Man would it be nice to have a back like Autry Denson again? It's been a long, long, long time since we've seen something similar to that.
Link: https://youtu.be/x-Mhb4z5hZo?t=5s
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I think his point was that Denson is our RB coach and he can see some of Denson's same great traits being displayed by Dex.
Dex is a little bigger and a lot faster, but his running style is reminiscent of Denson, who in my eyes, all talent aside had one of if not the best running styles of any ND back.
awesome at times. Bill Parcells absolutely loved him. Alas, injuries. He missed a year with us too because of academics.
They're at least his equal...He was a fun player to watch but we've had some immense talents back there.
Sometimes the nostalgia kicks in and folks forget was just here.
styles of any ND back." -- I totally agree.
And Yes, CW and JJ were a lot faster and appeared better (CW) for sure. CW was probably a lot more like Denson in terms of his shiftiness but CW was faster. I would have loved to see all of CW if Kelly hadn't dumbly benched and run him off.
Regardless of the what if's. Denson will always be high if not the highest on my list. The only thing he was missing was breakaway speed. He was super fast in the hole, out of jump-cuts or jukes, and he could get to the second level pretty quick. The only knock was he generally couldn't take it to the house (for the most part). But, even being on the slower side his production was awesome and he scored a ton.
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We r lucky to have him.
His future looks awesome, IMO.
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I'm his life coach you see, and this is a very encouraging development in his quest to become more valuable to mankind.
....Keep plugging away KW, enough dicks in your throat at one time is sure to do the trick...death before dishonor!
"DEATH" Before dishonor!!
We need to stay focused on the truly important things.
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When your net worth turns positive, give us a call.
“Dumb and dumber”
Shit for brains I and II
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..finely honed through countless years of repetition.
Look, if one huge handful won't get the job done then try both hands full at once..whatever it takes man, get it done!!
Just remember two things: 1) no chewing, just swallow 2) success equals self asphyxiation, don't stop until you have the prize
Carry on, dim bulb...
...or, better yet, go jump in your lake.
And on a per-season basis, Julius and Prosise were better backs.
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great college back.
was very good. Also a good receiver.
He was the best I have ever seen at waiting for his blockers to develop the hole and hitting it fast when it did....never trying to run if there was no crease to run through. He also caught every swing pass to the flat thrown his way by Quinn....not an easy thing to do. He was also in a couple classes with my daughter who admired him as a student. He did not have the quickness of Dex or the power of Robert Wheeler....but he just performed and played the game without blunders.
have been better.
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Darius was quick and elusive with outstanding vision. He could frequently make gains when the designed gap wasn't available (or if any gap wasn't available). He was terrific in space and had a real knack for finding the endzone.
I'm sure he had his reasons for bailing a year early, but I have zero doubt that we'd have done better than 3-9 had Darius been on the 2007 roster.
The ultimate low tangible talent that still always made plays vs high tangible talent that never seemed to be able to.
Grant at RB in my eyes is like a shadow of Crist at QB.......all the talent you could ask for but just didn't have it.
Against Navy, he would have been a much better blocker than what was shown. I still remember the Navy pass rusher leaping over Armando Allen, then a true freshman, and sacking Evan Sharpley to seal the game. Darius Walker would have made that block, and not tipped his hand early during that play. The game wouldn't have gone into overtime with Walker in the backfield, for certain.
Purdue would have been much closer, maybe even winnable, with Darius Walker in there. There were many opportunities to get some passing rhythm going in the first half, but terrible blocking by the running backs caused Jimmy Clausen to get hammered pretty badly. Also, the running backs weren't running the pass routes very well either.
Other than that, I'm not sure that any other games would have been winnable.
To have finished 5-7 would have been a hell of a lot better than 3-9. It might have even given Charlie Weis another mulligan.
I agree with you on the plays you mentioned. And I'd add that with an offensive attack that had a running back with his talent and experience, we'd have probably beaten B.C., as well (who we took to the end with the minimal experience/skill that we had).
So, we'd have probably won 5 or 6 games vs. 3. But we also wouldn't have been blown out by the mediocre teams. No way would we have lost 33-3 to Georgia Tech, 31-14 to Michigan State, or 41-14 to Air Force. We lost those games by those margins because we simply couldn't move the ball - that wouldn't have happened with Walker in the backfield. Those would have at least been competitive games.
Add all that up, and 2007 would have been much easier to stomach than 3-9 with such an ugly point differential.
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Had we simply given Sharpley the reps in the summer and not wasted all of that time on Demetrius Jones and essentially given away 2 games along with all of the camp that we could have focused on our core offense, things would have been better.
disaster.
offense too.
Inject a 4.4 forty into Denson with everything else he had and he woulda been better than any back we've had and likely woulda been an NFL star.
