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Everybody loves Duke but the big elephant in the room is...

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NinoCane

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he looks less explosive. it's not just me "hating" or "trolling.

There is literally no reason for him to put on so much weight, and the majority of that was fat. What made duke so special (one of the qualities) was his quick acceleration and his slashing. Putting on that weight takes away from that.

On that big run he was chugging along. The quickness and speed is not the same as it once was.
 
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I kept telling you catz Golden was trying to turn him into jerome bettis.. Last year he was getting caught from behind in almost every game..
 
I think it has to do more with his durability. His weight gain allows him to absorb the harder hits. He may lose a step or two, but I would rather have Duke for 14 games instead of just 8.
 
BigDikCane said:
I kept telling you catz Golden was trying to turn him into jerome bettis.. Last year he was getting caught from behind in almost every game..
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yep last year was a warning sign. he put on some weight and lost some of his speed and explosiveness.

now this year he put on even MORE weight.

WHy would he need to put on all that weight? THe dude is not a 20 carry a game guy (although eh can do it). he's not a workhorse. he will not be one in the NFL.

duke has tremendous potential in the NFL, and he will be productive in his rookie year I guarentee it. But a 20 carry a game back is not it.....so why take away his best attirubtes?
 
RBhurricane87 said:
I think it has to do more with his durability. His weight gain allows him to absorb the harder hits. He may lose a step or two, but I would rather have Duke for 14 games instead of just 8.
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his injury last yea rhad nothing to do with durability, it had to do with a freak injury.

unless your talking about the conccussions in which the weight gain will not help?
 
You have to see the bigger picture. In close games we will ask Duke to carry the ball 15-20 times. At least. He will take a beating. He has to protect himself, put on more weight to take the beating. He will also look further and realize the NFL might like him more in the 200 range then being fast but not build for the league.

And let's face it. He isnt neccessarily slow.
 
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I wouldn't be shocked if the first thing his NFL Strength & Conditioning coach does is make him drop 20lbs.
 
He actually looks and runs like an every down back now. Duke wanted to be more than a situational player.

The reason you don't see that burst anymore is due to Duke being more patient as a runner. He know sets up his blocks and runs with purpose.
 
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I personally thought he got a little too big going into this season but that was just an eye test thing based on the kid's frame and lack of height. That said, could we be misjudging his apparent lack of a burst as result of poor o-line play cutting his run-of-the-mill runs down from 5 yd pick-ups to 2 yd gainers? Just saying that an underperforming run blocking unit will make any back look less special.
 
Tad Footeball said:
I personally thought he got a little too big going into this season but that was just an eye test thing based on the kid's frame and lack of height. That said, could we be misjudging his apparent lack of a burst as result of poor o-line play cutting his run-of-the-mill runs down from 5 yd pick-ups to 2 yd gainers? Just saying that an underperforming run blocking unit will make any back look less special.
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I agree with this. Run blocking has left a lot to be desired this year.
 
He's basically running behind 5 hefty bags full of grass clippings, but I do agree he looks a little sluggish.

I think the best answer for him was to find a quality second back to spell him, not pack on weight and hurt one of the best aspects of his game.
 
Wrong again. Looked fine to me. Our run blocking needs to improve still.
 
Lol y'all are hilarious...He hasn't played that much football in over a year. Didn't play in the spring and let's be real the coaches wasn't going to burn out duke in fall practice. He is coming off of his injury so he is still working the kinks out... And getting comfortable playing on it

One more thing.... Duke has elite acceleration and can outrun you for the first 50 or 60 yards.. He has good but not elite long speed. And it had ALWAYS been that way.,,,,,,,,.,,,
 
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The elephant in the room is the OLINE hasn't been able to block for ****, plus Coley's play calling has been poor which is a bad combination.
 
I think it has a lot to do with that there is no wide open hole to hit and the runs he has had success on were off tackle and stretch plays where had to let the hole develop.
 
I personally cant call it yet but it was to Duke's advantage to gain weight. His best bet financially is to balance mass and speed. The nfl is not going to go haywire over an injury-prone 190 lb back. He needed to get to about 205 and still make big plays in terms of draftability.
 
NinoCane said:
he looks less explosive. it's not just me "hating" or "trolling.

There is literally no reason for him to put on so much weight, and the majority of that was fat. What made duke so special (one of the qualities) was his quick acceleration and his slashing. Putting on that weight takes away from that.

On that big run he was chugging along. The quickness and speed is not the same as it once was.
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+1!
At first i thought you were trollimg nino, but i came to a conclusion that our OL sucks, but Duke is running like Tyrone Moss before Soldinger told him to lose weight!
This is sad, Duke's explosion ( 5-10 yards ) in his Fr year was sick.

Look at the run from Brandon Powell's 12 yt Td this week! duke used to be able to do that.
Yall *****'s think this is the NFL.
This is College bra- We need a playmaker dam it.
Another waste of talent.
 
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