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Brandon Jacobs isn't a good goal line back now. He's actually very bad at it. He stutter steps and dances.
CFL Edmonton Eskimo's runningback Jerome Messam signs with the Miami Dolphins
- Thread starter FinAtic8480
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Brandon Jacobs isn't a good goal line back now. He's actually very bad at it. He stutter steps and dances.
Brandon Jacobs is a monster but strays from his "specialty" because he craves being the premier back for the Giants.
If he would basically just get the ball and run full speed no cuts, no dancing would be a thing of beauty.
Maybe this kid can be Brandon Jacobs 2.0?
hoops
Tua time!
he's got what looks like a nice burst but he looks pretty damn long and is gonna have to run with better pad level in the pros especially in any short yardage and goalline looks...looks a little upright...looks like he's a one cut and get north and south guy after putting his foot in the ground...i also don't see top end speed
bring him to camp...why not...those feet aren't as good as daniel thomas though
this kid doesn't run with the same downhill bad intentions that brandon jacobs does...i don't see the same physicality at all...and if he doesn't run under his pads better he's gonna be a guy who gets tackled by the first guy a lot...and there's a lot to hit with his running style...he gives you a big target...
bring him to camp...why not...those feet aren't as good as daniel thomas though
this kid doesn't run with the same downhill bad intentions that brandon jacobs does...i don't see the same physicality at all...and if he doesn't run under his pads better he's gonna be a guy who gets tackled by the first guy a lot...and there's a lot to hit with his running style...he gives you a big target...
ebozzz
Starter
Je pense que Hilliard est plus rapide mais Messam dirait qu'il a quelques mouvements belles.....
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I see Hillard in there. That's who he runs like and who he may replace.
DefensiveEnd76
Football Guru
Messam runs pretty soft for a 245 pound guy. He certainly is no "Bruiser". He gets tackled by the first defender a lot and does not appear to deliver any blows in a lot of video I have watched of him.
DefensiveEnd76
Football Guru
He seems to go down pretty easily and may just as well weigh 180 pounds. He does not use his 245 pounds to punish defenders like he should.
The Tannehills Have Eyes
Active Roster
Watch him turn into a gronkoski TE
DefensiveEnd76
Football Guru
Blount is a lot more physical.
Mais oui, c'est un bon compairison, meme si Messam est assez rapide... ...oh, what the he$$, I don't even like French!
Yes, he runs like Hilliard, although I love Lex' willingness to deliver a blow, where Messam would prefer to juke or cut. And I think the jury's out on who is faster...
Fin Thirteen
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Interesting guy to watch in the offseason. We've gone shopping north of the border every offseason lately and Wake has been the only player to stick so far. Not a bad one to have as your keeper, though. Grice-Mullen, Rolly Lumbala, that guy Restelli, and there was a lineman a couple of years ago I think. We also signed a couple of guys in Jan, Thigpen and another guy.
So the odds are not in Messam's favor, even if he is a better player than some of these guys. But I'd hesitate to call him camp fodder. I think he has a legit shot and if anything it hints that we're probably not going after Richardson in the draft.
So the odds are not in Messam's favor, even if he is a better player than some of these guys. But I'd hesitate to call him camp fodder. I think he has a legit shot and if anything it hints that we're probably not going after Richardson in the draft.
ckparrothead
Premium Member
Some CFL guys are nothing signings. This is not one of those. It's not a Cameron Wake, either. But it's not just some camp fodder signing. The lack of signing bonus has a lot to do with his character history, not to do with lack of talent.
Coming out of High School he ran in the NFL Global Junior Championship game and racked up 308 rushing yards and 2 TDs, including the game winner, helping Canada beat the US. He had big league interest and was supposed to be Ray Rice's successor at Rutgers before he was declared academically ineligible. He went to North Dakota State College of Science (JUCO) and played two years, rushed 249 times for 1289 yards and 8 TDs in 11 games in 2005. When it was time to transfer, he was rated the #2 JUCO prospect in the entire country back in 2007. He had offers from Arizona State, Kansas State, Colorado and New Mexico with interest from Florida and Southern Cal. But then, again, declared academically ineligible and had to play for Graceland in the NAIA. In just over 6 games he rushed 168 times for 993 yards and 16 TDs, before taking a knee injury in the 7th game and then turning pro because he knew he couldn't transfer again and he had nothing left to prove at the NAIA level.
