Ryan Torain: Ready To Make An Impact in Denver?

by Cory Williams on Oct 24, 2008 12:37 PM MST in General News

There's a lot of talk throughout the Denver-area media that Torain will be back for this Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins, but that coverage has shifted to questioning the former ASU back's readiness to play in the NFL.

Ad nauseum, the sports reporters refrain has been "he hasn't even played in a preseason game; how can Ryan Torain automatically be crowned a running back hero?"

This is a legitimate question, but in all honesty, all one needs to do is look at how Jonathan Stewart is doing in Carolina, or Steve Slaton in Houston. These rookie backs stepped in and immediately produced in their new environments.

What makes Torain special? Lets look at some Youtube videos, shall we?

Highlight reel

Here is footage from an April workout tape:

The guy has explosiveness and power. He is everything ASU is missing from their running game this season, and that is why the Sun Devils are 2-4 instead of 5-1, or even 6-0.

Denver will NOT be disappointed with this guy; in reality, their expectations should be tempered by the fact that they have a solid running game to begin with, and any improvement will be a huge feather in the cap of Mike Shanahan.

Either way, he's way better than Selvin Young.

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Teams were scared off because of the Lisfranc injury

but really, recovery from that is only detrimental to older players. Torain is a young stud – STEAL of a 5th round pick.

House of Sparky - www.houseofsparky.com - Go Sun Devils

by ASUBoyd on Oct 24, 2008 6:39 PM MST reply actions

If only...

He became a Steeler.

by mlev811 on Oct 24, 2008 7:24 PM MST reply actions

What do you think we can expect from him?

We know he has a nice speed and power combo, but how well does he do other things, like block? Does he prefer to lower his shoulder for five more yards or does he go out of bounds? How much heart does he play with?

And, most importantly, when does the Elway era begin at ASU?

It would be really awesome if one of you guys could do a post on MHR about the Torain Train (see, we already have him nicknamed… or did you guys come up with that too?) We love reading his blog on denverbroncos.com, and we have a lady as part of our readership who claims to be his grandma. She’s awesome, and hilarious. We all fell in love with the kid in training camp, and so did Shanahan, apparently, but none of us has a blessed clue as to what he will do when the lights come on.

*Breathes into bag. At least I'm not a Chiefs fan. At least I'm not a Chiefs fan. At least I'm not a Chiefs fan. At least I'm not a Chiefs fan.