What are the knocks of Frank Summers?

by Trendsearcher on Aug 15, 2011 9:05 PM EDT

Intruder alert! We had a quick question over at BFTB (Chargers) about “Frank the Tank”. He is obviously not good enough to play for the Steelers, because he doesn’t play for the Steelers anymore.

What were the knocks on Summers while he was a Steeler? Would it be worth it for the Chargers to invest a fifth RB spot to keep him? Our other FB is a decent blocker and good receiver, but he doesn’t hit as hard as Summers.

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Slow, not good in blitz pick up, injury prone. That’s all I remember

Back on the Sweed train. Choo Choo!
"It’s easy to lie with statistics, but it’s easier to lie without them." -Fred Mosteller

by John Stephens on Aug 15, 2011 9:13 PM EDT reply actions

He wasn't a tight end

Sorry, inside joke, our OC loves TEs. But seriously, he was more of fullback than a halfback, and we don’t use fullbacks.

"They timed it perfectly, they just went too soon." - Darrell Waltrip commenting on an illegal restart.

by alfresco on Aug 15, 2011 9:32 PM EDT reply actions

"...we don't use fullbacks."

Unfortunately.

by gostevego on Aug 16, 2011 1:59 AM EDT up reply actions

Vinnie Antonelli

said it best. “I’m witchew.”

"They timed it perfectly, they just went too soon." - Darrell Waltrip commenting on an illegal restart.

by alfresco on Aug 16, 2011 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Keep in mind that Summers came in as an RB that had rarely been tasked with run blocking and pass protection – which is mostly what the Steelers wanted him to do (that mixed with the occasional catch and short yardage carry). So, he was a project. Still, the coaches saw enough in him to put him on the 45-man game day roster his rookie season.

He got injured early his rookie season and by the time he got back on the field last preseason he’d already been overtaken by other players who were better at blocking and short yardage.

In other words, he could be a good player somewhere. The timing was just never right here.

by BluegrassSteeler on Aug 15, 2011 9:39 PM EDT reply actions

He wasn't even remotely close to being a "tank".

Pittsburgh Steelers fan - nuff said.
Miami Hurricanes fan - nuff said.
Georgetown Hoyas fan - nuff said.
Cleveland Cavaliers fan - um yeah, about that...

by StoneColdSteel on Aug 15, 2011 10:00 PM EDT reply actions

blocking wasn't there

on plays rolling out when he was supposed to be blocking defenders, the guy was practically weaving between them as if he had the ball.

I think the injury was very minor and was used to stow him on IR for the year personally.

by Steely McSmash on Aug 15, 2011 10:08 PM EDT reply actions

He was never given a chance

He’s a running back who has no experience as a blocker, but Bruce Arians decided he should be a fullback. If he’d been given a chance as a pure runner, I think he would have had more success. He’s got deceptive speed — clocked a good 40 — though he’s definitely not shifty.

by syrsteelerfan on Aug 15, 2011 10:57 PM EDT reply actions

"good 40"

eh…he and Redman ran the same 40. I wouldn’t say Isaac has speed.

Back on the Sweed train. Choo Choo!
"It’s easy to lie with statistics, but it’s easier to lie without them." -Fred Mosteller

by John Stephens on Aug 16, 2011 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Godspeed

No one has more godspeed than Redman.

"They timed it perfectly, they just went too soon." - Darrell Waltrip commenting on an illegal restart.

by alfresco on Aug 16, 2011 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions

No clock can time Redman.

The hands just clutch each other in awh.

If you buy a foreign made product you give money to a person who will not be buying an American made product that you get paid to make. Think about it next time you're at the store.

by SNW on Aug 16, 2011 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

well played, sir...

by Chicago Steeler on Aug 16, 2011 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions

He wasnt Jerome Bettis.

by steelerintexas on Aug 15, 2011 11:04 PM EDT reply actions

this

"Franco made that play because he never quit on the play. He kept running, he kept hustling. Good things happen to people who hustle."

by PCISteeler on Aug 16, 2011 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Everyone else has pretty much said it

We tried to make him into more of a fullback to get him to sort of “earn his keep” (which is ironic given our OC’s unabashed love for multi-TE sets and near complete lack of interest in FBs) instead of giving him the rock like I’m sure he would’ve preferred. But Summers didn’t really seem to take to blocking very well for either the run or in pass protection.

