Training Camp

[PacificNorseWest]

Yeah I watched all of the games and saw him get to carry the ball THREE times per game.
A lot of wear with a little over 200 total carries in his entire NFL career wtf?

Yeah...Don't underestimate it. He was a complete bruiser at Stanford for 4 years. I guess an armchair quarterback would find that hard to believe.

[Purple bruise]

Yeah...Don't underestimate it. He was a complete bruiser at Stanford for 4 years. I guess an armchair quarterback would find that hard to believe.

Ok now we are talking college football I am an armchair QB and you are a????
I get it you do not like Toby.

[DarthBrooks]

Average RB's shelf-life is 3 years.

I'd try equating this with AD but then, he's not an average running Back.

[PacificNorseWest]

I guess you really don't get it. You can't just negate 4 years of hard running and non-stop collisions.

And I played college ball, bro. You'll probably try and mock that, but then that's just ignorance because I know what I'm talking about. I'm only 28 and while I never played in the NFL, My body is falling apart. Knee problems, shoulder problems, impingements. Even though minor, they slow me down considerably and I never sustained any injury while playing. Toby is built bigger, but the punishment still takes its toll with his style. And historically (this is a fact now), the average career of an NFL running back is 3 years (probably even less so I'm being generous). Gerhart is old in football/RB years.

I have no problems with Toby. I just don't think he's worth a poop anymore.

[The Breeze]

Ahhh the great Gerhart debate of 2013, and to think I lived to see it. C'mon football end this nightmare we call the off season!

[mosscarter]

who cares if gerhart is there, why don't you guys discuss things that ACTUALLY matter. let me know when that happens, the majority of the crap on this board is irrelevant. the only relevant matter is ponder and his ability to develop a down field passing attack, not on whether or not toby gehrart is around next season.

[Purple bruise]

I guess you really don't get it. You can't just negate 4 years of hard running and non-stop collisions.

And I played college ball, bro. You'll probably try and mock that, but then that's just ignorance because I know what I'm talking about. I'm only 28 and while I never played in the NFL, My body is falling apart. Knee problems, shoulder problems, impingements. Even though minor, they slow me down considerably and I never sustained any injury while playing. Toby is built bigger, but the punishment still takes its toll with his style. And historically (this is a fact now), the average career of an NFL running back is 3 years (probably even less so I'm being generous). Gerhart is old in football/RB years.

I have no problems with Toby. I just don't think he's worth a poop anymore.

Oh yeah I once scored 4 touchdowns in a high school football game (wait that was Al Bundy)
Seriously though, you are smart enough to know the difference between a running back who has only carried the ball 200 times, in four years of pro ball and a back like AD who has carried the ball 1,754 times over the same time period right Most all running backs, playing in the NFL had lots of carries at the collegiate level (maybe not as many as Toby, but some even lot more).
So when you try and tell me that Toby is nearly done and not worth a "poop" because of all of the wear and tear I will tell you NO he is fresh after having only carried the ball 200 times in his entire NFL career. Have you any documentation or insight that the rest of us are not aware of regarding Toby's health? I think not. Anyway I am glad that you played college ball and I am sorry that at 28 you are falling apart....good luck with that

[Texas Vike]

so if he carried it 3 times a game, and he fumbled it 3 times in a minute against SF, what percentage of the time is he actually able to hold onto the ball? I don't think he's slow but he has little burst or wiggle. When he has a big lane and can get a head of steam he can pick up some yards, but tacklers go low and he spills like a big clumsy oaf. He takes a beating because of his inability to have any shiftiness at all to deflect of avoid the full brunt of an impact. He gets up limping after half of his carries. In my opinion he's not an NFL caliber running back.

I agree with the camp that doesn't really value Gerhart much. His success is mostly due to our strong run-blocking O-line. I don't hate him; I just don't think he's special in any way and we overpaid for him w/ a 2nd round draft pick. One thing I'll watch for this pre-season is to see if any of the guys behind him on the depth chart can take his spot. Unless Toby settles for a small contract I think he's gone next season.

[Mothman]

Toby got to rush the ball 3 times per game last year THAT IS THREE TIMES. Most of those carries were short yardage and yes it was for 3.4 yards but you conveniently seem to over look his career average of 4.3 yards per carry which is quite respectable.
He averaged 4.9 yds per carry the year before when he got the opprotunity to carry the ball twice as often.

Exactly. A lot of his carries last season came in short yardage or predictable run situations. Add that to the fact that he only had 50 carries all season and never really had the chance to carry the ball in a variety of situations over the course of an entire game (like he did the previous year, when he averaged nearly 5 yards per carry) and it's a serious stretch to say he can't break tackles or that he is worthless.

Ahhh the great Gerhart debate of 2013, and to think I lived to see it. C'mon football end this nightmare we call the off season!

Then we can all get re-focused on how how far each of Christian Ponder's completions travelled in the air.

At least we'll finally be getting an actual Vikings football game this weekend. It's just the first preseason game but it will feel good to watch the team play a game again. Tonight will be the game debut of the new uniforms...

[The Breeze]

Then we can all get re-focused on how how far each of Christian Ponder's completions travelled in the air.

At least we'll finally be getting an actual Vikings football game this weekend. It's just the first preseason game but it will feel good to watch the team play a game again. Tonight will be the game debut of the new uniforms...

I really don't mind the debate, I just have a serious case of speculation fatigue. I generally take a break during the offseason....but this group of players has me intrigued. I actually motivated for this game....enough to drive the 10 miles to a tavern to watch~

[PacificNorseWest]

Crap!

I had a nice response all typed up and when I submitted I wasn't logged on.



Forget it. Great debate though. Just miss me with the snide remarks next time.

[Grashopa]

You can dog Toby all you want but to say that the first guy that touches him is usually the guy that tackles him is ludicrous
He is a good all around back up with good hands and blocks in pass protection a whole lot better than AD.
He was second runner up in the Heismen and if he were a full time starter he would do quite well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Z9no1x8VE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs_w82IFzdQ

At the first link, did anyone else notice that on the very first clip it was Harrison Smith who finally tackled him...

Edited, thought the link was college highlights... but it was highlights from pro and college.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Most people are still just unhappy about the pick. He wasn't worth it. He isn't worth it now. We wont get a thing for him if we tried. Toby is just a slow FB type of a RB. And he had the chance to watch the Best RB to ever play the game, and hes still just a power back (with little power). Bad pick then, and paying for it yet. I still don't know why we didn't just draft a decent 4th round back.

[Crax]

Most people are still just unhappy about the pick. He wasn't worth it. He isn't worth it now. .

That's the gist of it. Why did we use a first round pick on a backup RB when it was one of the positions we really didn't need help at. Still don't get that

[Eli]

That's the gist of it. Why did we use a first round pick on a backup RB when it was one of the positions we really didn't need help at. Still don't get that

The Vikings didn't use a first round pick to take Gerhart, but it was nearly that bad. They traded away their 3rd round #93 pick to move up 11 spots in the 2nd round to snag Gerhart.