Toby Gerhart

[Carolina Speed]

Here's a very nice article on Gerhart.

Minnesota Vikings: Why and How They Will Utilize Toby Gerhart Next Season

By Nicolas Manzanares

It is a little known fact that Toby Gerhart is one of the most decorated football players to ever play high school football. He set the record for rushing yards in California history and has the third-most yardage of any high school player to ever don a helmet.

While at Stanford, Gerhart has held the record for most rushing yards in a season, most touchdowns in a season and most touchdowns in a career. He came in second to Mark Ingram in the closest Heisman vote in college football history.

Gerhart has succeeded wherever he has played, and Vikings' fans can expect an extended role from Gerhart next season. With Adrian Peterson in question due to a significant knee injury, Gerhart will need to step up and rise to the occasion. While he may not yet be the feature back, you can bet he will be splitting the carries with Peterson more evenly.

While not quite as fast as Peterson, Gerhart is rarely ever knocked backwards, and is almost a guaranteed 4-5 yards every time he touches the ball—on top of that, he's no slow poke. When Peterson went down with the knee injury Gerhart came into the game and gashed the Redskins for a 67-yard run—the longest of the season for any ball carrier on the Vikings' roster.

Wherever Gerhart has gone, he has faced challenges and skepticism. But he always answers the naysayers the same way—by carrying the ball above and beyond expectation.

There is no reason to believe Gerhart won't succeed next year. He has the speed, power and determination to make him one of the more complete backs in the NFL today. So expect to see a whole lot more of number 32 next year.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...innesota-vikings-will-utilize-him-next-season

Don, yes that's a nice write up on TG. Let's hope this prediction comes true.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Don Wassall]

Vikings' Toby Gerhart expects knee to be ready for OTAs

By Jeremy Fowler

Vikings running back Toby Gerhart is in the final stages of rehab from a torn left medial collateral ligament and plans to fully participate in the team's organized team activities.

Vikings players will hit the field with coaches May 29.

"I should be able to do everything once we get back," Gerhart said Wednesday, April 11.

"I'm still strengthening the quad, and the MCL has healed on its own. The key is just doing more running. I still get a little soreness when I run, but that goes away the next day. I'm on track."

Gerhart's health is crucial to the Vikings because of Adrian Peterson's rehab from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Gerhart, a second-round draft pick in 2010, rushed for 531 yards and one touchdown last season, including 401 yards in five games as the primary tailback while replacing Peterson. Gerhart also finished the season with 190 yards and three touchdowns receiving.

He injured his left knee in the season finale against the Chicago Bears on Jan. 1.

http://www.twincities.com/vikings/c...expects-knee-be-ready-otas?source=most_viewed

 

[Don Wassall]

Gerhart Preparing to be the Starter

Toby Gerhart knows Adrian Peterson might return close to form by September, but Gerhart is preparing this offseason as if he will be the starter. He is also working on improving his foot quickness after assessing his extended action late last year.

The Vikings have had an incredible turnout this year at their offseason workout program, but some players have drawn more attention than others. Among them has been running back Toby Gerhart. With Adrian Peterson coming off a significant surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Gerhart is preparing as if he will be the primary running back to open the season. “I’m just preparing to be the guy,” Gerhart said. “I try to do that every year, but this year it’s a little more prevalent. I’m doing every I can to be here, work hard and work with the new guys we have coming, pushing everybody and getting pushed by other guys. I’m preparing to be the guy, depending on whether Adrian comes back.” Gerhart was no certainty to be ready at this point either. After replacing Peterson in the starting lineup, Gerhart suffered a medial collateral strain that was initially thought to be an injury that might require surgery, too. Gerhart said he was told to rest the injury for a month to six weeks to see if the injury could heal on its own. He was pleased to report that it did and that he has been working hard to come back stronger than he was before the injury. A bulked-up Gerhart said he is looking forward to the offseason program because he never had one in his first two seasons in the NFL. His alma mater, Stanford, requires that scholarship athletes complete the school year, which precluded him from taking part in OTAs and minicamps in 2009. With the lockout last year, another opportunity was lost, making this year’s offseason program his first full experience and it’s something he is embracing. “This is my first real offseason,” Gerhart said. “Coming out of the draft, I was in school and wasn’t able to come in until school was over. Then there was the lockout last year. This is my first true offseason. It’s going well. We have a great turnout – pretty much everybody is here working hard and pushing each other.” Depending on Peterson’s health, Gerhart’s role in the offense is a fluid situation. But Gerhart’s extended action in December when Peterson was out gave him something to work on during the offseason. “There are things you learn from last year that you want to improve last year. For me, I'd like to be a little more agile in the second level,” Gerhart said. “There were a couple of times coming through, about six to seven yards, if I can make a safety miss, it can be a bigger gain. Working on my feet a little bit, getting a little quicker, little shiftier left to right.” While Gerhart role at the start of the season is in question, there is no doubt that Christian Ponder will be the starter. A year ago, he was working out on his own and, once the lockout ended, found himself behind Donovan McNabb on the depth chart. A year later, Gerhart said he sees a different Ponder. “He’s really turning into a leader,” Gerhart said. “I know from experience, it’s hard as a rookie. You don’t know your place. You don’t want to speak out necessarily when you’ve had vets there for awhile and you haven’t proven anything. For him, this year he’s definitely taking ownership. He’s being vocal. He’s pushing everybody to stay after (practice), run some routes, stuff like that. He’s really grown into a leader and is really trying to perfect his throws and get timing with everybody early in this offseason.” What the future holds for Gerhart may depend more on the future for Peterson than anything else, but he is ready to get the sour taste of the 3-13 season out of his mouth and is looking forward to bigger and better things in 2012. “We can’t do much worse than we did last year,” Gerhart said. “We have talent. We’re a good team – the second year in this system with a full offseason coming up. I really think we can make great strides. We play in a tough division against some of the top teams in the league. We feel we’re right there with any of them. We’re looking to go out and prove that to people.” http://chi.scout.com/2/1183389.html

