Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

[Cubs231721]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Okay, .

I don't care where DHB was drafted. I don't care what he did for the worst offense in recent history. All I care about is his skillset, his build, his work ethic, and what he's done for this franchise. That's all you should look at too.

I recognize that in four games, he was fairly reliable, if somewhat seldom-targeted. And then he has 1 stinker of a game (against one of the best secondaries in the league), and cdash is saying he sucks. That is the DEFINITION of an over-reaction. Just like proclaiming TRich a waste of a pick after a week and a half.

The question is, what has DHB done for the Colts so far? He hasn't been a deep threat. His average catch has gone for 10.4 yards, which is 93rd in the league and 4th on the Colts. He hasn't been a TD scorer, as he has none of Luck's 7 TD's so far. He hasn't been the possession guy picking up lots of 1st downs, because he only has 13 catches on the season. And as you've mentioned, his catch rate on his targets was only average before he had his bad game in week 5 that will drop his season stats to below average. The Colts say he's a good blocker on running plays, so I'll take their word on that and give him credit for that. And he might have picked up his share of pass interference calls as well.

He hasn't been a disaster, but he's been incredibly replaceable so far. He's shown he's an average 3rd/4th receiver, and there are lots of those around the NFL. His Oakland days suggest that he'll catch a few more deep balls for TD's over the course of the year, but that's likely about it.

[cdash]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Okay, .

I don't care where DHB was drafted. I don't care what he did for the worst offense in recent history. All I care about is his skillset, his build, his work ethic, and what he's done for this franchise. That's all you should look at too.

I recognize that in four games, he was fairly reliable, if somewhat seldom-targeted. And then he has 1 stinker of a game (against one of the best secondaries in the league), and cdash is saying he sucks. That is the DEFINITION of an over-reaction. Just like proclaiming TRich a waste of a pick after a week and a half.

So you want me to ignore everything a guy has done everywhere else in his career before he comes to the Colts? These guys are NFL players. They are elite athletes. Almost every single one of them is going to have a good skillset and build or else they probably wouldn't be in the NFL. Work ethic is a huge difference maker, I agree wholeheartedly there.

It's not an overreaction because I didn't change my opinion of him after last game. If you had asked me anytime in the past few years, and certainly in weeks 1-4, I would have said that he sucked. But I don't hate the pickup of DHB for a few reasons: 1) He came cheap. 2) He does have one elite skill--his speed. 3) I think good quarterback play is something he's never seen before and I think Luck might be able to coax something out of him. But man it drives me crazy when he tries to catch the ball by trapping it against his body.

I have to assume he will have a few pretty good games for us playing across from Reggie Wayne and with the dynamic (and scary as hell) TY Hilton in the slot, and I further assume every time he makes a decent play from now on I shall hear about it from you.

[BRushWithDeath]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Darius Heyward-Bey has been an extremely good blocker, a poor pass catcher, and has used his speed to draw a few penalties. Overall he's basically been exactly average. Which is just what we hoped Donnie Avery would be last year. In this case, average is an improvement.

[Gamble1]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Darius Heyward-Bey has been an extremely good blocker, a poor pass catcher, and has used his speed to draw a few penalties. Overall he's basically been exactly average. Which is just what we hoped Donnie Avery would be last year. In this case, average is an improvement.

I still view him as a stop gap that needs to be replaced by a guy in the draft or in the 2014 FA's. I have my eyes on Golden Tate, Jacoby Jones or Eric Decker.

[cdash]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

I still view him as a stop gap that needs to be replaced by a guy in the draft or in the 2014 FA's. I have my eyes on Golden Tate, Jacoby Jones or Eric Decker.

Yeah I think that's how the FA views him as well. And I'm fine with that, that's what you expect out of a guy like that. I wish Jacksonville was stupid enough to deal Justin Blackmon for a couple of third round picks or something. I really like him.

[Kid Minneapolis]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Justin Blackmon is an idiot. I want no part of that.

[cdash]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Justin Blackmon is an idiot. I want no part of that.

That he is

That's kind of why I was hoping to be able to get him for a low price. I think he's really talented, and maybe in a locker room like ours where we have good leadership and won't tolerate **** like that he would get his act together. I wouldn't trade anything of high value for him (ie, no pick higher than a third rounder), but if the Jags wanted to rid themselves of his idiocy, then I'd be interested at the right price.

[PacersHomer]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Heyward-Bey's DVOA has been almost exactly 0. He is pretty much the definition of average.

[cdash]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9906866/the-browns-had-good-sense-trade-rb-trent-richardson-making-indy-problem

Presented without commentary:

Just over a month ago, the sky was supposedly falling in Cleveland.

That's because the Browns had traded running back Trent Richardson, the third overall selection in the 2012 NFL draft, to the Indianapolis Colts in a move that many deemed sheer lunacy. The belief at the time was that Cleveland was giving up its best offensive weapon, a player who should be the bedrock of the franchise.

Now the only criticisms that can be heard are coming from Indianapolis, where Richardson remains the disappointing talent the Browns had the good sense to deal.

It's not that Richardson is a bad player. It's just that he's not an exceptional one.

He has yet to gain more than 60 yards in any of his five games with the Colts. He's had 75 carries during that time and produced all of 228 yards, which is a worse yards-per-attempt average than he generated in his first two games with Cleveland this season (3.04 compared to 3.39). Richardson scored the first two touchdowns of his season while in Indianapolis, but more people likely recall his critical fumble late in the Colts' upset win over Denver on Oct. 20.

