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Drake vs. Ballage

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Galant, Jul 29, 2019.

  1. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    After the first few days of training-camp the outside perspective is that Ballage is getting more touches and love than Drake. According to those covering the camp the Dolphins coaches see Ballage as RB1 over Drake.

    Here are a few recent Tweets along those lines:







    Everyone outside of coaching see Drake as the go to guy. What might the coaches see that others don't?
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2019
  2. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I've been wondering since early 2017 why Drake isn't just given the ball as the main guy. From the outside, it just doesn't make sense. But since both Gase's staff and now Flores' staff seem to have a problem with him, I guess there's something behind the scenes that we just don't know. Its too bad, because I like him so much, both on and off the field.

    To this point, I don't see Ballage as more than a complimentary player. So maybe we go into next year's draft looking for another long term option at the position, yet again. This franchise hasn't had one guy as the main RB for more than two or three years at a time since the 70s.
     
  3. tirty8

    tirty8 Well-Known Member

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    I feel like the Dolphins are on to something. We have done an exceptional job of finding mid round running backs. Remember the outrage when we let Lamar Miller walk. It was almost as intense as the outrage when Ajayi walked.

    But here is the thing. Every time we let these studs go, we had someone more than capable waiting, and in the case of Ajayi, we got draft compensation.

    Call it a hunch, but I do not anticipate the Dolphins ever paying top dollar for a RB. We are getting fantastic bang for our buck at the position. I would be willing to bet that for the foreseeable future, we will let RBs walk after their rookie deal or sooner if they have trade value.

    In all honesty, the way we have been drafting RBs, it would be silly to ever pay one top dollar.
     
  4. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    I'm still terribly bummed out that we let Miller walk, and at 25 years old no less. He's exactly the type of back that I want to focus on, and his contract with the Texans wasn't that big. But he was never given enough carries here and then boom, gone. I liked him a lot more than Ajayi. I like Drake more too.

    I don't want "bang for my buck". I want a good player who we can rely on and not have to keep starting over time after time.
     
  5. invid

    invid Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I have a feeling it will be around 50/50 when the season actually starts. Ballage could benefit from just more reps at this stage.
     
  6. tirty8

    tirty8 Well-Known Member

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    Dude, the year Ajayi replaced Miller, Ajayi made the Pro Bowl, and Miller did not. That season, Miller got paid $5.5 million, and Ajayi got a bag peanuts and some leftover Chicken McNuggets.

    Just to put things into perspective, this season, Miller is slated to make $7.2 million dollars. Would you rather have Ballage and Drake or Miller today? To me, this is a no-brainer. I would much rather have Drake and Ballage.

    Last season, Miller was the fifth highest paid running back, and finished outside the top 10 in rushing yards, and failed to log 1,000 yards for the season.

    If you do a retrospective, in both the short and long term, the Dolphins were better off without Miller.
     
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  7. Unlucky 13

    Unlucky 13 Team Raheem Club Member

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    How Miller has played with Houston isn't necessarily indicative how how he might have played with Miami, had he resigned. I of course don't watch every Houston game, but from what I did see, they often mis-used him early on, running him into a wall of defenders. As much fanfare as Bill O'Brien gets, he and his staff used Miller far worse than Philbin and company did with Miami. They treated him as if he were Derek Henry.

    Would Gase have used him better with the Fins? I suppose that's up for debate, given what actually happened. But Gase being a dolt isn't Miller's fault either. Put the right player in the wrong scheme with the wrong coaching and he's going to fail, sure. But keeping Miller and then using him properly could have worked. And that's my point.
     
  8. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    This is surprising to me..I didnt think he could beat out Drake for the #1 spot..

    I’ve had Drake going back to college as being a hi level pass catching back who knows how to run routes, so depending on matchup of opponent maybe they will switch from game to game..
     
  9. Patster1969

    Patster1969 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Up in NE, White doesn't play as much as the main running back but is the do-it-all complementary piece to Michel's sledgehammer - Ballage is more of a sledgehammer than Drake, so maybe we should look at it like that?
     
  10. Surfs Up 99

    Surfs Up 99 Team Flores & Team Tua

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    I am not as worried about it as some. They both are going to play and contribute. I am more curious to see who we will put in there when we need some beef to get the tough yards.
     
  11. ExplosionsInDaSky

    ExplosionsInDaSky Well-Known Member

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    I just see it as a two back system. Ballage is going to get the bulk of the ground carries while Drake will get the passing plays. Though Ballage can catch too. We'll need both of them.
     
  12. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    While I know it was always going to be a two back system, I expected that it would develop through the year. I expected Drake to come in as the starter and Ballage's usage to increase as the season progressed. Ideally both guys would come to be seen as all-around backs. The reports make it sound like Ballage is the starter and Drake will only get third down back duties. It seems like another staff has decided that Drake isn't able to get you those consistent yards on first and second down.
     
  13. Kud_II

    Kud_II Realist Division

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    Don't want to put the cart in front of the horse but judging from his college highlights if Ballage gets some decent blocking he can gash defenses, but Drake can do that too. If we have an average to sub-par run blocking line, I'd definitely expect to see Ballage get the majority of the totes. He's definitely the guy to get those 3-4-5 yard grind it out runs in comparison to Kenyan who is mostly just a Home Run hitter.
     
  14. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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  15. rafael

    rafael Well-Known Member

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    I see them differently. I think Drake has shown more ability to avoid/break tackles than Ballage despite Ballage being bigger. That's what I saw in their college tape and last year in Miami. But Drake also took too many tackles for loss compared to Gore. Drake doesn't have the best vision and will sometimes try to bounce things or dance too much instead of taking what's there. I don't know how Ballage's vision compares. My guess (complete guess, no inside info) is that Ballage was more consistent at going where the play was designed to go during mini-camp (don't know if he knew the playbook better or saw things better or whatever) and that's why Ballage has a chance to be the starter. I have no idea how it will play out though.
     
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  16. Hooligan

    Hooligan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    It's a pleasant dilemma to have. Back in the day when we had both Ricky Williams and Ronny Brown I don't think anyone was anguishing over who was going to get the majority of the carries. It warms my innards to this day thinking about both of them lining up in the backfield together and running the Wildcat. No doubt Flores remembers it too.
     
  17. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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