At his Pro Day, he was anywhere from 6034 to 6040, and between 248 and 255 lbs. I have reports of a 4.44 and 4.45, with a 33 inch vertical. There's another report that says 4.55. During training in the run up to the Draft he supposedly benched 320 lbs, and supposedly ran a time under 4.4.
When I watch him run, I do see top end speed. I see top end speed that I suspect might time out to the 4.4x level in a Combine setting. That's fast. Starting tailbacks in the NFL don't average what they're always purported to average from that standpoint. There's really only one Chris Johnson out there. I see the speed to outrun a defense if he breaks into the clear and has the right angle on the corners who would be the only ones to catch up to him. I have a problem with calling him a one cut runner because it implies that when he breaks into the open and he's got a second level defender to clear in the open, he can't do that. But in Edmonton and even in British Columbia, he showed consistent ability to do that. I think that's something he probably knew how to do at a very early age, because he shows cradle-level instincts for setting up and burning the open field pursuit.
I think there's a difference between running "upright" and being 6'3" or 6'4" tall. He's tall and lengthy and so there's going to be a big target no matter what he does, but at Edmonton he didn't really run upright. The length can be a blessing or a curse. It makes you less likely to break contact completely and create a missed tackle, but more likely to fall forward for an extra yard and be effective in goal line situations. That's one of the reasons it's so hard to defend Cam Newton on the goal line. Same with Tim Tebow and, if the Bills would take their heads out of their ***** long enough to see it, Brad Smith. It's one of the reasons Brandon Jacobs is so difficult to defend on the goal line. I thought I heard someone in this thread say that Brandon Jacobs is no longer an effective goal line back. Nothing could be further from the truth. He ran 13 times this year on Goal-to-Go and scored 7 TDs, which is an absurd percentage for a true tailback that doesn't even bring throwing possibilities to the table. What I see from a pad level standpoint is a guy that learned in Edmonton to bring his pads down before contact and it paid off. I see a guy whose legs got stronger in Edmonton and so he could sit and explode better.
As for breaking tackles completely, in his case the sheer size at 250 lbs will help him do that. There are a lot of secondary players in the NFL that just don't even know how to approach a guy that big and get him down. The intimidation alone creates bad form tackle attempts and missed tackles. But I do agree he doesn't have the killer brute-ishness of a Brandon Jacobs. However, it's important to note that Jacobs' stab-you-in-the-heart mentality was something that slowly evolved/developed in the pros. He didn't have that right out of the box. He learned to embrace his strengths as a player.
But what really intrigues me about his running style is when he got to Edmonton and they had him run zone plays, try and adapt to the cutback game, he took to it like a fish in water. He showed an aptitude for sensing and anticipating the cutback lane before it became obvious. I don't know if he does that consistently yet but that's what coaching is for, we don't pay these guys for nothing.
I think this is like a Tyrone Wheatley story. Tyrone bounced around in the NFL until he got in the zone cutback system in Oakland and thrived. He was a nother guy that was huge and very fast for his size. The Giants tried Wheatley, and it didn't work out. The Dolphins actually had Wheatley in training camp, it didn't work out. He gets to Oakland and the cutback system under Gruden and Callahan sang to him. Now he's a cutback system Running Backs Coach at I believe Syracuse. I sense that's what happened from a system standpoint to Messam, going from the BC Lions to the Edmonton Eskimos, and it's why he's here in Miami.
Could the guy fizzle out? Yeah, definitely. But if he does my money says it has more to do with attitude than talent. He wants to be a star and might not be very receptive to some of the roles Miami wants him to play before he can earn his stardom. But signing Messam is like getting another draft pick. I like it.
