DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Lewis follows Vickers' Lead

Lewis follows Vickers' lead
Jeff Schudel, JSchudel@News-Herald.com
11/28/2007

Tailback 'loves' work of Browns' young fullback


Lawrence Vickers' stat line from the Houston game read one carry, zero yards, no catches, yet he was as much a part of beating the Texans as anyone on the team.
And if the Browns are to continue this playoff run and play on into January, they are going to need Vickers taking out linebackers the way he did when he was knocking off Texans left and right in his role as a blocking fullback.

Jamal Lewis rushed for 134 yards, his second-highest total of the season, and a good chunk of it was started on blocks thrown by Vickers, the second-year player from the University of Colorado.

"I love my fullback," Lewis said. "(Vickers) is a special guy. He's my eyes to the hole a lot of times.
"Sometimes it takes a while to get confidence in your fullback because that's a relationship thing. You have to build that chemistry. I think we're coming to that. He's understanding me more, and I'm understanding him. We're fine. He's not the biggest fullback, but he packs a punch."

Most teams use the run to set up the pass, meaning if the offense can prove it can run, it can freeze the defense with play fakes. Defenses had very little respect for the Browns' run offense in the past, so they could drop linebackers into coverage and dare Charlie Frye, Trent Dilfer, Jeff Garcia or whomever was quarterback at the time to beat them.

Opponents did not have to worry about the Ravens' quarterbacks beating them when Lewis was in Baltimore so they would fill the box with one safety and sometimes two, forcing Lewis to run through nine defenders. Browns opponents dare not do that as they defend Anderson. That gives Lewis more room, and it makes giving him room less daunting for his blockers.

"I look to improve in every game," Vickers said. "The position is physical. It's the little things that put you above the rest. I'm trying to work my way to where I can be great.

"My thing is to get Jamal one-on-one with somebody. It's hard to run with somebody in front of (a running back) who doesn't know what he's doing."
Vickers said he has an edge on some fullbacks because he carried the ball in high school and college. He knows what a back like Lewis sees as a play unfolds. Vickers' model is Lorenzo Neal, now the blocking fullback for LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego. Before that, he blocked for Eddie George of the Titans.
"I try to take what he does and put my own twist on it to make it better," Vickers said. "I want to be able to block on the inside, outside, run the ball and catch the ball."

Vickers gained four yards on three carries when the Browns beat the Ravens in Baltimore. That was a busy day for him, but what he remembers most from that game is standing up middle linebacker Ray Lewis on a one-yard touchdown run by Jamal Lewis early in the game. After the play, Vickers told Ray Lewis how much he admires him, but he also let the leader of the Ravens' defense know he planned to make it a long day for the Ravens' star.

"He's the best," Vickers said. "I want to be the best, so I want to go after somebody I admire the most. When I hit him, I told him, 'I admire you, but today I'm going to get you.' That's when you have to up the ante."
Vickers' bone-jarring blocks and Jamal Lewis' churning style of running, breaking tackles until he can break into daylight and run over people is part of the hard-nosed mentality the Browns are developing. They want to carry that into Arizona on Sunday when they play the Cardinals and aim for their third straight victory.

The Browns are more confident in their run offense than they have ever been. True, Reuben Droughns rushed for more than 1,200 yards two years ago, but that was on a team that finished 6-10. He ran out of gas in December, finishing the season with 74 yards against the Bengals, 53 yards against the Raiders, 36 against the Steelers and 40 against the Ravens.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsi...21848&rfi=6

Quote:

---

Vickers' bone-jarring blocks and Jamal Lewis' churning style of running, breaking tackles until he can break into daylight and run over people is part of the hard-nosed mentality the Browns are developing.

---

Quote:

---

Vickers' bone-jarring blocks and Jamal Lewis' churning style of running, breaking tackles until he can break into daylight and run over people is part of the hard-nosed mentality the Browns are developing.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

all i can add is.....

Vickers has picked up his blocking in the last few weeks. He keeps this up, I might have to eat my shoe as an act of contrition.

It's good to see the young guys coming along... Attitude is everything. The plan is starting to unfold. The reason the Browns have been struggling/not winning is youth, experienence and confidence. The young guys are coming on and so are the victories... Sweet!!!

LOOOOVE me some Lawrence Vickers!

My wife is getting tired of hearing me chant, "Don't waste time giving him the ball... give him some heads to knock and bodies to block!!!" during every game.

On every play he's in, I watch 47... because he's fast becoming the epitome of "smashmouth"... right before our eyes. Listen, if I'm a LB- and see him barreling toward me with JLew right behind, I'm gonna be like "Oh, (rhymes with) spit!"

LV/JL tandem is golden, now that we're heading into Winter.

This team has been a blast to watch... and it's all coming together at the right time....


.02

Just Clicking:

I like Vickers a lot. He's caught some passes out of the backfield this year and has come up with some first downs on carries. Just because he doesn't get many yards doesn't mean he doesn't contribute to our offense because he's one more guy for other defenses to have to watch (running the ball) and he's a pretty good blocker.

I liked the intensity that came with Terrelle Smith, but Vickers is doing just fine without him. If we could only start activating Harrison as well I'd be happy as a bug in a rug

I absoulutely love Lawrence Vickers. He is the man!! He has had some spectacular blocks this year. Letting T Smith go was a great move. Vickers was supposed to be a running/catching fullback who couldn't block well. That has turned out to be way wrong. And if a fullback is going to want to be like a fullback Neal is as good as one to choose as anyone. I just love the way Vickers has been playing. The only time I don't like him is when we hand him the ball. Then I hate Chud and Vickers all of a sudden.

YES! That little Quick hitter handoff for 0 yards is so obnoxious.

However...I love Lawrence, i love watching him lay wood on people.

