The lack of a running game is the obvious problem.

[Maniac]

Sproles is the only RB who can get out of the backfield and he can't be the #1 back.

So I put the responsibility on the guy who built the roster. I get it tbat Blount is old and slow but Smallwood and Pumphrey are major disappointments.

[Snakebitten]

This is why the defense ran out of gas. A good run game helps the defense. They have no solutions for it either.

[The Duck]

Sproles is the only RB who can get out of the backfield and he can't be the #1 back.

So I put the responsibility on the guy who built the roster. I get it tbat Blount is old and slow but Smallwood and Pumphrey are major disappointments.

Smallwood is their only shot. No idea if he's any good or not, but we'll never know if he's only getting four carries.

Running the ball requires a commitment. The line has to get into a rhythm, the backs need to get into a groove. Good teams understand this. Gomer is an instant gratification play-caller.

[Maniac]

Smallwood looks awful. Not a guy I'd be committing to.

[Dim Bulb]

Give Clement a try

Smallwood is their only shot. No idea if he's any good or not, but we'll never know if he's only getting four carries.

Running the ball requires a commitment. The line has to get into a rhythm, the backs need to get into a groove. Good teams understand this. Gomer is an instant gratification play-caller.

Smallwood has shown very little. Blount appears to be spent. Sproles shouldn't run too much except on short passes. What do we have to lose? Will we besmirch our lofty 2.3 ypc?

[thegodfather]

Sproles is the only RB who can get out of the backfield and he can't be the #1 back.

So I put the responsibility on the guy who built the roster. I get it tbat Blount is old and slow but Smallwood and Pumphrey are major disappointments.

Try Clement he is the only one who ran well in pre season, 2nd half when the other team is winded.

[Maniac]

Try Clement he is the only one who ran well in pre season, 2nd half when the other team is winded.

I'd go Clement over Smallwood.

[The Duck]

Smallwood looks awful. Not a guy I'd be committing to.

Hard to come to any conclusions after seven total carries. Factor in what he did last season, and he's the closest thing to an actual RB that you have on the roster.

I'm not fluffing the guy. They shouldn't be in this position. For the sake of the franchise QB's health and development (he's already picking up bad habits in this offense), the situation needed to be addressed this off-season and most of us here damn well knew it.

[1960]

The middle of the line gets pushed back on every play and the TE can't block.

[RSE]

Most? We all knew it.

[broadstreetparade]

Yeah I don't buy the narrative that it's the o line. From where o was sitting it looked like the lanes were there today but only sproles could hit them the few times he did. Not being able to consistently run the ball is going to kill this team this year and I put that on howie.

[The Duck]

Smallwood has shown very little. Blount appears to be spent. Sproles shouldn't run too much except on short passes. What do we have to lose? Will we besmirch our lofty 2.3 ypc?

You know how running the football works. Even the best of backs run into the pile for little to no gain before breaking one off. It's about rhythm and confidence, for the backs and for the line. Run blocking is a totally different animal and mind set from pass blocking.

Nobody is finding any rhythm in this mess of an offense. Smallwood average 4.1 YPC last season, and showed a little bit out of the backfield and in the return game. He has some speed. He was also the consensus best back in camp when he was on the field.

We're thin on options here. It's either Smallwood or Clement. Or cut bait with Blount and call up Bryon Marshall (which might actually be the best option, now that I think about it).

[wynnron123]

Most? We all knew it.

99.9% on this board had Cook on their board in the 2nd rd.. But Howie(We're smarter than you) had to fuck that up

[Ground_Meat]

Smallwood has shown very little. Blount appears to be spent. Sproles shouldn't run too much except on short passes. What do we have to lose? Will we besmirch our lofty 2.3 ypc?

Exactly. What do they have to lose?

[slag]

Exhibit A

Hunt had 13 carries for 81 yards.

53 came on the TD ... that means, aside from the TD run, he averaged 2.4/carry for the other 12.