RB Elijah Mitchell Thread

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:

Originally posted by mayo49:
What's the word on Mitchell, did they IR him?

I think he's back this week. Didn't clear the concussion protocol last week from the cheap shot but this week I think he does

Thanks, quapo - hopefully he get's cleared, we need him.

Of course Mayo - Now drop and give me 50

Originally posted by elguapo:

Originally posted by mayo49:

Originally posted by elguapo:

Originally posted by mayo49:
What's the word on Mitchell, did they IR him?

I think he's back this week. Didn't clear the concussion protocol last week from the cheap shot but this week I think he does

Thanks, quapo - hopefully he get's cleared, we need him.

Of course Mayo - Now drop and give me 50

Originally posted by elguapo:

Originally posted by mayo49:
What's the word on Mitchell, did they IR him?

I think he's back this week. Didn't clear the concussion protocol last week from the cheap shot but this week I think he does

I hope his knee is OK too..

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by elguapo:

Originally posted by mayo49:
What's the word on Mitchell, did they IR him?

I think he's back this week. Didn't clear the concussion protocol last week from the cheap shot but this week I think he does

I hope his knee is OK too..

Yeah, I'm more concerned about this knee then his concussion.

Originally posted by Heroism:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Agreed.

It's crazy to think Kyle said a couple years ago he realized he had to keep 3-4 active RB's for the first time ever. Now we might need 5 plus a FB just to get through a season of rotation. This system absolutely eats through OL and RB's...makes sense given the type of players they need (smaller, quicker, faster) and the amount of load on both positions esp. at OL with such a huge load of varying types of blocks and continuation of those blocks so far down the field. His run is used to set everything else up so run blocking comes first.

Well, they don't need to be small. It's just that most guys that are fast tend to be smaller.

In an ideal world, Kyle would have a few Derrick Henrys. Unfortunately, that type of athlete with massive size AND speed is extremely rare. And even Henry is starting to breakdown. The RB is a physically taxing position, and if an offense plans to make the run game their focus, they better have a few of them.

Oh for sure. Good example but is Derrick Henry laterally as quick and fast as our guys in Mostert, Mitchell...even Deebo? If so, that's a rare unicorn like Trent Williams at LT in our system.

Obviously kid is good but hopefully with reps he'll look explosive like Mostret has looked (maybe not fully because of the speed) and like Wilson looks.

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Heroism:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Agreed.

It's crazy to think Kyle said a couple years ago he realized he had to keep 3-4 active RB's for the first time ever. Now we might need 5 plus a FB just to get through a season of rotation. This system absolutely eats through OL and RB's...makes sense given the type of players they need (smaller, quicker, faster) and the amount of load on both positions esp. at OL with such a huge load of varying types of blocks and continuation of those blocks so far down the field. His run is used to set everything else up so run blocking comes first.

Well, they don't need to be small. It's just that most guys that are fast tend to be smaller.

In an ideal world, Kyle would have a few Derrick Henrys. Unfortunately, that type of athlete with massive size AND speed is extremely rare. And even Henry is starting to breakdown. The RB is a physically taxing position, and if an offense plans to make the run game their focus, they better have a few of them.

Oh for sure. Good example but is Derrick Henry laterally as quick and fast as our guys in Mostert, Mitchell...even Deebo? If so, that's a rare unicorn like Trent Williams at LT in our system.

The fact that he's running more now as a head coach (vs passing more as a OC) and drafting Sermon - which is an unusual RB pick for him generally, might be an indication he's changing his tune on the run game.

Bigger RBs theoretically should be able to withstand more pounding. But even a guy like Derrick Henry, as big as he is, gets dinged too.

It could also be his run offense has developed to the point that he can use slower bigger backs for the inside game and still have the small fast backs for the outside game.

Originally posted by NCommand:
Oh for sure. Good example but is Derrick Henry laterally as quick and fast as our guys in Mostert, Mitchell...even Deebo? If so, that's a rare unicorn like Trent Williams at LT in our system.

Oh, Henry is definitely as fast as most of RBs our sans Mostert. Nobody is as fast as that dude.


Lateral quickness isn't really important in this scheme because it's one cut and get vertical meaning most lateral movement is undesired. I don't think Mostert has great lateral quickness, but he doesn't need it much in this scheme. Gibbs used to describe the best wide zone runners as wave riders. Imagine someone riding a wave that's pushing them forward. Can't get off the wave and start dancing side to side. Wide zone runners should always be pressing their blocks as they forward toward the running lane. I believe Gibbs' offenses always led the league in the least negative run plays. He always preached that wide zone offenses should rarely get negative runs because the RB should always be pressing forward. *I forgot to add that a lot of the RBs with amazing lateral quickness often fall victim to their own strengths. A guy like Saquan Barkley comes to mind that sometimes dances way too much and goes nowhere instead of just moving forward and hitting the running lane. That's definitely not wanted in this scheme.

Honestly, most of the best wide zone runners run upright like sprinters and a lot of them are stiff in their lower body. I think this is why a lot of them take a beating in this scheme--running high exposes the body to hits and lacking lateral quickness/agility means they don't make a lot of people miss in the second level.

Originally posted by Heroism:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Oh for sure. Good example but is Derrick Henry laterally as quick and fast as our guys in Mostert, Mitchell...even Deebo? If so, that's a rare unicorn like Trent Williams at LT in our system.

Oh, Henry is definitely as fast as most of RBs our sans Mostert. Nobody is as fast as that dude.

Derrick Henry reached a top speed of 21.80 mph.

That is...

