The journey of Chris Ivory: Dismissed, discarded and, finally, celebrated

[UptownFuz504]

Anybody who watched him play knew that he was a really good, starting NFL caliber RB. There was never a question about that. The issue was, is, and will always be durability. The guy had some type of injury every year of his career going back to high school.

So what does a franchise do with a player like that? You know that a player can play at a high level but you also know that his availability will be up in the air week to week. It's easy to look back and say what the Saints should have done now that he's healthy and playing in offense tailor made for his skill set.

And it's all a moot point really because the fact is that no RB is going to put up out of this world numbers in this offense. SP is committed to his version of the RBBC where touches are given out seemingly at random.

Amen. PT is the perfect back for what SP wants to do. No pure runner will excel here. All of our RB's leave NO and do better. Its not the ability. Its the opportunity. Payton needs specialty backs not running backs.

 

[SonOfJohn]

Injury

A lot of people are justifying that trade because of Ivory's injury history but Ingram hasn't exactly been the picture of health. I like Ingram as he is a good back but he has spent his time as a Saint being outplayed by Ivory, Sproles, Thomas, and Robinson.

 

[tonythesaint]

Anybody who watched him play knew that he was a really good, starting NFL caliber RB. There was never a question about that. The issue was, is, and will always be durability. The guy had some type of injury every year of his career going back to high school.

So what does a franchise do with a player like that? You know that a player can play at a high level but you also know that his availability will be up in the air week to week. It's easy to look back and say what the Saints should have done now that he's healthy and playing in offense tailor made for his skill set.

And it's all a moot point really because the fact is that no RB is going to put up out of this world numbers in this offense. SP is committed to his version of the RBBC where touches are given out seemingly at random.

Well we still run a running back by committee but the constant is, Ingram gets the bulk of the touches every week.

 

[bobad]

I honestly don't know if Robinson could do any better than Ingram because he simply does not get enough carries. So even if Robinson has slightly better numbers then the argument is we only saw him in a limited role, or the defense changed their game plan, or the defense pulled some of their starters out. The only way to know what we have is to give K.Rob, Ingram's amount of snaps and let Ingram get K.Rob's amount of snaps. How anyone could even argue against trying this, when we have the 31st ranked rushing offense is beyond me. What's the worst that could happen, we drop 1 spot?

Something to bear in mind. Payton has "roles" for his players, primary and permanent backup. Once they're marked as a backup, even if the primary player leaves, they won't be promoted to primary. A new primary will be drafted or signed in FA, and the backups passed over.

Reggie and Ingram were always going to get the carries and the money. Players like Pierre, Ivory, Khiry, and Josh Hill will always be held back by getting few carries, as little pay as possible, and will play ST. It will be interesting to see how Payton has classified snead. I have a feeling Snead will want to get paid sooner rather than later.

 

[Icon]

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.

I haven't gone thru this thread to see who or what prompted your comment in defense of Ivory's so-called fumbling issue........but I really would love to know where he's getting that reputation from. Literally within this past week, me and another Saints fan were having a discussion about Saints RBs over the years......and Ivory was brought up. This guy, who by and large is a fairly knowledgeable fan of the Saints and not just some drive-by fan who suddenly noticed New Orleans had a team in 2009, said....and I quote.........."the only thing you had to watch with Ivory was that he'd sometimes fumble".

The guy lost 2 fumbles EVER as a Saint....both of which were in his rookie season. I would genuinely love to know what prompted this fumbling reputation. People on this forum have said it.........people NOT on this forum have said it......where are they getting it from? Considering Brees threw over 20 INTs in 2010, I think I can live with an undrafted rookie RB turning it over twice and then never doing so again, while leading the team in rushing yards and averaging over 5 YPC that same season...

Edit: for perspective, Deuce McCallister lost 13.....yes, THIRTEEN LOST FUMBLES in his career. And I'm pretty sure I never heard any Saints fans put the "fumbler" label on him. I'm gonna assume that some of those were bad exchanges on handoffs from Brooks that ended up being "credited" (gee thanks for the credit, right?) to Deuce. Still, 13 is 13. Obviously Deuce carried the ball a lot more than the likes of Ivory, Ingram, Pierre, etc........so he should get more room for error.............but it goes to show a guy like Deuce can LOSE a double-digit number of fumbles (he had 20 actual fumbles), and not even get the slightest hint of a "fumbler" label, but Ivory turns it over twice as a rookie and it somehow stays with him...

