Barner breakout game?

[OneBadCat]

I'd like to see him get an opportunity. But this is the exact situation where a new RB puts the ball on the ground and loses the game for us. I wouldn't mind seeing him get some screens. He is probably the fastest back we have.

 

He could be effective on the read option but with the patch work o-line we have he's going to have to pull some Barry Sanders stuff to get down field.

[EMSMedic79]

It'll depend if he gets many touches...he's been limited with the scarce chances he's had. I still don't think Shula knows how to use him in this offense.

[the butch]

Well, none of us know how he has been performing in practice.  Obviously he hasn't been that swing back that we thought he could be [at least not yet].  I doubt he gets much given a healthy Stewart and Tolbert.  He will come in when we need to rest those two, but with the way our run game has been going, I doubt we run much more than we pass, which will give both primary backs fresh legs throughout.  I say somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 touches, including carries and passes.

[CRA]

We still have runners in Cam, Stewart and Tolbert ahead of him.....so much like when Stewart was on PUP there isn't really carries for him.

That is why we have too much invested in the backfield. Even when your RB goes down there still aren't the carries available to test out your rookie

[lightsout]

I think today's game answered this thread.

Barner is too small to be in the normal rotation. Convert him to WR, use him in the backfield strictly as a swing back. The guy just cannot run conventional plays. Far too small. Gotta put him in space. He almost got murdered a couple of times.

[OneBadCat]

I think today's game answered this thread.

Barner is too small to be in the normal rotation. Convert him to WR, use him in the backfield strictly as a swing back. The guy just cannot run conventional plays. Far too small. Gotta put him in space. He almost got murdered a couple of times.

 

That's because our o-line can't run block and we gave him bullsht carries at the end of the game. We won't be able to tell what he can really do until A. O-line gets better, B. We actually commit to him.

 

 

I don't know what to expect of the guy but I don't think anything from today was an indication of his talent level. Stewart didn't do much either. But I'll say he ran a lot harder when it was obvious that Tolbert was taking his carries. We need to do that more often.

[YoungPanthers89]

Our O-line can't run block for poo

[mav1234]

Barner needs blocking to get him into space so he can make guys miss.  He's not going to run over people.

[tondi]

He just looks so small out there.  Add in the fact he also doesn't look particularly fast or shifty and I don't see a guy who is anything special.  Now it may be that he just isn't to cut out to run the exact same plays as our other guys and if we could get him in space in the middle of the field he might show us something but so far color me unimpressed.  I do hope he proves me wrong however.  It would be great to have a good cheap back who is a threat to break a long one.

[lightsout]

I'm not speaking much to his ability as much as I am him taking hits. He got JACKED up in a way that I haven't seen RBs get blown up in a long time. Looked like a rag doll a couple of times. With better holes, I'm sure he could at least get 4 yards a pop. Dude has a good first step and really accelerates up field. Problem being his size when that hole closes up.

We do need to commit to him and sure up the OL before making any real judgments, sure, but he needs to beef up this offseason. Get on that Tolbert diet.

[TheRumGone]

you can make space for him even with subpar oline play....

[Dilla]

I saw that he had a nice first step, but after that it was just a wall of defenders.

[CRA]

I think today's game answered this thread.

Barner is too small to be in the normal rotation. Convert him to WR, use him in the backfield strictly as a swing back. The guy just cannot run conventional plays. Far too small. Gotta put him in space. He almost got murdered a couple of times.

Well it probably is unfair to judge his only work behind a craptastic run blocking OL and a super stout DL.....I mean, he is suppose to be blown up in that formula.

Sproles would be.

You give little guys some little holes and they becomes much tougher to smack around

[Captain Morgan]

we didn't use him well today...really not well at all.

 

He's a slot back at best, but that doesn't mean he's not valuable.  

 

We used him today to burn clock and protect our real carriers.  I hope we find a way to use him because he does have talent.