From: ronnie@uts.amdahl.com (Ronnie Townsend)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro
Subject: Re: Watters status????
Keywords: Rathman
Date: 17 Dec 92 20:02:47 GMT
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <1992Dec17.012232.2156@leland.Stanford.EDU> daveshao@leland.stanford.edu (David Shao) writes:
>In article <102370@netnews.upenn.edu> satish@a.chem.upenn.edu (Satish Nair) writes:
>>
>>Watters is still complaining of sores.  But why start him and risk further
>>injury?  Amp Lee has done a great job gaining over 100 yards against a D
>>which has not allowed a 100-yard rusher all season.  A backfield of Watters
>>AND Lee... hmm, now that should give defensive coordinators fits through the
>>playoffs.
>
>The 49ers would not for a moment think of this backfield combination this
>year, or any year in which Tom Rathman is a 49er.  Rathman is one of the
>finest fullbacks in the league, and the perfect fullback for the 
>Walsh offense.  An essential weapon of the Walsh offense is the sweep
>and Rathman consistently delivers the blocks to spring Watters.  
>Would Watters be blocking for Lee on the sweep?  It certainly wouldn't
>work for Lee to block for Watters.  Rathman is a sure-handed receiver
>who can make spectacular catches such as his one-handed grab in the
>Super Bowl against Denver or his diving catch for a touchdown this
>year.  He is the running back the 49ers trust most not to fumble,
>as evidenced by their giving him the ball on the second to last play
>of last Sunday's game against the Vikings.  He is their short-yardage
>back near the goal-line, getting low to the ground and almost burrowing
>his way through.  I remember a dive of his this year which was called
>a touchdown where the replay clearly showed that his knee was down,
>but the way in which he dove fooled the official.
>
>Lee ran well in the game at Minnesota, but we must remember that
>this game was played indoors on artificial turf.  He looked much less
>impressive at Candlestick on a wet natural grass field.  The final
>49er games of the season will all be at Candlestick up through the 
>NFC championship if they make it that far.  I doubt that Lee will be the
>49er halfback of the future.  In the Philadelphia game I saw him
>tackled in a manner quite similar to how defenses would stop Dexter
>Carter--one defender would hit Lee and Lee would be stopped cold.
>And at Candlestick Lee will be much less sure of his footing and be
>unable to make as quick cuts.  The running game would sputter with him
>as the starting halfback just like it did with Dexter Carter.
>Do 49er fans still remember the home game against Atlanta when
>Carter's ineffectiveness led the fans to chant "No more sweeps!"

Whoa there buddy... I think you are way too big a fan of Ricky Watters to 
be able to see clearly here. Amp Lee got 58 yards on 13? carries against one
of the toughest run defenses around.. on a wet track.. and that's not 
good enough for you? The Niners themselves have stated that Lee was very 
effective in the Philly game for a kid starting in his first pro game to 
have to run on a wet surface at the Stick is criminal. I saw him slip off his 
feet trying to make cuts on more than one occasion. He is not easy to bring 
down as you say and the wet surface most certainly curtailed his slashing 
running style. Not to mention that he got what 8 or 9 fewer carried than 
Watters would have gotten in a tight game?  You want Watters as the Niners 
back of the future... fine I don't have a problem with that.. but don't go
denigrating what Amp Lee has done in order to justify that opinion. It's not
necessary. Lee has proven himself to be a fine back and he is the only guy 
not named Barry Sanders to go over 100 yards against the Viking D in over 
two years.  What else does he have to do. I hope Seifert keeps Watters out 
one more game so you can continue to see what a good back Lee is. He is a 
gliding, instintive runner much like Emmitt Smith. He does not have tremendous
speed nor does he need it. He will grow up to be bigger than Smith (he came out
as a Junior is is not yet 22) and can do everything Watters can do except maybe
go coast to coast. But then they said that about Emmitt coming out of college 
as well. 

>Watters on the other hand seems to be the long awaited replacement
>for Roger Craig.  He is magnificent running for the 49ers on the
>sweep.  He is much harder to bring down than Lee.
>And with a healthy Watters, the 49ers can run out the clock late
>in the fourth quarter holding onto the lead, as Watters demonstrated
>in the victory against the Rams at Anaheim.

And I suppose Amp's great runs on the clock killing drive last week don't
count! 


-- 
Ronnie
-------------------------------------------------------------
Whenever the fates hear someone say, "It can't get any worse than this..." 
They just laugh and double your misery!