Why stop now? I’m just going to keep blogging about Herb Donaldson. I can’t believe, for one, that this guy was never drafted. He’s a bruising runner with the only negative being that he doesn’t have blazing speed. This is what NFL.com had to say about him (link here):
Analysis
Positives: Strong upper body with huge thighs and legs. Tough for defensive backs to bring down once he gets going. Uses a nice stiff arm to get potential tacklers at bay. Patient runner, will wait for blocks to develop then hit the hole. Has surprising quickness and a nice burst for his size. Uses his low center of gravity to spin off a pile and maintain his balance. Lowers his pads for contact, keeping his legs churning near the goal line or first down marker. Willing pass protector with good leverage and strength who can blow up defenders in space.
Negatives: Does not have breakaway speed. Runs out of gas in the secondary, resorting to a big arm pump to keep going. Lacks experience catching the ball, but seems fairly comfortable with it. May lack lateral quickness to sidestep players in the hole or pick up blitzers at the next level. Holds the ball high and tight most times, but still has ball security issues.
Ok look, the guy isn’t a blazer. Neither was Deuce McAllister last yeah. I think this addition is more crucial to the Saints than people realize. I used this link to pull up his stats in college. Every guy that makes the NFL has good stats, but I want the Saints fans to get a sense for how well he performed:
| DATE | OPP | RESULT | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | REC | YDS | |||||
| 8/30 | @Arkansas | L 28-24 | 35 | 157 | 4.5 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |||||
| 9/6 | Quincy | W 63-0 | 15 | 128 | 8.5 | 36 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 9/13 | @South Dakota State | L 24-22 | 18 | 43 | 2.4 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 40 | |||||
| 9/20 | Stephen F. Austin | W 34-14 | 37 | 229 | 6.2 | 66 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 10/4 | @Missouri State | W 33-21 | 41 | 273 | 6.7 | 38 | 4 | 2 | 20 | |||||
| 10/11 | @North Dakota State | W 27-22 | 26 | 124 | 4.8 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 10/18 | Indiana State | W 56-0 | 20 | 137 | 6.9 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 11/1 | Northern Iowa | L 30-6 | 23 | 116 | 5.0 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 11/8 | @Southern Illinois | L 24-14 | 28 | 99 | 3.5 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 11/15 | Illinois State | W 48-45 | 41 | 243 | 5.9 | 39 | 3 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| 11/22 | Youngstown State | L 31-28 | 40 | 235 | 5.9 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
So the notables here are he ran for over 200 yards 4 times. He ran for 157 yards against an SEC defense in Arkansas. He averaged less than 4.5 per carry in exactly 2 games. Those numbers are incredible. I can’t wait to see how things shake out with this guy in camp, and I have a feeling he’s going to make some teams look silly come preseason.
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