Solid read on JJ

seesred

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J.J. Arrington, RB, Arizona Cardinals
By Sean Quincey, Edited by Cory J. Bonini
What a tangled web we weave. Throughout the offseason it was expected that disgruntled and displaced Buffalo Bills RB Travis Henry would go to the Arizona Cardinals via trade. The deal was not done by draft day, and Arizona ended up taking Cal RB J.J. Arrington in the second round. Arrington will challenge for the starting slot and that could deter Henry from pursuing the team as Henry is leaving his former team.

Arrington suffers from Kansas City Chiefs RB "Larry Johnson Disease". Like Johnson when he was drafted two years ago, Arrington was the only player in the collegiate ranks to rush for 2,000 yards in his senior season and was still not the first running back taken.

Forget about the "Big 3" running backs that came out this year - even better, remember them. Remember that none of them rushed for 2,000 yards, none of them had 100 rushing performances in every game and none of them averaged more than six yards per carry. Arrington did all that but he's still not considered a "top-tier" running back in this draft. What more does he have to do?

How about Arrington's help taking a team to its highest ranking in 50 years and, in the same season deliver the only 100-yard rushing performance against the eventual national champs? How about clock one the fastest 40 times (4.46) of all running backs at the combine (he also ran a reported 4.39 at his campus workout)? The Cardinals obviously thought he was good enough to pick up as the fourth running back in the draft, and it's looking like he is going to be the small, shifty runner in Arizona next year, not Henry.

Positives
Arrington owns two years of productive playing experience in Cal head coach Jeff Tedford's pro-style West Coast offense. Every NFL team employs some form of this offense into its scheme, and he'll catch on to Cardinals head coach Dennis Green's playbook quickly because of his familiarity with the system. His quarterback at Cal, Aaron Rodgers, owes some of his success to Arrington. Knowing that Arrington would rattle off seven yards every time he ran the ball, defensive coordinators could not drop six and seven people into coverage. Even when Cal's best receivers were battling injuries (all season), and defenses were given flexibility to key on him, Arrington produced.

Like recently drafted Miami Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown, Arrington's body has absorbed only limited damage during college. He started every game in his senior season, but that's it. Other guys have durability questions because of old injuries and Arrington has nothing lingering.

He's a short, but compact, muscular runner who accelerates quickly out of cuts and through cut back lanes very effectively. Though undersized, Arrington will grind out between-the-tackles yards and meets linebackers near the line of scrimmage in pass protection.

I can't wait
GBR
40


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

CardsFan88

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That was a great read with some good takes. :thumbup:

Just like everyone else here, I sure hope he's right. :)
 

Solar7

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The more I read about this kid, the more excited I get. Hopefully he can turn some of Emmitt's 15 yard runs into TDs.
 

Russ Smith

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they had a blurb on him in the Chronicle and how he said he so excited to go to Arizona because he really liked his interview with Green at the combine and he felt Green was the perfect coach to utilize him or something similar.

As in other articles we've seen he said people concerned about his size don't get it, he LOST weight after his first year at Cal because he was told it would make him quicker, he said it's not that hard at all for him to bulk up by lifting weights and modifying his diet and he imagines he'll put on about 10 pounds to play in the NFL. Which BTW is essentially his weight his first year at Cal so he's not going to be an inflated RB he'll be at his playing weight as a junior.

I can't wait to watch him run.
 

BigRedFan

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Sounds good to me.

seesred said:
J.J. Arrington, RB, Arizona Cardinals
By Sean Quincey, Edited by Cory J. Bonini
What a tangled web we weave. Throughout the offseason it was expected that disgruntled and displaced Buffalo Bills RB Travis Henry would go to the Arizona Cardinals via trade. The deal was not done by draft day, and Arizona ended up taking Cal RB J.J. Arrington in the second round. Arrington will challenge for the starting slot and that could deter Henry from pursuing the team as Henry is leaving his former team.

Arrington suffers from Kansas City Chiefs RB "Larry Johnson Disease". Like Johnson when he was drafted two years ago, Arrington was the only player in the collegiate ranks to rush for 2,000 yards in his senior season and was still not the first running back taken.