As much as optimists in Indianapolis preach the importance of patience when faced with these facts, it's becoming hard to see the upside in a player who was supposed to be special and cost the Colts a first-round pick.

"We were getting killed when we made that deal, but now people are seeing the same things we saw in him," one Browns source said. "There is a lot to like about Trent. He's solid, dependable, hard-working. The problem is that he's not explosive."

That final indictment is the biggest reason Colts fans should be concerned about their new franchise running back moving forward. Richardson has logged 373 carries in his two-year career. Only 20 of those rushing attempts have ended in a run longer than 10 yards, which ranks him 32nd among all running backs since the start of the 2012 season. Richardson also has failed to be the perfect counterpart to quarterback Andrew Luck on a team that was hoping to balance its offense with a dominant power-running component.

[+] EnlargeTrent Richardson
AP Photo/AJ Mast
Trent Richardson has failed to impress in five games with the Colts, averaging a paltry 3.04 yards per carry, with just two touchdowns.
The Colts had the idealistic notion that Luck -- who threw 627 passes last season as a rookie -- would make life easier for Richardson. All of those Browns fans who balked at the trade believed that Richardson wasn't becoming a star in Cleveland because the team had nothing else around him. They didn't see a running back who rushed for 950 yards last season because that was the best he could do. They viewed Richardson as a promising talent who had the misfortune of facing eight- and nine-man fronts every time he lined up for the Browns.

Well, Richardson isn't seeing too many stacked boxes in Indianapolis these days. He's also not the only player in this league who has to deal with defenses designed to stop him. Minnesota's Adrian Peterson has seen that throughout his seven-year career, and he ran for 2,097 yards in 2012, less than a year after he underwent reconstructive surgery for a torn ACL. Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew hasn't had much of a supporting cast around him, either. He wound up leading the league in rushing in 2011 with a career-high 1,606 yards.

The issue with Richardson is that he's mostly effective in situations where his team needs tough yards. As the Browns source said: "I saw him score on a 1-yard touchdown in his first game there (a 27-7 win over San Francisco) and the announcer said that was why the Colts traded for him. And all I could think was that play was right in Trent's wheelhouse. He'll make those plays for you all day. But when you need seven yards, he'll still get you three."

There already have been several theories offered as to why Richardson has continued to struggle on a better team. Some have suggested that he's trying too hard to make something happen. Others suspect he's overthinking things or simply struggling to fit in with a new offensive line. Those people still think of Richardson as the same talent he was touted to be after leaving Alabama. They don't want to believe they possibly could be wrong.

In reality, it's hard to think Alabama didn't make Richardson look better than he really was. He played with three offensive linemen in college who were selected in this year's draft – including first-round picks D.J. Fluker and Chance Warmack – and it's not like he's the first Crimson Tide runner to disappoint in the NFL. Richardson split time with Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram at Alabama. That would be the same Mark Ingram who has 1,107 career rushing yards since the New Orleans Saints selected him with the 28th overall pick in the 2011 draft.

The only defense Ingram has at this stage of his career is opportunity. The Saints have enough talent in their backfield -- with Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles in the mix -- one could argue that a crowded depth chart has factored into Ingram's lack of production. On the other hand, another former Alabama runner, Green Bay rookie Eddie Lacy, has gained 446 yards this season and launched himself into the early conversation for offensive rookie of the year honors. He's already proven what some scouts thought about him when he entered the draft -- that he could be better than both Ingram and Richardson in the long run.

The big question the Colts now face is whether Richardson can elevate his game in the second half of this season. Indianapolis already lost one huge offensive weapon when Pro Bowl wide receiver Reggie Wayne tore his ACL against Denver, so it's fair to assume the Colts will need more from their running game. If Richardson really does have star potential, this is the time to start showing it. But if what we've seen so far is any indication, nobody in Indianapolis should be raising their hopes too high.

[Kid Minneapolis]

All fine and dandy but the article pointed very little to the o line, except to admit he hadn't had a good one since alabama.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[cdash]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

All fine and dandy but the article pointed very little to the o line, except to admit he hadn't had a good one since alabama.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

I thought the stuff from the Browns sources was the most interesting part.

[Kid Minneapolis]

They said he has no burst. No kidding, he's a shifty power back. When you don't have a line then it's an issue. We're basically trying to run a power offense with a power back --- and the exact opposite line. Until they get that line fixed, we're going to keep seeing these silly articles.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[cdash]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

We all know my stance so I'm not going to jump back into the circular argument game, but just thought that was interesting. FWIW, Wells tweeted that out.

[Johanvil]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

Well, Wells was on that video of the article so it makes sense.

Yes he runs behind an average to bad OL. But by keep mentioning it, we basically admit he's not something exceptional. I'm not gonna mention his draft pick because that's not on him but on the team that scouted him and evaluated. I'm all for giving him time and judge him towards the end of this season and the next one but so far he has been "meh".

Also, take a look at this stat over here http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/OL

I found it interesting that the Colts' OL is ranked 3rd in Stuffed rank*. I'd tell you before seeing that stat that there were enough times that I thought T-Rich had nowhere to go almost from the get go of the snap.

*Stuffed: Percentage of runs where the running back is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage. Since being stuffed is bad, teams are ranked from stuffed least often (#1) to most often (#32).

[presto123]

Re: Trent Richardson to Colts for 1st round pick

As I posted on the Colts board, it's time to use him in a different way. Especially with Reggie going down. Use him as a safety valve/possession receiver or even split him out wide. He should be getting 5 targets per game instead of 1.5 or something he has been getting. Get Trent in the open field and we will really see how dangerous he can be.