 

[seattlefan]

A bulked-up Gerhart said he is looking forward to the offseason program because he never had one in his first two seasons in the NFL. His alma mater, Stanford, requires that scholarship athletes complete the school year, which precluded him from taking part in OTAs and minicamps in 2009. With the lockout last year, another opportunity was lost, making this year’s offseason program his first full experience and it’s something he is embracing.

No wonder he struggled his first season. After warming the bench most the season, no practices, and the hostility from the afflete thugs, it's remarkable he's been able to put up a 4.5 ypc average over the last 2 years.

 

[dwid]

I am just concerned about the use of the words "bulked up". I he didn't add any weight and they meant "ripped". He had gotten in much better shape after Stanford and more ripped, hopefully this is what he meant. He didn't need to add any weight. And why wouldn't he be preparing to be the starter? He will have to be the starter for at least the first two games. He should always be ready, don't become complacent like Jacob Hester. I think Hester lost what little chance he had in garbage time a while back before fat fullback, can't think of his name right now, Coastal Carolina guy, was considered to be a rb. Hester only looked slightly better than the other guy and in the case of the NFL, if you aren't significantly better than they are going with the black guy, espescially with runningback, you would have to be close to elite, even though Hester had shown more ability earlier in his career with the ball in his hands. When he gets his shot he is going to have to do something to make fans remember him, similar to that 67 yard run, but maybe knock someone down in the process, apparently thats what fans want to see in a White back. They just can't average 4 to 5 ypc following blocks like every other back, they have to stand out drastically (besides being White). Gerhart doesn't have the kamikaze style that Hillis has, he uses angles better, he might hit guys while he is running but at angles where they don't get a good hit on him and enough to take them out of the play. He will have to run into someone head on, preferably a cornerback, but he has the power to take out a safety. Hillis knocking out Pollard was what first got him lots of attention.

 

[Carolina Speed]

I am just concerned about the use of the words "bulked up". I he didn't add any weight and they meant "ripped". He had gotten in much better shape after Stanford and more ripped, hopefully this is what he meant. He didn't need to add any weight. And why wouldn't he be preparing to be the starter? He will have to be the starter for at least the first two games. He should always be ready, don't become complacent like Jacob Hester. I think Hester lost what little chance he had in garbage time a while back before fat fullback, can't think of his name right now, Coastal Carolina guy, was considered to be a rb. Hester only looked slightly better than the other guy and in the case of the NFL, if you aren't significantly better than they are going with the black guy, espescially with runningback, you would have to be close to elite, even though Hester had shown more ability earlier in his career with the ball in his hands. When he gets his shot he is going to have to do something to make fans remember him, similar to that 67 yard run, but maybe knock someone down in the process, apparently thats what fans want to see in a White back. They just can't average 4 to 5 ypc following blocks like every other back, they have to stand out drastically (besides being White). Gerhart doesn't have the kamikaze style that Hillis has, he uses angles better, he might hit guys while he is running but at angles where they don't get a good hit on him and enough to take them out of the play. He will have to run into someone head on, preferably a cornerback, but he has the power to take out a safety. Hillis knocking out Pollard was what first got him lots of attention.

dwid, the fat fullback you are referring to is Mike Tolbert and I couldn't agree with you more. Why isn't Gerhardt already ready? He's an NFL RB. He does need to be always ready.

