Danno

Its game speed. He often went full speed and either outran his blockers or ran right into the back of them. Reggie used to do this a lot.

He needs to learn the patience aspect of the game. A slight delay here and there to allow a blocker time to engage the defender... In his prime Shawn Alexander was fantastic at that.

pherein

Yeah, 122 attempts is a pretty weak season. His 3.9 ypc is great. Ingram is no A.Peterson, and needs time to adjust too the speed and size of the guys playing in the NFL secondary. I saw what you saw.
Ive always thought that running back was the 2nd hardest position on the field. The main reason is that RB's have to have a ability from birth that can't be coached to be good or great.
If you don't have perifial vision, or whatever the intangible is to find an opening or make people miss in a sea of bodies trying to take your head off, your never going to have it.
The ability to feel your way threw the defense without seeing or thinking is not a common ability, and Ive noticed speed has nothing to do with the RB position, and over training a RB can actually hurt this naturally born ability.

When you take the ball and hit the hole its less than a second. You can't see anything really. You feel your way threw and just instinctively know what angles to take or where the enemies are in space around you. Its mostly an instinctive position.

They also need to be tougher than anyone on the field, and have and uncanny motor or drive to constantly hit a brick wall, get back up, and still think no one is going to stop you.

Going from college to the NFL must be very difficult. The instinct in your head has to change to account for bigger and faster guys in the secondary. You might still feel them, but are surprised by how fast they get to you, close angles you thought were open, and that they can even catch you from behind must be a shock,lol. It would have shocked me.

Ive notice RB's that get confused in space in the NFL typically take on the bruiser approach, smashing into a enemy, and hoping to put him down to get a open lane, instead of knowing the angles. Or like Bush, over juke at wrong times.

Ingram just needs a little time to adjust, but Ive seen that he has the god given ability to make it at the NFL level. Some of his inside running was all instincts, and pretty brilliant. I simple dip of the shoulder, becoming small to fit a space, or quickly using a defenders body against himself to generate yards was impressive sometimes.
Ingram is one of those rare RB's where even if his instincts never catch up completely, his motor, power running, and toughness insures him a career at the NFL level. Im actually impressed by the lack of touches he had, its very hard to run cold at any level, and that he ran so well inside. He really reminds of Duece, and think he might end up being better than Frank Gore because of his screen pass ability.

Saints proved that pigs could fly in 2009.
Now its time for another miracle SuperBowl and go where no pig has gone before.

NuNu318

I just hate it when people want to call this guy a bust. He was leading all rookie RB in yds from scrimmage before he got hurt the first time. When he finally came back he started to hit his stride and see the field better. I mean lets face it....it was just unlucky that he had to get surgery on that toe before the playoffs because nobody thought PT going down in the 1st qtr. If Ingram had been there there would still be someone there to keep a pretty good rotation going at RB. With it just being Ivory & Sproles it made the whole running game much more predictable. At least with Ingram there you have a sort of element of suprise cuz he's a much better pass catcher than Ivory. they knew we were running if Ivory was in the game if ingram was there it would have helped us. I think he's going to do much better this year. And remember what we noticed last season when Carmichael took over play calling. They ran the ball more...........just saying.....

Papa Voodoo

Ricky got hurt early on (remember that black arm wrap?) and is still playing well.

mighty12

Ingram's problem last year was that he lacked proper vision for a running back. Too many times he would run the designed play inside, directly intoa defender when the outside was clear by 20 yards. This is something that can be taught. Size, speed and strength can not, so I am excited to see what he can do with a year under his belt.

TheOak

Maybe maybe not... Some "might" argue that seeing and taking the alternate route is instinct.

|Mitch|

Regardless; Ingram will get better at running the ball with experience...

Papa Voodoo

Adrian Peterson is moving up the bust-o-meter himself. He was going downhill before he hurt his knee.

FinSaint

Are you kidding me? Calling AP a bust?!

I want to thank you for the good laugh you provided me with!

WhoDat!656

Ingram was injuried while playing against the Colts at a point in the game when zero starters for the Saints should have been on the field.

I will always believe that being without Ingram in the playoffs was a large reason the Saints lost the game against the 40-whiners.