Kenyan Drake - What's His Ceiling?

[Mach2]

I was being sarcastic. I'm not sure why those comparisons bother you though. I think most are comparing his size and running style to former greats not accomplishments. Were you expecting Karim Abdul Jabbar comparisons?

It doesn't "bother" me at all. The players he has been compared to had very diverse styles, so that doesn't make sense either. You think there was any similarity in the styles of OJ, Allen, and LT? They weren't similar at all.

I realize it's just ppl talking, being excited, but I thought it was borderline silly because Drake hasn't had even one full season carrying the load.

I like Drake. I prefer him to Ajai by far.

 

[Crump]

Good comparison. I think Reggie had almost 1000 yards his last season here even though many thought he could never become an every down back. I think this it Drakes upside but with Gore here I think 800 to 900 is more realistic. It will also keep him fresh and limit injuries so his yards per carry should go up.

1086 his first season...986 his second season (but remember there were the conspiracies that last game of the season that we were trying to keep him under 1000 yards for the season)

plus his second season was with philbin so when he was having a good game or getting hot we would take him out of the game.

just tried to use a good starter without comparing him to HOF'ers. I'd love for him to turn into a marcus allen, or LT, barry would be my favorite but he's not as thick or have as low of a center of gravity. but yeah gore and drake this year, then ballage and drake for next season, keep em fresh and let KB learn

 

[A8bil]

I don't really see the Marcus Allen comparison. Allen perhaps more than any other back understood the physics of his size and speed on would be tacklers. He would just make small adjustments while running north-south so that tacklers would only get an arm on him, and he would power through the tackle. I don't see that in Drake.

 

[Daytona Fin]

It doesn't "bother" me at all. The players he has been compared to had very diverse styles, so that doesn't make sense either. You think there was any similarity in the styles of OJ, Allen, and LT? They weren't similar at all.

I realize it's just ppl talking, being excited, but I thought it was borderline silly because Drake hasn't had even one full season carrying the load.

I like Drake. I prefer him to Ajai by far.

Drake wasn't afforded the opportunity as a starter because of Ajayi. I think he did a great job once he was given the chance. I'm too lazy to look it up but I doubt all of the aforementioned great rb's were all pros out of the gate.

 

[Mach2]

I don't really see the Marcus Allen comparison. Allen perhaps more than any other back understood the physics of his size and speed on would be tacklers. He would just make small adjustments while running north-south so that tacklers would only get an arm on him, and he would power through the tackle. I don't see that in Drake.

When Allen was in KC, the coach (Shottenheimer I think) said he was the best goal line back he had ever seen. I thought it odd at the time, given that he wasn't that big.

 

[A8bil]

When Allen was in KC, the coach (Shottenheimer I think) said he was the best goal line back he had ever seen. I thought it odd at the time, given that he wasn't that big.

I went to a Pac-10 school when Allen was playing for USC. I remember seeing his stats leading up to the first game against my school, and thinking he must be a Walter Payton or Gale Sayers type player to rack up those big yards. Then you watched him and it was just play after play of 5-10 yards, with no LB ever getting a solid shot on him. He just kept sliding through the line and falling forward. Before you knew it, he had 150 yards and 3-4 TDs. I don't recall ever seeing him get stopped cold at the LOS. One of the most relentless attacks I have seen in football.

 

[djphinfan]

Hi level talent..Marshall Faulk type skillset..dual threat...2000 total from scrimmage ceiling.

 

[circumstances]

I don't really see the Marcus Allen comparison. Allen perhaps more than any other back understood the physics of his size and speed on would be tacklers. He would just make small adjustments while running north-south so that tacklers would only get an arm on him, and he would power through the tackle. I don't see that in Drake.

I was referring to height, weight, body type, and graceful style of running.

Marcus was the first back that came to mind when the question was posed.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

I went to a Pac-10 school when Allen was playing for USC. I remember seeing his stats leading up to the first game against my school, and thinking he must be a Walter Payton or Gale Sayers type player to rack up those big yards. Then you watched him and it was just play after play of 5-10 yards, with no LB ever getting a solid shot on him. He just kept sliding through the line and falling forward. Before you knew it, he had 150 yards and 3-4 TDs. I don't recall ever seeing him get stopped cold at the LOS. One of the most relentless attacks I have seen in football.

That's a perfect description of Marcus Allen's junior season. I was a USC student and a sportswriter for the school paper. At the Daily Trojan we were literally receiving hate mail every day aimed at Marcus Allen. Students thought he was disgracing the USC tailback tradition of Student Body Right.

It seems inconceivable more than 35 years later, but that was the reality at the time. I have detailed it here previously. Allen was a head-down small fullback in front of Charles White as a freshman and sophomore. He was very slow to adjust to the tailback position as a junior starter. Very tentative. Too much body lean. Limited instincts. We had an awesome offensive line full of future NFL stars so it was indeed a case of exactly what you described...Allen would burst untouched beyond the line of scrimmage and it looked like 20-25 yards if not a touchdown jaunt. Then some defender from the side would get a hand or finger on his ankle and Allen would immediately sprawl forward and face plant for a maddening 7 yard gain.

This played out time and again. Hence all the hate mail. Prior to our season finale Allen was sidelined due to an eye injury. The campus rejoiced. Literally rejoiced. Reagan was elected a few weeks earlier and the campus was so conservative there were celebrations everywhere. Then it was like it was happening all over again when Michael Harper was going to replace Marcus Allen as starting tailback against Notre Dame. Again, I realize this reads as absurdity but it is the comparison we were making. I saw students high fiving in front of Tommy Trojan every day while cherishing the fact that Harper would be the starter.