As for Hester and the strange situation with Mike "fat tolbert" I never got how an SEC rb was turned into a fullback and a Big South fullback becomes a RB running behind the SEC TB turned FB. I ask DWF's this question all the time and they've never heard of Jacob Hester!

Chrissy Collinsworth said on MNFB that he loved Hester at FB, WHY? Since when does the RB/TB(Fat Tolbert) outweigh and run slower than the FB (Hester)?

I know Hester out runs "Fat Tolbert" in the 40.

 

[Don Wassall]

This Caste genius thinks the Vikings need to go after Steven Jackson or Ryan Grant (?!) because the Vikings "can't possibly think backup Toby Gerhart can carry the load by himself. They need a player who can carry a team for a few games until either Peterson or quarterback Christian Ponder take over." No, the Doak Walker award winning workhorse and Heisman runner-up who thrived as a starter late last season after Adrian Peterson went down "can't possibly" be the team's featured runner. It's just as ignorant as writing that Robert Griffin and Cam Newton "can't possibly be competent starting quarterbacks in the NFL."

Should the Minnesota Vikings Go After Steven Jackson or Ryan Grant?

http://sports.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981320189

 

[dwid]

This Caste genius thinks the Vikings need to go after Steven Jackson or Ryan Grant (?!) because the Vikings "can't possibly think backup Toby Gerhart can carry the load by himself. They need a player who can carry a team for a few games until either Peterson or quarterback Christian Ponder take over." No, the Doak Walker award winning workhorse and Heisman runner-up who thrived as a starter late last season after Adrian Peterson went down "can't possibly" be the team's featured runner. It's just as ignorant as writing that Robert Griffin and Cam Newton "can't possibly be competent starting quarterbacks in the NFL."

Should the Minnesota Vikings Go After Steven Jackson or Ryan Grant?

http://sports.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981320189

I had a feeling something like this would happen, but not this soon. I tried to remain optomistic. Im guessing Peterson is going to be out for longer than expected and they don't want the possibility of Hillis and Gerhart doing well with Woodhead in the mix as well. I even had a slight suspiscion that the Browns jumped up so eagerly because the Vikings may have had thoughts of getting Richardson, making Toby a permanent back up but thats crazy talk, right?

 

[bearclaw500]

My favorite part of this article -

"The Vikings could offer up draft picks they collected, Gerhart for younger legs"


Gerhart just turned 25 one month ago, I guess when you are white, you are over the hill at 25. Yet at the same time he is advocating the Vikings pick up Ryan Grant who is 30 and Steven Jackson who turns 30 in one month. I think this is the same reason they used for cutting Blair White. They needed to get a "younger" receiver. Maybe this is a new excuse for the caste football writers, prematurely declaring white skill position players as "old".

 

[celticdb15]

No doubt in my mind that Gerhart is a better physical specimen than Grant who had a few good seasons in GB but is on the downside of his career.

 

[Quiet Speed]

This Caste genius thinks the Vikings need to go after Steven Jackson or Ryan Grant (?!) because the Vikings "can't possibly think backup Toby Gerhart can carry the load by himself. They need a player who can carry a team for a few games until either Peterson or quarterback Christian Ponder take over." No, the Doak Walker award winning workhorse and Heisman runner-up who thrived as a starter late last season after Adrian Peterson went down "can't possibly" be the team's featured runner. It's just as ignorant as writing that Robert Griffin and Cam Newton "can't possibly be competent starting quarterbacks in the NFL."

Should the Minnesota Vikings Go After Steven Jackson or Ryan Grant?

http://sports.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981320189

There’s a nice reply in the comments after the article. The article almost reads like a parody, all that is missing is a laugh track.

2010-2011 Gerhart (beware of foul language in the audio):

[video=youtube;X7Axs5ptPRg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Axs5ptPRg[/video]

 

[Carolina Speed]

There’s a nice reply in the comments after the article. The article almost reads like a parody, all that is missing is a laugh track.

2010-2011 Gerhart (beware of foul language in the audio):

[video=youtube;X7Axs5ptPRg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Axs5ptPRg[/video]

Nice video. Thanks Quiet Speed! I especially like the long run against Washington and the other one where he drags 3 or 4 skins into the end zone! Let's hope we see more of that this year.

 

[NDfootball06]

ESPN's been hyping up Peterson recovery process. They showed him gimping around on the turf. He says he hopes to return back for week 1. For his sake and Gerhart's, hopefully he doesn't rush it. I hope Gerhart can get a decent amount of starts and show more of that 4.9 YPC from last year.

 

[icsept]

You know Peterson will rush back. His greatest fear is to allow Gerhart enough time to show his stuff and make Peterson dispensible, or even have to share carries. One thing that has been obvious the past two years is Peterson's severe angst anytime Gerhart is on the field.

