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Great Article on Gore


IndyD4U

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5 minutes ago, ReMeDy said:

"NFL Network reported at the time Gore was close to signing with Chip Kelly's Eagles, but Gore said he changed his mind largely because he believed Luck gave him the best chance at chasing a ring."

^ Argh, the feels... I wonder if he thinks he's cursed. Probably the year Gore retires, Luck will be fully healthy and torch the league again.

I have been thinking the same thing. He had a good three year team run, but other than that bad teams. It sucks for him, but hopefully for the colts that is the case

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6 minutes ago, PuntersArePeopleToo said:

I have been thinking the same thing. He had a good three year team run, but other than that bad teams. It sucks for him, but hopefully for the colts that is the case

 

Because every year Luck was healthy, we had Trent Richardson. Now that we have Gore, Luck's been either on IR or secretly playing through that injury of his. I don't know if Gore's ever played with Luck at 100%.

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1 hour ago, ReMeDy said:

"NFL Network reported at the time Gore was close to signing with Chip Kelly's Eagles, but Gore said he changed his mind largely because he believed Luck gave him the best chance at chasing a ring."

^ Argh, the feels... I wonder if he thinks he's cursed. Probably the year Gore retires, Luck will be fully healthy and torch the league again.

...and the Eagles will have won the Super Bowl

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On 11/28/2017 at 5:27 PM, ReMeDy said:

 

Because every year Luck was healthy, we had Trent Richardson. Now that we have Gore, Luck's been either on IR or secretly playing through that injury of his. I don't know if Gore's ever played with Luck at 100%.

I was talking about Gore, he had a good three year run with 49ers, but other than that his career has always been on bad teams

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On 11/29/2017 at 4:49 PM, PuntersArePeopleToo said:

I was talking about Gore, he had a good three year run with 49ers, but other than that his career has always been on bad teams

And, even during that good run, he had two factors working against him.  First, neither Smith nor Kaepernick put the fear in the defensive secondary, so teams continued to stack the box against him.  Kaep ran a more dynamic offense in the beginning, but defenses kept a spy in to try to stop Kaep from running, not from passing.  That spy was always there to help stop Gore.  Second, everyone has feared Gore's imminent collapse, so his carries have been limited to around 260/yr.  He could have run another 50 carries each year in those core  years, and (barring injury) he would have had another 700-1000 or so yards.  That said, limiting his carries may be one reason he has been so durable.  Not sure anyone over a 3+ year time frame has more carries than Gore.

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And for the counter point...

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/11/nfl-colts-49ers-frank-gore-hall-of-fame

 

What strikes me about these types of articles is the writer's inability to distinguish between (1) a player's individual greatness; (2) a player's success because they had the good fortune of playing on great teams; and (3) a player's popularity with fans.

 

What Gore did on some truly terrible 49er teams was impressive.  If not for this equally bad experience with the Colts, his career avg. would be near 4.5 ypc. despite being an every down back...i.e., he had many carries on third/fourth and short because he is a power back as well.  Look at a lot of players in the HOF, and they have significantly lower YPC avg.  (Martin - 4.0 ypc; Bettis - 3.9 ypc; Marcus Allen - 4.1 ypc; Harris - 4.1 ypc; Riggins - 3.9 ypc).  In fact, Gore's career ypc exceeds all of the above, and Smith, Tomlinson, Dorsett, and Thomas as well.  Many of these players had the benefit of playing on some very good to great teams during the core of their career, while Gore didn't get that chance until his 8th season, when most backs are done, and even then, Harbaugh kept Gore on a pitch count, (unfairly) preventing him from racking up big yards and putting him on the fans' or press's radar.

 

Stats like leading the league in yardage and most TDs in a season (which seem to be the core stats Gore's detractor's cite against his HOF eligibility) require a team whose offense is good enough to generate 325+ carries for an RB, an offense that puts the team in a position to score TDs and a coach willing to hand all of those carries to one RB.  The only year Gore got close to a league leading number of carries was in 2006, when he had 312 carries and a 5.4 ypc avg. for the 7-9 49ers and their 24th ranked offense (led by 1st year Alex Smith and top receiver Arnaz Battle (cough)), but that same year, Tomlinson had 348 carries on 5.2 ypc for the 14-2 Chargers and their 1st ranked offense, to beat Gore in total yards and carries.  Whose year was better?  I'ld argue that Gore's was the more difficult feat.

 

Consider this also, Tomlinson had 7 seasons where he had more carries than Gore's 2006 peak.  Other than 2006, Gore never had more than 282 carries.  Not because he was not capable...for most of his career it was because his teams were just that bad, or in his later years, because the team didn't want to over use him. 

 

So, if all you are going to rely on are stats like who led the league in rushing, or who scored the most touchdowns, you are automatically biased toward the RBs on great teams, and slighting backs like Gore (and Steven Jackson for example) who toiled away on terrible teams for the bulk of their careers. In fact, Jackson never played on a winning team.  The "great team" bias (and East Coast media bias) gave some RBs unfair advantage, which trickles down and influences pro bowl and all pro selections -- it's been that way since the inception of the league.  This is not to say that LT was not HOF worthy, it is just to say that guys like Gore could have matched or exceeded LT given the opportunity.  When their stats generated from toiling on bad teams still stand tall, you have to recognize their perseverance and greatness in overcoming their circumstances.   

 

You have to sometimes wonder what guys like Gore and Steven Jackson could have done had they not wasted most of their careers playing as the only bright spot on otherwise crappy teams.  I'ld suggest that the pro bowls, all pro teams, and record books would look very different.   

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