Is Dujuan Harris flying under the radar as a huge running threat?

Harrison McCaslin

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I'm not sure about anybody else, but Dujuan Harris, even in the middle of the season ran the ball EXTREMELY well. I'm talking six, seven yards a carry. Is he flying under the NFL radar, only to pop out as a huge running threat in the NFL? I'd love some of your thoughts on this subject.
 

98Redbird

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Hey, I'll be the first one to eat crow on this... I desperately want a running game in Green Bay. It could be MM's and TT's red headed love child at this point, I don't care....

I just don't see Harris being that guy, but here's hoping to being wrong!
 

Wood Chipper

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He averaged 4.6 ypc in the regular season which is good but dropped to 3.6 in the post season which is merely below average.
 

GoPGo

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He averaged 4.6 ypc in the regular season which is good but dropped to 3.6 in the post season which is merely below average.
He averaged 4.8 against SF. That's 1.2 higher than they allowed on average.
 

Jordyruns

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He averaged 4.6 ypc in the regular season which is good but dropped to 3.6 in the post season which is merely below average.

I think that number is scewed not because of the load he had pilled up but because of the Packers abysmal play calling the second half of the Wild Card playoff game. Harris looked great while Green Bay had their foot on the throttle in the first half. Then the calling got so predictable in the second half Harris could not do anything about it.

I think Harris will be our best back but I think Lacy will be our most featured all season. Harris will sort of be like a great 6th man in basketball who comes off the bench and brings some excitement and play-making ability.
 

El Guapo

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Is he flying under the NFL radar, only to pop out as a huge running threat in the NFL?
No, and it has nothing to do with him. He is under the NFL radar because the world recognizes that we are a pass-first offense with a mediocre O-line and the best QB in the league. They all recognize that we wouldn't be balanced even if we had Adrian Peterson starting at tailback
 

Einstein McFly

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No, and it has nothing to do with him. He is under the NFL radar because the world recognizes that we are a pass-first offense with a mediocre O-line and the best QB in the league. They all recognize that we wouldn't be balanced even if we had Adrian Peterson starting at tailback

I agree with 99% of this post. We have a mediocre RUN BLOCKING oline. As much as we pass (and the opposing defense knows it) and as much as our QB holds the ball so long trying to make plays, we're going to have more sacks than a team with an average weapon at QB, but our lineman are actually pretty good pass blockers.

But yeah, that's why it surprised me when they took two backs in the last draft. We're not going to run the ball a ton because it takes the ball out of the hands of the best QB in the league, so why spend a ton on talented backs?
 

Einstein McFly

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Why not? He's exactly the same size as Barry Sanders. I'm pretty sure he ran more than 20x a game.

Not sure if serious....

It's not as if everyone in the NFL who is Barry Sanders' size carries the ball 20 times a game. Sanders was the most elusive back ever and plenty of guys way bigger than him have been pounded into submission after a few years.
 

GoPGo

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Not sure if serious....

It's not as if everyone in the NFL who is Barry Sanders' size carries the ball 20 times a game. Sanders was the most elusive back ever and plenty of guys way bigger than him have been pounded into submission after a few years.
Absolutely serious. You can't just look at a guy's height and weight and make that your basis for saying a guy can't carry the ball 20 times. Every player is different. And Sanders took plenty of hits. He was a guy who would have a pattern of runs like this most of the time for a typical game: 2,4,2,16,1,20,5,1,0,0,3,66,2,-5,4,1,8,3,0,18,26,-2,3
 

GoPGo

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I agree with 99% of this post. We have a mediocre RUN BLOCKING oline. As much as we pass (and the opposing defense knows it) and as much as our QB holds the ball so long trying to make plays, we're going to have more sacks than a team with an average weapon at QB, but our lineman are actually pretty good pass blockers.

But yeah, that's why it surprised me when they took two backs in the last draft. We're not going to run the ball a ton because it takes the ball out of the hands of the best QB in the league, so why spend a ton on talented backs?
Because it keeps the defense from blitzing non-stop.
 

Oshkoshpackfan

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Just because the 2 players, Harris at 5'7" 210 Lbs, and Barry Sanders at 5'8" and 208 Lbs are similar in height/weight does not make them similar in body design. Sanders had tree trunk like thighs and seemed to run with a burst in every direction. His cut backs were literally ankle breakers. The guy had super hero like leg power and used all of that to his advantage. To bad he retired when he did, he had plenty off gas left in the tank and would have broken most all running records. I still hate the choice of taking Tony Mandrich over Barry Sanders in the draft way back when....that was a super bone head move of ages.
 

Sunshinepacker

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He weighs 203 lbs, height doesn't matter. Why do people care about height? Taller running backs actually make bigger targets and take more punishment. 203 lbs is plenty big enough to be the primary ball carrier in the offense, especially when he hasn't even had a full year of a professional workout regimen. Ray Rice entered the league weighing 195 lbs and currently weighs a wopping 9 pounds more than Harris.

Of course, some will ignore the point of that comparison; I'm not saying Harris is as good as Rice, just that Rice has been VERY durable and weighs less than 10 pounds more than Harris. Lesean McCoy is 3 inches taller than Harris but only outweighs him by 8 pounds.

So, could someone please explain to me why Harris is too small to be a primary ball carrier? Other players have done it, ARE doing it. Harris played very well for us last year, did a good job running the ball and was actually a very good receiver during the postseason (something that many forget is that he had 5 receptions for 53 yards against the Vikings). His size didn't seem to hinder him then.
 

Oshkoshpackfan

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He is NOT to small, those that say he is, don't know what they are talking about. Hell, there have been and still are smaller guys that have been durable and successful as well.....RB/scat back......Sprolls comes to mind
 

FrankRizzo

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Absolutely right.

Shortness is an ADVANTAGE for a RB, for many reasons. As long as they're strong and have good balance.
Harris does.

Being low to the ground helps. It helps in leverage. It helps in he's a bit harder to see for the defenders looking in thru the line, pile of guys.

And a big one: his ACLs, knees, are lower and a little harder for the DB & LBers to get down to.

In fact, I feel a team should employ more shorter RB's in the Ray Rice, MJD, DuJuan Harris mold. There will never be another Barry Sanders though........ Even though...... there already is. Barry Sanders Jr over at Stanford. He's not the same.
 

AmishMafia

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I'm hoping for Harris, but I realize if the TT and MM thought very highly of him, they probably would not have taken two RBs in the first 5 picks of the last draft.
 

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