I think we were all surprised when we came out of the gate riding Gaskin harder than our other two backs. Clearly the coaching staff saw something in camp and thought he confirmed that on the field week one. A quarter of the season though, I'm wondering if our staff isn't a little too in love with him.
He's done well. He hasn't made bad plays. He's made some good ones. He makes a guy miss from time to time. He's got decent speed. After what we went through last year, seeing a guy with 4 YPC is nice. I rarely feel like he's leaving clear yards on the field.
He's not a problem. But I don't know if I look at him and really see an NFL starter either. I see he does a number of things well enough, but I don't know if there is anything he's great at, except possibly catching out of the backfield (which in and of itself is usually a backup RB role). I've seen Breida get a lot more run elsewhere. I KNOW there are things that he is elite at because I've seen it happen. Up until Mostert two weeks ago I believe Breida was clocked the fastest in the league. He's got top caliber speed and home run vision. And he's not like some guys like Drake, who look for big plays to a fault and ignore 4 yards that are there looking for 20 and losing two. He still runs north/south.
Are we being too cute in trying to make Gaskins a found guy? I know that Flores is big on playing the guys he thinks deserves to play, but is he making the right decision by not utilizing a guy who has been about as productive per touch, despite less consistent touches, and also has a track record? Is Gaskins JAG, albeit one that executes?
(please note that I'm aware RB is far, far down our list of problems. I just thought it would be fun to discuss).
He's done well. He hasn't made bad plays. He's made some good ones. He makes a guy miss from time to time. He's got decent speed. After what we went through last year, seeing a guy with 4 YPC is nice. I rarely feel like he's leaving clear yards on the field.
He's not a problem. But I don't know if I look at him and really see an NFL starter either. I see he does a number of things well enough, but I don't know if there is anything he's great at, except possibly catching out of the backfield (which in and of itself is usually a backup RB role). I've seen Breida get a lot more run elsewhere. I KNOW there are things that he is elite at because I've seen it happen. Up until Mostert two weeks ago I believe Breida was clocked the fastest in the league. He's got top caliber speed and home run vision. And he's not like some guys like Drake, who look for big plays to a fault and ignore 4 yards that are there looking for 20 and losing two. He still runs north/south.
Are we being too cute in trying to make Gaskins a found guy? I know that Flores is big on playing the guys he thinks deserves to play, but is he making the right decision by not utilizing a guy who has been about as productive per touch, despite less consistent touches, and also has a track record? Is Gaskins JAG, albeit one that executes?
(please note that I'm aware RB is far, far down our list of problems. I just thought it would be fun to discuss).