➡️ The fastest speed reached by a ball carrier this season
➡️ The fastest run of Henry's career

(h/t @NextGenStats) pic.twitter.com/XeHTgpw7KC

— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2021

Lateral quickness isn't really important in this scheme because it's one cut and get vertical meaning most lateral movement is undesired. I don't think Mostert has great lateral quickness, but he doesn't need it in this scheme. Gibbs used to describe the best wide zone runners as wave riders. Imagine someone riding a wave that's pushing them forward. Can't get off the wave and start dancing side to side. Wide zone runners should always be pressing their blocks as they forward toward the running lane.

Honestly, most of the best wide zone runners run upright like sprinters and a lot of them are stiff in their lower body. I think this is why a lot of them take a beating in this scheme.

I agree with everything, but the lateral quickness point you made. That is if you are saying that lateral quickness and speed are not the same.

I think the fact that Mostert and Mitchell have top end speed definitely helps in the zone run. I think by an RB using his speed, he can force defenses to commit and then cut back, or if they are trying to watch for the cutback, then the RB can accelerate and sprint around the end. In other words, speed is a necessity in Kyle's offense because of the way the pass works off the run, and how the OLine blocks those outside zone runs. It becomes even deadlier if the OLine switches from zone blocking to gap/power blocking.

I think if Sermon can master the outside zone with his ability to accelerate, knowing he doesn't have top end speed, I can see him doing damage on the inside in power/gap blocking as a change up to the outside zone blocking. Sermon would be a nice compliment to Mitchell if both of them are in the backfield - you can go power/gap or zone run, and that puts the defense in a bit of a bind in terms of run defense.

What i want to know is where is Hasty? He should be filling in not Wilson.

Originally posted by Heroism:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Oh for sure. Good example but is Derrick Henry laterally as quick and fast as our guys in Mostert, Mitchell...even Deebo? If so, that's a rare unicorn like Trent Williams at LT in our system.

Oh, Henry is definitely as fast as most of RBs our sans Mostert. Nobody is as fast as that dude.

Derrick Henry reached a top speed of 21.80 mph.

That is...

➡️ The fastest speed reached by a ball carrier this season
➡️ The fastest run of Henry's career

(h/t @NextGenStats) pic.twitter.com/XeHTgpw7KC

— NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2021

Lateral quickness isn't really important in this scheme because it's one cut and get vertical meaning most lateral movement is undesired. I don't think Mostert has great lateral quickness, but he doesn't need it much in this scheme. Gibbs used to describe the best wide zone runners as wave riders. Imagine someone riding a wave that's pushing them forward. Can't get off the wave and start dancing side to side. Wide zone runners should always be pressing their blocks as they forward toward the running lane. I believe Gibbs' offenses always led the league in the least negative run plays. He always preached that wide zone offenses should rarely get negative runs because the RB should always be pressing forward. *I forgot to add that a lot of the RBs with amazing lateral quickness often fall victim to their own strengths. A guy like Saquan Barkley comes to mind that sometimes dances way too much and goes nowhere instead of just moving forward and hitting the running lane. That's definitely not wanted in this scheme.

Honestly, most of the best wide zone runners run upright like sprinters and a lot of them are stiff in their lower body. I think this is why a lot of them take a beating in this scheme--running high exposes the body to hits and lacking lateral quickness/agility means they don't make a lot of people miss in the second level.

That's a great post. You coast out wide, see the opening and explode. You need to vision, patience, decisiveness, then burst and acceleration. Mostert was elite in being able to hit the throttle and get up to full speed quickly, often times hitting the hole perfectly and going untouched. D Henry would absolutely crush it here. He's got as much deep speed as anyone even in that monster frame, but he also has solid acceleration/burst. But what he has to make up for that is off the charts strength for a running back and wouldn't get squared up much in the outside zone, and he's not going down with glancing blows. If we had a back like him in their prime we could run the ball 65% of the time easily. There would be so much stress on the defense

NO need to bring Mitch back... keep him on the sideline... let him rest... let him rest..

we don't need the ROOK !!!

Originally posted by 9moon:
NO need to bring Mitch back... keep him on the sideline... let him rest... let him rest..

we don't need the ROOK !!!

I wouldn't say we don't need him - but, sounds like he needs to rest that knee more.

Originally posted by Giedi:

Originally posted by NCommand:

Originally posted by Heroism:

Originally posted by NCommand:
Agreed.

It's crazy to think Kyle said a couple years ago he realized he had to keep 3-4 active RB's for the first time ever. Now we might need 5 plus a FB just to get through a season of rotation. This system absolutely eats through OL and RB's...makes sense given the type of players they need (smaller, quicker, faster) and the amount of load on both positions esp. at OL with such a huge load of varying types of blocks and continuation of those blocks so far down the field. His run is used to set everything else up so run blocking comes first.

Well, they don't need to be small. It's just that most guys that are fast tend to be smaller.

In an ideal world, Kyle would have a few Derrick Henrys. Unfortunately, that type of athlete with massive size AND speed is extremely rare. And even Henry is starting to breakdown. The RB is a physically taxing position, and if an offense plans to make the run game their focus, they better have a few of them.

Oh for sure. Good example but is Derrick Henry laterally as quick and fast as our guys in Mostert, Mitchell...even Deebo? If so, that's a rare unicorn like Trent Williams at LT in our system.

The fact that he's running more now as a head coach (vs passing more as a OC) and drafting Sermon - which is an unusual RB pick for him generally, might be an indication he's changing his tune on the run game.

Bigger RBs theoretically should be able to withstand more pounding. But even a guy like Derrick Henry, as big as he is, gets dinged too.

It could also be his run offense has developed to the point that he can use slower bigger backs for the inside game and still have the small fast backs for the outside game.

Kyle is no stranger to bigger backs, see Arian Foster and Alfred Morris.

Get him 1000 yard rushing season. Haven't had one during the Kyle Shanahan era.