Boykin looks like the old Russell..Russel..well..

Boykin's escaping the pass rush reminds me of the Russell we have always known and loved. Always escaping the sacks with ease. Was it me or did Russell seem to lose a step or two, seem a bit slower? I know he's bulked up over the offseason, not sure if that any effect at all...thoughts? And yes, I know it's preseason and it's just more of an observation and was wondering if anyone was thinking the same.

I blame his wife personally. :sarcasm_off:

He definitely looked slower last night. Maybe it was the white cleats?

:>

It was strange seeing him chased down by D linemen.

He just looked off.

Call me crazy, I know these guys make millions of dollars, but I often wonder if some of them are forever changed by satisfaction. Try as they might, they've won a championship and can't help but say, "Well, at least we won one." The urgency is gone. In much the same fashion as a guy whose idealization of marriage is appeased once he gets married and the hunger to improve himself is not the same. I believe we have a number of guys on this team for whom good is never enough, but I don't see Russell as one of them.

Just some thoughts. Now go ahead and rip them to shreds...

Balls are deflated.



Literally.

Kennedyin92":27yj1w80 said:

Call me crazy, I know these guys make millions of dollars, but I often wonder if some of them are forever changed by satisfaction. Try as they might, they've won a championship and can't help but say, "Well, at least we won one." The urgency is gone. In much the same fashion as a guy whose idealization of marriage is appeased once he gets married and the hunger to improve himself is not the same. I believe we have a number of guys on this team for whom good is never enough, but I don't see Russell as one of them.

Just some thoughts. Now go ahead and rip them to shreds...

Click to expand...

Nothing to rip, it's a fair point for some players.........but I think it's further from Russell than anyone else.

Kennedyin92":22zcfsue said:

Call me crazy, I know these guys make millions of dollars, but I often wonder if some of them are forever changed by satisfaction. Try as they might, they've won a championship and can't help but say, "Well, at least we won one." The urgency is gone. In much the same fashion as a guy whose idealization of marriage is appeased once he gets married and the hunger to improve himself is not the same. I believe we have a number of guys on this team for whom good is never enough, but I don't see Russell as one of them.

Just some thoughts. Now go ahead and rip them to shreds...

Click to expand...

Literally nothing on RWs past suggests that he is the type to slack off once he has achieved a milestone.

Quite the contrary, literally everything in his past suggests that he is the epitome of "good is never enough"

I said in a thread before that I thought he looked a little thick, which is due to the common thing of bulking during the off season. I'm hoping that he just hasn't cut the extra bulk yet and that's the reason for looking slow. I wouldn't worry yet.

Kennedyin92":89zi5smt said:

Call me crazy, I know these guys make millions of dollars, but I often wonder if some of them are forever changed by satisfaction. Try as they might, they've won a championship and can't help but say, "Well, at least we won one." The urgency is gone. In much the same fashion as a guy whose idealization of marriage is appeased once he gets married and the hunger to improve himself is not the same. I believe we have a number of guys on this team for whom good is never enough, but I don't see Russell as one of them.

Just some thoughts. Now go ahead and rip them to shreds...

Click to expand...

You gleamed all of this from a 2nd preseason game?

Two straight SB's, and played their asses off the 2nd half of last season, including one of the biggest comebacks in NFL playoff history to almost beat Carolina..........and the urgency is gone?

If we're going to panic and call our team out, can we at least wait until the regular season?

Kennedyin92":389zcsq4 said:

Call me crazy, I know these guys make millions of dollars, but I often wonder if some of them are forever changed by satisfaction. Try as they might, they've won a championship and can't help but say, "Well, at least we won one." The urgency is gone. In much the same fashion as a guy whose idealization of marriage is appeased once he gets married and the hunger to improve himself is not the same. I believe we have a number of guys on this team for whom good is never enough, but I don't see Russell as one of them.

Just some thoughts. Now go ahead and rip them to shreds...

Click to expand...

Funny, I was just talking to a friend last night about this very thing but as it applies to music. Ever notice how very few bands continue to make great albums after they have achieved significant success? Usually they continue to make albums that aren't as good and then go on tours to play the music that got them famous. They transition from real rock-and-rollers to rock stars. It is more than just the hunger to succeed, it is the ability to be creative that only seems to exist when your existence is close to what you are trying to create. Does that make any sense?

