In th past I thought a Phil Merling for Steve Slaton trade would make sense for us, and the Texans, they need 3-4 DE, we could use a running back with speed, and both players are Roster vulnerable so on the surface it would make some sense (assuming trades can be made).
Anyone watch Slaton play last yr? His Rook season was great, then he developed fumblitis down at the goaline as well as injuring his neck.
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I wondered what happened to him as soon as I saw the title of the thread. I thought he was injured last year and that's why he didnt get many touches? The quoted piece makes it seem like he was just passed on for a couple of other guys. His rookie season was real nice IMO. He has some real nice qualities about his game too. IIRC, he's fast, strong, and a good receiving back as well. It might be an interesting option to dig a bit deeper on.
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So tired of getting teams that are as good or worse than us' thrown out garbage.
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I'd be OK with a Slaton/Hilliard combo actually.
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CashInFist likes this.
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Samphin Κακό σκυλί ψόφο δεν έχει
Slaton is and was a forgotten man. One area where Henning was right is that this team lacks team speed. Slaton helps in that department, as would Reggie Bush who will be out for the taking. Either one would help boost the halfback rotation and could offer a nice threat out of the backfield for Henne or whoever is under center.
Good thought Padre.padre31 likes this. -
I would trade Merling for Slaton in a heartbeat :up:
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They just signed Owen Daniels to a large deal. -
IMO he is a bust. Maybe an okay rotational player at best.
That is why I said I would do that deal without blinking. -
The runningback position has a lot of one or two year wonders. We will see if he isn't a Barry Foster or Marion Butts. -
You can have a bad team with a surplus of talent at a position a similarly weak team may be lacking. Being closed-minded to multiple options isn't going to help your team either. -
Real problem is how well he comes back from the Achilles injury, those are tough for big men to recover from.Dol-Fan Dupree likes this. -
Watching him run its hard to believe his talent wont overcome other things...the guy is a beast.
slickj101 likes this. -
Hobiesailor Season Ticket Holder Club Member
We're taking our sporting news from a New York beat cop now? Yippee-Ki-ya, MotherF!
But back on topic, Can't hurt to bring the guy in and see what he can do. Looks like he's buried under other guys so it really couldn't hurt. -
Hes to soft. no thanks
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I don't like Slaton.
He's good in space but he doesn't run with any kind of authority. Like Padre said, he really developed a good case of fumbilitis. I think a lot of that was bc HOU tried to have him run through the tackles (as Foster does now) and he couldn't do it. He's too small and his running style isn't condusive for that kind of work.
Then add to that his neck injury last year. And what makes it even worse is that some people speculate it adds to his ball security issues bc it was a nerve injury. Apparently it can cause dumbness (:lol: typo, *numbness) in his hands. That's just **** luck.
Either way, I wouldn't want him for anything but returns.
I'd rather pay a little more for Sproles (I really don't think he'll command a big #) if we're going this route. Same w/ Brad Smith.
I'd add Jacoby Jones there too but I don't think HOU will let him go. -
The problem I have with Slaton is that his success came in a one-cut zone scheme. Not that it's a magical cure-all, but I think there's also the possibility that his success was intrinsically linked with that and might not translate out of it.
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Steve Slaton is a stud when healthy. The problem is that he hasn't been healthy in a long time. There is no reason we should not bring him in for a look.
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Aj Feely, Joey Harrington, Daunte Culpepper, Akin Ayodele, Ernest Wilford, Eric Green, gibril wilson, etc etc
I am just not excited about it. -
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As you see with the people I mentioned though, there is a difference between free agency process, and seemingly trying to turn over rocks and get lucky, but we always seem to get burned in the process. Dansby? he was a sure thing, a wanted free agent. But when your signing castoffs from ****ty teams (harrington, green, wilford) thats when your just trying to get lucky, and we have been burned more than not. -
As for the larger picture on "Slaton the one cut runner" for myself I think in tiers, Slaton would be behind Kevin Smith in the bargain bin as a #3 running back on my own tier, but Slaton is ahead of Smith in terms of usefulness so he'd be behind D Williams, but ahead of Smith overall if Ireland was shopping on the cheap. -
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I think there's a good possibility Slaton is a potential high quality back whom had a sophmore slump for whatever reason and then got buried by a breakout season in an offense without enough touches to go around. -
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He was great his rookie year bc they almost always used him in space. IIRC, they still had Ahman Green there to take care of the short-yardage and between the tackle runs.
09, Green is out and they try to have Slaton pick up those responsibilities and he falls on his face. His skills are just very limited, imho. He was drafted as a 3rd down back, over-achieved for a year, and went back to reality.
I don't think there's much more to it than that. -
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I just don't think you can knock Ireland for turning over rocks and having some success. The whole process of turning over rocks doesn't have a high success rate, but the return on hitting a big gem is worth it, don't you think?
Ireland's shown he can do that. -
Looking into it a little bit more, I think what's noteworthy is that the Texans had some OL injury issues. Both their starting guards from the year before didn't play much at all, and their blocking in general wasn't good.
Regardless, I don't think Slaton being a better outside of the tackles runner in itself if something to shy away from. If he's effective paired with someone, that's not a huge issue I don't think. -
And yes, asking him to run inside can definitely hurt his explosiveness. A small guy like Slaton getting popped a few times early in the game will definitely wear him down a lot quicker than he would otherwise. He'd lose that extra burst that made him successful in the first place.
Yea, it's a better situation if you pair him with a Michael Bush type runner. But what happens if that other guy gets hurt? Obviously, you still need a more well-rounded RB infront of Slaton to take over. That's why I say he's a 3rd string RB at best.
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