[AvengerRam]

good that you and zn are on the same page tho!

Low blow, dude!

[/zn/]

Low blow, dude!

Ah...RFU. Where if there's no personal trolling yet there will be soon.

[AvengerRam]

Ah...RFU. Where if there's no personal trolling yet there will be soon.

[/zn/]

From a production standpoint, they were pretty comparable last year:

Akers 145 carries, 625 yards, 4.3 ypc, 2 TDs
Henderson 138 carries, 624 yards, 4.5 ypc, 5 TDs

The big concern here is that we had two backs, both of whom had trouble staying on the field last year, and now we have only one. Henderson's history calls into question his ability to be "the guy" for 17 games. Its likely he'll miss some time or, at a minimum, need someone to lighten his workload. Whether we have that guy remains to be seen.

If you look at the game logs though Henderson got subpar numbers in 7 of his 15 games played. Though to be fair some of that was injuries. He just needs to be more consistent. But even given that, I don't think he has the full skill set needed to be a primary back. Akers, on the other hand, was a rookie who got acclimated without a training camp. In the 2nd half of the season he came on and showed that he does have the skills to be a primary back.

Not that the Rams will lack for a running game. I think Henderson will be good in a rotation. The question now is who else do they have?

...

[BuiltRamTough]

Henderson could be very good, you could see the potential when he plays but that’s if he plays

[ramsman34]

Akers worried DCs going into this season after watching him coming into form in the playoffs. Henderson causes some concerns, but is not as complete a back and doesn’t have the vision/latter agility of Akers. Perhaps one of the unknowns rises up?? What FA vet RB scares DCs? Probably none of them.

We just need a decent run game with Hendo being that home run threat to be in the mix. It’s probably going to be a bit more difficult to win without Akers.

[/zn/]

Akers worried DCs going into this season after watching him coming into form in the playoffs. Henderson causes some concerns, but is not as complete a back and doesn’t have the vision/latter agility of Akers. Perhaps one of the unknowns rises up?? What FA vet RB scares DCs? Probably none of them.

We just need a decent run game with Hendo being that home run threat to be in the mix. It’s probably going to be a bit more difficult to win without Akers.

I agree with what you say about Akers. I think they will just get by with a rotation and that 's fine---IMO it will probably be a serviceable run game--like you say it should be decent. Though it's hard to say who the other 2 will be who joining Henderson in that rotation. The best outcome would be Jones and Funk coming through as solid contributors.

[AvengerRam]

If you look at the game logs though Henderson got subpar numbers in 7 of his 15 games played. Though to be fair some of that was injuries. He just needs to be more consistent. But even given that, I don't think he has the full skill set needed to be a primary back. Akers, on the other hand, was a rookie who got acclimated without a training camp. In the 2nd half of the season he came on and showed that he does have the skills to be a primary back.

Not that the Rams will lack for a running game. I think Henderson will be good in a rotation. The question now is who else do they have?

...

Not sure what you mean by "sub-par." In 8 games, he had fewer than 10 carries. Not sure that really tells us much.

In the seven games in which DH had at least 10 carries, he totaled 88 carries, 465 yards and a ypc of 5.3. That's very good production.

I really don't think the issue with DH is ability. Its durability, which is why I agree he'll need some help.

[/zn/]

Not sure what you mean by "sub-par." In 8 games, he had fewer than 10 carries. Not sure that really tells us much.

In the seven games in which DH had at least 10 carries, he totaled 88 carries, 465 yards and a ypc of 5.3. That's very good production.

I really don't think the issue with DH is ability. Its durability, which is why I agree he'll need some help.

Low avg. per carry. In fact there are 4 games where he has anywhere between 8 and 15 carries but ends up with little production. So that's knocking off games where he had fewer than 8 carries. In those 4 games with at least 8 carries he rushed 41 times for 83 yards. 2 of those subpar games Akers didn't play; in 2 of them he was more productive than Henderson, gaining 99 yards on 14 carries in both games combined.

Not sure why people are arguing about Henderson. It should be clear who and what he is, we've seen him plenty. He has some explosion and vision and is a good one-cut-and-go type back with very good contact balance. Akers has a lot of that (including the vision and contact balance) but he also has the kind of lateral quickness and instincts that make him more elusive in traffic and therefore more capable of making positive plays when ostensibly there's nothing there.

[phoenixrising]

Not sure why people are arguing about Henderson. It should be clear who and what he is, we've seen him plenty. He has some explosion and vision and is a good one-cut-and-go type back with very good contact balance. Akers has a lot of that (including the vision and contact balance) but he also has the kind of lateral quickness and instincts that make him more elusive in traffic and therefore more capable of making positive plays when ostensibly there's nothing there.

I think you pretty much nailed it. Henderson has an elite burst though his top end speed isn't what some seem to believe it is.