Titans new RB Coach on White/Henry

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by TitanJeff, Mar 10, 2008.

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  1. titansfan4eva24

    titansfan4eva24 VY 4 Life

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    I agree, we have to give it time. Lets give him a chance to prove us wrong. If he doesnt, then we can start the bashing of the pick some more.
     
  2. wplatham

    wplatham U of M Class of 2012

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    You ever hear of a guy named Willy Parker? He's the Pittsburgh Steelers starting running back. Maybe you remember his record setting 75 yard touchdown run in Super Bowl 40? He was the third string back for North Carolina State!

    I bet they said he "wasn't born with great vision" either. :suspect:
     
  3. Morph

    Morph Revolution

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    Yeah I think Henry could be one of the top running backs in the league, provided he improves his vision and instincts, because he keeps himself in great shape and we all know he's perfectly capable of taking the hits. (Colts game) I think it's pointless to judge him after only one year of limited playing time too. I mean, lets really give this guy a chance and see if he can't learn those couple pieces of the puzzle that will make him a complete RB.
     
  4. TorontoTitanFan

    TorontoTitanFan Pro Bowler

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    Saying that you can't teach vision is just plain wrong.

    When we talk about running back "instincts," we aren't talking about a skill that you're born with. No human beings are born with an instinct to take a hand-off and hit the hole.

    The truth is that vision and making the right reads on the field are probably some of the only things that you can teach a running back. You can't teach a guy to be strong or fast, but you can teach him how to spot defenders and how to pick the right lane to run in.

    Henry is strong. Henry is fast. He now needs to learn how to assess what he's seeing on the field.
     
  5. Ubiq

    Ubiq BAMF

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    Willie played at North Carolina, and didn't get to play because he was said to be too small for their offensive scheme. His vision has always been there, Chris Henry's hasn't. The only reason Willie even got a shot in the NFL was because a scout for the Steelers saw him play in high school, and knew how fast he was.

    What's Henry's excuse for not playing in college? His size? Na. His speed? Nope.
     
  6. Alpha-Centuri

    Alpha-Centuri Starter

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    granted i'm not an nfl RB, nor likely to play college football at the college of my choice, but definantly from my experience it seems impossible to teachsomeone to see the hole. Its like one of the hardest things to do. They either hesitate at the line of scrimmage, and scan too much, or put their head down and try and plow anything in their way.(Henry's case).

    Maybe Henry has the vision locked in his head, but his instincts on what to do once he sees a situation evolving in front of him. If that is the case, thats wonderful, because you can drill a RB to responding to things like that. But as is the case for alot of RB hopefuls in the NFL, they can't see the holes, or atleast not quick enough, and make bad guesses instead of educated guesses at which way the linemen will shift, and anticipate where the hole will be when they get there.

    I'm not sure if you've ever played football, but if you have,you'll know that one of the toughest things to do is to make a decision in less then half a second to cut which way when you see a LB coming at you, and you see a hole, but it just so happens to be right past him.

    Anyway... I hope Henry's problem doesn't involve vision... maybe he just needs experience.
     
  7. Deuce Wayne

    Deuce Wayne NOW Y'ALL GET THE MESSICH?!

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    You can't learn vision. To whoever said it can be taught, no. It can't. This is why certain backs don't need to run a 4.4 (barry, emmitt, faulk) yet end up being some of the best. You think it was their coach? The RBs after them werent taught the same vision.

    Vision and instincts. You either have them or you don't. I played RB through high school and I was the fastest guy on the team and I'm shifty, but I don't have the ability to read lanes like some guys did.
     
  8. terrykalaka

    terrykalaka Camp Fodder

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    Making educated guesses as to where the holes are is what the coaching of players is all about. If players should be able to do it all by themselves, nfl teams wouldn't have rb coaches. It would be especially evident on a guy like henry due to his lack of playing time in college. Teaching a guy to be better at finding holes is a much better idea than trying to make a slow guy fast and a weak guy strong. NFL superstars have the combination of body and mind. Good nfl players could have a little more of either or. Maybe henry will be a great #2 rb for 15years. maybe after 3 years the light will go on and he will be a superstar. There is more than 1 way to get to the top. but who is to know after the first year of his career.
     
  9. Nine

    Nine Starter

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    This sounds an awful lot like last year....."Accuracy can't be taught...you either have it, or you don't. Vince Young will never be more than a 55% passer."

    Granted, there are guys who are just born with excellent vision...an innate ability to see the entire field. Suffice it to say, Henry's not one of those guys.

    But to say that a player's vision can't be developed or improved upon is just ridiculous. What is vision, after all? To me, vision is the ability to see and understand the play as it develops, the ability to see the holes before they form, the ability to read and follow blocks...the ability to anticipate how the defense will react to a play, and to let that anticipation dictate your own decisions and actions.

    To this point, Henry's experience as a ballcarrier has been limited, to say the least. He simply hasn't had the experience that most RB's have coming out of college....he never got the reps. And the fact that he came from a lousy college team suggests that he probably had less-than-exemplary coaching.

    From a developmental standpoint, Henry is probably somewhere in the area of a third-year college RB.....still a lot of room for growth. At the very least, we know he'll be under the tutelage of coaches who truly understand how to develop a running back.

    Does this mean Henry will learn to see the entire field, and develop a Barry Sanders-esque sense of vision? Ummmmmmmm....no. Probably not.

    I think it's safe to say that vision will never be Henry's strongest suit. But let's say he develops his vision to the level of an average RB.....a T.J. Duckett or Ron Dayne, for example. Combine that average level of vision with Henry's remarkable physical gifts and exemplary work ethic, and you could still end up with a pretty darned good ball player. Probably not a perennial Pro Bowler, but he could be an important cog in a highly productive offense. (A Brandon Jacobs type player, for example).

    On the other hand..... it's a lot quicker to take the easy way out and say, "You either have it or you don't," and write the guy off as a bust after less than 30 carries.
     
  10. TorontoTitanFan

    TorontoTitanFan Pro Bowler

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    I find it incredible that there are so many experts on here. Guys like Gloat apparently played a bit of high school football and now they are experts. It's shocking that they aren't employed by the Titans, since they know so much about how the game works.

    Tell me this. experts: if you can't teach a running back to make better reads on the field, why do NFL teams have running back coaches?

    I'm not saying that any coach (even the best coach in the world) will be able to teach Henry to have great vision, but it's very naive to say that coaching won't be able to improve his vision at all.
     
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