“The Tank” could’ve still possibly made a mark in short-yardage situations, but his rookie year happened to be the same year we picked up the local living legend: Isaac Redman.

Lord Redman was the absolute star of short-yardage situations in camp two years ago, while “The Tank” did little to distinguish himself in that aspect of the game. Yet somehow he made the cut out of training camp (draft status could’ve been the deciding factor), while Redman was signed to the Pants Squad because the league wasn’t yet ready for him to be unleashed. But as others said, Summers hurt something and got sent to IR pretty fast early in the season.

Last year Summers again didn’t really distinguish himself during camp, and ended up sitting on the Pants Squad all year while His Holiness Redman etched his name on a permanent roster spot from now until the end of time.

I would also characterize it as Summers just wandering into the wrong place at the wrong time, even though he was already a fan-favorite leading up to the draft and we all nearly exploded in excitement when we did pick him up. I’m sure he still has skills – like once he gets going I’m sure he’s still a load to bring down, just as he was in college. But he didn’t feel like he was going to get good opportunities to play here (with the young duo of Mendenhall and Grand Poobah Redman entrenched ahead of him) so he decided to take his talents to South(ern Cali) Beach.

by barnerburner on Aug 15, 2011 11:14 PM EDT reply actions

What did he do good?

He warmed the bench pretty good

by Steel34D on Aug 16, 2011 12:38 AM EDT reply actions

Seriously...

Frank “the Tank” consistently came in over weight and slow. He couldn’t grasp the blocking assignments and wasn’t a good receiver out of the back field. He could run through people like he could in college and didn’t develop the vision to see a hole. I’ll admit I was high on the guy when we drafted him liked his potential but he never fulfilled it.

by Steel34D on Aug 16, 2011 12:41 AM EDT up reply actions

*couldn't run through people

by Steel34D on Aug 16, 2011 1:27 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks for the feed back from behind the curtain

I DO NOT like to hear that he misses blocking assignments. While that stuff might actualy make Roethlisberger’s performance better, it will get Rivers killed.

And pretty much the stuff that he didn’t seem to do well with Steelers (pass block, catch screens, not run block so much) is excactly the stuff the chargers are gonna want him to do.

As much as I like a power FB, maybe he’s not the right fit for the Chargers.

by Trendsearcher on Aug 16, 2011 12:03 PM EDT reply actions

eh… biggest drawback is not being jerome bettis.

by klompus on Aug 16, 2011 1:22 PM EDT reply actions

damn I’m stupid. never respond without reading

by klompus on Aug 16, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions

that's not why your stupid

which, btw, you aren’t though sometimes your IQ may be drastically reduced or impaired due some temporary non-medicinal application of alcohol or other stuff.

"A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe" Pierre Burton (historian)

"It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she's something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of." Emily Carr (artist)

by Cold_Old_Steelers_Fan on Aug 16, 2011 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

hahaha… but the quesiton is: when is it not medicinal?

by klompus on Aug 16, 2011 6:44 PM EDT up reply actions

That I cannot answer

"A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe" Pierre Burton (historian)

by Cold_Old_Steelers_Fan on Aug 16, 2011 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Frank the Tank was that year's draft day and training camp love affair....

….and looked good on special teams in camp. “Adaptability,” said Tomlin about him, “is a good ability.”

I think he might have actually made the starting lineup in the opener, but he suffered a back injury. He also whiffed on a couple of blocks. Not sure how serious the back injury was, but that was the last we saw of Frank the Tank.

Good guy, supposedly. Just didn’t work out here. Of course, fullbacks don’t any more.

I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer.
- Homer J. Simpson

by Homer J. on Aug 16, 2011 3:56 PM EDT reply actions

When he was put on IR

He never showed up and did anything. He sulked when he was put on the practice squad and no other team signed him off of it. An lastly or first missed a key block in his first game and as I remember almost got Ben killed.

by Steeler Nation VA on Aug 17, 2011 3:09 PM EDT reply actions