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Did Duke Johnson not become a Pro Bowl back because of his size?

TipDrill

TipDrill

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Don't get me wrong he carved out a good NFL career for himself but I was wondering what fans thought about this. What do you think it was he was missing?
 
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As great as Duke was here.... the NFL is a whole different animal.

There's not many 5'9" 200 pound every down RBs to depend on in the NFL. As a matter of fact, they are all role players. It's a whole different breed in the pros. RBs like him in the league aren't your bellcows, but your 3rd down and APBs in the league and its rare that you see those types as an all-pro, unless you also excel at special teams, like Darren Sproles.
It is what it is.
Still love Duke. If we didn't land him, program prolly would've been already folded, he helped carry the Canes.
 
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djnellz said:
As great as Duke was here.... the NFL is a whole different animal.

There's not many 5'9" 200 pound every down RBs to depend on in the NFL. As a matter of fact, they are all role players. It's a whole different breed in the pros. RBs like him in the league aren't your bellows, but your 3rd down and APBs in the league and its rare that you see those types as an all-pro, unless you also excel at special teams, like Darren Sproles.
It is what it is.
Still love Duke. If we didn't land him, program prolly would've been already folded, he helped carry the Canes.
Click to expand...
Facts the league is a whole different breed. We saw Duke vs good fsu teams with loaded rosters. That's basically a pre cursor on how it was going to look for him in the pros.
 
I met him while here in Cleveland. Couldn't have been nicer nor more gracious. I was sitting in a hotel lobby, waiting for an interview and he walked through. He was heading up to his room and was injured but came over to talk to me for a minute. I almost missed my interview, but it would've been worth it (well almost, it was a good gig). All we talked about was UM, and he lit up when I told him I was born in Homestead and am a lifelong 'Canes fan.

Darn shame he didn't have more success in the NFL. My Browns were a dumpster fire at the time (at least more of one than we are currently) and had no idea how to use Duke.
 
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djnellz said:
As great as Duke was here.... the NFL is a whole different animal.

There's not many 5'9" 200 pound every down RBs to depend on in the NFL. As a matter of fact, they are all role players. It's a whole different breed in the pros. RBs like him in the league aren't your bellcows, but your 3rd down and APBs in the league and its rare that you see those types as an all-pro, unless you also excel at special teams, like Darren Sproles.
It is what it is.
Still love Duke. If we didn't land him, program prolly would've been already folded, he helped carry the Canes.
Click to expand...
I wont even giv Duke 200lbs
 
I feel duke never got enough touches,he averaged 4.3 yards per carry for his career which isn’t bad it basically what frank gore average.if he would of been in a team that gave him the rock I think he would of had a good career look what he did with the dolphins when the gave him carry’s he played good
 
CanefaninBuckeyeland said:
I met him while here in Cleveland. Couldn't have been nicer nor more gracious. I was sitting in a hotel lobby, waiting for an interview and he walked through. He was heading up to his room and was injured but came over to talk to me for a minute. I almost missed my interview, but it would've been worth it (well almost, it was a good gig). All we talked about was UM, and he lit up when I told him I was born in Homestead and am a lifelong 'Canes fan.

Darn shame he didn't have more success in the NFL. My Browns were a dumpster fire at the time (at least more of one than we are currently) and had no idea how to use Duke.
Click to expand...

What **** movie was it for?
 
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djnellz said:
As great as Duke was here.... the NFL is a whole different animal.

There's not many 5'9" 200 pound every down RBs to depend on in the NFL. As a matter of fact, they are all role players. It's a whole different breed in the pros. RBs like him in the league aren't your bellcows, but your 3rd down and APBs in the league and its rare that you see those types as an all-pro, unless you also excel at special teams, like Darren Sproles.
It is what it is.
Still love Duke. If we didn't land him, program prolly would've been already folded, he helped carry the Canes.
Click to expand...
This! It is really hard to be a pro bowler in THAT League. The NFL chews up RBs probably faster than it does with any other position. Duke just didn’t have the numbers, nor did he get enough touches to get there.
 
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Short answer YES.
Long answer..
To play RB in the NFL, first requirement is you need to be quick. No matter the size. 190lb or Henry at 240 you need quick feet and get through the hole before it closes and or make the cut.
Duke has that quickness. He has that in spades, and good vision as well.

Second requirement, you either need to be naturally 200+, to get the hard yards OR you need to make that size up by being fast and breaking runs to the house.

It’s the second requirement where Duke fails.
He is not big enough obviously, and he lacks top end break away speed. Not what the NFL requires.

Regardless, Duke has had a great career. Played in the NFL as an undersized RB for years, made millions of dollars, always carried himself as a man.
Broke several records at Miami on some pretty bad teams, and most of all always held it down when it came to UM. I

Duke and Anthony Richardson are my favorite players in Miami modern era football. They made watching UM exciting. Both were really special and fun to watch.
 
Most because of his size

But just realize he was very good at what he did in the league. He graded out ridiculously well on a per carry basis, making people miss, receiving etc.

In his career he averaged 9.2 yards per reception! And that's not on a small number of receptions...That's over 300 catches. That's a better average than McCrffrey, Cook, Ekelar, Barkley, Kamara, etc...And that middle part of his career he was one of the top 5-6 3rd down backs in the league.
 
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SSCane said:
Short answer YES.
Long answer..
To play RB in the NFL, first requirement is you need to be quick. No matter the size. 190lb or Henry at 240 you need quick feet and get through the hole before it closes and or make the cut.
Duke has that quickness. He has that in spades, and good vision as well.

Second requirement, you either need to be naturally 200+, to get the hard yards OR you need to make that size up by being fast and breaking runs to the house.

It’s the second requirement where Duke fails.
He is not big enough obviously, and he lacks top end break away speed. Not what the NFL requires.

Regardless, Duke has had a great career. Played in the NFL as an undersized RB for years, made millions of dollars, always carried himself as a man.
Broke several records at Miami on some pretty bad teams, and most of all always held it down when it came to UM. I

Duke and Anthony Richardson are my favorite players in Miami modern era football. They made watching UM exciting. Both were really special and fun to watch.
Click to expand...
Richardson didn't play at UM....He was a Gator...
 
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