2bikemike
11-14-2004, 02:22 AM
Derrick Blaylock didn't pull a Ron Artest by approaching Dick Vermeil this week and asking the coach for a month off so he can go work on his rap career.
Blaylock does own a rap label and gets on the mic under the name D Block, but today, the fourth-year back will be worried about a different kind of flow.
Like getting into the end zone inside the Louisiana Superdome.
With Priest Holmes not expected to play because of a knee injury, the 5-foot-9, 210-pound Blaylock will make the first start of his four-year NFL career.
Blaylock and the Chiefs have only snippets of tape and occasional flashes of brilliance to fall back on when attempting to decipher what's going to happen against the Saints' 30th-ranked run defense today.
In 35 career games, Blaylock has logged 70 carries for 334 yards and six touchdowns. He's averaged a healthy 4.8 yards per carry with a long run of 25 yards while adding 29 receptions for 323 yards and one TD.
In terms of style, Blaylock is well, let him tell it.
I would consider myself a slasher, Blaylock said. I have nice speed; I have the ability to make the nice cuts, the jump cuts. I have some power, not a lot of power, but don't come out there thinking that I'm going to go down with an arm tackle or something like that. And I have nice vision.
Sort of sounds like the man he's replacing, doesn't it?
Blaylock isn't as thick as Holmes, and he certainly doesn't have Holmes' resume. Unlike Holmes, however, Blaylock was drafted. The Chiefs thought they spotted something special when they selected him out of tiny Stephen F. Austin University in the 2001 draft with a fifth-round pick that had been acquired from St. Louis in the trade for Trent Green.
Blaylock clocked the fastest 40 time in the field at that year's NFL combine, but most teams were scared off by the fact that leg injuries limited him to only 12 starts in his college career. Still, he rushed for 2,091 yards and 14 touchdowns and showed nice versatility by catching 27 passes for 294 yards during his college career.
Blaylock's ability to catch the football and his elusiveness in the open field make him a natural for the Chiefs' screen and draw game.
I really like to get into open space because that lets me see everything develop, said Blaylock, who has nine receptions for 90 yards this season. I like those draws, I like those screens and I like those (outside running plays) because that's when I can really use my skills.
The other talent Blaylock has always displayed is the ability to recognize and react to oncoming pass rushers in the backfield. That's one skill that Larry Johnson, who will spell Blaylock today, is still working to improve.
The 6-1, 230-pound Johnson is thicker and more powerfully built than Blaylock and has flashed surprisingly good receiving skills as a pro, considering that he wasn't asked to do much route running at Penn State. But he's still a work in progress when it comes to the finer points of the position.
According to Johnson, who saw his first real regular-season action at Tampa Bay last week, those lessons can be learned only one way: by playing.
I just feel that I'll get better as I'm in the game and I start getting carries, said Johnson, who had 59 yards from scrimmage after spelling Holmes in the fourth quarter last week. I'm one of those backs who needs to be in the game. I've always been that way, going back to college.
It remains to be seen how much action Johnson will see today. Blaylock is starting, and history indicates that coach Dick Vermeil is not a believer in the running back-by-committee approach.
Any running back is a better running back if he gets to carry the ball more, Vermeil said. It is almost impossible to come off the bench, carry it three times in different spots and play well. I don't believe guys can do that. You can in the passing game, but not in the running game. You really have to get going.
Of the two, Blaylock is the only one who has seen extensive action in any one regular-season game. Against Atlanta in week six, Blaylock carried 19 times for 90 yards and scored four touchdowns all career highs.
Nobody should be surprised, then, if Blaylock gets 20 to 25 carries today while Johnson and perhaps Tony Richardson share the rest. That, of course, would be fine for Blaylock, who admits that the Atlanta game gave him a dose of extra confidence.
It felt good, he said. That was the first time I've had that many carries in a professional game, and to almost gain 100 yards and get four TDs, that's unbelievable. That let me know, Hey, I can go out and perform. I can do this.'
Blaylock does own a rap label and gets on the mic under the name D Block, but today, the fourth-year back will be worried about a different kind of flow.
Like getting into the end zone inside the Louisiana Superdome.
With Priest Holmes not expected to play because of a knee injury, the 5-foot-9, 210-pound Blaylock will make the first start of his four-year NFL career.
Blaylock and the Chiefs have only snippets of tape and occasional flashes of brilliance to fall back on when attempting to decipher what's going to happen against the Saints' 30th-ranked run defense today.
In 35 career games, Blaylock has logged 70 carries for 334 yards and six touchdowns. He's averaged a healthy 4.8 yards per carry with a long run of 25 yards while adding 29 receptions for 323 yards and one TD.
In terms of style, Blaylock is well, let him tell it.
I would consider myself a slasher, Blaylock said. I have nice speed; I have the ability to make the nice cuts, the jump cuts. I have some power, not a lot of power, but don't come out there thinking that I'm going to go down with an arm tackle or something like that. And I have nice vision.
Sort of sounds like the man he's replacing, doesn't it?
Blaylock isn't as thick as Holmes, and he certainly doesn't have Holmes' resume. Unlike Holmes, however, Blaylock was drafted. The Chiefs thought they spotted something special when they selected him out of tiny Stephen F. Austin University in the 2001 draft with a fifth-round pick that had been acquired from St. Louis in the trade for Trent Green.
Blaylock clocked the fastest 40 time in the field at that year's NFL combine, but most teams were scared off by the fact that leg injuries limited him to only 12 starts in his college career. Still, he rushed for 2,091 yards and 14 touchdowns and showed nice versatility by catching 27 passes for 294 yards during his college career.
Blaylock's ability to catch the football and his elusiveness in the open field make him a natural for the Chiefs' screen and draw game.
I really like to get into open space because that lets me see everything develop, said Blaylock, who has nine receptions for 90 yards this season. I like those draws, I like those screens and I like those (outside running plays) because that's when I can really use my skills.
The other talent Blaylock has always displayed is the ability to recognize and react to oncoming pass rushers in the backfield. That's one skill that Larry Johnson, who will spell Blaylock today, is still working to improve.
The 6-1, 230-pound Johnson is thicker and more powerfully built than Blaylock and has flashed surprisingly good receiving skills as a pro, considering that he wasn't asked to do much route running at Penn State. But he's still a work in progress when it comes to the finer points of the position.
According to Johnson, who saw his first real regular-season action at Tampa Bay last week, those lessons can be learned only one way: by playing.
I just feel that I'll get better as I'm in the game and I start getting carries, said Johnson, who had 59 yards from scrimmage after spelling Holmes in the fourth quarter last week. I'm one of those backs who needs to be in the game. I've always been that way, going back to college.
It remains to be seen how much action Johnson will see today. Blaylock is starting, and history indicates that coach Dick Vermeil is not a believer in the running back-by-committee approach.
Any running back is a better running back if he gets to carry the ball more, Vermeil said. It is almost impossible to come off the bench, carry it three times in different spots and play well. I don't believe guys can do that. You can in the passing game, but not in the running game. You really have to get going.
Of the two, Blaylock is the only one who has seen extensive action in any one regular-season game. Against Atlanta in week six, Blaylock carried 19 times for 90 yards and scored four touchdowns all career highs.
Nobody should be surprised, then, if Blaylock gets 20 to 25 carries today while Johnson and perhaps Tony Richardson share the rest. That, of course, would be fine for Blaylock, who admits that the Atlanta game gave him a dose of extra confidence.
It felt good, he said. That was the first time I've had that many carries in a professional game, and to almost gain 100 yards and get four TDs, that's unbelievable. That let me know, Hey, I can go out and perform. I can do this.'