The Facts:
Blount has a new way of carrying the football. He hasn't used it in a game yet, and nevertheless it already feels completely natural. "It's become a habit," said Blount after a Tampa Bay Buccaneers mini-camp practice last week. "I don't even notice that I do it most of the time. Holding the ball down here [closer to the stomach] is kind of uncomfortable now."
Reported by Buccaneers.com
Fantasy Football Diehards Line:
Blount's new ball carrying technique - one that by new HC Greg Schiano's insistence he will share with every Buccaneer who gets his hands on the ball -- is most commonly described as "high-and-tight." The ball ends up buried between the forearm, the upper arm and the chest, carried a few degrees off of vertical so that is against one of the numbers on the player's jersey. One point of the football is buried under the crook of the elbow and against the chest, protected by all the arm muscles, not just the forearm. The hand is over the other point of the football, taking away another point of entry for prying defensive hands. It's not a new technique. Former Giant Tiki Barber famously switched to the technique after a nine-fumble campaign in 2003 and had just nine over the next three seasons combined. Blount had nine fumbles over the course of his first two seasons in the NFL. He'll need to do better to carve out a role working in tandem with rookie Doug Martin (a
possibility that seems increasingly likely).
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