Sproles Used a Bit Too Much?
 

There seems to be a tad more attention placed to Sproles in this last game. Are the Saints using him too much now? Other than Jimmy "The Soul", most other Saints on offense were almost eerily quiet. He is a little guy after all.... can he last the season like this?

He makes plays..when Ivory comes back ..he will get a rest.

Perhaps a bit too much. They seem to be keying on him a bit more. In any case, PT still looks like the man. It's a long season.

I don't think he's being over utilized. 16 touches 91 yards on offense. As long as he remains productive, we continue finding him his touches. They rotate Ingram, Sproles, and Thomas constantly... none of them should be tired or worn out by season's end. I bet if you asked all of them, if anything, each would want more touches then they're getting.

I don't think any of our RBs are being utilized too much. It's great to have a three RB rotation, but at the same time I think it may be hard for these guys to get into a rythym when they are not touching the ball as often. It preserves energy, but the rythym could be diminished. I'm happy either way as long as we keep winning.

In my opinion, we should give PT more touches. I miss the guy =(

Hell no use the man. It's like saying brees throws to much. You put the ball in the playmakers hands.

I think so to I feel we shouldn't play so many mind games. I think if going to go for it on 3rd and one use your power back.

in a word.... YES!! WAY TOO MUCH!! It is becoming obvious.

that's kind of how i felt about jimmy graham...right towards the end (and the pick) it looked like drew was telegraphing it and just going to him too much. the dude makes plays but he can't make EVERY play.

i guess, though, that IF it ever became too much (really) drew would realize it and go to one of our other 500 weapons. i trust em, but just an observation.

One trick ponies come up lame in this league very quickly.

We have SO many weapons, it seems silly to rely on two to move the chains (Sproles and Graham)

Moore got a few token catches yesterday, but I felt he was underutilized. Thought for sure he was going to bail us out late.

Yes, I also feel Sproles is becoming the predictable outlet. But I appreciate his contribution!

Alaska

I think it depends on whose open..we know Drew spreads the ball around..

He is the play maker on the ground. He does not make TD's or Yards because someone is or isn't keying on him. He makes them because he is Fkn good!


The ball is not in Manning's hands.... Hows that working out for Indy?

If you see Sproles, Graham, and Colston on the line.... Who are ya keying off of?


Good luck with that!

I would imagine that, if it seemed they were going to Sproles a tad bit more than usual, it might indicate that they saw something they liked there as a matchup... Probably because Hester and Forte both kinda ran wild against Carolina... and with Ivory out, Sproles is kind of like our Hester AND Forte put together. If we had been playing against another different team, I think you might have seen much less of Sproles.

Also Payton likes to do a thing where if something is working, he keeps doing it repeatedly until you adjust to stop it...which then frees up something else....all of that focusing their attention on Sproles, and GRAHAM, and then Pierre comes in and goes wild on that last drive, with those short passes, and gets the go-ahead touchdown. That whole last drive where Pierre really shined was brilliantly set up by the "over-using" of Sproles and Graham earlier, if you ask me.

It can change from one game to the next. Someone else in this thread said it's a long season. Spot on. I do wish we'd try and impose our will a bit more, especially the PT, but I don't see where we're using Sproles "too much". That's like saying we're scoring too much. :doh:

Our Running backs are fresh... When Ivory comes back... this team will be loaded!!

Right on..we brought the man in to play and he is..with Ingram we have a rookie learning the ropes...and P.T will get his touches...with Sproles he might hit the home run at any minute..

We are not running enough for my liking and that is tiring out our D...I would like more balance ..but we seem to like the pass ...so until we are stopped i guess its a winning formula...and say what we want..but Ivory will also be in the mix later this year..

Balance will come..

Sproles is doing well and Payton always goes with the hot hand. He spreads it around giving all three backs touches.

I think each week one of our RB's is the Feature bak and gets the most plays. Last week it was Sproles, this week maybe PT, then Ingram. Get them involved in a full game in a major load capacity.

Too much? Maybe, Sproles definitely seems to get some plays to him that would seem to be more appropriate for PT. Balance is a necessity and it will get better, Ivory or not.

SmashMouth, I was actually thinking the same exact thing when I was watching the game. I love Sproles, don't get me wrong, but I think he's best utilized when he's the change of pace back. I felt like we were trying to make hi our number one RB option, running him up the middle quite a bit, and it doesn't make much sense to me.

The big thing is that I thought we got focused only on Sproles and Graham in the redzone at times on Sunday, instead of just throwing to whoever is open. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we looked like we were forcing it to Sproles, instead of mixing it up with Meachem, Moore, Colston, Ingram, PT, Henderson, and others.

What do you guys think?

Sproles is filling Sean Payton's "in space" option that Reggie used to occupy, and doing a fine job with it. But, PT, IMHO, is still our best short yardage option between the tackles: stronger/bigger than Sproles and has better field vision than Ingram. Payton has a whole lot going on in his head and I think he'll keep stirring the pot so that everybody gets some meat. Predictability definitely won't work in our favor. I would like to see PT's ypc affect on a game with 15-20 touches.

I do think he was used too much.....but the "Wicked Midget" can flat out run fo sho. No?

Something a few of us have been calling for years ago. Too bad for him it'll never happen down here... but I doubt you'll hear him complain as we continue to compete for another ring.

P.T is kewl with his role

Pierre Thomas says New Orleans Saints running backs have to perform when their number is called - Video | NOLA.com