 

[MSUSousaphone]

Bold prediction: We go for two guards between draft and FA and have a battle royale at the position. With Peat, Armstead, Unger, and the two winners of that Thunderdome, our line becomes elite. The running game is fixed. Almost dominant. Robinson is gone but Ingram has a career year.







And still most of SR is claiming the backup RB is the second coming of Bo Jackson.......on excellent.

 

[Hey BAY BAY!!!]

Im glad Ivory went somewhere where he can shine. SP was just holding him back. Same way with Ingram. Just not enough reps for elite RB in a Saints system under SP. Just dont run the ball enough and the Oline cant run block. With RB like Ingram and Spiller you got to be able to run to set up the pass. Glad Ivory got out while he did. He is really doing well in NY.

IMO...Khiry should be the featured back.

 

[BoNcHiE]

I haven't gone thru this thread to see who or what prompted your comment in defense of Ivory's so-called fumbling issue........but I really would love to know where he's getting that reputation from. Literally within this past week, me and another Saints fan were having a discussion about Saints RBs over the years......and Ivory was brought up. This guy, who by and large is a fairly knowledgeable fan of the Saints and not just some drive-by fan who suddenly noticed New Orleans had a team in 2009, said....and I quote.........."the only thing you had to watch with Ivory was that he'd sometimes fumble".

The guy lost 2 fumbles EVER as a Saint....both of which were in his rookie season. I would genuinely love to know what prompted this fumbling reputation. People on this forum have said it.........people NOT on this forum have said it......where are they getting it from? Considering Brees threw over 20 INTs in 2010, I think I can live with an undrafted rookie RB turning it over twice and then never doing so again, while leading the team in rushing yards and averaging over 5 YPC that same season...

Edit: for perspective, Deuce McCallister lost 13.....yes, THIRTEEN LOST FUMBLES in his career. And I'm pretty sure I never heard any Saints fans put the "fumbler" label on him. I'm gonna assume that some of those were bad exchanges on handoffs from Brooks that ended up being "credited" (gee thanks for the credit, right?) to Deuce. Still, 13 is 13. Obviously Deuce carried the ball a lot more than the likes of Ivory, Ingram, Pierre, etc........so he should get more room for error.............but it goes to show a guy like Deuce can LOSE a double-digit number of fumbles (he had 20 actual fumbles), and not even get the slightest hint of a "fumbler" label, but Ivory turns it over twice as a rookie and it somehow stays with him...

He fumbled 4 times in limited action his rookie year here. So the narrative got started then. The perception is largely built on when people see the ball pop out, not whether he recovered the fumble.

Since 2010 he's proven to have no fumbling issues.

 

[Guitarzan]

Dragging tacklers? Get real.

Get real?


I'd rather be like you and get lost.

 

[Guitarzan]

Dragging tacklers? Get real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyHn2WAYiTc

 

[Cincy Saint]

While it's tough for me to see Ivory succeed as a Jet while Ingram struggles this year, it may not be that the Saints coaching staff made a mistake. Perhaps Ivory got better.

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.

And note that means that the Jets coaching staff didn't magically make him better as 2014 is the comparison year.

LINK

 

[Guitarzan]

While it's tough for me to see Ivory succeed as a Jet while Ingram struggles this year, it may not be that the Saints coaching staff made a mistake. Perhaps Ivory got better.



And note that means that the Jets coaching staff didn't magically make him better as 2014 is the comparison year.

LINK

Please click the link on the video just above your post and watch Ingram beat the penetration-- which would blow up most runs-- and struggle to carry tacklers into the endzone.

 

[BoNcHiE]

Please click the link on the video just above your post and watch Ingram beat the penetration-- which would blow up most runs-- and struggle to carry tacklers into the endzone.

No one denies Ingram's ability around the goal line. He's proven to be excellent in that role.

But otherwise, he's not run well. We can sugarcoat it, make excuses, or pretend that a TD negates ten other bad runs, but 3.5YPC is bad. Period. He's been a bad running back between the 10s this year. Period.

 

[Guitarzan]

No one denies Ingram's ability around the goal line. He's proven to be excellent in that role.

But otherwise, he's not run well. We can sugarcoat it, make excuses, or pretend that a TD negates ten other bad runs, but 3.5YPC is bad. Period. He's been a bad running back between the 10s this year. Period.

Well, I have to disagree. When he's got decent running lanes he runs well. The holes aren't there very often.