Amazing might be a bit strong of an adjective.

I was wondering how long it would take for Vickers to start getting some media love...

Nice to see this article. He deserves it.

Technically he's sound, but he wasn't putting as much power into his blocks early in the year. Too much lunging.

I don't think there is anyone that doubts that Vickers will be the starting FB for this team for a good number of years.

I watch him closely, because he is my namesake. He is becoming a very good blocker. I have been debating on ordering that 47 jersey.

It is nice to see a 6th round draft choice become a productive starter in his second year. Last year he was most associated with the blunders of Carthon.

This is a good thing.

Quote:

---

The only time I don't like him is when we hand him the ball. Then I hate Chud and Vickers all of a sudden.

---

The main problem with us handing the ball off to vickers is we do it in #1 Obvious situations and #2 entirely too often. The hand off to the fullback is more effective when done sparingly and in times to surprise and keep defenses off guard.

Quote:

---

The main problem with us handing the ball off to vickers is we do it in #1 Obvious situations and #2 entirely too often. The hand off to the fullback is more effective when done sparingly and in times to surprise and keep defenses off guard.

---

You know I used to feel that way too...but all that has done is make plays like 4th down to Joe J possible. Teams know we give to the first back through in short yardage....We set the Texans up BIG TIME and plopped a nice little pass out to Joe and blew their doors off.

But part of that is also a statement...like vs Baltimore...that statement is, I know that you know what I am going to do...but I am going to do it anyway and you can't stop me. Similar to the sweep left in Seattle when they had Alexander going behind Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson......Now we haven't exactly made it to that point where it doesn't matter if they know it is coming.....But we aren't exactly that far away from it either...I should say...we are far closer to that then we have been in a LONG time.

The only thing I wish is that we got him the ball more often in the passing game....I mean with the way we can stretch the field with Braylon, Joe, and Kellen....he should have some room to rumble out in the flat. Then again....with Braylon, Joe, and Kellen.....what do you need a pass catching Fullback for...LOL

Oh my, whats all this love for Vickers now?

I remember back in September is was ridiculed by 90% here because i said Vickers was a huge upgrade to Smith, and deserves a game ball EVERY GAME.. I remember stuff like, " Vickers is nothing special, Vickers, a game ball, LOL, Vickers is just a fill in till we get some-one better, Vickers stinks."

Now look at the kid, just as I imagined..

FOX Sports - Who Really Belongs in the Pro Bowl

AFC fullback
Lawrence Vickers, Browns: Cleveland running back Jamal Lewis has praised Vickers not only for his blocking, but also for his ability to find holes even if they're not where the play was drawn up for them to be. Vickers is a better blocker than the Chargers' Lorenzo Neal, who is one of the all-time great lead blockers but is now well past his prime.


That's some more love for one of my favorite Browns!

Like I said he kicks ass at blocking

"Technically he's sound, but he wasn't putting as much power into his blocks early in the year. Too much lunging."

Possibly you are recollecting Vickers of 06???

All I know is that from the What I saw Game 1 thread and there on I was impressed with his blocking. Possibly he messed up a little in his blocking for blitzes in the beginning??? Can't remember - I just remember his run blocking as being impressive from the get go. Big Big improvement from last year.

JMHObservation

The thing about Vickers...wasnt he a RB in college? Maybe he just needed a year to get comfortable with technique. Just a thought though.

Quote:

---

The only thing I wish is that we got him the ball more often in the passing game....I mean with the way we can stretch the field with Braylon, Joe, and Kellen....he should have some room to rumble out in the flat. Then again....with Braylon, Joe, and Kellen.....what do you need a pass catching Fullback for...LOL

---

For those plays, we've mostly been swinging passes to Jamal, who left Balto because they weren't going to throw to him (among other things). Jamal, (when he catches it) picks up good real estate on many of those plays... in part, because he's still following- guess who?

I have seen Vickers catch out of the backfield this year... hasn't looked too bad at it, either. As I recall, he made a couple nice gains for us in that role... rumbling out in the flat...

Quote:

---

I just remember his run blocking as being impressive from the get go. Big Big improvement from last year.

---

I recall it the same way.

I'm not the big football brain that many on this board are... but that kid MADE me take notice from almost the very first game this season. When a "complimentary player" can make a casual fan like me take notice and track him throughout the season, that's really saying something.

It's saying even more when your #1 RB gives him a shoutout in a presser.

Kid's the real deal. I Love him.

He's got good hands, but not much of a route runner. Notice he only runs swings and screens. Baltimore, in theory, was going to start splitting out the RB wide, and funneling the entire offense through the RB, much like the 1999 Rams, or Niners the year Roger Craig went 1000-1000. Well they dumped Jamal because they said he couldn't do those things...yet they aren't doing them now with McGahee, and Willis is too dumb to be a viable weapon in the passing game.

It humors me that the Ravens offense has barely changed, and year after year they talk about "airing it out." BS. The only thing Billick has done is add some stretch plays to the play book, but that's hardly creative. Half of the teams in the NFL run the stretch on a consistent basis.

Actually, it was just this past offseason, not a few years ago.

Quote:

---

He's got good hands, but not much of a route runner. Notice he only runs swings and screens.

---

And so he comes here, where we're deep at WR... That puts his abilities right where we need them- catching screens and punishing folks 4-8 yards upfield. I'll take plays like yesterday's TD vault any day. We already have route-runners, thank you. Besides, I think Jamal's getting enough of those outlet passes to keep him happy in his current role.

Quote:

---

Well they dumped Jamal because they said he couldn't do those things...yet they aren't doing them now with McGahee, and Willis is too dumb to be a viable weapon in the passing game.

---

Funny how that worked out for them, eh? Yeah, that Billick... what a freakkin' O genius he is....