DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2018 NFL Season Looking Back: Browns 21 Steelers 21 Duke

It seemed funny to me that Duke was not featured much in the preseason. He also has not been a big topic when the team is discussed. But, think about it, last year he was basically the most effective guy we had on offense. Hue loves him, and I would think Haley is going to devise a way to get him the ball.

To me, I think he is going to be a menace for defenses. With the weapons we have on the outside, and the legitimate threat Hyde presents at RB, I see Duke as flying under the radar. I look for him to contribute some huge plays at opportune times. He just might become the guy defenses have nightmares about when gameplanning.

I have mentioned this on several threads, but I don't think Haley will utilize Duke as much as Hue did.

We had a bunch of posters slamming Hue for not using Duke enough, but I took the time to research and post the number of touches that Duke and RBs who were similar to him received. Duke got a ton in comparison to almost all of them.

I might be wrong and Haley will use him as much, or more, than Hue did. But I doubt it.

I tend to agree. So, it doesn't help the team to show too much of how we'll deploy him in the preseason.

That's what I'm thinking

Y'all wanna place a friendly wager on this one?

I hope he uses him as much. With the attention the others are going to receive, he could be set to make some big plays.

I never win bets. LOL But it is going to be something to watch for

The team now has more weapons ...... Hyde, Duke, Njoku, DeValve, Landry, Higgins, Callaway, Gordon ......

We actually do have talent at receiving positions. We'll see how all the pieces fit, but I think that everyone's touches will probably go down. Assuming we throw the ball 500 times, and that could be a little low ..... still, even with 500 catches, 8 players for 500 catches total .... and with us possibly running a 2 TE offense as base, it seems likely that we'll see the ball spread around a lot more than in prior years.

I don't think that Landry will have 100 catches. I don't think that Gordon will. I don't think that Duke will.

I suspect that our leading receiver will have somewhere around 75-80 catches. I don't see anyone getting much more than that unless we have a ton of injuries.

How we deploy and use Duke will be directly linked to how good we are as a team. Other than Jarvis, I'm not sure any skill position wants it as bad as Duke does. I also think he does a good job running between the tackles.

The numbers?

I think at the beginning of last season, I said I didn't want to see him running between the tackles, but there were certainly times he had some good gaines doing so. I don't know how many touches he got when he did, I just remember, like you, that he did well.

Update: After looking at Pro Football Reference, it seems as though he had 51 rush attempts in-between the tackles for 3.54 per attempt average and 2 TDs in 2017. (He had 4 rushing TDs overall)

Note: I didn't include run descriptions where it mentioned a run to the right/left tackle or a run to the right/left end. Specifically for "tackle" I wasn't sure to what side he would go, so I thought it safer to exclude so I only counted run to the middle or to either guard. If I did include runs to tackles, three of four touchdowns and he has some big runs there too.

Update #2: If I include runs to the tackles (assuming some went inside), it increases to 3.95 per carry and 3 TDs.

So, not being snarky, what is the wager you had in mind? Not sure I see the terms of the bet involved here. What's on your mind?

Thanks for the stats, 3.5 isn't that great, even for a pass catching back. Kinda surprised by that stat. I thought he used his size a bit better between the numbers, so far as, using his size to hide behind linemen while still maintaining a low center of gravity. Guess I was a little wrong.