Kalen Ballage 360 (podcast And Written Report) | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Kalen Ballage 360 (podcast And Written Report)

Aqua4Ever04

Aqua4Ever04

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This week on Locked On Dolphins, I'm going prospect by prospect and getting to know the newest Phins.

On Friday, I had a team manager from Alabama talk about Minkah Fitzpatrick and wrote up Fitz with GIFs and all that good stuff.



Today is Kalen Ballage. For the podcast, I got Brennan Marion, current OC at Howard University, former Dolphin and former quality coach at ASU (working with the RBs).

We talked about Kalen and what he brings both as a player and a person.

Here's the podcast.

https://megaphone.link/LKN9203409188

And the written piece.

https://www.lockedondolphins.com/dolphins/the-rookies-kalen-ballage/

Ballage excels in a one-cut, zone-based scheme – the exact system implemented by new running game coordinator, Eric Studesville. During his Denver Broncos’ tenue (under Adam Gase) Studesville discovered Ballage at Falcon High School – just outside of Colorado Springs.
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Thanks for the post, listening now.

Sounds kind of like Minkah as far as he loves the game and loves to put in work, a smart player too.
 
Awesome. Can’t wait to hear Jerome bakers breakdown. I’m a lifelong diehard buckeye fan from Ohio. I was so excited we grabbed him to play alongside Raekwon. That defense two years ago was just insane. Seriously. Hooker, Conley, lattimore, Raekwon, Hubbard, baby Bosa, baker, tyquan Lewis, ward. I love that Gase is grabbing big time players off of real contenders like bama and OSU. Proven winners. I think baker is the perfect consolation prize for missing out on Roquan. It’s funny how Raekwon said he wanted to play next to Roquan and ended up getting a surprise and playing with an old teammate. This year I think is gonna be a lot of fun to watch. I believe we are gonna see lots of players stepping up big time ala 2016. Thanks for doing what you do!
 
maralieus said:
Awesome. Can’t wait to hear Jerome bakers breakdown. I’m a lifelong diehard buckeye fan from Ohio. I was so excited we grabbed him to play alongside Raekwon. That defense two years ago was just insane. Seriously. Hooker, Conley, lattimore, Raekwon, Hubbard, baby Bosa, baker, tyquan Lewis, ward. I love that Gase is grabbing big time players off of real contenders like bama and OSU. Proven winners. I think baker is the perfect consolation prize for missing out on Roquan. It’s funny how Raekwon said he wanted to play next to Roquan and ended up getting a surprise and playing with an old teammate. This year I think is gonna be a lot of fun to watch. I believe we are gonna see lots of players stepping up big time ala 2016. Thanks for doing what you do!
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I can't stress the importance of Raekwon and Jerome Baker stepping in and contributing right away. I'd venture as far as to say they are the most important players on the defense this year. Anything that relegates Kiko to a backup role is huge.
 
I like this article as it points that Ballage already has both the knowlege of what is expected of him has been playing to that style plus he and the coach have history. This means he has a small learning curve should hit the ground running, literally. I stay concerned with Drake and injuries so this guy may end up being huge for especially when you have RT making a comeback.
 
We need to get this guy to become a beat writer for the dolphins..

How can we make it happen.?

How do we get him more followers on twitter and Instagram, how do we work him up the ranks.?
 
Thanks for the interview and the article Travis. As always, we appreciate it.

Respectfully, I do not share your optimism for the prospect Kalen Ballage. What I notice is that almost all of his production comes in space. He is a big guy with some power, but he goes down at first contact regularly. He thrives when a team can open up large lanes and keep him untouched, because his speed is excellent. But, the Dolphins rarely give clean open run lanes. Those arm-tackles that Ajayi broke routinely to consistently be the 1st or 2nd RB in the league after contact ... will result in Ballage being tackled most of the time.

Our OL is a weakness, not a strength. Now, I _hope_ that it improves this year with the dominant Josh Sitton and a blossoming Jesse Davis manning the guard positions, and a reliably average Daniel Kilgore manning the center position. Pouncey was great pulling, but poor at the point of attack. Our run game only excelled when we faced teams that had a poor run defense. Having Ballage means that our OL needs to dominate to get consistent production. That is not something I am expecting.

Despite his 6'2 frame and 230 pounds of muscle ... he gets tackled low consistently. He comes down from arm tackles. He goes to ground when tacklers get into his side. He looks like a power guy ... but he simply is not. He can pound head on like a charging ram, but he doesn't break tackles. As a runner, his ceiling looks like Lamar Miller, but I doubt he gets that much production.

Where Ballage excels is as a special teamer and a 3rd down back. He is a good pass protector ... and that's a valuable skill. He also catches the ball smoothly and eats up yards in space. As a special teamer, he moves to the ball quickly, works through blocks, and tackles. I'm on-board with Ballage as a 3rd down back and on all special teams. But as a runner ... he isn't in the same class as Drake. Opinions may vary, and that's OK. This is my $0.02.
 
Digital said:
Thanks for the interview and the article Travis. As always, we appreciate it.

Respectfully, I do not share your optimism for the prospect Kalen Ballage. What I notice is that almost all of his production comes in space. He is a big guy with some power, but he goes down at first contact regularly. He thrives when a team can open up large lanes and keep him untouched, because his speed is excellent. But, the Dolphins rarely give clean open run lanes. Those arm-tackles that Ajayi broke routinely to consistently be the 1st or 2nd RB in the league after contact ... will result in Ballage being tackled most of the time.

Our OL is a weakness, not a strength. Now, I _hope_ that it improves this year with the dominant Josh Sitton and a blossoming Jesse Davis manning the guard positions, and a reliably average Daniel Kilgore manning the center position. Pouncey was great pulling, but poor at the point of attack. Our run game only excelled when we faced teams that had a poor run defense. Having Ballage means that our OL needs to dominate to get consistent production. That is not something I am expecting.

Despite his 6'2 frame and 230 pounds of muscle ... he gets tackled low consistently. He comes down from arm tackles. He goes to ground when tacklers get into his side. He looks like a power guy ... but he simply is not. He can pound head on like a charging ram, but he doesn't break tackles. As a runner, his ceiling looks like Lamar Miller, but I doubt he gets that much production.

Where Ballage excels is as a special teamer and a 3rd down back. He is a good pass protector ... and that's a valuable skill. He also catches the ball smoothly and eats up yards in space. As a special teamer, he moves to the ball quickly, works through blocks, and tackles. I'm on-board with Ballage as a 3rd down back and on all special teams. But as a runner ... he isn't in the same class as Drake. Opinions may vary, and that's OK. This is my $0.02.
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That's entirely fair. I was more encouraged by his showing at the Senior Bowl. I like those practices because it gives you an idea for how these guys moves against other guys that belong at the next level. In those practices, whether it was the team portions or the 1v1 drills, he always looked the fastest, quickest-twitched guy on the field. He fell to the fourth round for the reasons you stated, but the hope is that his best ball is ahead of him.
 
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