Panther Fan Here Wondering About Sutton

[tarpanther9180]

Hey guys, how's it going? Carolina Panther fan here (obviously) and I was wondering about the RB we just signed, Mr. Sutton. Seems like you guys cut him because the coaches wanted 3 FBs. Does that sound right? How is Sutton? How did he play in the preseason? I watched some of his college highlights and he looked pretty good. We need an insurance guy because J. Stewart is banged up.

I figured you guys were the best ones to ask about Sutton. I hope you guys have a good year (I'll pulling for you to win division). I also want Rodgers to do well, since he is my fantasy QB...lol

-TarPanther

 

[PackersRS]

IMO it was a bad cut. He clearly had outplayed Wynn and Lumpkin for that 3rd spot. But the thing is, he's small, isn't fast, doesn't break a lot of tackles, and isn't good ar kick returns, and can't block. I don't know about his hands.
That being said, he is a great fit for the ZBS. He can find holes very quickly, and because of his stature, can go through those holes very quickly too. he can make the first tackler miss. When asked to run a man blocking scheme, he didn't follow his lead blocker that well. Reports are that he wasn't kept because they didn't like his potential, and didn't saw him as a good 3rd down back. But he can surely run the ball, in the right system. I believe he can be a great NFL backup, in the right system. They wanted to bring him to the PS.

 

[Murgen]

I think PackerRS nailed that summary. I think the small size and inability to block is what did him in. I think they are thinking about maximizing protection for Rogers as they don't want to go through what happened last year. Add in the way Rogers is playing in the preseason, I don't blame them.

Glad he found a team, although I wish we would have gotten him on the PS.

 

[mattlock]

IMO it was a bad cut. He clearly had outplayed Wynn and Lumpkin for that 3rd spot. But the thing is, he's small, isn't fast, doesn't break a lot of tackles, and isn't good ar kick returns, and can't block. I don't know about his hands.
That being said, he is a great fit for the ZBS. He can find holes very quickly, and because of his stature, can go through those holes very quickly too. he can make the first tackler miss. When asked to run a man blocking scheme, he didn't follow his lead blocker that well. Reports are that he wasn't kept because they didn't like his potential, and didn't saw him as a good 3rd down back. But he can surely run the ball, in the right system. I believe he can be a great NFL backup, in the right system. They wanted to bring him to the PS.

I agree, I thought he looked better than Wynn. Plus, I don't quite understand the keeping three FB's move. I thought they all played well, but I would have kept Quinn for sure and just flipped a coin to see which of the other two I would have kept. I sense a trade or something in the future. They say Quinn has a move for a guy his size, so maybe that is part of the plan. Think Brandon Jacobs... It would be sweet to see a guy like Quinn mowing down linebackers and secondary if he can run anywhere near the way Jacobs does for the Giants.

I am not totally convinced Grant is the answer at RB, and Jackson looks like a third down back at best. A little more depth there would have made me more comfortable.

 

[doughsellz]

IMO it was a bad cut. He clearly had outplayed Wynn and Lumpkin for that 3rd spot. But the thing is, he's small, isn't fast, doesn't break a lot of tackles, and isn't good ar kick returns, and can't block. I don't know about his hands.
That being said, he is a great fit for the ZBS. He can find holes very quickly, and because of his stature, can go through those holes very quickly too. he can make the first tackler miss.

You've got Sutton confused with Lumpkin. I also think you're contradicting yourself a little with your insights on Sutton.

I just watched the AZ game again & maybe it's just the 2nd stringers he was facing but he was faster than anyone around him after getting his hands on the ball. He did play a little in the first half so he faced AZ's starters.

I liked his hustle & fully expected him to be on the team instead of one of the FBs. When Wynn's alter ego shows up again we're all gonna wish Sutton had been retained. CAR is the perfect home for him though. I wish him the best of luck.

 

[PackersRS]

You've got Sutton confused with Lumpkin. I also think you're contradicting yourself a little with your insights on Sutton.

I just watched the AZ game again & maybe it's just the 2nd stringers he was facing but he was faster than anyone around him after getting his hands on the ball. He did play a little in the first half so he faced AZ's starters.

I liked his hustle & fully expected him to be on the team instead of one of the FBs. When Wynn's alter ego shows up again we're all gonna wish Sutton had been retained. CAR is the perfect home for him though. I wish him the best of luck.

What made you think that I confused him for Lumpkin, and that I contradicted myself? From what I've seen, Sutton doesn't have breakaway speed, can't turn the corner, like Darren Sproles or Leon Washington. But he has quickness, some lateral, but mainly straight ahead quickness, he gets though the holes very fast. Acceleration, if you will. And he doesn't have a lot of moves, but has enough to make the first tackler miss. He reminds me of a poor man's Clinton Portis, but with less bulk.

What I've seen from Lumpkin indicates that he has quickness, too. And he's a lot harder to bring down than Sutton. But he just doesn't have the same vision.

Lumpkin is a better athlete. Wynn is a more physical Rb, and a much better blocker. But Sutton is a better runner, plain and simple.

