"Old Man" Gore still our RB. And this is why:

[Lawrence Owen]

I Don't see Gore as a 3rd down back anymore.  Mack (or Ferguson possibly if he has improved enough) Will probably be those guys.  Turbin is a short yardage specialist.  Not a cowbell type back (contrary to his hopes).  Gore will still get the majority of the 1st and 2nd down snaps.  With the O-line probably looking like A.C, Mewhort, Kelly, Haeg, Clark.  And using Good/Banner in power formations.  I think our o-line is going to be MUCH better this year.  This line performed much better the last month of the season, and with an entire offseason working together, we should have a better offense.

Our defense is 1/2 our running game problem also tho.  If our defense could hold 2nd 1/2 leads more often, or not let us get down double digits early, We'd be running the ball more.  and not playing catch-up through the air.  Gore gets more YPC in the 2nd 1/2 when a defense is tired.  But  he has not had that opportunity often with Indy.  Maybe this year will be different.  Would love to see him get 1100 yards and leap Martin for 4th all time.

[SaturdayAllDay]

1 hour ago, Lawrence Owen said:

I Don't see Gore as a 3rd down back anymore.  Mack (or Ferguson possibly if he has improved enough) Will probably be those guys.  Turbin is a short yardage specialist.  Not a cowbell type back (contrary to his hopes).  Gore will still get the majority of the 1st and 2nd down snaps.  With the O-line probably looking like A.C, Mewhort, Kelly, Haeg, Clark.  And using Good/Banner in power formations.  I think our o-line is going to be MUCH better this year.  This line performed much better the last month of the season, and with an entire offseason working together, we should have a better offense.

Our defense is 1/2 our running game problem also tho.  If our defense could hold 2nd 1/2 leads more often, or not let us get down double digits early, We'd be running the ball more.  and not playing catch-up through the air.  Gore gets more YPC in the 2nd 1/2 when a defense is tired.  But  he has not had that opportunity often with Indy.  Maybe this year will be different.  Would love to see him get 1100 yards and leap Martin for 4th all time.

I wouldnt count out Turbin as our 3rd down guy. His pass blocking skills are far better than Fergusons, and I do not expect a rookie RB (who is reportedly a bad pass blocker) to be a better blocker either. With Allen gone, I can see us keeping our RB in to block even more in passing situations, as Luck seems to trust Doyle quite a bit as his dump off guy and we probably wont stick him (or Swoope) with blocking assignments. If this is the case, then Turbin could be the most used RB on 3rd downs (although not exclusively). 

[A8bil]

On 5/9/2017 at 7:18 AM, Majin Vegeta said:

He had the lowest YPC of all RBs with a 1000 yards. And his elusive rating was bottom 5 of all RBs. Gore needs to start getting less carries. Turbin and Mack time. 

actually, if you want to be accurate, Blount had over 1000 yds and had a lesser ypc than Gore. 

[Luck is Good]

I want to see a good mixture of Frank Gore and Marlon Mack. A two back attack can only help

[chrisfarley]

I really don't know how he does it.  Taking that kind of pounding year after year on medically corrected legs will return many years of aching bones and tired and weary limbs, and he knows full well what that means down the road.  He is one of the few iron men of the NFL, nothing but respect, never have I heard him complain.

[Dark Superman]

Too bad we didn't have the guy 10 years ago when he was breaking off 80 yard runs.

[Dark Superman]

The guy plays hard on every play and is the perfect mentor for someone like Mack coming into the league. I'm going to miss Gore when his contract is up, in which will probably be his final season as an NFL player. But I'm looking for to Mack and Luck in 2018.. I think this kid carries all the tools to our future back.

[Andrew Luck fan club]

15 hours ago, A8bil said:

actually, if you want to be accurate, Blount had over 1000 yds and had a lesser ypc than Gore. 

Show me. 

[Lawrence Owen]

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=0&statisticCategory=RUSHING&conference=null&season=2016&seasonType=REG&d-447263-s=RUSHING_YARDS&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-n=1

 

LeGarrette Blount    

1,161              3.9

Frank Gore

1,025              3.9     Sorry, i am not the op of your question.  but here are the facts you asked for.  and he is slightly wrong.  not less ypc,....the same.

