Duke did indeed get slower, question is does this really....

[Trikdad305]

Help him?

In my opinion Duke sorta lost what made him special. I've seen many of his highschool games and although he didn't have world class speed he was a burner.

A 4.6 was abysmal from what he was. Imo his weight gain just looks unnatural for his frame. He looked very soft and pudgy bodywise and I can tell alot of that weight gain wasn't solid muscle.

Ive read posts here saying this is his best season but he had 900+ before his injury last year. He would have gotten well over a 1000 eitherway.

Duke is still one of a kind, I just think he was meant to be 190-195lbs max. Either way Im not sure he's an everydown back in the league.

Knowing Duke he may prove me wrong

 

[ThomasM]

What makes Duke special is his explosiveness, vision, amazing stiff arm, and several other things. Top end speed was NEVER his thing. Ask VT how much less of a RB Duke was this year. Duke isn't any less explosive than he ever was. A tenth of a second off his 40 time is meaningless. Absolutely, 100% meaningless.

 

[Travis Bickle]

That was a pretty horrific injury to come back from, and I think that has more to do with loss of speed than putting on an extra ten pounds of muscle. Like poster above stated, it's not his breakaway speed that made Duke special, it was his vision, escapability and nasty stiff arm...

 

[DaveT]

His official was 4.54.

 

[clg003]

What was his laser time out of high school?

Dorset went from a 4.18 to a 4.33 from his senior season of college to the nfl combine.

 

[brock]

His official was 4.54.

And that's an ok time. Only 2 backs ran under 4.5...

 

[PSU Cane]

The 40 time at the combine is completely overrated.

How many times do guys on the football field start in that stance? How many guys play football without pads and are able to run in a straight line? With all the combine specialty training out there these days, the numbers at the combine are inflated.

Duke lost speed and it was evident when he was being run down on breakaways in games....not the combine. If he wanted to be anything more than a 3rd down change of pace guy in the NFL, he needed some extra weight. That being said, his time wasn't much different than Melvin Gordon's, but Gordon plays a lot faster. His extra gear is almost absurd in real games and he glides past guys like they aren't even there. Same thing about Langford. In what universe would anyone think his speed was better than Gordon's? His game speed isn't.

 

[duke4heisman]

Duke ran a 4.39 his freshman yr and Swasey knows what he's doing. Correct me if I'm wrong but Duke did not get caught from behind ONCE his freshman year. The next season after adding the weight, that UNC DB ran him down......thanks Al.

 

[User-4525]

Duke ran a 4.39 his freshman yr and Swasey knows what he's doing. Correct me if I'm wrong but Duke did not get caught from behind ONCE his freshman year. The next season after adding the weight, that UNC DB ran him down......thanks Al.

Link? And before the year started Duke was saying he was in the 4.38-4.42 range and stated in multiple interviews he got faster

 

[Saltycane]

But those weren't laser times

 

[duke4heisman]

Duke ran a 4.39 his freshman yr and Swasey knows what he's doing. Correct me if I'm wrong but Duke did not get caught from behind ONCE his freshman year. The next season after adding the weight, that UNC DB ran him down......thanks Al.

Link? And before the year started Duke was saying he was in the 4.38-4.42 range and stated in multiple interviews he got faster

I Don't have links stored but I'll put my memory against ANYONE (especially with Duke) that it was reported that Swasey timed him at 4.39 when he arrived. You are correct that it was reported that he got faster after the injury....BUT anyone that watched him after his freshman season SAW that he lost speed.

 

[SmokeyRone]

His Marvis Frazier ability to get hurt every other play doesn't bode well in the NFL.

 

[User-4525]

Duke ran a 4.39 his freshman yr and Swasey knows what he's doing. Correct me if I'm wrong but Duke did not get caught from behind ONCE his freshman year. The next season after adding the weight, that UNC DB ran him down......thanks Al.

Link? And before the year started Duke was saying he was in the 4.38-4.42 range and stated in multiple interviews he got faster

I Don't have links stored but I'll put my memory against ANYONE (especially with Duke) that it was reported that Swasey timed him at 4.39 when he arrived. You are correct that it was reported that he got faster after the injury....BUT anyone that watched him after his freshman season SAW that he lost speed.