 

[celticdb15]

If AP rushes back he will likely re injure himself much like Derrick Rose did.

 

[Woody]

Finally someone besides Caste points out the truth:
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/05/21/fantasy-the-contrarian-gerhart-v-ingram/

 

[Don Wassall]

Excellent article. Thanks for linking it, Woody.

I've loaded up on Gerhart on my fantasy teams. I'm in one league that has 32 teams and each team could keep 29 players on their roster before we started a 16 round draft a couple of weeks ago. RBs are always at a premium in fantasy, but the guy who had Gerhart still didn't keep him as one of his 29 keepers despite how well Toby played last season and the likelihood that Peterson will miss a significant part of the 2012 season or at the very least not carry the ball as much as in past years. I waited until the third round and then drafted Toby, knowing it was unlikely that any other owner would pick him up before then. Fantasy football has helped to some degree in gaining White players some respect, but there's still a long way to go. The racist stereotypes of White football players (and the excitement over any and all black players) are very deeply ingrained in the minds of DWFs.

 

[seattlefan]

If Gerhart was black with those combine numbers and his performance his senior year in college(lead FBS in rushing) he would have gone first round and been a guaranteed starter somewhere. Can anyone deny this?

 

[bearclaw500]

Sounds like Peterson is going to try to be back by week 1. It will be interesting watching this play out.


http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...n-peterson-dazzles-percy-harvin-with-recovery

 

[dwid]

Sounds like Peterson is going to try to be back by week 1. It will be interesting watching this play out.


http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...n-peterson-dazzles-percy-harvin-with-recovery

its one thing to sprint in a straight line but totally different thing to change direction. Who knows, Welker made it back by the start of the season but even he wasn't 100 percent until towards the end of the sesason. I think that is why we saw his catch total go down as well as ypc, his only season for the Pats without 100+ catches or 1k, only season with under 10 ypc.

He is going to have to share the load even if he does make it back by week 1.

 

[Don Wassall]

Possible good news for Toby, but it's causing a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth at Weenieworld Central:

Adrian Peterson (ACL, MCL, meniscus surgery) is likely to begin training camp on the camp/PUP list, leaving open the option of the reserve/PUP list for the first six weeks of the season. "It's early right now," coach Leslie Frazier said. "But in my mind right now, it'd be better to be doing things on the side (in camp) until we know and feel comfortable that he can get out there and interact with the players." Considering his impressive rate of progress thus far, we wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Peterson defied expectations and began participating at some point in training camp.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Possible good news for Toby, but it's causing a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth at Weenieworld Central:

Adrian Peterson (ACL, MCL, meniscus surgery) is likely to begin training camp on the camp/PUP list, leaving open the option of the reserve/PUP list for the first six weeks of the season. "It's early right now," coach Leslie Frazier said. "But in my mind right now, it'd be better to be doing things on the side (in camp) until we know and feel comfortable that he can get out there and interact with the players." Considering his impressive rate of progress thus far, we wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Peterson defied expectations and began participating at some point in training camp.

:smiley: Sounds pretty good to me!

 

[Don Wassall]

Another Gerhart update:

Running back Toby Gerhart says he has maintained his playing weight of approximately 230 pounds during this offseason. But Gerhart sure looks bigger in his upper body and said he has made an effort to add more lean mass.

“Just trying to get the guns going a little bit this year,†Gerhart joked after Wednesday’s practice.

With Peterson’s health still an uncertainty, it’s a distinct possibility Gerhart will be the Vikings’ opening day starter on Sept. 9. In the four games Peterson missed due to injury in 2011, Gerhart averaged 18 carries and 73 rushing yards per contest.

As for Gerhart’s increased bulk, the Vikings are doing a bit of offseason experimenting to determine how he can be most effective.

“He’s still a developing guy,†Frazier said. “And there are some things we’re going to find out in these OTAs. Before we send him home and come back to training camp, we’ll give him a prescribed weight. But we wanted to take a look at him at where he is right now and just see how it would affect his quickness. Because there’s a very good chance he’s going to have to really carry the load early on."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/157574555.html

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Thanks for the good news, Don! I hope Toby is able to start a bunch of games and get the chance to improve his game as he goes along. Maybe he'll get some decent blocking too.

 

[bearclaw500]

Percy Harvin has been a holdout from the Vikings training camp. Originally it was thought to be about money and a new contract. However, we find out today that he was displeased with his role in the offense. It is now speculated that the Vikings have made promises to Harvin about his role and playing time in the offense. Any bets out there that his role will involve lining up at halfback?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...ings-training-camp?module=HP11_headline_stack