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Duke Johnson hard at work this spring

nystateofmind said:
So dumb.

Should've added 5-7 pounds of muscle from his freshmen weight and that's it.

He's not an every down back either way and he's slowed himself down.
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What's dumb is thinking that Duke at 180lbs is better than Duke with another 25lbs of muscle.

You automatically assume he's going to lose speed.
He could also gain speed.
Many players nowadays come back from serious injuries like acl's and are stronger and just as fast or faster.
The rehab allows them to get stronger and more explosive, where before they just relied on natural talent.

Duke went from 4 reps of 225lbs to 18 reps.
He's stronger than Michael Sam the SEC defensive player of the year.

Going to be a strong season for Duke. Hopefully a full year and 1800 yards.
 
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nystateofmind said:
So dumb.

Should've added 5-7 pounds of muscle from his freshmen weight and that's it.

He's not an every down back either way and he's slowed himself down.
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Definitely one of my favorite Canes of all-time. Sucks he hasn't been able to stay healthy because he's definitely one of the best RBs in the nation. If he stays healthy and puts up very good #s, borderline 1st round pick in next years draft.
 
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If Duke is durable, watch whoever ends up being the QB absolutely THRIVE. As long as Simple #Dale keeps the playcalling on track, and doesn't start getting cute and sticking with stuff that doesn't work...this offense will be better than the past 2 years.

As for Duke's weight/strength gain...you've got to remember, Duke's not a "burner". He doesn't have awesome top-end speed. He's got phenomenal acceleration and change-of-direction to go with his elite level quickness and vision...but he's not going to just pull away from people in the open field. Maybe that actually gets better with the strength numbers going up, I don't know...but the other stuff that he already has is pretty innate...and he's not going to lose a lot (if any) from acceleration/quickness/change-of-direction by adding pounds and strength.
 
Real Cane! Duke could take the field with any Hurricane team. Love that he is always about business!
 
miamifan007 said:
His change of direction and vision is what sets him apart.
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Indeed.

My problem with the added weight gain is that Duke felt he had to show off that new power last year.

I lost count of the plays where, as a Freshman he'd have danced around the tackler (breaking his ankles or beating him to the corner and stiff arming him), but as a Sophmore he felt he had to run through the guy.

If he stops trying to run it like Eddie George the added size is a good thing.
 
Duke did seem a little slower last year. But that just meant a 60yd TD run, was a 45 yd pick up. We are stuck with Al's defense and it needs ball control. Long TDs are not ball control. Some TE play and real guards will improve our red zone play, and then 75 yards in 12 plays becomes better than 70 in one. One or two plays and then back in, does not do well for defense-even if it is a score. Twelve plays wears the other defense out and destroys their mental status -- just look at what is does to ours.
 
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The issue last year wasn't necessarily Dukes weight gain, it was the lack of a talented 2nd back. Regardless of how much weight he actually gained, the kid really isn't the type of RB who can carry it 25-30 times a game. He's better/more effective getting 18-20 quality touches. Hopefully, either Gus Edwards or Yearby prove to be at leastas good as Mike James.
 
Gotta get Duke more looks in open space. He's too dangerous and versatile to only be used in the run game. Gotta get him touches in the screen game and split out wide. Get him matched up with some LBs and take advantage of his electric ability. Coley did an extremely poor job of that last season.
 
Gatorhater said:
We are stuck with Al's defense and it needs ball control. Long TDs are not ball control. Some TE play and real guards will improve our red zone play, and then 75 yards in 12 plays becomes better than 70 in one. One or two plays and then back in, does not do well for defense-even if it is a score. Twelve plays wears the other defense out and destroys their mental status -- just look at what is does to ours.
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I've said the same exact stuff on here, and even backed it up with metrics...and been accused of throwing the offense under the bus to protect the defense.

Careful.
 
Gatorhater said:
Duke did seem a little slower last year. But that just meant a 60yd TD run, was a 45 yd pick up. We are stuck with Al's defense and it needs ball control. Long TDs are not ball control. Some TE play and real guards will improve our red zone play, and then 75 yards in 12 plays becomes better than 70 in one. One or two plays and then back in, does not do well for defense-even if it is a score. Twelve plays wears the other defense out and destroys their mental status -- just look at what is does to ours.
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That is why I think Williams (or Olsen really) brand of ball MAY benefit both sides. It should be more methodical relying on tight ends and running the ball, etc., with our nice WR core keeping defenses honest with the threat of the deep ball.

Our defense MUST perform to a higher level, and the days of trying to protect them with a quick strike / high scoring offense is long gone....something that I never quite grasped anyway.

Regardless, here it is another year that the OL getting nasty is the key component.

UM
 
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Bull**** we need ball control on offense. We just need a defense that doesn't suck balls. If our offense was scoring in 2 minutes instead of going 3 and out in 2 minutes there wouldn't be a problem. We need an offense that scores (fast or methodically) and a defense that can make stops.

Oregon has one of the fastest offenses in college football and their defense manages to not get steamrolled every week.
 
Gatorhater said:
Duke did seem a little slower last year. But that just meant a 60yd TD run, was a 45 yd pick up. We are stuck with Al's defense and it needs ball control. Long TDs are not ball control. Some TE play and real guards will improve our red zone play, and then 75 yards in 12 plays becomes better than 70 in one. One or two plays and then back in, does not do well for defense-even if it is a score. Twelve plays wears the other defense out and destroys their mental status -- just look at what is does to ours.
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Yes - long TDs are bad... let's not score so fast on purpose... wow! I have seen it all on this board now!
 
RiDLer80 said:
Gotta get Duke more looks in open space. He's too dangerous and versatile to only be used in the run game. Gotta get him touches in the screen game and split out wide. Get him matched up with some LBs and take advantage of his electric ability. Coley did an extremely poor job of that last season.
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I concur. I just don't know how good Duke's hands are, maybe because we haven't thrown it to him a lot of times. He did drop more than a few his freshman year.

Strange that FSU runs a lot of screens, and Coley doesn't. Must mean that it really was Fisher's playbook, not Coley's.

I'm hoping we run 2/3rds of the time this year and all pass plays come off play action. Duke and Yearby on screens, flares and wheels will be deadly.

BTW, the article was great but the interview was better.

Duke looks like a man, and him mugging for the camera at the end was great.

Here's the link, you have to scroll down a tad.

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc
 
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RiDLer80 said:
Gotta get Duke more looks in open space. He's too dangerous and versatile to only be used in the run game. Gotta get him touches in the screen game and split out wide. Get him matched up with some LBs and take advantage of his electric ability. Coley did an extremely poor job of that last season.
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Agree, definitely a problem last year. Duke only had 4 catches in 8 games last year, one on the 1st play of the season. Only 1 catch in the last 6 games.

He had 27 catches as a FR.
 
txcane80 said:
Gatorhater said:
Duke did seem a little slower last year. But that just meant a 60yd TD run, was a 45 yd pick up. We are stuck with Al's defense and it needs ball control. Long TDs are not ball control. Some TE play and real guards will improve our red zone play, and then 75 yards in 12 plays becomes better than 70 in one. One or two plays and then back in, does not do well for defense-even if it is a score. Twelve plays wears the other defense out and destroys their mental status -- just look at what is does to ours.
Click to expand...


Yes - long TDs are bad... let's not score so fast on purpose... wow! I have seen it all on this board now!
Click to expand...
I don't think he fully expressed what he meant.
 
I don't care if Duke loses a little speed it's about staying the field as much as possible and being effective as long as possible. If the muscles helps him give more punishment that he takes then so be it.
 
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