If a player rushes for 1,799 yards as a freshman then they will make the pre-season Heisman watch everytime. If your saying he is overrated because he was on the pre-season Heisman Watch the that is ridiculous. Rivals putting him as the #4 player in the country is nothing more than a prediction, as is pre-season anything. They go off of last years performances for pre-season rankings, Heisman hopefuls, and just about everything else pre-season.
Nowhere in my logic would you find "if a player does well, its all him, and if a player does bad, its the teams fault." Please show me where I said that. To say that the only reason Lewis ran for 1,799 yards was because of his OL and weak defenses is also not true. Pittsbugh could stick you in the "i" behind their line last year, against ANY defense and your not rushing for 1,799. Lewis' decline in overall stats has a lot to do with his TEAMS performance. What makes most great running backs good? A solid offensive line and an adequate passing game. I say most because Barry Sanders did it with neither. Last year Pittsbugh had both and Lewis was able to be a PIECE of Pittsburgh's offense, not the ONLY feature. That's the case with ANY running back. Its nearly impossible to run with any efficiency when teams are able to stack 9 guys in the box. You have to have more than "good speed" to rush for 1,799 yards. You have to be able to read your blocks and use your vision to make your reads. You have to be athletic enough to make guys miss, and take the run to the next level.
Pittsburgh went 10-3 last year. Dion Lewis averaged more yards (148) in his teams losses, than his teams victories (135). You act like he just beat up on terrible teams all year.
I dunno... I run a FAT sub 4.5... but I doubt I could take a hit from a LB and stand back up.
Kidding aside, you're completely missing the point. The definition of overrated (per Webster's Dictionary):
to rate or appraise too highly; overestimate
I'm assuming I don't need to define "rate" or "appraise" but when someone does a pre-season poll or ranking
that is a rating/projection/appraisal of their talent. So when I say "he is overrated" I mean precisely that he is not as good as experts (and many people on this board) rated/projected/appraised him to be.
If you still think he is an All-World running back and not just "very good" I suggest you get on the phone with Dave Wannstedt because he is clearly splitting touches between him and Graham now... and Graham is out performing him touch for touch.
Other points:
1) I completely disagree with "Its nearly impossible to run with any efficiency when teams are able to stack 9 guys in the box." You give the Barry Sanders example... but I raise you the New York Jets last year, the Miami Dolphins last year, Denard Robinson this year, etc. There are many, many examples of teams who run the ball very effectively against a loaded box without a good passing game.
2) While I might not have been able to run for 1,800 yards last year... I bet someone like Armando Allen would've come pretty close.
3) Your stat about Lewis' stats in their losses is seriously flawed consider their 3 losses were to: NC State, WVU and Cinci... all of those teams had porous, undersized rush defenses. NC State was ranked 91st and WVU/Cinci, despite OK statistical ranks, obviously lacked rushing defense based on their big game performances.
If you still disagree with me... that's your prerogative but there isn't much more I can do to make the case that his #4 ranking and Heisman hopeful status were overratings. I'm off to Chicago now for the game this weekend. Go Irish, beat Cardinal!