[BullsColtsFan1]

5 minutes ago, Majin Vegeta said:

Show me. 

I see that they tied at 3.9 YPC.  Blount had more carries and more yards though.  I agree with you though, Gore should still get touches, just less touches, mix in Turbin and Mack. 

 

http://www.nfl.com/player/frankgore/2506404/careerstats

http://www.nfl.com/player/legarretteblount/497149/careerstats

 

[Lawrence Owen]

1 minute ago, BullsColtsFan1 said:

I see that they tied at 3.9 YPC.  Blount had more carries and more yards though.  I agree with you though, Gore should still get touches, just less touches, mix in Turbin and Mack. 

 

http://www.nfl.com/player/frankgore/2506404/careerstats

http://www.nfl.com/player/legarretteblount/497149/careerstats

 

 notable others with the same or less YPC than Gore last year...:

 

Melvin Gordon

LeGarrette Blount

Matt Forte

Jeremy Hill

Todd Gurley

Cris Ivory (whom many wanted Indy to pick up last year)

 

 

[BullsColtsFan1]

15 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

 notable others with the same or less YPC than Gore last year...:

 

Melvin Gordon

LeGarrette Blount

Matt Forte

Jeremy Hill

Todd Gurley

Cris Ivory (whom many wanted Indy to pick up last year)

 

 

I didn't even look that info up, I just glanced at Blount and Gore real quick and you beat me to it lol. 

[A8bil]

13 minutes ago, Majin Vegeta said:

Show me. 

Lawrence Owen already responded, but carry out the answer to multiple decimal places and you get...

 

Gore -- 263 carries for 1025 yards = 3.897 ypc

Blount -- 299 carries for 1161 yards = 3.883 ypc

 

Not a big difference, but like I said, technically you're wrong.  And, I don't think your point particularly resonates, as I don't think cutting things off at 1,000 yards is anything but arbitrary either.  There are a lot of good, "cow bell" backs in the 800-1000 yard range who had similar or less YPC than Gore, including Miller, Gordon, Hill, Steward, Forte, and Gurley.  

[Lawrence Owen]

2 minutes ago, A8bil said:

Lawrence Owen already responded, but carry out the answer to multiple decimal places and you get...

 

Gore -- 263 carries for 1025 yards = 3.897 ypc

Blount -- 299 carries for 1161 yards = 3.883 ypc

 

Not a big difference, but like I said, technically you're wrong.  And, I don't think your point particularly resonates, as I don't think cutting things off at 1,000 yards is anything but arbitrary either.  There are a lot of good, "cow bell" backs in the 800-1000 yard range who had similar or less YPC than Gore, including Miller, Gordon, Hill, Steward, Forte, and Gurley.  

Off topic slightly, but something that has bothered me for some time is that a RB and a run defence is graded differently.  

For instance:

Say in a game Gore carries the ball 12 times for 90 yards.  Gore is graded highly because he has a 7.5 YPC.  

But the Defense is also graded well because they ONLY allowed 90 yards on the ground.   This makes no since to me...lol

[Andrew Luck fan club]

7 minutes ago, A8bil said:

Lawrence Owen already responded, but carry out the answer to multiple decimal places and you get...

 

Gore -- 263 carries for 1025 yards = 3.897 ypc

Blount -- 299 carries for 1161 yards = 3.883 ypc

 

Not a big difference, but like I said, technically you're wrong.  And, I don't think your point particularly resonates, as I don't think cutting things off at 1,000 yards is anything but arbitrary either.  There are a lot of good, "cow bell" backs in the 800-1000 yard range who had similar or less YPC than Gore, including Miller, Gordon, Hill, Steward, Forte, and Gurley.  

Lolol decimal places. The pettiness is impressive. 

[Andrew Luck fan club]

Still, tied for lowest YPC. Only 1 run of 20+ yards. And bottom 5 elusive rating.  Not good enough. 

[A8bil]

7 minutes ago, Majin Vegeta said:

Lolol decimal places. The pettiness is impressive. 

