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Some Late Night Thurman Love


The Dean

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More than anything else, what limited OJ's catches were his own hands of stone. Rauch, Bills HC in OJ's rookie year, actually wanted to make him a WR. OJ's hands sucked and the crazy experiment that Rauch wished to implement went straight to the crapper. That was a good thing, or we might have missed out on some exciting years of OJ running the ball.

 

Running was OJ's game, and that's it folks. No blocking, and pass catching - barely adequate at best, and in reality, sub-par. Nice of you to pick out his absolute best as receiver though. OJ never caught more than 30 passes (which was his rookie year when Rauch, HC, often had him split out as a WR.), Yet you fail to mention Thomas' contributions after his 60 catch season, which were 49. 62, 58, 48, and 50 immediately following. Fact is, as a pure runner, OJ had the edge, but Thomas buried him in in blocking and receiving, and Thomas was still a great runner in his own right.

 

Did you actually watch both of these RB's careers, or is this simply another voice of opinion without knowledge of the actual facts at hand?

 

Pure runner, OJ for 5 years. Complete back and overall best - TT.

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To some extent, guys show their worth and excell in systems...with teams (Toom Brady anyone?). Others would shine (to an extent) no matter their circumstances. TT playing on OJ's teams would not have been an outstanding/HOF-worthy back. OJ playing on TT's teams would have still been a great HOF worthy back, IMO...but, I don't think the team would have been any where near as successful with OJ in the backfield. So, even though TT didn''t have the running talent of the Juice, he was a major reason the Bills went to four straight SBs.

 

TT is, IMO, one of the truly FREAKS of football...but, he also played in a system that was perfectly suited to his varied strengths. In his later years, he was misused by the Bills, IMO. Well, if not misused, then the Bills weren't running an offense that fit his strengths. (Running TT into the middle of the line as a power back was just stupid, IMO.)

 

As you said, Spidey, comparing TT and OJ in receiving (or blocking) skill is just ignorant, IMO. Once OJ got the ball via the pass, he was explosive. But, nobody in their right mind would suggest that OJ ran patterns, caught the ball or protected the QB anywhere near as well as TT.

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