The journey of Chris Ivory: Dismissed, discarded and, finally, celebrated (1 Viewer)

[98greenGT]

Everyback on our current roster has missed time due to injury. It's part of the game, its not an indicator of ability.

out of a possible 48 games he played 24 with the Saints. in 3 years. he was available half the time. I cant fault the Saints for trading that away.

With that said he may have been the best back we had during that time. But then again what good is that if he's available half the time

 

[bobad]

This. His heart is bigger and stronger than the rest of his body. Won't look it up, but not sure if he played a full season yet.

He played 14 games in 2013, and 16 games in 2014.

He has played in 4 games this year, running 460yds on 83 carries for 5.5ypc.


Chris Ivory the "fumbler" has lost 3 fumbles in his career.

 

[Poppy]

Ivory was inactive a lot, and it wasn't because of injury. It was to force us to watch Ingram fail. I can specifically remember him being healthy and not even seeing the field. Im so over watching Ingram. For some reason, we are still watching him struggle. I know our oline has struggled this year, but when there is nothing there for Ingram, he can never make anything happen. He goes down easy, and there needs to be a 6 foot wide hole for him to recognize it. Im not sure he would even make another teams roster.

 

[TPM3]

I see some very good points in this thread by people, but I have a question is for the people that is bashing SP, Loomis, and the FO for shipping him to N.Y.

Could it be possible that he wanted to leave? His agent could have told the FO that he didn't want to come back and gave them a chance to trade him? Maybe Ivory wanted to be the feature back and the FO just couldn't promise him that. At the time we had a pretty crowded backfield with PT, Sproles and MI. SP offense is usually based off of running by committee. So Ivory could of felt like he would be better off elsewhere and have a better opportunity to get touches. Which if he would of stayed he would have been limited with touches because of the way we used PT and Sproles at the point.

So my point is that the FO could have wanted him here but he wanted out or it could be the other way around too? I don't know the answer to that, but to just blame the saints for him being trades isn't fair IMO.

Now if you arguing the fact that we moved up in the draft to get M.I. than I could respect that. Cause I don't think we should of moved up to get him but the FO really liked him and thought he could be the featured back so I really cant blame them for that. He is a good every down running back but not a great one. But guys like A.P., Jamal Charles, and the best backs in the league don't just grow on trees. The FO thought MI could be one of the better backs so the went ahead moved up to get him. We took a chance on him and as of right now it just hasn't panned out. It happens.


Bottom line Ivory did some good things for us yes, but at the time of the trade I wasn't upset with it at all. He was never going to be our featured back and I think he wanted out so we got something for him while we could. Could he help our running game to this date? I'm not sure but like others I wouldn't mind seeing him still on the team to find out being we decided to take the approach this year to run the ball more. Which hasn't been really effective at this point and time. Could it be our best just not that good? Or could it been the lack of ability to run block? But at the time of the trade we was a different offense who threw the ball around all game and got the RB's involved in the passing game with PT and Sproles. So like I said at the time of the trade it wasn't a bad one IMO.

 

[44slayer]

The problem is they don't learn from their mistakes. The pushed Mark Ingram, and that caused Ivory to be relegated to backup and sure, Im sure he thought he was better and was being wasted and wanted out. I don't blame him, career stats don't lie. Now we are still pushing Mark Ingram 1 yard and a cloud of dust while Khiry is getting garbage time carries and spot duty.

 

[UptownFuz504]

You have to wonder. Maybe it's just luck , but Byrd brought in his own doctor. I understand Keenan Lewis used Byrd's doctor in better diagnosing his hip issue. Maybe we have a deficiency in treatment and medical evaluation?

Off topic kinda but the Pelicans have the same issues. Maybe there's something to this thought process.

 

[UptownFuz504]

I always thought Chris had the capabilities to be a HOF Back if healthy and given the ball enough. I know it's too late now, but what a talented, high-effort player he is.

Nobody runs like Chris Ivory. You can tell he loves playing Football without ever hearing him speak.

Oy vey!!

