Analysis of Dwyer

BarrelORum said:
Go watch old you tube clips of Jackson on the toss sweep running the option at Auburn and then come back here and say the same.
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BOR, most people remember BO his senior season running as the feature back out of the I-formation. He was crazy in that formation, and that was what made his notoriety. He split time with Tommie Agee and Lionel James before that in the wishbone, and didn't get the yards. JD has always reminded me a bit of Bo Jackson. Put JD in an I-formation/pro-set weighing in at around 220-225 and he would tear it up.
 
BarrelORum said:
This is a silly argument. TC had more heart to be a good runningback at the college and NFL level than anyone I've ever seen, but he doesn't have near the talent that Dwyer has. Anyone who thinks Dwyer dropped off from 2008-2009 is blind. He went up against tougher competition in 2009, had defenses keying on him as the mainstay of our attack unlike 2008, and yet he still rushed for the same yardage as he did the year before. IF you want to see what Dwyer looks like in a proset, go look at his freshman year footage when it looked like he should be starting over Tashard Choice.

Guys like Dwyer don't come around in the NFL very often. LT and Bo Jackson are very similar in style, build, and speed as Dwyer. Go look at the top 10 runningbacks in the NFL this past year. Most of them are short guys like Johnson, Rice, and Jones-Drew. These guys are short and thick. Not many taller backs are thick. Dwyer is tall, big and fast. He's also proven that he can take the licks basically playing Fullback in our offense. If we ran a pro set offense for the last two years, Dwyer would be a top 15 pick. I don't see how it will be possible for teams like New England and San Diego to not draft him in the late first round.

If Dwyer has a good combine, he could very well skyrocket up the draft boards. Needless to say TC worked his ass off to be drafted as high as he was... Dwyer could eat chips and dip, lay on the couch until draft day and still be a second round pick.
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BOR: Your assessment of JD is so head on. Everyone else is just repeating what the talking heads says. TC is great back with quick feet and does fantastic job finding the holes. No top end speed, lots of heart. He is still a level behind JD.

Kyle: JD has been using a stiff arm since he was 6 yrs. old.

If JD was in a Pro Style Offense he would have won or be a finalist for the Heisman or the Doak Award 1800 - 2000 easy.

When he gets to the league you will all see the abilities that he has been blessed with?

It seems to me that most of the other posters seem to have sour grapes when it comes to Dwyer.
 
Dwyer is perfect for the NFL. He's big physical and takes care of the ball. Worst case scenario he is a Marion barber like back. He would be a perfect fit beside Darren sproles in San Diego
 
It is so hard to compare the two, because you are comparing a B back in the spread option with a tailback or one back in a pro I offense. If I could have seen Dwyer as a feature back in the old offense I could give a better comparison. I think Dwyer would have been outstanding in the old offense. I think he would have stayed lighter. I think he would have learned to cut and read the holes in that offense. That was not what he was asked to do in our current offense. I loved Choice, but believe Dwyer could have been even better.
 
BOR you are simply wrong in your comparison. Bo Jackson was a freak! I don't have to go to the videos I had the fortune of seeing him live and what he did to us was scary. Look, I love the way JD ran for us but to compare him to Bo is just ridiculous. Bo was the most complete back I ever saw...powerful legs and upper body, and much faster than most people realize. He took a toss sweep against Tech around the 25... went due east then took a right turn at the sideline and outran everybody on the field like they were standing still.

JD reminds me a lot of Shaun Alexander from Alabama. He was a good back in the pros but let his head get inthe way of being really really good. IMHO that if Bo could have stayed healthy he could have been the greatest back in the NFL.
 
LongforDodd said:
I agree. Dwyer started growing a decent waist line roll in 2009.
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Not saying we're being too hard on Dwyer, but he was running right between the DT's on 90% of the plays we ran. When you have two 300 lb. DT's, a MLB and a DE on most plays all hitting you, you get as big as you can get. I can't say I blame him.

We all saw what Dwyer could do in space - especially in 2008, when he was still a "trim" 225. The draft "gurus" who only watched him in 2009 still have not seen the Dwyer we all know. We saw it early and often in 2008, and in flashes in 2009.

Let him drop back into the 225 range and pick back up that half-step of speed, and he'll have their eyes popping out. He'll learn to see the holes in a zone scheme, and when he does, he's gone. All the other stuff is window dressing.

Sure-fire first rounder. Possibly first RB taken.

As for the Bo Jackson comparison, no one's saying he's Bo's equivalent. We're saying he runs like Bo on the outside. At the right weight (~ 225 lbs), give him a seam and he's simply gone. Period.
 
msm5 said:
The Tech player who loved contact the most: Kelly Rhino. I still remember him being chased down by a UNC linebacker.
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Damn he was fun to watch, though. Never called for the fair catch. Our seats just happened to be next to his parents, and his mother literally closed her eyes every time he caught the ball. That boy had heart.
 
WaCoJacket said:
LT? Hell no.
Bo Jackson? Same breakaway stride, but Bo was punishing to, in, and through the hole. JD has always been slow to the hole. Even though I thought he should have played more when Gailey was, this likely kept his carries down.
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Judging him on how he hits the hole to premiere college runningbacks of the past is absolutely ridiculous Waco. Dwyer doesn't get the extra 5 yards in the backfield to make decisions and therefore gain the vision of where the hole is. He's hitting pretty much the same spot everytime he gets the ball on the dive. He doesn't have the luxury of watching the hole form. He just has to go and hope that the blockers did their part.