I am not questioning whether or not he lost speed. I was just asking for the reported time for reference

 

[FG305]

Duke ran a 4.39 his freshman yr and Swasey knows what he's doing. Correct me if I'm wrong but Duke did not get caught from behind ONCE his freshman year. The next season after adding the weight, that UNC DB ran him down......thanks Al.

Link? And before the year started Duke was saying he was in the 4.38-4.42 range and stated in multiple interviews he got faster

I Don't have links stored but I'll put my memory against ANYONE (especially with Duke) that it was reported that Swasey timed him at 4.39 when he arrived. You are correct that it was reported that he got faster after the injury....BUT anyone that watched him after his freshman season SAW that he lost speed.

Good memory:
http://m.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/college-football/um-freshman-tailback-johnson-packs-a-wallop-in-swi/nQDjk/

 

[duke4heisman]

Duke ran a 4.39 his freshman yr and Swasey knows what he's doing. Correct me if I'm wrong but Duke did not get caught from behind ONCE his freshman year. The next season after adding the weight, that UNC DB ran him down......thanks Al.

Link? And before the year started Duke was saying he was in the 4.38-4.42 range and stated in multiple interviews he got faster

I Don't have links stored but I'll put my memory against ANYONE (especially with Duke) that it was reported that Swasey timed him at 4.39 when he arrived. You are correct that it was reported that he got faster after the injury....BUT anyone that watched him after his freshman season SAW that he lost speed.

I am not questioning whether or not he lost speed. I was just asking for the reported time for reference

Gotcha....pretty sure I saw it on here but idk how to find it. In fact, I remember a poster saying how Swasey was very accurate with his stopwatch times compared to the laser.

 

[clg003]

Duke ran a 4.39 his freshman yr and Swasey knows what he's doing. Correct me if I'm wrong but Duke did not get caught from behind ONCE his freshman year. The next season after adding the weight, that UNC DB ran him down......thanks Al.

Link? And before the year started Duke was saying he was in the 4.38-4.42 range and stated in multiple interviews he got faster

I Don't have links stored but I'll put my memory against ANYONE (especially with Duke) that it was reported that Swasey timed him at 4.39 when he arrived. You are correct that it was reported that he got faster after the injury....BUT anyone that watched him after his freshman season SAW that he lost speed.

I am not questioning whether or not he lost speed. I was just asking for the reported time for reference

Gotcha....pretty sure I saw it on here but idk how to find it. In fact, I remember a poster saying how Swasey was very accurate with his stopwatch times compared to the laser.

These simply are not laser times and are not comparable. Point above was that Swasey timed Dorset at 4.18 before the season started and yet he ran a 4.33 at the combine. Thats a .15 difference which is the same difference as Duke running a 4.54 at the combine and a Swasey timed 4.39.

 

[cane since birth]

Lmao

 

[valid]

Duke was never a 4.4 guy. Even in high school, he was fast but nobody would say he had speed like a Dalvin Cook.

 

[INCaneFan]

Wow, someone looks pretty dumb in this thread.

Forget any time he ever ran before, he ran a 4.54 at the combine and to date that's the only accurate timed 40 he's ever run. The rest is for ***** and giggles.

I knew PD's number from Swasey was b.s. at the time and said I'd be a bit surprised if he ran under 4.3 at the combine. Now PD's name sits atop our record board, not missed at PD, but Swasey is a joke.

 

[INCaneFan]

Link? And before the year started Duke was saying he was in the 4.38-4.42 range and stated in multiple interviews he got faster

I Don't have links stored but I'll put my memory against ANYONE (especially with Duke) that it was reported that Swasey timed him at 4.39 when he arrived. You are correct that it was reported that he got faster after the injury....BUT anyone that watched him after his freshman season SAW that he lost speed.

I am not questioning whether or not he lost speed. I was just asking for the reported time for reference

Gotcha....pretty sure I saw it on here but idk how to find it. In fact, I remember a poster saying how Swasey was very accurate with his stopwatch times compared to the laser.

These simply are not laser times and are not comparable. Point above was that Swasey timed Dorset at 4.18 before the season started and yet he ran a 4.33 at the combine. Thats a .15 difference which is the same difference as Duke running a 4.54 at the combine and a Swasey timed 4.39.

That and anyone with a brain, I mean ANYONE, knew that PD's 4.18 was a joke. We used to laugh at the 40 times VT used to post, in this case we did them one better.