I want to see him in the slot a little more. Kind of like Tyreek Hill.

I didn't even watch Mack in that clip. I watched a dominant O-Line that imposed their will on one of the best run stopping defenses in the NFL.

And when I say dominant, it was to a man...every friggin' one of them deserve kudos!

I just need to see it consistently from Mack. He'll have one game where he picks his running lanes, accelerates through, maintains good contact balance and is generally a dynamic player. Then he'll have 3-4 games in a row where he doesn't pick his lane right, gets tripped up by an ankle tackle, mishandles the ball in some capacity etc.

Anyone saying this performance proves Mack is RB1 next year is crazy. But it's still a very good problem to have if you accomplish absolutely nothing at the RB position in the offseason and still have Mack/Hines/Wilkins.

I can't help but think what Reich would do with a back as versatile as Bell.

The blocking was outstanding in the Cowboys game. Like a dominant college team vs an FCS school.

Yup. I don't think anyone here is saying it proves he is a #1, to be clear I certainly am not.

With the way this line is blocking he just needs to shake that first contact and he should have a big gain. He was good at that in college with a nice stiff arm and an ability to shed tackles with a nice sidestep and shoulder drop. I just wanted to acknowledge that he is showing glimpses of getting better. Will he continue or plateau is up to him. At the least he will be a change of pace speed back that the defense will need to keep an eye on.

Oh SNAP!

That is not a bad comparison. McFadden never really picked up the patience part of being a RB. He only had one gear and thought it was always a track meet. He still had a nice long career but was never a back I would put in that elite category.

Excellent post, Chromeburn. I appreciate the analysis, and pulling in all those highlight reels was pretty helpful to illustrate your points.

As others have said, the thing I want to see from Mack most before I'm fully onboard with him at the #1 next year is consistency. Premier backs don't have nearly the up-and-down fluctuations he's shown over his career as a Colt so far. That said, he seems to be trending up, but having Ryan Kelly back at center is a pretty massive contributor to his success.

I'll agree with you that the biggest difference between his off days and his big days is the level of patience and vision he's able to exhibit waiting for his blocks to develop and picking is moments. I don't think any play typifies the kind of running that best contributes to the offense more than the one here at 1:00 into the video:

https://youtu.be/JY6B7ioMam0?t=60

On this play, the blocking from the line is superb:

• Kelly engages the DT who is never able to shed his block.
• Joe Haeg gets just enough of the other DT who was swimming inside and would otherwise have had a chance to hit Mack in the backfield (we're lucky the zebras didn't call a hold on Haeg for this one).
• Nelson breaks upfield to just annihilate MLB trying to get to the edge.
• Mo Alie-Cox puts an absolutely key block on the rushing OLB which opens up the hole for...
• Castonzo, with Mack in tow, engaging the DE and completely overpowering him, bulldozing him 5 yards upfield and into the broken pile of linebacker Nelson made out of his blocking assignment.

Mack basically saddles up Castonzo and rides him like a draft horse for 5 yards, shifting outside and hitting another gear once he sees daylight. 1st down.

The Cowboys defense expected a run on this play but hedged a little, clearly unsure which direction the run would go, and every single Colt beat their 1-on-1 battle to free Mack for the run.

Where Mack impressed me was with his willingness to let the play develop in front on him and recognize his moment to finish with his legs.

Plays like this are the bread and butter of the Colts run game, but they require discipline and commitment from the entire line, as well as the RB, to be successful.

That's not true, God created it. He gave the Earth a slight nudge and over time biology corrects itself. What else does that?