Bo was sitting 6-7 yards in the backfield. Not two yards behind the line of scrimmage. Big Big difference. Dwyer doesn't have a head of steam until he's past the LOS. Bo Jackson had a head of steam by the time he hit the LOS. Ask Bo Jackson to sit two yards behind the LOS and take the ball and he'd look the same to Dwyer.

As for LT, who are you watching? LT and Dwyer have almost identical lower bodies and they use their legs to punish opponents. Their legs are always churning. LT has better lateral moves and Dwyer is probably a better straightline runner as far as comparing both of them at the same points in their careers.
 
stinger78 said:
BOR, most people remember BO his senior season running as the feature back out of the I-formation. He was crazy in that formation, and that was what made his notoriety. He split time with Tommie Agee and Lionel James before that in the wishbone, and didn't get the yards. JD has always reminded me a bit of Bo Jackson. Put JD in an I-formation/pro-set weighing in at around 220-225 and he would tear it up.
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God Damn Right he would. If we ran a pro set offense, Dwyer is a top 15 pick maybe a top 10 pick.
 
wow, with all the Bo Jackson backlash. comparing Dwyer to Bo does not mean he's as good or better than Bo.
 
sutt0n said:
Dwyer is perfect for the NFL. He's big physical and takes care of the ball. Worst case scenario he is a Marion barber like back. He would be a perfect fit beside Darren sproles in San Diego
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He's so much faster than Barber. Barber is too slow. I agree with him being good as an insurance plan for LT in San Diego, but I would not be suprised at all to see New England take him with their pick in the first. They desperately need a good runningback to take some of the pressure off of Brady as he is getting up there in age.

As for the rest of these clowns talking about Dwyer not being close to Bo Jackson, like I said. Go to You Tube, pull up a couple of old Auburn clips and compare his runs to Dwyer's highlight clips. Saying you don't have to because you remember him from 25 years ago is ridiculous. I swear they look identical. Both run away from the secondary once they are past the LOS. Both put devastating hits on their opponents, have a deadly stiff arm, and their huge legs keep running and running.

You put Dwyer 7 yards in the backfield in the I formation and see ya. Top 10-15 pick no questions asked.
 
WaCoJacket said:
Jon Dwyer = a faster TJ Duckett in my opinion. (I was a TJ fan so that is no slight)

Jon is EXCELLENT out of the hole, but horrible TO and THRU the hole IMO. He is easily tackled or tripped at the line, but on the other side of the hole, Dwyer is an absolute beast to deal with.
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See this comparison doesn't mean much to me, because the nature of our offense hampers Dwyer in that respect. Either he's going to run through an open hole, or 2 300lb DTs are going to crash on him. When our offense is operating at 100% efficiency, with Josh making the correct reads, those are the only 2 outcomes Dwyer can have at the line.

You really have no way to judge Dwyer's ability to hit the hole or going "thru the hole".
 
Our offense is so "different" that I don't believe we have really seen Dwyer at his best. Many of the moves we saw him make downfield during his college career can (and will) be made at or near the line of scrimmage in a pro-set. He is shifty enough to make the 2-3 yard gain a 4-5 yard gain, and then powerful enough to get you another 1-2 yards as he's being tackled.

As far as comparisons, so much depends on his conditioning. At times, he was a little shy of 250 lbs, and he always had to come out after 10+ yard runs. His best weight is about 230-235 (I bet that's where he'll be for the combine), which is where he was in 2008, but he's proven to be effective when he's heavier. Whether he's the next Bo Jackson/LT type, or the next Brandon Jacobs/Michael Turner type will depend on what he wants to be. Either way, he's gonna be something to watch.
 
Bo Jackson's stats were as follows:

As a wishbone HB:
1982 - 829 yards
1983 - 1213 yards
1984 - 475 yards (injured)

As an I-formation tailback:
1985 - 1786 yards


Jon's were:

2nd string behind Choice in the pro-set
2007 - 436

As a FB in the TO:
2008 - 1395
2009 - 1395

Bo's best 100 meter was 10.39 and Jon's was 10.93. Both pretty darn fast! The difference is only .54 over 100 meters.

Jon's not Bo Jackson, but he does resemble him, IMO, running outside, and he will most definitely have a better pro career.
 
wow, never realized Dwyer had the exact same yards from scrimmage 2 years in a row.
 
ramblinwise1 said:
10.9 is not that fast dude.
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It's not fast compared to CJ Spiller, Bob Hayes and Usain Bolt, but a 10.9 100 meter is fast. Bear in mind that he also ran an unofficial 10.81 100 meter, too. 100 meters is about 110 yards. 110 yards in 11 seconds is 1 second every 10 yards at a constant speed. At speed, he would cover 40 yards in 4.0 seconds.

From a standing start, adding 10% for the first 40 yards, I can easily see a 4.4x forty, which is what he's run. He is listed as a 4.5 guy, but he's run faster.
 
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