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

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.
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Richardson didn't do anything at UM.
 
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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.
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You hit the nail on the head. There may be about 3 or 4 guys that are just special and then there's everyone else. Duke was awesome here. Very underrated RB in Canes history.
 
He was always productive when given carries. Just a little too small to be an every down running back in the NFL. It didn’t help that he spent so much of his career in Cleveland. They haven’t had a good running back since Jim Brown
 
DTP said:
He was always productive when given carries. Just a little too small to be an every down running back in the NFL. It didn’t help that he spent so much of his career in Cleveland. They haven’t had a good running back since Jim Brown
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Eric Metcalf and Greg Pruitt were pretty **** good.
 
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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...
You don’t have to be fast. It’s about opportunities. Duke never got the opportunity to be that type of back. Cleveland used him mostly as a receiving back
 
DTP said:
He was always productive when given carries. Just a little too small to be an every down running back in the NFL. It didn’t help that he spent so much of his career in Cleveland. They haven’t had a good running back since Jim Brown
Click to expand...
He wasn’t too small the guy is 210. Alvin kamara is only about 5 pounds bigger at 215 and he ran a 4.56 40 and duke ran 4.54. Shady was only about 210. Ekeler with the chargers is 5’9 200. He’ll devonta freeman made a pro bowl and he is smaller than duke. All those guys just got more opportunities
 
He also played in the league at a time when RB rotations became a thing. He might have better stats had he played a couple decades ago. I mean, if you go back to 1996, Kareem Abdul Jabbar had a 1000 yard season, an 800 yard season, and a 900 yard season. I think Duke could have been capable of putting up those numbers with touches.
 
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I always thought Duke made a mistake by leaving early. If he would have stuck around for another year( and stayed healthy), he could have easily improved his draft stock and been a 1st round draft pick.

Granted, it worked out for him because he did have a good NFL career and he made plenty of money but if he had stuck around, I think he had the talent and ability to become one of the better smaller backs to ever play in the NFL.
 
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...

Put some respek on Ahmmon Richards name. Literally.
 
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SWFLHurricane said:
How could he??....he never played for UM
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shocked no way GIF
 
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