It's official, I have a man-crush on Toby Gerhart... (1 Viewer)

[Eeyore]

Does the team that drafts him get to play Notre Dame every week?

 

[livefromDC]

No big play ability whatsoever... Did you see him play at all?? Tell me he isn't a game changer after watching this.

I will stay out the argument, but will say this; From that clip it looks like Stanford is an extremely sound run blocking team. Everyone was hitting their assignments dead on.

I do have question though. How does his numbers compare to Brandon Jacobs? Nevermind, Jacobs ran a 4.56

 

[dwid]

walterfootball is okay in some of their scouting and they give good numbers, but their mocks are far-fetched.

Most internet mocks are biased in some form or fashion - that's the problem.



I love that video too, but even it doesn't do him justice. Watching him wear down that notre dame defense and USC defense in '09 was poetry in motion - or more of a chess match. He is a special - special player. If he is used right in the NFL, he will be a pro bowler.

its got Notre Dame and the USC game on there too (it mainly follows the schedule of Stanford, with the games earilier in the season first and the later ones last) but its got more of his career for those who say "of course its going to look good, its highlights" and for posters who seem to think he only he did great against Notre Dame. The 3 games before ND he had a total of 575 yards averaging 6.1 ypc and 10 touchdowns. his ypc went up as the season went along, all 3 were ranked teams at the time. So the last 4 games of the regular season, 813 total yards and 13 touchdowns 6.4 ypc, which is why he came so close to getting the Heisman, he didn't just run against Notre Dame. He did win the Doak Walker award for nations best halfback. IMO he should have won the Heisman but im kind of glad he didn't, im superstitious, and now he wont have the Heisman curse.

It also has him against USC in 08, when they only allowed 1 other 100 yard rusher and had 8 defenders drafted, 2 that went to the pro bowl and 1 that was considered for the droy, and another that will be drafted high this year in Taylor Mays. It also has the bowl game against Oklahoma where everyone insisted he was going to get killed by their dline, that he had never faced a great defensive line like OU had. He did and still did well, with Andrew Luck out and Tavita Pritchard playing who couldn't complete a pass to save his life. They actually had Toby running some wildcat plays, thats how bad Pritchard is, Toby had a better passer rating than him.

So 2 of his toughest battles came against USC in 08, where he did well with no passing attack, and the bowl game against Oklahoma, where Andrew Luck was not playing and they had no passing attack, both games he did great in and are both on that tape. So no, he doesn't have to play Notre Dame to do well.

and yes Stanford had a good blocking line. What back can do well without blocking besides Barry Sanders? They were good but not great. They weren't athletic enough to get to the second level consistently, just good enough to provide a quick hole. He often had multiple unblocked guys he had to get by after the initial los. The back up runningback ran behind the same line against the same teams, and he is supposed to be a pretty good back, had 12 carries for 35 yards averaging 2.9 ypc against a Notre Dame defense that was supposed to be poor against the run (well they were similar to Auburn in terms of defending the run), compared to Toby's 200 yards 7.1 ypc 3 tds against the same team.

I think he would do best in a ZBS which is what was used at Stanford, I know we used elements of a ZBS throughout the year, but not sure how often we used it. Anyone know the answer?

 

[CEAIV]

If you draft him you'd better hope he's not just another Brad Muster or Tommy Vardell.

 

[Eeyore]

If you draft him you'd better hope he's not just another Brad Muster or Tommy Vardell.

Muster was good in the NFL but had concussion problems. Wannstedt chewed up running backs and spat them out. His offensive philosophy was abusive to the players.

 

[dwid]

and Tommy Vardell had no vision as a runner, one of Toby's best attributes. There is no similiarities between him and those two players. Toby is very good at finding the hole and has great initial burst to get through it, I remember Vardell missing the hole by a mile and plowing through 4 defenders to get 4 yards, nothing like Toby. Toby will only run into a defender as a last resort to gain a couple of extra yards at the end of a run. You don't get 1800+ yards (50 runs over 10 yards) by only doing that.

