heartofthebear said:
I'd like to see more of him.
He gets yards that the other backs aren't getting.
He winds through the middle.
Darts between tacklers for extra yards and dives for first downs.
The guy's not out there all that often though.
And I'm not sure why.
I've been a fan of Dancy since he first arrived. I think Baldwin mismanaged the RB group.
In 2017, Baldwin clearly favored Enwere (3.7 ypc) early (101 carries) even though it was obvious to me Laird (5.9 ypc) was the better back and was more productive from the get go. It took Baldwin half the season before making Laird the feature back (191 carries). He never figured out that McMorris as an H-back sealing the edge with pancake blocks or going out for a short pass was his best weapon.
In 2018, Baldwin made Laird (4.3 ypc) the feature back (223 carries) but he was clearly hampered by injuries unable to bounce outside when the predictable run up the middle was stuffed. The principle backup (37 carries) was Brown (4.0 ypc) who also lacked speed to the edge. Dancy (5.8 ypc) was the back who could make things happen (something that offense desperately needed other than QB runs) but only got 14 carries (but was able to redshirt?). Again McMorris was not utilized.
In 2019, Brown (4.4 ypc) was the feature back (208 carries) but was very ineffective running predictably up the middle on first down from a standing start out of the shotgun. He is big (230 same as out tight ends, bigger than our FBs) and is a downhill runner. He is good when he has a head of steam and can make a cut. His size is only an advantage in running over DBs, which he doesn't get to do often. Last year Dancy (4.4 ypc) did not look as fast as the previous year, reportedly he was hampered by injuries but was the principle backup (57 carries). The guy that looked quick and most effective was Collins (5.2 ypc) and with 38 carries pushed Dancy for the limited backup carries. I wanted him to get a lot more carries. Now he is not on the roster. Did we ever hear where he ended up?
So far this year Dancy (4.2 ypc) again looks better than Brown (3.1 ypc) but I hope that if there is someone else with some speed and moves (Street? Brooks? Moore? Stredick?) they get a chance. We need playmakers.
I like the idea of using Brown as the H-Back, lining him up in the backfield alongside a quicker back. You then motion one of them out to the slot. You then run sweeps, reverses, screens, fake screen draw, play action..... The key is getting our best players on the field, forcing the defense to defend the whole field back attacking the edges, get the defense to worry about our run game so we can free up the WRs and take some shots down field.