Bernard released

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(04-08-2021, 04:15 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I hate to insist on this, because it makes me look like a Gio hater - which I'm definitely  not - but he was never on the level of Sproles or Kamara. Those guys were more explosive than Gio ever was. Gio rarely made splash plays.

Except how much of that was Sproles and Kamara and how much of that was Sean Payton/Drew Brees/a good OL?

Darren Sproles averaged 1.1 more yards per carry in his 3 years with New Orleans than he did anywhere else in his career, despite it being the middle of his career and age 28-30 seasons. In 3 years at New Orleans, Sproles never had less than 600 yards receiving. In his other 11 years, he only reached 500 yards receiving 1 time (520).

Drew Brees is a HoF QB who can hit guys in stride so they can get the most YAC. Sean Payton is a HoF offensive mind who can scheme guys to get the ball in space.

Most of the time Gio got the ball, it seemed he was standing there waiting to see if the ball would get to him first, or the defender would just lay him out. (How many times did we see hospital balls thrown to the flats?)

Being able to catch a ball in space while in full stride is going to make anybody look better. I'm willing to admit that Gio was physically inferior to Kamara in explosiveness at the starts of their careers, but I don't think it's as much as you think.

Look at Kareem Hunt going from Andy Reid to the Browns. Still a good running back, but a notably huge dip when he loses a great offensive mind. Or how Alex Smith performed after going to Reid.

(04-08-2021, 04:17 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: More importantly, he lacks durability to some degree. He’s a tough mofo and played through a lot but I think he had a lot of nagging things that limited his snap counts. Felt like after Shazier blasted him he didn’t get nearly as many touches.

So would Sproles and Kamara if they played in the AFCN.