 

Actually, it is your original observation that is petty...this just shows that you were wrong in your pettiness.  You had to thread the needle to come up with a series of stats that made Gore look bad...but even then, your stats were false.  Accept what you are doing and move on.

[A8bil]

Interesting point regarding Gore.  over that past two years, only Murray and Miller have had more carries.  For a 33-34 year old back, that's impressive.

[Andrew Luck fan club]

1 minute ago, A8bil said:

 

Actually, it is your original observation that is petty...this just shows that you were wrong in your pettiness.  You had to thread the needle to come up with a series of stats that made Gore look bad...but even then, you're stats were false.  Accept what you are doing and move on.

What was petty about it? And what was wrong? That he was tied with last instead of just being last? All those stats are facts you dunce. 

[crazycolt1]

20 minutes ago, A8bil said:

Lawrence Owen already responded, but carry out the answer to multiple decimal places and you get...

 

Gore -- 263 carries for 1025 yards = 3.897 ypc

Blount -- 299 carries for 1161 yards = 3.883 ypc

 

Not a big difference, but like I said, technically you're wrong.  And, I don't think your point particularly resonates, as I don't think cutting things off at 1,000 yards is anything but arbitrary either.  There are a lot of good, "cow bell" backs in the 800-1000 yard range who had similar or less YPC than Gore, including Miller, Gordon, Hill, Steward, Forte, and Gurley.  

Yards per carry is not the only way to judge a RB. Yes Gore and Blount are real close in those stats.

With that said Blount had 18 TDs while Gore had 4 TDs and at least one fumbled game away. If you going to compare look at the whole picture.

[aaron11]

20 minutes ago, Lawrence Owen said:

Off topic slightly, but something that has bothered me for some time is that a RB and a run defence is graded differently.  

For instance:

Say in a game Gore carries the ball 12 times for 90 yards.  Gore is graded highly because he has a 7.5 YPC.  

But the Defense is also graded well because they ONLY allowed 90 yards on the ground.   This makes no since to me...lol

teams have more than one running back

 

7.5 ypc is good for any one player, but a defense will be happy to only give up 90 yards total for the game

 

90 yards per game as a team would have ranked 29th in the league offensively .  a player averaging 90 yards per game would have been second overall

 

 

[A8bil]

15 minutes ago, Majin Vegeta said:

What was petty about it? And what was wrong? That he was tied with last instead of just being last? All those stats are facts you dunce. 

Name calling?  great.  No, that's the great thing about math...it doesn't lie.  Blount averaged less using what you deemed to be "relevant stats" i.e., backs over 1000 and ypc...which you carefully chose to bash on Gore.  Why not include Gordon and Blount in the analysis and label them not good enough?  Why not also consider Forte, Hill, Ivory and Gurley and accept that Gore got more yards and a higher YPC than those players?  You don't because it doesnt fit your narrative.  That's alright, but don't get chafed when someone points out the fallacy of your argument. 

[Andrew Luck fan club]

1 minute ago, A8bil said:

Name calling?  great.  No, that's the great thing about math...it doesn't lie.  Blount averaged less using what you deemed to be "relevant stats" i.e., backs over 1000 and ypc...which you carefully chose to bash on Gore.  Why not including Gordon and Blount in the analysis and label them not good enough?  Why not also consider Forte, Hill, Ivory and Gurley and accept that Gore got more yards and a higher YPC than those players?  You don't because it doesnt fit your narrative.  That's alright, but don't get chafed when someone points out the fallacy of your argument. 

lol I never bashed Gore. Act like a * I'll call ya a *. You started an argument over decimal points. Pathetic. 

[A8bil]

5 minutes ago, crazycolt1 said:

Yards per carry is not the only way to judge a RB. Yes Gore and Blount are real close in those stats.

With that said Blount had 18 TDs while Gore had 4 TDs and at least one fumbled game away. If you going to compare look at the whole picture.

I don't disagree, but even if you expand to consider things like TDs, you're not getting the entire picture.  How many run scoring opportunities did Indy have vs. NE? RBs in prolific offenses will always tend to get more TDs.  How many rushing TD opps did Blount have vs. Gore? Turbin took many goal line opps from Gore.  All stats have to be looked at in context. 