Fast forward to spring 1981. John Robinson announced that Marcus Allen was the most improved player of spring, and "a true Renaissance player." Robinson was a BSer so we didn't place full stock in it. Not until the season opener against Tennessee months later. Suddenly it wasn't the same player at all. Allen had patience and vision and fluidity and was making the most of every carry. In short, he was everything he had not been as a junior. And it carried over the remainder of that Heisman season and throughout his pro career.

The legendary Joel Bushsbaum of Pro Football Weekly always said that Marcus Allen from junior to season was the greatest one-season improvement he had ever seen as a personnel analyst. Absolutely. I was there to see both ends of it. But it is remarkable that the story is so little known or recited. People think of Marcus Allen as the great gliding versatile back and assume it was always that way.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Hi level talent..Marshall Faulk type skillset..dual threat...2000 total from scrimmage ceiling.

I'm really surprised you would get suckered to that extent. Genius is displayed early. Marshall Faulk was a phenom at San Diego State during his freshman year. He was getting so much press the Aztecs were suddenly receiving more attention nationwide than virtually any of the Pac 10 teams.

Kenyan Drake was a 4 star recruit, not 5 star. He has always been a nice player but never a star, never someone trusted with a heavy work load.

That's as much as I need to know. As always, I don't care about offseason adjustments. I know where they are going. It's the reason the offseason is not tolerable and I stay away from boards like this. Any player who had a nice conclusion to the prior season is adjusted up, up and away. There is a blooming online industry devoted to that type of fluff.

I prefer you are what you are. I'll take my chances with those words, and not particularly care about the minority of occasions in which they let me down.

 

[Classic]

I'm really surprised you would get suckered to that extent. Genius is displayed early. Marshall Faulk was a phenom at San Diego State during his freshman year. He was getting so much press the Aztecs were suddenly receiving more attention nationwide than virtually any of the Pac 10 teams.

Kenyan Drake was a 4 star recruit, not 5 star. He has always been a nice player but never a star, never someone trusted with a heavy work load.

That's as much as I need to know. As always, I don't care about offseason adjustments. I know where they are going. It's the reason the offseason is not tolerable and I stay away from boards like this. Any player who had a nice conclusion to the prior season is adjusted up, up and away. There is a blooming online industry devoted to that type of fluff.

I prefer you are what you are. I'll take my chances with those words, and not particularly care about the minority of occasions in which they let me down.

You ever hear of late bloomers? He was never given an oppurtunity until last year and he certainly showed genius last year, did he not?

 

[Mach2]

You ever hear of late bloomers? He was never given an oppurtunity until last year and he certainly showed genius last year, did he not?

Drake is a good player. Maybe he will be a great player for the Phins for a decade, but Faulk was arguably the best, most complete back in the league for several years. As I recall, an MVP. You can count the number of players on your fingers that had the entire skill set that Marshall had. To say Drake has anything close to that at this point is crazy talk. Maybe someday, but not now.

 

[Rolltide03]

I'm really surprised you would get suckered to that extent. Genius is displayed early. Marshall Faulk was a phenom at San Diego State during his freshman year. He was getting so much press the Aztecs were suddenly receiving more attention nationwide than virtually any of the Pac 10 teams.

Kenyan Drake was a 4 star recruit, not 5 star. He has always been a nice player but never a star, never someone trusted with a heavy work load.

That's as much as I need to know. As always, I don't care about offseason adjustments. I know where they are going. It's the reason the offseason is not tolerable and I stay away from boards like this. Any player who had a nice conclusion to the prior season is adjusted up, up and away. There is a blooming online industry devoted to that type of fluff.

I prefer you are what you are. I'll take my chances with those words, and not particularly care about the minority of occasions in which they let me down.

Yeah? You seem to know a lot.

You are what you are? Do what? Players don’t improve? Drake always had high potential even at Bama, and if he didn’t have fluke injury problems, he sure would of made more of a name for himself and we were lucky to get him where we did. He’s been healthy lately, and has been able to work on just getting better instead of recovering from an injury, crazy right

 

[djphinfan]

I'm really surprised you would get suckered to that extent. Genius is displayed early. Marshall Faulk was a phenom at San Diego State during his freshman year. He was getting so much press the Aztecs were suddenly receiving more attention nationwide than virtually any of the Pac 10 teams.

Kenyan Drake was a 4 star recruit, not 5 star. He has always been a nice player but never a star, never someone trusted with a heavy work load.

That's as much as I need to know. As always, I don't care about offseason adjustments. I know where they are going. It's the reason the offseason is not tolerable and I stay away from boards like this. Any player who had a nice conclusion to the prior season is adjusted up, up and away. There is a blooming online industry devoted to that type of fluff.

I prefer you are what you are. I'll take my chances with those words, and not particularly care about the minority of occasions in which they let me down.

All true, just meant skillset type.

 

[djphinfan]

Drake is a good player. Maybe he will be a great player for the Phins for a decade, but Faulk was arguably the best, most complete back in the league for several years. As I recall, an MVP. You can count the number of players on your fingers that had the entire skill set that Marshall had. To say Drake has anything close to that at this point is crazy talk. Maybe someday, but not now.

Once again maybe I’m miss interpreting the OPs question..

Similar skill sets doesn’t mean I’m saying he will be as good..just similar skill sets..and share some similar stylistic things in their running...jmo.