Eric Studesville – July 29, 2018
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Sunday, July 29, 2018
Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville
(Your group … I’m a guy who believes that the running game can take a lot of pressure off the passing game. From that standpoint what would you like to see from the running backs this year, from RB Kenyan Drake and RB Frank Gore primarily?) – “From all of the running backs, we want to be efficient. Just what you said is right. We have to take pressure off … As a running back, if we have efficient runs, we’re staying in down and distances that’s manageable and it makes it easier on everybody – quarterbacks, wide outs and everything, including the play calling. We just want to stay ahead on the downs. That’s what we talk about – efficiency, no tackles for loss and getting up with the ball at the end of plays. That’s the big emphasis for us.”
(What has RB Kenyan Drake showed you so far that maybe you didn’t see late last season?) –“I saw the cut ups obviously and I saw him play when we came (to play) here from Denver. I was really impressed with his abilities to run the ball inside the tackles. He’s obviously got speed to finish. Being here with him now, you see the other dimension, which his ability in the pass game to do some things in the pass game. Really, (he can) run different routes – a variety of routes – stretch the field and do some things. I’m excited about everything we can do to get some more touches for him.”
(How have you been impressed with RB Kalen Ballage so far?) – “Kalen has done a nice job. For a rookie, it’s a lot. What really helped him is that he did a good job in the spring during OTAs of really grinding and learning and trying to get caught up on everything. What that allows him to do now is to come and really compete. The learning curve is not quite as steep, and he can get in there and just compete because he knows what to do. He’s done a great job so far.”
(When you have depth like that at the running back position, how do you work everybody in?) – “We just have to do it. I don’t know if there is a set path or a set way that you do it. We have to do it to get everybody ready. The numbers play out that you’re going to need guys over the course of a season. Having that depth is a great thing. The biggest thing probably at the end of the day is that it becomes on them to be able to take mental reps and repetitions when they’re not in there. They’ve got to learn from somebody else – the mistakes somebody else makes or when somebody does something right.”
(Head Coach Adam Gase talked about how he wants to run the football a little bit more. Do you believe him and how do the young guys get prepared for that?) – “We want to run the football and obviously in the running back room, we’d like to run 80 times a game if we could, but that’s not how it plays out. (laughter) We want to run it as much as we need to win football games. That’s what it is. If we can stay ahead on downs and distance, like we talked about, that helps all of that process. We’re going to do whatever it takes to help us win. The biggest thing is we want to contribute to the offense being successful and being efficient and going out giving our team a chance to win every week.”
(How has RB Buddy Howell been out here?) – “Buddy has done a nice job so far. Buddy has done a nice job coming into the spring. He, much like Kalen (Ballage), did a great job of really grinding and learning and now he’s giving himself a chance to compete. All of them right now, when we came in, we all said they are trying to establish their role and function on this team – whatever that is. Everyone is going to have different roles and functions and that’s what they’re working on.”
(With RB Kenyan Drake, how would you describe his demeanor? To me, he looks like a guy that this stuff isn’t too big for him. I don’t know if that’s his personality or playing at Alabama but it looks like he can handle that. What do you think?) – “Yes. I don’t think there’s anything that he can’t handle. He’s not a real up and down personality-wise person. He’s kind of even-keeled. There’s a good part of that too, where that lets you overcome some things that happen and lets you go ahead and adjust to things that are going on in the game where you don’t get too high when you make great plays and if there is something that’s messed up, you don’t get real low and down about it. I like his even-keeled temperament.”
(As far as pass protection, where is he RB Kenyan Drake in that aspect of the game?) – “He’s done a really good job. If you put on tape from last year, this guy will step up and pass protect. That’s one thing that you love about him … We were talking about it. Yes, he can run the ball. He’s got speed, but now you flank him out and you run routes. Then all of a sudden you bring him back in and you’re confident with his pass protection ability. It just gives our offense another dimension.”
(RB Frank Gore, have you seen his influence in that room in any way, and if so, how?) – “I think so. I think you just watch Frank. Frank carries himself like a professional in everything that he does. He’s in the room, he’s working, taking notes trying to learn the offense because this is new for him. Out here, he’s working. Just look at him, he’s drenched head to toe every day when he comes out here. That’s the kind of effort that he puts in. I think those young guys do see that. They say ‘Here’s a guy who’s really achieved some great things in his career, yet he’s out here grinding every day.’ That makes those guys accountable to do that too. That’s one of the things Frank brings to the room.”
(RB Senorise Perry is a guy … We look at the rookies, we look at the starters. Where does Senorise fit in?) – “He had a great spring in my opinion. He really showed himself as being dependable, going in and knowing what’s going on. Obviously his role has been on special teams primarily. When you’ve got a jersey, even as a special teams player, you’ve got to have an offensive role. That’s one of those roles and functions that we talked about. What he’s done is establish himself as a dependable person to be able to go in if we need him. Right now I don’t have a hesitation of dropping him in a game or playing him in a game.”
(Back to RB Frank Gore, what has he shown you? Obviously we have 15 years of tape we can watch to see what he does well. What, at 35, does he still do at a very high level?) – “Compete. He just competes at everything. He wants to be the best at everything. He wants to be the No. 1 guy. In the one-on-one drill yesterday, he was trying to go against the best linebackers. He wanted those guys, those match ups. He’s constantly competing and that’s what you love about him.”
(Are you going to have to … Obviously RB Frank Gore is 35. Do you have to monitor how much work he gets throughout the week in the season or is it full go?) – “I’m not there yet. I’m still trying to figure out what we’ve got at camp. We’re going to keep massaging this thing as we go forward and we’ll figure out what the best plan is for us going forward; but I haven’t made any decisions on reps or any of that stuff. We’re going to do whatever we need to, to get our best guys to the game and give us a chance to win.”
(Does RB Kenyan Drake’s body type or skill set reminds you of anyone you’ve covered in the league over the years?) – “That’s always hard for me. Comparisons are always hard. I think he has a unique skill set to himself and we’re trying to maximize that skill set because it is special. He can run, he’s tough, he can pass protect, he can run routes like a receiver in some cases. I just think that we’ve got to keep developing that. I don’t have a good comparison point for you right now.”
(To me, RB Kenyan Drake reminds me of some guys that people question if he can be an every down back because he’s a speed guy, he’s a third-down guy, he’s a specialty guy. What do you think has to happen for any athlete at the running back positon to change the perception from specialty back, third down back, change of pace back to every down back?) – “Performance. He’s just got to perform and do it and show that he can do it. We’ve got to put him in situations where he’s able to perform and either he does it or he doesn’t do it.”
(Why is RB Frank Gore so good at making something out of nothing? Because it seems like some of his biggest plays last year … We thought he was dead in the backfield and it’s a 40- or 50-yard gain?) – “You’d have to ask him how he does that. I don’t know how he does it, I’m just glad he does it. (laughter)”
(RB Frank Gore does it a lot.) – “He does it a lot and we’re going to need him to do it.”