[A8bil]

5 minutes ago, Majin Vegeta said:

lol I never bashed Gore. Act like a * I'll call ya a *. You started an argument over decimal points. Pathetic. 

LOL...okay -- this isn't bashing gore:  "He had the lowest YPC of all RBs with a 1000 yards. And his elusive rating was bottom 5 of all RBs. Gore needs to start getting less carries. Turbin and Mack time."

 

Again, if you're going to make the argument that Gore needs to give way to other backs, give Gore is full due, and don't try cherry pick stats to support your argument.  If you can't do that, is your position well founded in the first place?

[crazycolt1]

7 minutes ago, A8bil said:

I don't disagree, but even if you expand to consider things like TDs, you're not getting the entire picture.  How many run scoring opportunities did Indy have vs. NE? RBs in prolific offenses will always tend to get more TDs.  How many rushing TD opps did Blount have vs. Gore? Turbin took many goal line opps from Gore.  All stats have to be looked at in context. 

Fair enough. As good as Gore has been he has lost a step or two and there is nothing we can do about that regardless of personal feelings for him.

I have no clue as to how the Colts O-line is going to work out this season. Is the pass protection going to take preference over run blocking? Hopefully we can improve on both fronts.  

[Andrew Luck fan club]

1 minute ago, A8bil said:

LOL...okay -- this isn't bashing gore:  "He had the lowest YPC of all RBs with a 1000 yards. And his elusive rating was bottom 5 of all RBs. Gore needs to start getting less carries. Turbin and Mack time."

 

Again, if you're going to make the argument that Gore needs to give way to other backs, give Gore is full due, and don't try cherry pick stats to support your argument.  If you can't do that, is your position well founded in the first place?

Saying Gore needs to get less carries is bashing him? Lolwut? So when Ballard said he wants Turbin to get more carries, was that bashing Gore too? Trololol

[A8bil]

On 5/22/2017 at 11:33 AM, Majin Vegeta said:

Saying Gore needs to get less carries is bashing him? Lolwut? So when Ballard said he wants Turbin to get more carries, was that bashing Gore too? Trololol

Did Ballard say he wants to get Turbin more carries BECAUSE Gore had the lowest YPC of any back over 1000 yds?  I don't recall Ballard saying that, but you did.  There are many reasons Ballard may want Turbin to get more carries (including that Gore had the third highest number of carries in the past two years of any RB), and not some perception that Gore is not producing, which is your point.  I don't get why you are not owning your point.  It's not like your argument is unique...I just don't think it is right.

 

If you look just below Gore in total yardage, there were a number of great, starting caliber RBs who got less yards than Gore, and equal or less YPC.  There are lots of reasons why that happens.  In fact, every year, there are RBs who rise and fall in YPC, and those differences typically have nothing to do with the RB, and everything to do with problems with the OL and offense.  For example, look the at production differences of the following backs between 2015 and 2016:

 

Player                 2015         2016

Rawls                   5.6            3.2

Gurley                  4.8            3.2

Bernard                4.7            3.7

CJ Anderson        4.7            4.0

Miller                    4.5            4.0

Matthews             5.3            4.3

 

Did these guys all of sudden get old? slow? Or were they perhaps slowed by a bad offense and/or OL?  

 

I'm not against playing a more productive back ahead of Gore, but the back has to prove it.  So far, no one has run behind the Colts OL better than gore and until they do, Gore should remain the unquestioned #1 guy, being spelled only to preserve Gore as the #1 option, IMO.

[Lucky Colts Fan]

I think we can rely on Mr. Reliable Frank Gore to get us the yards we need this year.

 

He probably won't break 1,000 yds.  He probably won't get 10+ TDs.  He might not even stay healthy enough for 16+ games.  (Knock on wood)  But I don't think those things are high on his priority list anyway.  He wants to WIN.

 

Mr. Reliable will get us 1st downs.  He will get positive yardage when given the ball.  He WILL fall forward.  He will be the example that Mr. Mack needs to learn from.