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The Drake Dillemma

Stoobz

Stoobz

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I like Kenyan Drake and I want to see him succeed but let's visit some of why he isn't getting the touches everyone is screaming for.

Pass blocking - One whiff does not define his ability in this area but it has to improve. If he's going to be back there, he has to be reliable enough to trust in pressure pick ups.

Ball handling - We saw him fumble a couple weeks ago. We've seen other fumbles as well. He needs to secure the ball better.

Game management - Something that irks me is when Miami is trying to run out the clock, he will inexplicably run out of bounds. He's done that at least 3 times. That's not okay. His awareness needs to pick up in this area. Things like that will lose you close ball games.

In short, I think these are some of the things keeping him from seeing more playing time, even as explosive as he can be.

Having said that, I want to see more of him and Gore in the backfield at the same time. Gore can be FB with Drake running or Gore with the pass pro and Drake in the flats/circle/flare routes for reliable movement of the ball.

Thanks for you time, off to work I go, for I owe, I owe.
 
Not necessarily agreeing with you on pass blocking, because we’ve seen Drake do some pretty good work there....but if you think pass blocking is a negative, then why does Gase ask him to pass block?

When Gore is in the game, he’s getting the ball. Meanwhile Drake has been coming in for 3rd downs, where a lot of the time he’s been asked to chip & move out for a screen, or to straight up pass block.

Put the guy in a position to succeed. Ask him to do what he does well.
 
The dilemma with Drake lies solely with Adam Gase. A good coach would get Drake his touches. I have no faith in Gase's ability to evaluate or recognize talent and when guys should be played. He didnt want to play Ajayi, then he does and Ajayi goes off, he didnt want to play Drake until he shipped ajayi off and then William's got hurt and he had no choice and Drake goes off. He never gave Grant any opportunities on offense then when he did Grant made plays etc. Thank God he doesnt run the defense too...
 
outlawd2u said:
The dilemma with Drake lies solely with Adam Gase. A good coach would get Drake his touches. I have no faith in Gase's ability to evaluate or recognize talent and when guys should be played. He didnt want to play Ajayi, then he does and Ajayi goes off, he didnt want to play Drake until he shipped ajayi off and then William's got hurt and he had no choice and Drake goes off. He never gave Grant any opportunities on offense then when he did Grant made plays etc. Thank God he doesnt run the defense too...
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He didn't want to play AJayi because we had a veteran that was the better overall player ahead of him and Ajayi was late to meetings and didnt practice hard. Those guys don't just get inserted into the lineup by anyone. They have to force their way in with their on field play despite their practice habits. AJayi did that.

I like Drake, but I think it comes down to simply this. Gore as a runner alone, is more consistent. Hes going to find his lane and get some positive yards whether its 1 yard or 10. Drake has a lot of negative runs and right now with our offense we can't afford the boom or bust run. We just aren't good enough for the inconsistency.
 
Nappy Roots said:
Drake has a lot of negative runs and right now with our offense we can't afford the boom or bust run. We just aren't good enough for the inconsistency.
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I completely disagree. We arent good at all on offense with Gores consistency. We arent gaining many yards or scoring points. With Drake if you keep giving him touches at least you have a shot at chunk plays and long td's. With how pathetic the offense has been I dont think we can afford Not to risk the boom or bust
 
Stoobz said:
I like Kenyan Drake and I want to see him succeed but let's visit some of why he isn't getting the touches everyone is screaming for.

Pass blocking - One whiff does not define his ability in this area but it has to improve. If he's going to be back there, he has to be reliable enough to trust in pressure pick ups.

Ball handling - We saw him fumble a couple weeks ago. We've seen other fumbles as well. He needs to secure the ball better.

Game management - Something that irks me is when Miami is trying to run out the clock, he will inexplicably run out of bounds. He's done that at least 3 times. That's not okay. His awareness needs to pick up in this area. Things like that will lose you close ball games.

In short, I think these are some of the things keeping him from seeing more playing time, even as explosive as he can be.

Having said that, I want to see more of him and Gore in the backfield at the same time. Gore can be FB with Drake running or Gore with the pass pro and Drake in the flats/circle/flare routes for reliable movement of the ball.

Thanks for you time, off to work I go, for I owe, I owe.
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I agree with everything you said. I mentioned it in the GameDay thread: if Drake were playing for Belichick and whiffed on that block in the 1st half, he wouldn't play another down in that game. I am not a Gase fan but if these are the reasons why he doesn't play Drake more, I'm good with it. Accountability.
 
Gase doesn't trust Drake for whatever reason. Even last year after the Ajayi trade, it was Damian Williams getting the starts and at least half the touches even tho it was clear Drake was much better. Finally took off when Williams got hurt, handcuffing gase
 
As much as we can claim that Gore is “more consistent” and “finds narrow lanes” and “doesn’t lose yards” (not true), the bottom line is that the offense is much more PREDICTABLE when Gore is in the game.

At this point, Gore is basically a straight-ahead runner. He’s not much of a threat in the passing game. You’re making the job of the defense much simpler by running your offense through Frank Gore and WR screens.

Drake is a threat in the passing game. Drake can be moved around the formation. And most importantly, Drake has speed.

There is nothing more frustrating to me about Gase’s approach this season than his insistence on driving his offense through 35-year old Frank Gore.
 
I actually think Gase is using him correctly. Gore is more of a North / South runner and behind this o-line is what you need.
 
the answer is simple, besides the fact Drake cant block: hes not good on that 3 yard play over tackle. gore is better at the 3 yard run.
and......that play is run 15-20 times per game in Gases offense.
 
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From my perspective its not a Gore vs Drake thing. They compliment each other because of their different styles. I'm disappointed that coaches (Gase) haven't found a way to get Drake more touches. He's your most dynamic player on offense....its completely unacceptable for him to get the limited number of touches he got yesterday against the Jets. If he was a total liability pass blocking then maybe I would understand a bit more, but even with a miss yesterday he's more than good enough as a pass blocker.

I'm still fine with Gore getting his carries just not as many as he had yesterday. Its just another example of the coaches failing this team imo.
 
Stoobz said:
I like Kenyan Drake and I want to see him succeed but let's visit some of why he isn't getting the touches everyone is screaming for.

Pass blocking - One whiff does not define his ability in this area but it has to improve. If he's going to be back there, he has to be reliable enough to trust in pressure pick ups.

Ball handling - We saw him fumble a couple weeks ago. We've seen other fumbles as well. He needs to secure the ball better.

Game management - Something that irks me is when Miami is trying to run out the clock, he will inexplicably run out of bounds. He's done that at least 3 times. That's not okay. His awareness needs to pick up in this area. Things like that will lose you close ball games.

In short, I think these are some of the things keeping him from seeing more playing time, even as explosive as he can be.

Having said that, I want to see more of him and Gore in the backfield at the same time. Gore can be FB with Drake running or Gore with the pass pro and Drake in the flats/circle/flare routes for reliable movement of the ball.

Thanks for you time, off to work I go, for I owe, I owe.
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My take is that Drake is excellent at pass blocking for a RB. I've noted that multiple times watching him. I think the missed block was an anomaly.

I think that Gase is desperate to avoid negative plays. Gore's style of running will rarely get us negative plays. Great vision, decisive running and excellent power and body lean means that we'll see at least 2nd and 7 a lot more than 2nd and 11. Having said that i think we need to get Drake more touches as he is so explosive.
 
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