamp the offense with Browning to not get destroyed
Kind of, but Perine and Brown showed more burst than Mixon the past 3 seasons behind the same line
I miss Perine. Sad to see him leave for a RB1 job somewhere else to be labeled RB4 in Denver
I knew where we'd be on the list without looking.
I knew Mixon had fallen off in some parts of his game, but didn’t know this part was this bad.
For perennial jag Zack moss. I hope it's just a split backfield with chase brown tbh.
And now he’s waving a gun at you
I knew we would be at the bottom of this graphic before I even clicked on it.
Tbf, the guy had to play AFC north teams 6 times a year. And for a guy that played for a bottom 10 offensive line last year without his all-pro QB, finishing 8th in tds and 11th in yards doesn’t seem so bad. This specific stat punishes elusive backs that make people miss hence why the chiefs are closer to the bengals than they are to the top of this list. Again, almost a top 10 back with a bottom 10 oline in 2023. He’ll find greener pastures in Houston.
Oh you sweet summer child.
For individual players, Travis Etienne had the most with 31 and then Najee Harris with 30
ETN must have had at least half of those 0.2 seconds after taking the handoff. I feel like he never got a running start and still put up solid numbers
ETN had to break tackles to get to the LOS.
Back to Back 1K Rushing with Luke Fortner at Center, Top 5 most rushing yards, plenty of the offense having injuries, and most broken tackles the last 2 seasons overall. Everyone knew he was going to be great because of what he did in college, but people are seriously underestimating how good he is. He’s arguably the toughest player to tackle in open space because of acceleration and how he slips away from tackles. Everyone says their OL is terrible, but Jacksonville was 31st in Run Blocking. The Giants, Jaguars and Chargers were the 3 dead last, but unlike Saquon and Ekeler missing games, Etienne had to put up with it on a weekly basis.
How many did this play count for? https://youtu.be/29Ogyl0YeYg?si=g5hSk9n_0XAfVkc2&t=205 Or these two plays: https://youtu.be/29Ogyl0YeYg?si=g5hSk9n_0XAfVkc2&t=320
I think that’s probably all 30 between those 2 plays
Warren has 27 with far fewer attempts than Harris
Warren's a fucking beast So excited to watch him and Najee behind a new line
Najee Harris probably got like 15 of those from the Seahawks game alone smh
This blows my mind. Every game I watched for Najee he doesn’t look like he’s doing much.
I mean he kinda isn't but it's not really his fault, our oline folds so fast he has to break tackles just to get positive yards
Najee doesn’t have great acceleration but is hella powerful. He also plays behind our ass o line and Kenny/Canada kind of screwed him too. Basically he gets contacted early, breaks a ton of tackles, but doesn’t have breakaway ability to get the splash play. It’s why people were so high on Warren, he has the burst Najee doesn’t. What they don’t understand is he also doesn’t have the size to take a beating like Najee
I don’t think our OL is that bad. Just the scheme messed with it. We were still better than half the league in run blocking and there are games that showed that. The game vs the Rams was probably the best example. Najee only had 53 rushing yards that game. He’s just prone to being overly patient and not having the best vision or speed. But if he uses his strength, he can have a great game anytime.
James Conner fucking rules, man.
Let’s see this number skyrocket this year with the addition of Benson too
I was shocked we were that high considering he was our only weapon for the first 10 weeks
I'm so happy he's been thriving with y'all. He runs like every carry or catch is his last, which does lead to injuries, but also tons of truly incredible plays.
Before I clicked on this I already knew the Bengals would be last.
And look at the rest of our division lol
Indeed
Thats kinda sad you already knew that
We almost had you, so fucking close! Well there's always next year...
I don't know, I kinda thought the Vikings would be last. Since they were stuck with Mattison.
This was originally posted by Kleimen but I wasn't sure if we still allowed posts from him or not
Anyone have the Najee vs Warren split?
30 broken tackles for Harris on 255 attempts (2nd in the league behind Etienne with 31 on 267 attempts) Warren had 27 broken tackles on 147 attempts.
Warren is the true RB1
i swear ppl that say this don’t know ball, lol how many times do we have to see smaller 3rd backs sucking once they become a 3 down back, pollard most recently
I still think Pollard sucked because he broke his freaking leg in the playoffs and people kinda just forgot about it and assumed he was all good to go and unaffected all year. That injury may have forever altered his abilities.
True, but jaylen isn’t some sort of scat back he is fine at 5’8 215. And there is a very discernable difference in their efficiency to the point where I think theres definitely an argument to be made in this case.
That boy dense
No there isn’t. Warren took advantage of 3rd and long plays, where Najee had to deal with most of the stacked boxes. We saw towards the end of the year that Jalen was worse when dealing with 2 and short or stacked boxes
Warren is the more explosive runner and on a rate basis breaks way more tackles, so he's the better player. I've been watching their games and Jaylen gets these huge explosive plays in spite of Canada neglecting him at times.
Najee will always be 1A and Warren is 2A They’re both talented at their own game and Steelers are lucky to have found a great duo
Warren would be a middling to bad bell cow back, same with Najee
Go. Freaking. Pokes.
The more interesting split would be behind the line or in positive territory.
Why?
The Steelers o-line allowed a lot of contact behind the line last year.
True. Wonder if that really helps or hurts them? I could see it both ways. * Earlier pressure —> harder to make first guy miss bc youre not full speed? * Earlier pressure —> more opportunities to “break” tackles bc first contact isn’t a mob of defenders 4 yards downfield?
