Trent Richardson Trying to Reclaim His Career
May 26, 2015; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Trent Richardson (33) carries the ball under the supervision of running backs coach Bernie Parmalee at organized team activities at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Trent Richardson, the Cleveland Browns’ 2012 No. 3 overall, has been officially labelled as a bust. After a decent first year with a horrible Browns team, they young man did nothing but get worse. It is unfortunate that the Browns switched to the zone-blocking scheme and traded him to another zone-sheme team (Indianapolis Colts).
But when trying to live up to your Top-3 draft status, you have to control everything you can control. And Richardson didn’t control anything he could control over the three years he’s played in the NFL. One thing in particular that would have helped him make the best of any situation if he controlled it is his weight.
Ballooning up to 242 pounds is Richardson, only 24 with no major injuries, lost so much of his burst and-or explosion. It was at 225 pounds that Richardson ran a 4.4 40, looked special coming out of college. Offensive line coach Mike Tice, gushed mainly over Latavious Murray but has noticed that Richardson is getting it together.
Tice told SiriusXM NFL Radio, via Raiders.com, “I thought the young man out of Alabama [Richardson] came on. He lost some weight, his quickness came around. So Richardson, on his last legs in the NFL, has finally taken control of what he can control. The talented Richardson was still among the league leaders in forced missed tackles and broken tackles.
But without burst, you won’t make it very far after breaking tackles or making guys miss.
So was this weight loss the one thing he needed to become the player he was supposed to be?
We’ll see as Murray has something to say about that.