duece the bruiser

Back when Deuce entered the league, he was 219 lbs. He played at or near that weight until the conclusion of the 2003 season, when Hazbeen suggested that Deuce put on more weight. If you'll remember, we lost Terrelle Smith after the 2003 season, and Hazbeen's plan was to play a 1-back, 2-TE, 2-WR base set. Deuce entered the 2004 season at 232 lbs. and while the play in the San Fran game ultimately was less of a weight issue and more of a bad circumstance one, you can see that in general that the extra weight is impacting his speed, burst, and cuts, and the only gain we got from it was marginally better tackle breaking (Deuce was already a functional power runner when he needed to be that). He entered 2005 still over 230 despite our having broken in Mike Karney, and another knee problem got to him. The injuries were unfortunate, but I think that at a slimmer weight, he'll gain back plenty of that burst and cutting ability.