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Duke Johnson

The dude was stuck on 2 crappy teams. Hopefully he will land with the Fins but Bill Belichick has been a fan of his.
 
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Duke Johnson CLEARLY gave his best years and body to his high school and UM college years. He ran hard and left it all on the field, partly to prove his worth to the NFL.

His speed and explosiveness were fine coming into UM, and his vision and toughness were without question ELITE.

If Duke had been hypothetically able to go straight to the NFL, he would have been a star and perennial pro bowler for his first 4 seasons at least.
 
Would love to see Duke in Black & Gold playing in Matt Canada's offense.
#STEELERNATION
 
CashMoneyCane said:
I don't give AF about the NFL anymore but what's the deal with Duke? I know he's been productive but seems to be underutilized?
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$$ didn’t equal production and it’s not Duke’s fault. Early in Cleveland, when he was a part of the offense, Duke netted 1K yards from scrimmage as a backup. Teams just stopped giving him the ball.
 
Dwinstitles said:
C'mon man misused? By multiple nfl coaches? Wasn't he with chubb on the same team and chubb balled out......so how is it they used chubb properly and couldn't use Duke?

I tell u why cause Chubb is that dude. Why we always blame misusage when our players aren't successful in the nfl. Duke is a great here but not a great in the nfl....there are multiple players that are great in college that ain't star material in the nfl. There is no way for what 5 years that he being misused. I find that **** real hard to believe.
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Chubb is NFL elite, Duke isn't. But that doesnt' take away from Duke being misused. Some players can excel when a niche is carved out for them in a specific system.

Duke's my favorite running back ever at UM, but even I can admit he is just an average NFL running back. But if you can't admit that he has been severely under-utilized in the passing game, then I don't know what to tell you. He'll never be a team's #1 option at receiver or running back, but Duke could eat given the proper opportunity. When it comes to running backs, he's an elite receiver. Plus he's still super slippery in space.
 
astabooty said:
Chubb is NFL elite, Duke isn't. But that doesnt' take away from Duke being misused. Some players can excel when a niche is carved out for them in a specific system.

Duke's my favorite running back ever at UM, but even I can admit he is just an average NFL running back. But if you can't admit that he has been severely under-utilized in the passing game, then I don't know what to tell you. He'll never be a team's #1 option at receiver or running back, but Duke could eat given the proper opportunity. When it comes to running backs, he's an elite receiver. Plus he's still super slippery in space.
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He needs a team willing to go to him which means he has to possibly b a featured back. Tough player great Can but your partially right h has to go to a team that uses him but fair or unfair he has to sign with a team that will use him. If he has offers out there take the right one and possibly leave money on the table depending whos after him.
 
I wouldn't say Duke has been misused, I just think most people expected his usage rate to be higher in the NFL.

He's been excellent in the #2 RB, primary receiving RB role. Analytics like PFF have loved him, and he's been very durable. Last year was the first time he missed a game in 6 years.

But he's mostly gone unnoticed playing on bad teams, and he hasn't made the big splash plays like he did in college.

IMO - because Duke han't been dominant in the Pros, it's made people forget that he was an elite game changer in college. That's why people keep labeling Yearby, Walton, Cam, Knighton as the "Next Duke Johnson" - and keep coming up way short on those comparisons.
 
bshaw28 said:
I wouldn't say Duke has been misused, I just think most people expected his usage rate to be higher in the NFL.

He's been excellent in the #2 RB, primary receiving RB role. Analytics like PFF have loved him, and he's been very durable. Last year was the first time he missed a game in 6 years.

But he's mostly gone unnoticed playing on bad teams, and he hasn't made the big splash plays like he did in college.

IMO - because Duke han't been dominant in the Pros, it's made people forget that he was an elite game changer in college. That's why people keep labeling Yearby, Walton, Cam, Knighton as the "Next Duke Johnson" - and keep coming up way short on those comparisons.
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Knighton is a TRUE FRESHMAN my man. Let it play out.
 
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gogeta4 said:
Knighton is a TRUE FRESHMAN my man. Let it play out.
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This isn't a knock on Knighton or the other RB's. I'm pointing out what a high bar it should be to make a Duke comparison.

Yes we need to let it play out - but just look at what Duke did as a true Freshman vs what Knighton did. We've run 33% of the race, and Duke is out to a huge lead.

For perspective - if Kinghton ran for 1,600 yds & 12 TD's this year + 1,600 yds & 12 TD's next year - he'd still have less Yds & TD's than Duke.

That's how insane Duke was.
 
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