Toby reminds me of Corey Dillon, who was a 4 time pro bowler in the NFL. Nothing like Vardell, besides he broke Vardell's rushing record at Stanford by over 800 yards. Toby had the same amount of yards in one season that Vardell had his entire career at Stanford.

Muster averaged 4+ ypc in the NFL for his first 5 seasons but never got that many carries, Im guessing due to injury problems. He did manage to have 1000+ yards from scrimmage in 1990 and had 4.7 ypc that year. Toby and Muster have nothing in common except they both played at Stanford.

 

[GoldRush26]

I don't know about Gerhart. I think he's a stud though.

I know one thing though, Payton is getting an offensive player within the first 3 rounds. I'm sure he wants a new toy to fit into the offense. Running back is as good a spot to get that toy as any position, given Bell's departure. I imagine that's why the front office has let it be known that they want more picks in the top 100. There's great draft depth on both sides of the ball and the team wants to be able to take advantage of that.

 

[gsmith5651]

Muster was good in the NFL but had concussion problems. Wannstedt chewed up running backs and spat them out. His offensive philosophy was abusive to the players.

Muster pulled a hammy and was a very expensive bike rider

 

[fr3sh]

I like Toby a lot as well. I'm sure the coaching staff probably has a 3rd round grade on him. If he is there with our pick #95, we pull the trigger, IMO. He keeps Reggie and Pierre healthy by taking the in between the tackle poundage. That is what we typically want out of a #3 RB in Sean's offense.

 

[BIG DAWG]

Two Words...Anthony Dixon(Miss.State)

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

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that is a better video of him, more footage, 10 minutes and not one single play shown twice
He just gets stronger as the game goes on. Rey Malauga and Taylor Mays gave him a huge hit in 08, maybe they thought it would slow him down and he wouldn't run as hard, but he kept coming at them, being only 1 of 2 backs to get over 100 yards on their defense that year, and his team didn't have a passing attack that year. I think its safe to say he will be a game changer at the next level. He carried Stanford on his back and was the main reason they got to a bowl game for the first time in years.

In other words your telling me he has a lot of mileage on him?
Though i would still like him.

 

[dwid]

In other words your telling me he has a lot of mileage on him?
Though i would still like him.

No not much mileage, about the same as most starting backs in college. 2 whole seasons of being the starter. It being 10 minutes is more of that he doesn't have many plays that are for no gain or a loss. Lots off 10+ yard runs. He is a first down machine.

As for Dixion I like him but I think Gerhart is a much better back although Dixon would more likely be there later in the draft if we aren't spending a 2nd rounder. If anyone has mileage its Dixon, 900+carries

 

[DownWithDisease]

I think it is very realistic for Gerhart to be available at the end of the 3rd round... I really believe that the stereotypes surrounding white RBs will see him slide further than he should. I think Spiller, Mathews, Best, Hardesty, McCluster, Ben Tate, and Jonathon Dwyer will all be taken before Gerhart... and maybe even guys like McKnight and Anthony Dixon could also pass TG on draft day...

Another thing that bothers me about this... and I've posted about it before... Is how people try to put Gerhart at FB in the pros.

Mostly it was being done by fellow posters or draft "experts" from other websites, but this morning I even heard Mike Mayock say it on NFLN. He compared Gerhart to Baltimore FB LaRon McClain, and also said that Gerhaqrt could move over to FB at the next level.

WHAT'S UP WITH THIS?!?!?! THE KID HAS NEVER PLAYED FULL-BACK! ...not in H.S., or college, or anywhere.....

 

[ryder004]

u guys got hamilton and bush behind PT who i think are decent backs.

i would use that pick on D

 

[Purple Haze]

he will cost to much...we could have kept bell cheaper. We would have to much money tied up in the back-field. Also how many touches are there for him with PT and RB back there?

How much do you think pick 64 or 96 costs a team?