Eric Studesville – October 20, 2020
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Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(I wanted to ask you about RB Jordan Howard and with RB Salvon Ahmed, what’s the skillset there that excites you guys enough to put him on the 53-man roster 10 days ago? And with Jordan, have you seen him be dispirited or down? Or has he handled this with a good attitude being inactive for a couple weeks?) – “I think starting with Jordan (Howard), he’s been unbelievable with this and I told him that yesterday. How he’s handled this has been first class as a professional. He’s come in and gone to work every day, which is what it’s all about. We can’t always control our circumstances, but we can control how we approach them and he’s really done a great job with that. It’s a very difficult situation for him because he’s a prideful person. He wants to be out there. He wants to be contributing and right now, that’s not the situation, but everything he’s done has been fantastic and been on the plus side. I give him a lot of credit because it’s a difficult thing to do. As far as Salvon’s gone, I think he came in, he’s done a great job. He’s a smart young man. He’s intensely competitive. He wants to be good. He’s got a great work ethic. I think you see him flash and do some things in the run game. I thought last week he did a really good job of giving them the defensive picture of some of those Frank (Gore) looks and things that Frank was going to give them. He catches the ball well. I don’t have a great feel yet for his physical side of things, and that may be kind of trial by fire, but that’s okay because I think it’s going to be in him and I think he will compete at a high level. But he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and to this point, really, really happy with having him in our room.”
(RB Myles Gaskin is a tough dude for being kind of on the small side. How do you think the team might benefit from having a bigger back available for short-yardage situations? Obviously RB Jordan Howard would probably be the bigger back.) – “I think it depends as much on the kind of plays that we’re asking that back to perform as it does on what the physical composition is of the back. I think Myles (Gaskin) gives us a really good, productive person in there. He’s done a nice job. Everything we’ve asked him to do. And we’re talking about third-and-1. I know that we can emphasize that, but there’s a whole lot more first- and second-down plays than there are third-and-1s in the game, and he’s really done everything we’ve asked him to do on all those plays. So I think we have great trust in him and what he’s doing for us right now.”
(As a follow-up to you just mentioned RB Myles Gaskin. As his direct position coach, what’s been the best part about seeing his success that he’s having this year? We talked about it earlier in the season, but just what’s been the best part about seeing him succeed?) – “His humility in how he’s approaching the success that he’s having a little bit. I think with every day, he gets stronger. He gets better as a player in what he’s doing; but you don’t see him change. He hasn’t changed since he walked in here last year. He’s a study person. He’s intensely competitive. He wants to be good. He’s highly focused and he’s going to give you everything he has, and I don’t think any of that has changed. I think to see him having some success now and not change fundamentally who he is and what he’s about and his character, I think is a strong message on who he is. And that’s why you cheer for a young guy like this and hope that things just get better and better for him.”
(Another question about RB Myles Gaskin. I’m looking now and it looks like maybe two dozen running backs selected in the 2019 draft. He was the very last one taken. Can you just take us back through the thinking at that time when he was on the board, when you thought that it might be an option and what in the pre-draft process drew you to him?) – “As far as the draft process, that’s the personnel department. (General Manager) Chris (Grier) and those guys makes those decisions. My job is to coach the guys they put in the room, and we found a fantastic young man. You see that when we interviewed him at the Combine. You liked him – his personality, his intensity, his focus in that short time we had together. But being around him, I just liked how he was, how he carried himself, what his demeanor – I think we’re seeing the same exact thing every day when he walks in this building. So you love being around him.”
(I know as a coach, you pride yourself on development. Just noticing RB Myles Gaskin play, it seems like he’s developed a lot, particularly in the passing game. How have you seen maybe his growth in pass protection and as a receiver, and how has that helped him become more of a complete back?) – “I think you answered the question right there. He’s become more of a complete back, which gives you confidence to put him in the game and in those situations. But again, I go back to who this kid is and what he’s done. I say ‘kid.’ That’s not a fair way to say it – to this young man. He worked his tail off in the offseason and you saw a difference when he came back here. He had clearly worked on catching the ball in the offseason when he was away from here. We saw that demonstrated when he came back. You saw he gained a little bit of weight, a little big of size, a little bit of strength. I think you saw that when he came back here. He’s always had vision. He’s always had great feet. He’s always had balance, at least in the time that I’ve been around him, so those things just continued and all I think he’s done is he’s added to his book of things that he can do and what he can show. So when he’s gotten the opportunity, he’s been able to maximize those opportunities. That’s really what it’s about for every guy. That’s in our room and I think in every room in this building, that’s the message that you want to send. When your opportunity comes up, are you prepared for it? And he continues to maximize his opportunities.”