Forget about the "Big 3" running backs that came out this year - even better, remember them. Remember that none of them rushed for 2,000 yards, none of them had 100 rushing performances in every game and none of them averaged more than six yards per carry. Arrington did all that but he's still not considered a "top-tier" running back in this draft. What more does he have to do?

How about Arrington's help taking a team to its highest ranking in 50 years and, in the same season deliver the only 100-yard rushing performance against the eventual national champs? How about clock one the fastest 40 times (4.46) of all running backs at the combine (he also ran a reported 4.39 at his campus workout)? The Cardinals obviously thought he was good enough to pick up as the fourth running back in the draft, and it's looking like he is going to be the small, shifty runner in Arizona next year, not Henry.

Positives
Arrington owns two years of productive playing experience in Cal head coach Jeff Tedford's pro-style West Coast offense. Every NFL team employs some form of this offense into its scheme, and he'll catch on to Cardinals head coach Dennis Green's playbook quickly because of his familiarity with the system. His quarterback at Cal, Aaron Rodgers, owes some of his success to Arrington. Knowing that Arrington would rattle off seven yards every time he ran the ball, defensive coordinators could not drop six and seven people into coverage. Even when Cal's best receivers were battling injuries (all season), and defenses were given flexibility to key on him, Arrington produced.

Like recently drafted Miami Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown, Arrington's body has absorbed only limited damage during college. He started every game in his senior season, but that's it. Other guys have durability questions because of old injuries and Arrington has nothing lingering.

He's a short, but compact, muscular runner who accelerates quickly out of cuts and through cut back lanes very effectively. Though undersized, Arrington will grind out between-the-tackles yards and meets linebackers near the line of scrimmage in pass protection.

I can't wait
GBR
40


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

conraddobler

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Russ Smith said:
they had a blurb on him in the Chronicle and how he said he so excited to go to Arizona because he really liked his interview with Green at the combine and he felt Green was the perfect coach to utilize him or something similar.

As in other articles we've seen he said people concerned about his size don't get it, he LOST weight after his first year at Cal because he was told it would make him quicker, he said it's not that hard at all for him to bulk up by lifting weights and modifying his diet and he imagines he'll put on about 10 pounds to play in the NFL. Which BTW is essentially his weight his first year at Cal so he's not going to be an inflated RB he'll be at his playing weight as a junior.

I can't wait to watch him run.

All I can say is with previous regimes it seemed that whatever draft success we had was flukish in nature, with DG it's just he opposite, it's like he can't miss, although he does that sometimes, comparitavely it's so esquisite you almost can't believe your eyes.

Knowing that guy drafted this kid is enough to excite me in itself.
 

football karma

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JJ is the rookie I am looking forward to seeing play the most--

My frequent rant has been that the Cardinals havent been able to run the ball, or stop the run.

As poorly as it appeared the o line played last year, I cant tell you how many times in the second half of the season that Emmitt made it into the second level of the defense, only to be stopped for a five yard gain. He just didnt have that burst left to accelerate into the open field for a 15 to 20+ yard run.

Clearly JJ has the burst -- I just hope he has the vision and instincts to find that crease to get through the line to set up the burst.
 

BigDavis75

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I like it, we needed that home-run threat who is also a good combination with the power running of Shipp and Hammy. Hopefully we got just that in JJ.
 

Redsz

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en fuego said:
As poorly as it appeared the o line played last year, I cant tell you how many times in the second half of the season that Emmitt made it into the second level of the defense, only to be stopped for a five yard gain. He just didnt have that burst left to accelerate into the open field for a 15 to 20+ yard run.

Further more, how often was he hit in the backfield because he lacked the accleration to hit the hole?

I think we are going to see a BIG jump in our running game this year.
 

Goldfield

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What I like when I see JJ run the ball is he is a perfect NFL type runner.

He hits the hole hard & fast then makes one quick move to throw off the defenders angle. In traffic he turns his body just enought to bounce off contact & make it hard to wrap him up. He seems to absorb the blow & keep moving forward as he falls.

He is not the typical shifty cutback runner of guys his size. He runs hard, hits the holes fast, and avoids the big hits. He gets the most out of his runs with his speed, & his north & south running. He doesnt waste alot of time jitter bugging around.

I dont know if he will be a superstar, but I do think he will upgrade our running game alot. Shipp will be a perfect counter punch IMO.
 

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