Coming out of High School he ran in the NFL Global Junior Championship game and racked up 308 rushing yards and 2 TDs, including the game winner, helping Canada beat the US. He had big league interest and was supposed to be Ray Rice's successor at Rutgers before he was declared academically ineligible. He went to North Dakota State College of Science (JUCO) and played two years, rushed 249 times for 1289 yards and 8 TDs in 11 games in 2005. When it was time to transfer, he was rated the #2 JUCO prospect in the entire country back in 2007. He had offers from Arizona State, Kansas State, Colorado and New Mexico with interest from Florida and Southern Cal. But then, again, declared academically ineligible and had to play for Graceland in the NAIA. In just over 6 games he rushed 168 times for 993 yards and 16 TDs, before taking a knee injury in the 7th game and then turning pro because he knew he couldn't transfer again and he had nothing left to prove at the NAIA level.
At his Pro Day, he was anywhere from 6034 to 6040, and between 248 and 255 lbs. I have reports of a 4.44 and 4.45, with a 33 inch vertical. There's another report that says 4.55. During training in the run up to the Draft he supposedly benched 320 lbs, and supposedly ran a time under 4.4.
When I watch him run, I do see top end speed. I see top end speed that I suspect might time out to the 4.4x level in a Combine setting. That's fast. Starting tailbacks in the NFL don't average what they're always purported to average from that standpoint. There's really only one Chris Johnson out there. I see the speed to outrun a defense if he breaks into the clear and has the right angle on the corners who would be the only ones to catch up to him. I have a problem with calling him a one cut runner because it implies that when he breaks into the open and he's got a second level defender to clear in the open, he can't do that. But in Edmonton and even in British Columbia, he showed consistent ability to do that. I think that's something he probably knew how to do at a very early age, because he shows cradle-level instincts for setting up and burning the open field pursuit.
I think there's a difference between running "upright" and being 6'3" or 6'4" tall. He's tall and lengthy and so there's going to be a big target no matter what he does, but at Edmonton he didn't really run upright. The length can be a blessing or a curse. It makes you less likely to break contact completely and create a missed tackle, but more likely to fall forward for an extra yard and be effective in goal line situations. That's one of the reasons it's so hard to defend Cam Newton on the goal line. Same with Tim Tebow and, if the Bills would take their heads out of their ***** long enough to see it, Brad Smith. It's one of the reasons Brandon Jacobs is so difficult to defend on the goal line. I thought I heard someone in this thread say that Brandon Jacobs is no longer an effective goal line back. Nothing could be further from the truth. He ran 13 times this year on Goal-to-Go and scored 7 TDs, which is an absurd percentage for a true tailback that doesn't even bring throwing possibilities to the table. What I see from a pad level standpoint is a guy that learned in Edmonton to bring his pads down before contact and it paid off. I see a guy whose legs got stronger in Edmonton and so he could sit and explode better.
As for breaking tackles completely, in his case the sheer size at 250 lbs will help him do that. There are a lot of secondary players in the NFL that just don't even know how to approach a guy that big and get him down. The intimidation alone creates bad form tackle attempts and missed tackles. But I do agree he doesn't have the killer brute-ishness of a Brandon Jacobs. However, it's important to note that Jacobs' stab-you-in-the-heart mentality was something that slowly evolved/developed in the pros. He didn't have that right out of the box. He learned to embrace his strengths as a player.
But what really intrigues me about his running style is when he got to Edmonton and they had him run zone plays, try and adapt to the cutback game, he took to it like a fish in water. He showed an aptitude for sensing and anticipating the cutback lane before it became obvious. I don't know if he does that consistently yet but that's what coaching is for, we don't pay these guys for nothing.
I think this is like a Tyrone Wheatley story. Tyrone bounced around in the NFL until he got in the zone cutback system in Oakland and thrived. He was a nother guy that was huge and very fast for his size. The Giants tried Wheatley, and it didn't work out. The Dolphins actually had Wheatley in training camp, it didn't work out. He gets to Oakland and the cutback system under Gruden and Callahan sang to him. Now he's a cutback system Running Backs Coach at I believe Syracuse. I sense that's what happened from a system standpoint to Messam, going from the BC Lions to the Edmonton Eskimos, and it's why he's here in Miami.
Could the guy fizzle out? Yeah, definitely. But if he does my money says it has more to do with attitude than talent. He wants to be a star and might not be very receptive to some of the roles Miami wants him to play before he can earn his stardom. But signing Messam is like getting another draft pick. I like it.
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