He's not in the same league as any HOF RB in the history of football. Not one. He's a hard runner in a system that caters to the run. Similar to how WR's & QB's do well in Payton's offense that caters to the pass. Although I feel PT is vastly overrated round these parts, he was the perfect back for what Payton likes to do. The Saints should be looking for the next PT not Ivory/Robinson.

 

[fahad]

There are some trades and decisions that i wish never happened for the Saints such as Ivory trade. I still feel bad for that. The most trade that i hate was W. Roaf trade to KC and T. Jones from NE.
I think Saints FO would like to take some of these decisions back if they could.

 

[Guitarzan]

This was interesting:
"I don't know why they traded him," said a longtime personnel executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "To me, he was the best back they had."

Many of us felt the same way.

And we packaged that and another 4th round pick to move up to take John Jenkins.

Was it worth it?

 

[PayOrPlay]

Bill Barnwell weighs in on what's changed in Ivory's running style, comparing him to Marshawn Lynch:

[Lynch's] career really shifted midway through his second season with the Seahawks, when he met with Tom Cable and became a far more patient back.

Likewise, Ivory has always been a burly, bruising bowling ball of knives, but what looks different this year is how he’s attacking the line of scrimmage. Ivory is taking more time behind the line to find his running lane and he’s getting farther upfield before taking contact in the process; he’s averaging 2.73 yards before contact this season, up from 2.06 yards before contact in 2014. The Jets also had success last week pitching him the ball on plays designed to go up the middle, allowing Ivory to get to top speed quicker than he would on a traditional handoff.

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[diehardfan]

And we packaged that and another 4th round pick to move up to take John Jenkins.

Was it worth it?

My opinion? Absolutely not. When healthy, Ivory was a game-changer. He gave our Offense a much needed attitude.

Jenkins doesn't come close to having that type of impact. I understood why we made the move. We needed and still need interior D-linemen. My issue is that we are very poor at selecting ones that translate well into the NFL.

 

[Guitarzan]

My opinion? Absolutely not. When healthy, Ivory was a game-changer. He gave our Offense a much needed attitude.

Jenkins doesn't come close to having that type of impact. I understood why we made the move. We needed and still need interior D-linemen. My issue is that we are very poor at selecting ones that translate well into the NFL.

I agree for the most part.

Jenkins looked good as a rookie but hasn't seemed to improve; maybe he's even regressed.

So what happened to him?

 

[diehardfan]

I agree for the most part.

Jenkins looked good as a rookie but hasn't seemed to improve; maybe he's even regressed.

So what happened to him?

Good question. And one that's asked of too many of our D-linemen. What happened to Hicks? Mike D was predicting a Jimmy Graham type emergence for Hicks a few years ago, but it never happened.

What happened to Cam Jordan? Two years ago we were literally comparing him to JJ Watt (and there was legitimate reason for it). Granted, Jordan has looked better this year, but I don't know where the Cam Jordan of 2 years ago went.

I had high hopes for Jenkins. We need him in a bad way. He showed promise early, but to answer your question: I don't know. I wish I did.

 

[Guitarzan]

Good question. And one that's asked of too many of our D-linemen. What happened to Hicks? Mike D was predicting a Jimmy Graham type emergence for Hicks a few years ago, but it never happened.

What happened to Cam Jordan? Two years ago we were literally comparing him to JJ Watt (and there was legitimate reason for it). Granted, Jordan has looked better this year, but I don't know where the Cam Jordan of 2 years ago went.

I had high hopes for Jenkins. We need him in a bad way. He showed promise early, but to answer your question: I don't know. I wish I did.

It was a rhetorical question. I have a strong opinion of what happened to him but in the interest of SSF harmony, will leave it unwritten.

 

[bclemms]

And we packaged that and another 4th round pick to move up to take John Jenkins.

Was it worth it?

It was absolutely worth it.

It was a very smart trade because we weren't going to give him touches anyway.

The stupid part was ignoring his talent, spending a 1st and 2nd round pick on a RB with Ivory on the roster then blindly nominating the RB who had done the least as the starting back simply because we invested so much in him.

If Ivory was on this team he would be splitting touches with Robinson as the 3rd/4th back on the depth chart.