“Dave’s a great back, but Dave is built to be in space,” Palmer said. “The one thing I’d like to see him more is more opportunities to catch the ball in space, like his touchdown catch. You give him a little bit of wiggle room, nobody on the planet wants to see him in a one-on-one situation where they have to make a tackle like that. And that’s the one thing we haven’t seen a ton of, is just Dave out in space.
“He is a good downhill runner, he’s a good bounce runner, he’s a good zone scheme runner. But where Dave is one of the most elite backs that I’ve seen in my time is when you have him out in space getting him on little screens. You remember him his first couple years, he was returning kickoffs for touchdowns when he had space against Chicago. He caught that game-winner at home on the season-opener against the Saints, where he just had space. He just was running a simple drag route that, you know, I threw the ball six yards and he ran 60.”