 

[Terry Ott]

Sutton loves to prove people wrong

Sutton has made a career out of proving people wrong, and the Packers are the latest.

He was Ohio's 2004 Mr. Football winner after gaining 9400+ yards in his HS career (Ohio record), and Ohio State took a pass on him because of size. Their mistake. That was obvious in his Freshman year, as he racked up almost 1500 rushing yards at Northwestern, which doesn't always have a great offensive line. Sporting News Offensive Freshman of the Year and first-team Freshman All-American. Consensus Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Rivals.com first-team All-American (all-purpose position). Runner-up in Rivals.com national freshman of the year voting, and SI.com's honorable mention All-America. At end of 2008 season, led all active running backs nationally in career receiving yards per game (31.1) and career receptions per game (3.7). Racked up 5138 all-purpose yards in what was about 3 Big Ten seasons, considering he missed several gmes with injuries.

Having followed Tyrell from the days I saw his high school tapes, I will just say this: You may not think he is the strongest, fastest, most elusive, or anything else as some on this board have done, and I've heard it all before. All he is is a superb package that gets it done, all of it. As McCarthy rightly said, he's "instinctive", and as commentator and ex-QB Rich Gannon said (and he has seen a lot of RBs), "he has what it takes to be a special NFL player." His patience and vision behind blocking, followed by the burst, or by a quick move to the outside, followed by dogged power to close the run -- priceless.

The Packers will look back on this cut and say, "What WERE we thinking?". My reply would be, "I have NO idea." I look forward to following Sutton's ascension (again) and if he stays healthy, he will be a mainstay at the very least. My advice to Fox, "just use him, you will NOT be disappointed."

I believe he was the 5th leading rusher in the NFL this preseason, which is not too shabby for being undrafted and presumably undersized (which is a crock). Apparently it doesn't count for much that he when he disappears into a pile across the line of scrimmage by 2-3 steps, the pile moves around him 2 or 3 or 4 yards beyond where you expect to see him on the ground. I've seen it for years now at Northwestern, and I've seen plenty of tacklers whiff on him, and always felt blessed he was moving the ball for "us" instead of for "them".

You will not find a more up-beat, positive, and team-oriented guy anywhere. Enjoy.

 

[dansz15]

Carolina is lucky, he is a great player. He should of made the team and I think he has some solid potential. Great player at TCU, and well rounded. Great pick up.

 

[Murgen]

I don't think it helped Sutton's cause when he was running and tried to knock the Card's defender back off the goal line, but instead was thrown back himself. That made him look undersized for the NFL imo. And that was against 2nd stringers I believe. He also didn't look that great at ST.

 

[PackersRS]

Running with the ball had nothing to do with his release IMO. It was all about ST and blocking. They don't expect the 3rd back to run with the ball, and don't need to groom a future back, since Grant is only 26. So the situations in which he would've been used this year was in 3rd down and in ST. And in both he wasn't as good as Wynn. As I've said before, I'd still keep him, because if it were only for blocking and ST play, we already have 3 FBs. But, nonetheless, those were the reasons IMO.

 

[Jess]

You have DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Barring injury, you may never see Sutton, so I wouldn't worry about him too much.

That said, he might be a better back than our starter, Ryan Grant. Time will tell, I guess.

 

[packedhouse01]

I for one was surprised that we cut him. He runs hard and I think the pro game might suit him better than the college game. I wouldn't have had a problem with him as our lead back.

 

[ThinkICare]

I am another surprised Packer fan when hearing about this. I don't understand why they just couldn't release Hall or Kuhn.

 

[Pugger]

It all came down to special teams. It appears this coaching staff wants the backups to shine in ST and this is probably why we kept Kuhn and Hall (they didn't want to risk losing that rookie FB so they kept all 3). So it came down to Lumpkin and Sutton. I'm sure they hoped they could've put both on the PS. Oh well. We couldn't keep all the fellas that were in camp this summer.

 

[Twizz]

At first I thought it was a bad move. Keeping 3 FBs makes no sense right? It does if your going to be passing alot and using one of those FB's ie Quinn Johnson, on 3 and short.

TT is like a chess master. Always 3 or 4 moves ahead of of what is going on now. I have a feeling, he might know what he is doing this time.

 

[ThinkICare]

So, it's all about ST huh? I guess that makes sense. I just wished TT would've let Dietrich-Smith go and kept Sutton.

 

[PackersRS]

So, it's all about ST huh? I guess that makes sense. I just wished TT would've let Dietrich-Smith go and kept Sutton.

TT likes Dietrich-Smith, he can play C and G, and Scott Wells can be a nice trade value.

 

[Hobbes09]

I think people really overrate Sutton here. He looked great running against second and third stringers, but when he got his shot against the ones he didn't do much with it. Aside from that he's not all that fast, small, a crappy blocker, doesn't follow the FB like he should and doesn't have much use on ST.

What he had was good vision of what was happening and a fairly quick football mind, but that doesn't make up for all his other failings. Grant, Wynn and Jackson might not have looked as good this preseason, but Grant, Wynn and Jackson weren't going up against a bunch of guys who wouldn't make the team.