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Eric Studesville – November 17, 2020 Download PDF version

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Running Backs Coach Eric Studesville

(I know obviously it’s probably a week or two before you get RB Myles Gaskin back, but did RB Salvon Ahmed do enough where you say to yourself, “this job is open when both Myles and both RB Matt Breida come back. We are going to take a fresh look at this every single week.” Or is one game of Salvon not enough to make that decision?) – “I think we take it week-by-week as it is. We’re not making long-term decisions. We’re trying to figure out this week, what we’ve got to do to beat Denver and we haven’t made any decisions past that. I think Salvon played really well this past weekend. We’re very pleased with how he prepared and what he did and how he performed, but we’re going to take it week-by-week every week.”

(I know it probably hasn’t worked out as much as you’d want with some of the veterans, but it seems like you guys have done well in getting good production out of some of the less-heralded guys with RB Myles Gaskin and RB Salvon Ahmed. Is there any threads – common threads – on why those two guys have been able to be successful when they have got their opportunity?) – “I think the common thread to any success is guys and how they come in and they make a commitment to learning and working and preparing and then going out and practicing and doing things. I don’t think it’s a magic recipe. I think it’s the same. These guys all come in – everybody in the room that I have, I’m happy with in how they come in as far as their meetings, learning in the playbook, the game plans, what we’re trying to do, why we’re trying to do certain things. The recipe’s not secret. It’s really not. It’s pretty simple, really. Just come in and work and do everything you can and jump in with both feet and then when you get your opportunity, go ahead and perform.”

(Obviously RB Myles Gaskin and RB Salvon Ahmed are in your room now, but I was just curious out of curiosity, did you ever watch any of their highlights together and how they kind of mixed and matched at Washington, or did you talk to anyone from up there or anything just because they were college teammates?) – “I didn’t really watch how they meshed because they came out at different times, so when I was evaluating Myles, that’s who I was watching primarily. You see flashes of other guys as they play in games as you watch them, and then last year obviously it was Salvon who I was watching and evaluating what he was going to do when he was coming out. So I don’t really group them together or compare them. I’m trying to evaluate each guy separately so that I have an opinion on that specific guy.”

(What stands out to you about RB Salvon Ahmed’s skillset?) – “I think the first thing that stands out to me is that when he comes in the room, he’s ready to go. He’s highly motivated, he’s asking questions, he wants to be good, he wants to work, he wants to learn and he does that. When he gets on the field, I think you see him. He can run. He’s got some speed, he’s got quickness. I think he has good eyes. I think he’s got good feet. I think he catches the ball really well, but he’s continuing to develop. He’s got areas that he needs to work on like everybody does, like all of us do, and he’s continuing to work on those areas and strengthening the things that he’s good at and just trying to maximize those things when we put him in there.”

(I want to follow up on RB Salvon Ahmed a little bit. Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey was just on and a minute ago, he was talking about instincts and it struck me because it seems like it’s so integral to what a running back can do – I was asking about his ability to read where the holes are going to be and react and I’d like to get your opinion on how he’s able to do that as well as answer the question of how do you process whether this is a one-hit wonder or can he repeat that kind of performance week after week? Is he durable enough?) – “I think to answer the first part of the question, we spend a lot of time in meetings talking about blocking schemes, angles, where we think things could hit, where they might hit dependent on different things. We spend a lot of time talking about that, watching film; but a lot of those instincts that you’re talking about, those are gifts that they have and they’ve had them for a long time, to be able to react and see things. As far as the second part of it, I don’t know what the long-term prognosis is, but we’re going to get ready every week. We’re going to prepare every week and he’s going to get an opportunity to demonstrate; can he be consistent in his performance level? And I think he will.”

(Just wanted to ask if you were able to meet with RB Kalen Ballage either before or after the game and what did you think of his performance?) – “I did see him after the game and I told him I thought he played well. I’m happy for him that he’s gotten this opportunity out there with the Chargers, and I like the kid. I think Kalen is awesome.”

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