I want to see more Arrington

[ThunderCard]

There is a lot of Tower of Power love going on right now, but the person I want to see is JJ Arrington. He is finally living up to his billing with quick cuts, speed, and now great vision. Every time he touched the ball against the Rams I thought he might go to the house. Love the running style and it also looks like he has bulked up.

We might have a real hidden gem on the roster and I don't want to lose him this off-season. Also it just goes to show that development for MOST rookies is 2-3 years before the lights turn on. Some are quicker and some the light never turns on at all, however I think everyone is to quick to label busts.

 

[Shane]

JJ is what he is. A good change of pace back and 3rd down option. After that I dont want to see more. We have seen plenty in 4 years.

 

[1DS]

JJ earned a few more carries after a steller showing against the Rams. This offense needs what he has to offer, and that is the threat of speed. Lets hope he can deliver.

 

[ThunderCard]

JJ is what he is. A good change of pace back and 3rd down option. After that I dont want to see more. We have seen plenty in 4 years.

I realize we have seen JJ not perform up to task for a few years, however he is really starting to come on. This year looks nothing like the previous years. He looks stronger and really shows signs of great speed with different gears. Also it seems his vision has really improved and is making the most of each chance he gets.

 

[cgolden]

JJ earned a few more carries after a steller showing against the Rams. This offense needs what he has to offer, and that is the threat of speed. Lets hope he can deliver.

He's the only back with true speed. Give him 10 or so touches a game just to change it up.

 

[Black Jesus]

I like the role he was given last game, that is plenty for him. but i want to see him doing all kickoff returns, breaston is a PR not a KR.

 

[CardLogic]

Irrespective of whether he gets more touches or not, I think that Arrington actually needs to play more snaps in which he is not the getting the ball.

Haley needs to diversify his playcalling with Arrington in the game. For a couple of plays against St. Louis when Arrington was inserted it looked like the Rams defense knew the play call.

 

[nashman]

^ Agree on both counts he needs to be the full time KR man, Breaston hasn't looked good at all on KO returns. And he does need to be in the game on plays where he is not getting the ball so we are not tipping our hand everytime he comes in.

 

[slanidrac16]

When I analyze this offense it has become very apparent just what speed out of the backfield will add to this offense. When we go 3 or 4 wr set, the defense has so much on their collective plate that it opens up the draws, screens and outlet passes. If Arrington gets a little space he has an opportunity to make a big play when all he has to do is make a LB miss.

We threw a couple of quick swing passes to our backs that went nowhere. However, when opposing teams see that on film it will keep their LB's home for a split second longer which wll open up some underneath routes. If they don't respect that play we will see our share of big gainers from it but it won't work without the killer ingredient...speed.

 

[Duckjake]

Hightower is every bit as quick as Arrington and a lot tougher runner and is a good receiver out of the backfield.

All we need JJ to do is return kicks and give HOFtower a breather now and then.

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

I'm not against seeing JJ get another chance, I think we need to look at it like this:

How many backs has this team drafted, that appeared to be busts, but had decent to good careers elsewhere?

For the first time in AZ, this team has competent coaches, lets just pretend we picked him up from another team, and give our coaches at least 2-3 years with him.

 

[Russ Smith]

He's currently averaging 7.5 YPC and averaged over 11 in the preseason.

Scary to think what he'd do with 20 carries in a game.



I like the mix from the last game I do agree we have to be careful not to tip plays. When he comes in now I usually assume it's a screen to him.

I think they found a niche for him, depends what they think that niche is worth in terms of signing him again.

 

[nashman]

Duckjake
All we need JJ to do is return kicks and give HOFtower a breather now and then.

Please tell me your not seriously writing that?

 

[SuperSpck]

Agreed, more JJ.

 

[D-Dogg]

I'd like to see JJ get 5-7 touches a game, Tim get 16-22 a game and Edge as injury insurance.

That's my ideal makeup...

 

[Shane]

I'd like to see JJ get 5-7 touches a game, Tim get 16-22 a game and Edge as injury insurance.

That's my ideal makeup...

Perfection. :hastheball:

 

[SuperSpck]

Perfection.

What you guys said.

 

[tenplay]

In his senior season in the Pac10, he ran for over 2000 yards. I believe Marshawn Lynch was his backup. I remember that he got most of his yards in the 2nd half after he got warmed up and had worn out the opposing DL. Now that he is more mature and stronger, I have to think that he would really tear it up if he got a mess of carries in the 2nd half. How about featuring Hightower in the 1st half followed by JJ in the 2nd? Don't really need Edge at all. As I remember, he was a JC transfer to Cal and really played only one year at the Div I level. So he wasn't ready to play at the pro level when he was drafted and is only now coming into his own. Anyway I would like to see JJ get a steady diet of carries for a few games to see if he is finally ready to produce at a high level.

 

[Russ Smith]

In his senior season in the Pac10, he ran for over 2000 yards. I believe Marshawn Lynch was his backup. I remember that he got most of his yards in the 2nd half after he got warmed up and had worn out the opposing DL. Now that he is more mature and stronger, I have to think that he would really tear it up if he got a mess of carries in the 2nd half. How about featuring Hightower in the 1st half followed by JJ in the 2nd? Don't really need Edge at all. As I remember, he was a JC transfer to Cal and really played only one year at the Div I level. So he wasn't ready to play at the pro level when he was drafted and is only now coming into his own. Anyway I would like to see JJ get a steady diet of carries for a few games to see if he is finally ready to produce at a high level.

