Anyone else remember Omar Epps in "The Program"? If so, then you remember Epps played the supremely talented but totally assholish (yet another word I've made up) Darnell Jefferson, a promising young tailback who has one small problem...he fumbles the football too much. So the coach makes him walk around with a football all day while his teammates try and make him fumble...at class, in the gym, etc. Well our Willie Parker has a similar problem, albeit to a much lesser degree and without all the Hollywood drama (but who knows, maybe Willie wants to date Halle Berry too?).
As we all know, if there's one thing that Fast Willie could improve upon it would be his fumbling issues. He's not exactly Ahman Green or Tiki Barber, but anytime you put the ball on the ground you're talkin' trouble. So, for lack of any other glaring weaknesses, it wasn't surprising that Steelers beat writer Jim Wexell focused on this when he sat down with Parker recently. A good read if you have 3 minutes...
Here's my take on all this: Sure, it's a problem. But like most Steelers, Willie Parker is a fiery guy. He works hard and has been training tirelessly in the offseason, to the point of feeling like he's about to vomit, so that he has no excuses when September rolls around. I applaud Willie for his dedication. It's obviously this work ethic that has helped him, as an undrafted free agent, become a pro bowl tailback in a league full of teams that feature two first/second/third rounders sharing carries.
As for how Parker will fare in 2007: I commented on AOL Fanhouse blogger JJ Cooper's post about Willie's "problem" thusly -- as the Steelers spread the field and use four wide, go no huddle or just throw defenses off by being generally unpredicatable, Willie Parker will flourish. If the Steelers are able to establish this type of an offense, we might as well get used to 75 yard Willie Parker touchdown runs, cause I think we'll be seeing a lot more of them than any of us could have expected. Can't wait.
What do you think? Is Willie Parker the guy for the Steelers, despite lacking the prototypical size and running style? Who will be the 2nd and 3rd options behind him? How many runs of 45 yards or more do you think he'll show us next season? You think maybe Ichiro hates Cleveland because he's a Steeler fan?
June 11, 2007
Spotlight on Willie Parker...
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2 comments:
Let me be the first to say that I have mixed feelings about the new "Arians Offense." I know we Steelers fans are optimistic about everything because we have a reason to be, but this reminds me all too much of the "Tommy Maddox Year," where we spread it out to the tune of a 6-10 record. Arians seems like he's trying to throw in a different type of offense to perhaps make a name for himself. He's an old guy and realizes that this is a young man's league now when it comes to head coaching. I just hope he doesn't do it at the expense of the team. I don't give a shit where the players line up and who's on the field, but he better plan on about a 58%/42% run:pass ratio or else our record won't be great.
Perhaps I'm wrong here because I have yet to see an article making these points of contention (from Pittsburgh media or otherwise) but the new scheme worries me a bit.
Hey, it's your constitutional rite as a Steeler fan to be skeptical. I myself am taking a wait and see approach. I think the Steelers organization knows what they're doing enough to know what will/will not win a championship. So I'm hoping we're planning out accordingly.
That said, I'm not a huge Arians fan either, so mixed feelings for sure.
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