Thread by @ETurnerFF_PT

Went back and found a Lions forum post Mikel Leshoure injury in 2012. Lmk if any of these quotes look familiar.

“None of this data is specifically relevant to a 21-year-old rookie in the best shape of his life”

“No elite running back in recent memory has come back from a ruptured Achilles at full speed, because no elite running back has recently ruptured an Achilles.”

“Mikel Leshoure has every possible indicator pointing to success: youth, a light previous workload, no prior Achilles pain, and a long track record of determination to succeed.”

“perhaps Leshoure’s rare combination of size, speed, and agility has already doomed his tendons, but right now, the “facts” being used to eulogize Mikel Leshoure’s career simply don’t stand up to examination”

“a 23 year old will heal better and faster than a 30 year old. And two, an uninjured 30 year old RB will perform dramatically worse than an uninjured 28 year old RB.”

“Leshoure has a much better chance than anyone in that study.”

“Let's remember that modern medicine is an improving graph line, not a flat one where past situations can be carried forward.”

“At best, I figured Leshoure would come back as a between the tackles plodder, good for 3 yards per carry and maybe a handful of TD's and be out of the league within a few years. For these reasons, I dropped him. “

Side note: This dude freaking nailed this call.

“Since he was a highly touted rookie, people seem to value him optimistically. Reality says, however, that it is far more likely that he comes back and is a journeyman RB that will flash from time to time and we will hear stories his entire career about what if.”

“a very telling aspect of a conversation like this is that no one can readily think of a true success story with this injury where the athlete returns to pre-injury form.”

“while the data we are trying to compare to a 23 year old may not match exactly, the underlying statement is to focus that this does not get diagnosed often and it doesn't end well for the athlete; otherwise, we would all immediately think of someone who has recovered fully.”

“LeShoure WAS really expected to "set the world on fire". He was a highly touted RB.”

“Returning in 12 months is one thing and returning to previous form is quite another.”

Again, I hope that we can look back and say that Cam Akers was the first RB to successfully overcome an Achilles rupture. I want him to succeed and recover.

I just want people to know we DO have a past example of a highly touted, young, RB who tore his Achilles.

“Mikel Leshoure never became anything, he was never elite”

EXACTLY

Because an Achilles tear completely derailed his career.

Dude went for 1900 total yards and 20TDs as a true jr in college. He was taken at pick 57 (5 picks later than Akers), and had a BETTER BURST SCORE.

So do we have 100 perfect examples to compare this Akers situation to?

No.

But I think that should concern you even more.

Why?

Because young RBs/players who tear their Achilles don’t ever make it on your radar.

Another recent example is D’onta Foreman. While not the hype machine that Akers and Leshoure were as prospects he is an example similar in age.

Here’s some research from way back when I did on Achilles in reference to Foreman.

https://twitter.com/eturnerff_pt/status/1006258526702964736

And finally, in a rare situation we can watch another close comp in-season in Marlon Mack this year.

It’s not perfect, as Mack has arguably a Top 4 RB in the backfield with him, but he is the closest “Modern Medicine” recovery we have to Akers.