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The official Deshaun Foster thread....

Discussion in 'Carolina Panthers' started by Proprietor, Jan 27, 2006.

  1. Proprietor

    Proprietor Family feeder

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    Thinkin' this will be a hot topic over the next 30 days.

    I have debated this one all year. After thinking about it, I feel that we should make him a high priority.

    Let me ask you all something, and feel free to correct me:

    Foster has suffered three major injuries since August 2002. Knee, collarbone and ankle.

    Wouldn't it concern you more if he was sustaining major injuries to one particular part of the body, rather than injuries to various parts?

    Some say that certain players are just injury prone. You certainly could make that argument with Foster. But let's dig deeper....why? What is it about Foster that gets him in trouble? Is he soft? I don't think so. Is he out of shape? Nah.

    So, what it comes down to, I suppose, is that some players just have shit for luck....that is, if you believe in all that luck shit.

    I say it is what it is. He tore his knee up in New England. Hey, what ya gonna do?

    Then, he plays 20 games in 2003--not a full load, but he stayed healthy.

    In 2004, he breaks his collarbone--completely unrelated to the knee.

    This year, he breaks his ankle. Again, unrelated to the knee.

    I don't think there are more than 5 backs in the league that have more agility, power and home run ability than Foster. He does run high. So did Eddie George, though EG was not as explosive on the edge as Foster.

    I want to keep him, and I don't think he is going to command an unreasonable contract. The perception is that he is injury prone. To me, injury prone implies that one continues to aggrivate one particular injury. That's just not the case with Foster.

    Nonetheless, that perception (or reality, for some) can be used to Carolina's advantage. Leverage that shit. Have a number you're willing to pay the guy, and leverage the "injury prone" card against him, eventhough you know deep down that the injury problem is somewhat overblown.

    You take Deshaun off this team, you lose that extra dimension. Seattle never gameplanned to stop Goings the way they would have had it been Foster in the lineup. Safties stayed back in zone. No 8-man fronts.

    Had it been Foster in the lineup, you would have seen safties up, and Smitty torching Trufant's ass.

    Now, you can argue that Foster's injury altered this plan....thus, we cannot trust him. I just think a broken ankle is a broken ankle, not a sign of a back you can't trust to carry the mail.

    I would rather take the risk of locking up Foster (at a reasonable rate), rather than put the fate of our running game on the shoulders of an unproven sophomore, Goings, and a possible draftee.

    Foster
    Shelton
    Goings

    We could win with that.
     
  2. Paladin

    Paladin Full Access Member

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    I don't remember the specifics of how the first two injuries occured, but with the ankle, the way he was hit and his ankle/foot was fell on it was inevitable that something in there would get broken, torn, or pulled. There wasn't a thing Foster could have done about that.:twocents:
     
  3. Wp28

    Wp28 I had that dream again...

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    Dan Morgan - would you still extend him knowing now what you know?
     
  4. Proprietor

    Proprietor Family feeder

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    Absolutely not. But I knew then what I know now. Nothing's changed.

    Morgan's history has been borderline absurd. I thought we grossly overpaid for him, and I thought we did it way too soon.

    I just don't think that relative to the position he plays, Foster is going to command the kind of contract that Morgan was able to land.

    Dan misses way too many games with concussions for my money. Foster's injuries have all been isolated. Every time Morgan goes down, you can just sense the guy is slowly falling apart. I don't get that sense with DF.:twocents:
     
  5. curly

    curly Full Access Member

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    Biakabatuka's career-ending crushed foot wasn't related to his knee getting torn up either. You said you have the sense that Dan is falling apart, well I'm getting that sense with DF. Especially if your going to give him the ball more than 15 plays a game.
     
  6. Proprietor

    Proprietor Family feeder

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    Point well taken.

    IMO, Morgan's injuries have been far more deteriorating (concussions) than Foster's isolated injuries. Bones heal. Concussions don't.

    Foster will probably fight injuries most of his career. But I would rather have him locked in for the next 5 years, playing 75% of those games, than losing him to FA.

    I don't think you can predict that Foster will suffer some sort of career-ending injury, just based on Timmy B. Every front office should learn from the past, but there is a fine line between learning from it, and being scared shitless of it.

    But, then again, I have always been a big Foster fan, so excuse any bias here.
     
  7. Guest

    Guest Full Access Member

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    Foster needs to go. He is not the back for this system and never will be. I would rather have 3-4 yard heavy hitting back that wears down a defenseand a great #2 WR, with Goings on third downs.....just my :twocents:
     
  8. Ballpark

    Ballpark Full of Shit and Proud

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    Biakabatuka had a career?!?

    He was decent in college with one over-the-top game against Ohio State.

    In the pros, he would break one 20 yard run, then have ten runs or no gain or a loss.
     
  9. Proprietor

    Proprietor Family feeder

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    All fair points.
     
  10. buck nasty

    buck nasty Full Access Member

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    i see both points. if we're not going to alter the offense - like we started to with deshaun finally, there is no use keeping him. and that says nothing about the future success he'll have somewhere else in the right system - which i think he'll have in droves. he'd run for 1900 in denver.
     

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