I liked Walker, but the only thing I would compare about him to Denson would be their speed and stature.
Walker's stats are very similar to Denson's, and he likely would have surpassed all of them had he not questionably left a year early. And it's worth noting that Walker did not enjoy the Holtz/Moore offensive lines that Denson had for 2 seasons, nor the rush-heavy scheme. Both guys were elusive playmakers who never failed to show up when it mattered.
I think Denson had a very unique vocal leadership quality that inspired his teammates. Walker was more reserved, and I don't know that he could carry a team in the same way, so 2007 would have been interesting.
I do agree that the lack of a 5th gear is what holds Denson behind J.J. or C.J., but I can't ignore its absence.
Look I'm trying to be gentle here because I loved the guy, but he was slowww...no other way to describe a back who barely cracks 200lbs and runs a 4.66.
As far as the part you disagree on, I think you are talking more stats, where I'm not considering the stats so much. I'm talking about the guys who looked like the most complete RBs to my eyes...for example I'd rank Folston up among some of the better backs we've had, but his stats wouldn't support that. Same with CJ as far as overall stats, and JJ also had his stats hampered by ty often not playing him enough, but to my eyes they look like special RBs. On the flip side Adams stats are real good, but he wasn't anything special imo (other than his open field speed) just a 'good' RB with speed who benefited from some real good blocking and I'd rank him behind a lot of guys others wouldn't agree with.
As far as Denson I just loved the way he played the position in every way. Outside of his stature I really believe if he was a 4.4 guy he woulda been the perfect RB. I give Walker a lot of credit, he did a lot with what he had and milked the most out of his talent level, as he was a lil slower than Denson at a time when the players around him we're a lot faster than when Denson played, but to these eyes (speed out the window) Denson was an all around better RB than Walker and I'm not gonna say by a mile, but it wasn't that close either.
And yes, Walker leaving early was some terrible advise.
on AD than is warranted. But still think he was better than DW, too.
always seem faster to me. He had a much quicker first step and jitter bug moves it seemed to me. Both were very good though. If I had to pick one, I would go with Denson but be satisfied with either.
Dexter has power and speed, which makes him more like Prosise...although Prosise was better. If Prosise had stayed another year, he would be on more "all time top RBs at ND" lists.
Darious Walker was a smaller and faster Lee Becton...both had superior vision. To me, that was their strength...they seemed to be able to look forward in time a few seconds, and just pick the right path.
I make all of the above statements totally without regard to stats. Just from watching games.
that guy was special with the rock in his hands.
If he had been correctly pegged as a RB from the start, he'd probably be our all time leading rusher right now.
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and even though he was a little bit taller back he could get low and looked natural and fluid doing it.
Man I wish we could of seen him carrying the rock for 3 or 4 years..
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Which was the exact opposite of Tony Fisher his confrere at the time. All the vision in the world just nothing on the breakaway side
Julius was a tremendous and complete back. One of the very best in Notre Dame history. He would have played for any of our best teams and went on to be a feature back in the N.F.L.
As for Tony Fisher, he had very good speed. He wasn't quite as fast as Julius, but very few were. He demonstrated the ability to score from long range on more than one occasion at N.D.
I'd love for you to present some examples supporting that he had no vision..I'm not saying he was elite in this area, but to say no vision is just ridiculous.
Julius only had two flaws:
1 - His timing for when he came to Notre Dame, having to play under Davie's' and ty
2 - He was a little upright and stiff, especially in the hips, so he wasn't real fluid and his cuts weren't very fast. If you compare him to his brother, they look like twins, they are similar size, they had similar speed (though Julius was a little faster), but when you watch them run they look nothing alike in the way they move. Thomas was very low with a natural forward lean and fluid hip movement, while Julius looked like he was forcing himself to lean forward because someone told him to instead of because it felt natural.
Having said that, Julius was a beast for us and is one of my all time favorites.
Shifty, elusive, ultra productive, cat like agility, heart of a lion, tough as nails, great hands, great blocker...I'd even say he had a quick first few steps (aka shifty) but with no malice I say this, for his time he was a bit on the slow side for his size and by today's standards....eeeck!!
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We're going back a ways now but if I remember correctly the move was prompted by an injury or suspension of another RB, maybe Kinder or Farmer (sorry, don't feel like looking it up).
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was playing like ass...can't remember if that was Kinder or Farmer though.
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ever had. He did not have off the charts speed but he had some make you miss. He used to tell Holtz that he was the next Warrick Dunn.
...Ricky Watters, Reggie Brooks, CJ Prosise....just a few guys I'd take ahead of Denson, as good as he was.
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And he trucked people in the NFL for Years!!!
Also, don't forget Rodney Culver....r.i.p. :-(