Just Watched Some Kalen Ballage Highlights | Page 3 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Just Watched Some Kalen Ballage Highlights

Sirspud said:
And the player he most reminds me of is Jay Ajayi. No, seriously. Now he doesn't have that jumpcut that Ajayi has, but they are both downhill runners who have the type of balance that really good second level running backs have (and that guys like Lamar Miller, succeeding with vision and quickness, don't). Ballage plays pretty tall for a running back, I'm not sure of his actual height, and it takes full tackles to bring him down. He can flat out truck smaller guys and he can carry a pile. At least in college he was as hard to bring down as a young Ronnie Brown was.

I'm not sure how his speed will play in the NFL. At times even on his highlight reel he looked to have fullback speed in the NFL, while other times he seemed to be a bit faster. This can be hard to judge against college at times and there are times when a player just plays quick enough where it isn't an issue.

I wouldn't say I'm sold on the guy - highlight reels, especially against competition at the last level, make just about anyone look good. But I'm definitely intrigued by how he will play and was surprised how closely he reminded me of the player he is replacing in some aspects.

For reference, here's the reel.
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Kalen Ballage is fast...not sure what your talking about? Much faster than Ajayi.
 
If he works his ass off learning to be an excellent blocker that will be his way to get snaps. We all know he is a good receiver, but if he can't block, he can't be used as a third down back; and third down back is an enormously underrated aspect to a successful offense.

If he is going to see the field he has to be an excellent blocker, otherwise, Gore gets the snaps, and Ballage won't play unless there is an injury. I really hope he can make the strides needed. It won't be easy with all the rules limiting practice. Contact, full contact, is really needed to master picking up blitzes.

This guy gets to full speed quickly and he is a juggernaut once he gets rolling. He could cause some serious damage on dump offs.
 
phintim said:
Well what about his lowlights have to be some other wise he would be a number one pick with all that size.
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Everybody has them. Keep in mind ASU was bad the last few years and they fired the coach this year. Ballage may have been affected by a lot of negative circumstances.

He might just surprise the league if he gets excellent coaching and mentoring. I don't know anything about Gore's personality, but he certainly has the experience if he and Kalen can communicate. Ballage's learning curve could be dramatically shortened.

Love the Drake, but I don't see him as a bell cow. If the Drake is going to last the season, it would be a huge plus if all three of these guys contribute and stay healthy.
 
As an ASU fan, I've already given my take on him enough in other Ballage threads. Just here to comment on the posts knocking him for his height. For all his flaws, his height isn't one. He's the same height as Gurley, Bell, and Howard, and an inch shorter than a bunch, including Elliot and Fournette. I'm hoping the coaching staff is focusing on legit flaws instead of making him wear a heavy backpack to work every day.
 
I think I posted it somewhere else, but he reminds me of Robert Smith the way he runs. Upright, strong, and has a quick burst; they take the same sort of angles to the outside edge. But yes, no jump cut that I’ve seen. And while he might not have elite top end speed, he gets to his top speed very quickly.
 
He looks like a WR playing RB. Not that it’s a bad thing. Just physically looks like a WR.
 
I see a little bit of Robert Smith(Minnesota Vikings) little Ronnie Brown...but the guy has no juking ability every run seems to be 1 cut straight line running.
 
The Goat said:
I think I posted it somewhere else, but he reminds me of Robert Smith the way he runs. Upright, strong, and has a quick burst; they take the same sort of angles to the outside edge. But yes, no jump cut that I’ve seen. And while he might not have elite top end speed, he gets to his top speed very quickly.
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Dang I didn’t see your post. I posted nearly the same thing. My Apologies
 
mmikel30 said:
I see a little bit of Robert Smith(Minnesota Vikings) little Ronnie Brown...but the guy has no juking ability every run seems to be 1 cut straight line running.
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The Vikes in those years were my favorite team to play with in Madden, but somehow or another I can't ever remember actually watching Robert Smith on TV. I guess we just didn't get the Vikings much down here and I never got to watch those playoff games. In my mind Robert Smith is just a fictional Madden player.
 
mmikel30 said:
Dang I didn’t see your post. I posted nearly the same thing. My Apologies
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Oh, no worries, brother. I’m glad someone agrees with me. Every once in a while, I wonder if I’m just making **** up in my head.
 
Sirspud said:
The Vikes in those years were my favorite team to play with in Madden, but somehow or another I can't ever remember actually watching Robert Smith on TV. I guess we just didn't get the Vikings much down here and I never got to watch those playoff games. In my mind Robert Smith is just a fictional Madden player.
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Robert Smith had a brief but scintillating career. Hard, fast runner. Came back from blowing out BOTH of his ACLs
 
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