I wasn't struck by how slow he looks, so much as how his pocket presence has gotten rusty over the summer (which is natural). He managed to escape the pocket in precisely the worst possible direction on three of those four sacks.

I have not yet seen the game so can't actually comment on how he looked but still a thought

The more you run around the more exposed you are. It is better to take the hit that you see than the one that blindsides you.

While bulking up does often slow down speed it is possible that RW just didn't want to expose himself as much. You are comparing him to someone fighting for a job.

I disapprove of this thread.

I think people are over reacting about this. Griffen and Barr are both extremely good athletes. Griffen I think is the one who caught Russ, ran a 4.6 40 coming out of the draft. Barr is a 4.6 guy. These two, with a head of steam are running down any QB in the league...especially when the QB is just getting started running. Minnesota just happens to have really good athletes on the edge. Russ looked like Russ (except like stated above his pocket presence was rusty....escaping in wrong direction many times).

Russell didn't bulk up. He actually lost weight.

I think, at least in part, that Minne was scheming to beat Russ's more common moves. We've been commenting here about how "he always uses that spin move." On at least a couple of occasions, yes, he spun right into the pass rush. But what if they rushed right into Russ's normal spin move?

Hey, I'm concerned like every body else. But these are, I think, fixable problems. Against straight up defenses, the O-line has been credible, at least. Most teams don't blitz a lot in the pre-season and I think we got surprised a little. Certainly, the run game has been impressive so far, something that wasn't happening as well last season.

Will like to see how it works out next week, after a full week of practice.

lobohawk":2mfdthao said:

Russell didn't bulk up. He actually lost weight.

Click to expand...

I don't think this is true. Players typically put on weight in the office season, and then cut before the season starts. And pictures prove that he was definitely thicker looking.

I was thinking that the entire time he was out there. He definitely looked a couple steps slower than normal. I hope it's because he was going "preseason speed" and not "real game speed" because if the former is the same as the latter...

Uh oh.

MontanaHawk05":mutx6p9p said:

I wasn't struck by how slow he looks, so much as how his pocket presence has gotten rusty over the summer (which is natural). He managed to escape the pocket in precisely the worst possible direction on three of those four sacks.

Click to expand...

Definitely.

I think another factor is that Wilson is trying to make it a point to trust the pocket more instead of bailing at the first hint of pressure. That caused him to be a step late a few times.

kearly":3hqe289h said:

MontanaHawk05":3hqe289h said:

I wasn't struck by how slow he looks, so much as how his pocket presence has gotten rusty over the summer (which is natural). He managed to escape the pocket in precisely the worst possible direction on three of those four sacks.

Click to expand...

Definitely.

I think another factor is that Wilson is trying to make it a point to trust the pocket more instead of bailing at the first hint of pressure. That caused him to be a step late a few times.

Click to expand...

After reading every reply to the OP in here, yours is the one that I can agree with.
I agree that he was relying (too much) on the O-Line developing at a quicker pace than they actually were, and Minn. was taking advantage of the Greenhornery LOL.
I do agree with what Carroll said, as Russ should have gotten the ball out a little quicker, which in turn, would actually maybe helped the O-Line to get in a better rhythm, and maybe even help their development.

dogorama":1aifnl7q said:

Kennedyin92":1aifnl7q said:

Call me crazy, I know these guys make millions of dollars, but I often wonder if some of them are forever changed by satisfaction. Try as they might, they've won a championship and can't help but say, "Well, at least we won one." The urgency is gone. In much the same fashion as a guy whose idealization of marriage is appeased once he gets married and the hunger to improve himself is not the same. I believe we have a number of guys on this team for whom good is never enough, but I don't see Russell as one of them.

Just some thoughts. Now go ahead and rip them to shreds...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Funny, I was just talking to a friend last night about this very thing but as it applies to music. Ever notice how very few bands continue to make great albums after they have achieved significant success? Usually they continue to make albums that aren't as good and then go on tours to play the music that got them famous. They transition from real rock-and-rollers to rock stars. It is more than just the hunger to succeed, it is the ability to be creative that only seems to exist when your existence is close to what you are trying to create. Does that make any sense?[/quote

Absolutely. I think desperation is essential for greatness. The greatest athletes in sports (or the greatest musicians) are often the ones who can't get enough.