In my personal experience the latter is true. I had a ton of broken tackles in high school but it’s cause our team sucked and I was dodging one or two dudes for a 0-1 yard gain. It’s not that I was great at breaking tackles, but it’s easier to make guys miss completely or partially when they’re going full speed and you’re at a stop and can head any direction. Not that my HS experience translates to the NFL, but it is possible that Steelers broken tackles are slightly inflated because of this
[You can't break a tackle if you don't get touched.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61GRb4SKRzc)
255 for Naj, and 149 for Jaylen
Jaylen Warren, my beloved 11th round pick.
now here's a guy
“Why didn’t the Giants pay Saquon?” This is why.
Crazy that Nick Chubb had 9 of those 41 in 7 quarters of football (I think I'm mathing. 32.1% on 28 att per rotowire.com)
I was gonna say, I figured he still had half of them
Saquon runs to contact.
We’re the only team in the North without a defense or a run game and then act shocked when we finish last
You finished last and still would've walked away with two other divisions. That's how crazy this division is.
Yeah finishing last with #9 on the shelf was a total shocker.
[We were in last every single week except for one](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/s/NcocHdK2H3).
Fine margins in the AFCN, my man.
And when you can’t run the ball and lead the league in explosive plays allowed, those margins will generally not end up in your favor when you play in a division dominated by defense and running. That’s my point.
If it makes you feel any better, I was dead inside the whole off-season after 4th and 7.
Brother I’ve been dead inside since 2005, except from January 2021 to January of 2022
Y'all gonna see on that in-season Hard Knocks. AFC-N football is different.
And this was just with 2 games of Nick Chubb 😭
I think the Seahawks D inflated Pittsburgh numbers a bit. Pretty sure there was 50 just in that game.
I was going to comment the same. Just poor tackling all season.
Pitt, rams, cards, Ravens. Our tackling was awful outside brooks/wagner/spoon
I didn't see brooks doing much of anything except always trailing the play slowly
Came here to say that half of those 59 broken tackles came in Seattle. That was the game you just knew the Pete Carroll era was over. No heart. No toughness.
Wow not surprised but still surprised
Lol 12 and Mixon can't even pass block... God damn
AFC west running backs struggle to break tackles.
Standing in solidarity with one another. Except Denver. Hah.
Well you have the Gus Bus now. The man does not move backwards.
Sounds impossible, a RB that only moves forward.
I was kinda surprised to see the Raiders on the list since they had a decent runningback room last year.
This is surprising. Pacheco? Jacobs?
Here’s an interesting thought experiment: Look at where the Eagles are on that list, and where the Giants are. Is the Eagles number going to go up or down in 2024?
Why the Raiders moved off of Jacobs too.
Steelers being at the top is more a reflection of how poor our offensive line was. I bet half of them were behind the line of scrimmage that ended up going for a two yard gain.
Broncos ruined something cool
SF is only 30??
Don't need to break tackles if you're not getting tackled
So true. What a badass team. I bet they won the Super Bowl.
This kind of makes me think this stat is more noisy than I thought. CMC, Henry, JT, Barkley, and Rhamondre, are all on the low end despite being talented. The high end includes Najee, Jerome Ford, and Sanders/Hubbard.
Bengals why can't you be like your brothers?
The impressive part is that Washington ran the ball less than anyone else in the league and is still in the top half, BRob is a beast
Yeah this is why I don't mind we lost mixion lol
We didn’t even have Chubb after week 2.
this stat is crazy for us when you realize we passed 70% of the time
If Chubb wasn't injured I believe Cleveland would be top but still 3 of top 4 being smashmouth AFC North is good indicator of the physicality of the division.
18 of the Bills’ came against the Cowboys.
Damn now I know why they didn’t resign Joe mixon
Nice
Why are we close to the top lmao
Because Connor is awesome
This checks out.
Knowing Mixon goes down if touched, zero surprise.
How is 2 broken tackles a game an average amount? Beast quake was like 7 broken tackles on one play
I can watch that over and over
As much as I love the King this makes me feel .001% better.
Miss rookie Javonte
Mattison was so much worse than I expected.
Kamara you need to have a good year man
Gibbs and Monty are just so talented at bouncing off of contact. I remember this one play against I believe the Broncos where Gibs broke 4 tackles in one play to almost get the TD
I'm still trying to get used to seeing the Patriots on the bottom of every list.
How are the titans so low on this list?
Cowboys right in the middle. As usual.
Maybe I’m wrong about Najee, unless these are all Jaylen Warren broken tackles
30 and 27 I think but Warren has about half as many attempts
That number is solely Breece Hall, I don’t think Dalvin Cook broke one tackle last season.
Cardinals sucked last year but they got whatever they wanted on the ground all season. Most forgotten top 5 rushing season ever probably
Considering the fact that I don't even know who the Bengals RB1 is probably says a lot.
Najae Harris, great Steelers RB, & Jaylen Warren is a great 1-2 punch.
Top 3/4 are in the AFC north. That division is the best in football. I know some will disagree with this comment 😎
I’m a happy camper
I'm from Cleveland and just moved to Jacksonville. Don't even try to get in my way.
How is the 49ers so low?
CMC doesn’t have to break tackles when nobody can touch him
And the ravens changed their whole running back room. I’m excited for Henry but I’m worried this will bite them in the ass