JJ's senior year at Cal was really more about losing weight and being quicker. He'd won the job at Cal his first year there but he had a couple of fumbles and wound up losing the job because of that. AS a senior he got the job back, he'd slimmed down a bit and had a great year. note, even then, when he was getting 2000 yards at over 7 yards a pop. it was apparent to anybody watching that the best RB on the team was freshman Marshawn Lynch.

The odd this is JJ lost weight to improve himself, and Lynch went the other way and bulked up, Marshawn was about 195 as a freshman, he's near 220 now and IMHO has lost some of his explosiveness. I'd like to see him drop 10 pounds. You could see it last weekend when he tried to chase down the DB on the 90 yard INT return. Admitted Lynch had the flu and in fact that chase resulted in him getting sick again and missing the rest of the game, but the Lynch that arrived at Cal would have caught that guy but the current Lynch was just able to gain on him he couldn't catch him.

Cal had a really good OL that gave JJ holes to run through, he was really good at hitting holes fast, finding the right hole, and getting into the secondary. Most of his long runs were not TD's, he's not a burner and he usually eventually got caught.

I like JJ as much as anybody but the heavy carries need to go to Hightower not JJ. JJ was used quite well last week, continue to do that, but the #1 guy has to be Hightower he's simply a better player.

 

[tenplay]

Russ - You seem to know a lot about Cal football. Any Cal seniors or players coming out early that we should be interested in? We surely could use Alex Mack, one of the best lineman in the Pac10, on our OL.

Re JJ, I agree that Hightower has earned the starts. But to protect him from injuries and prolong his career, we need another RB like JJ to spell him regularly. I don't think Edge has it anymore and he is a drag on our payroll. So start Hightower and use JJ on third downs and for longer stretches in the 2nd half. Anyway it's great to have two RBs who can break off long runs at any time.

 

[Russ Smith]

Russ - You seem to know a lot about Cal football. Any Cal seniors or players coming out early that we should be interested in? We surely could use Alex Mack, one of the best lineman in the Pac10, on our OL.

Re JJ, I agree that Hightower has earned the starts. But to protect him from injuries and prolong his career, we need another RB like JJ to spell him regularly. I don't think Edge has it anymore and he is a drag on our payroll. So start Hightower and use JJ on third downs and for longer stretches in the 2nd half. Anyway it's great to have two RBs who can break off long runs at any time.

Yeah Cal is local ish to me so I follow them. I've discussed Alex Mack with others on the board, really good, athletic for a C I think he's going to be a very good NFL C.

They have some LB's that are ok but I think Follett and Williams are too small for the 3-4.

The better pro prospects on the team are underclassmen, I think Jahvid Best will be very interesting but he's only a soph, I'm really high on Kevin Riley the QB he's inconsistent but he's got a great arm and he can move around too. they have a Wr I really like too, I'm blanking on his name, caught a TD from Riley last week.

And they have a freshman Punter named Bryan Anger who is going to be a 12-15 year NFL punter. He's got a great leg, is athletic, he's only 18-19, and he even punted 2 games with an injured leg or his numbers would be even better.
The Pac 10 is loaded with punters this year and that's another position we could use an upgrade.

 

[ThunderCard]

bumpalicious. I know a lot will disagree, however we need to turn JJ into the starter for right now. Like Whiz said the best person wins the job and the best RB out there right now is JJ.

 

[Spielman]

Actually, I think the Arrington/Hightower shuffle is working the best right now.

It'd be unusual for a running back to have as little success as Arrington has had in his first several seasons and then blossom into a star. There are exceptions, of course (Thomas Jones, James Brooks) but most running backs hit their stride pretty quickly.

Arrington's improvement in yards per carry is startling, as is his lead over the other backs in that category, but it's also only 21 carries we're talking about. Still, he's obviously earned some more PT.

The more I watch, the more I think that Hightower is serviceable, but unlikely to be a great feature back. The solution there probably isn't on the roster yet, unfortunately.

 

[ThunderCard]

The more I watch, the more I think that Hightower is serviceable, but unlikely to be a great feature back. The solution there probably isn't on the roster yet, unfortunately.

Completely agree and it is not a slight on Hightower. Hightower is decent, but we still really lack the break away speed back that JJ resembles most. Hopefully we go after Sproles in the off season

 

[Russ Smith]

Actually, I think the Arrington/Hightower shuffle is working the best right now.

It'd be unusual for a running back to have as little success as Arrington has had in his first several seasons and then blossom into a star. There are exceptions, of course (Thomas Jones, James Brooks) but most running backs hit their stride pretty quickly.

Arrington's improvement in yards per carry is startling, as is his lead over the other backs in that category, but it's also only 21 carries we're talking about. Still, he's obviously earned some more PT.

The more I watch, the more I think that Hightower is serviceable, but unlikely to be a great feature back. The solution there probably isn't on the roster yet, unfortunately.

My take is at Cal JJ was lined up deeper, he has really struggled with that in the NFL being closer to the LOS, for whatever reason he's better deep.

Now we're in the shotgun so much, when he does get carries, he's often deeper in the backfield than he was in prior years, and he's flourishing.

We also have to keep in mind most of his runs are in passing situations so we're crossing up defenses. If he was in the base offense getting carries on run downs he likely wouldn't be so effective.

I have a feeling he could play a big role against the Giants, their pass rush is so good you have to use screens and short passes to help. We could see Kurt checking down a lot more, sort of like Edwards did to Lynch on MNF after he threw 3 early picks and got gunshy. We need to protect Kurt and one way to do that is throw underneath.