Big Red
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Instead, Drake has locked down not only the starting role but the bulk of the work – not that he’s much interested in celebrating his patience paying off.
“It’s bigger than me,” Drake said. “The game is not about any one individual player and whatever specific accolades he can accumulate. Not a lot of people get this opportunity. Maybe when I am 60 years old I can look back and think, ‘I had fun’ or whatever, but right now I am focused on the task at hand.”
It is a big-picture view that not every player has.
“I for sure had to learn it,” Drake said. “Everyone has to grow up one day.”
For him, it was his stint at Alabama, where Yeldon and Henry – and horrible leg and ankle injuries as a junior – limited his touches. When Drake was a senior, Henry had already solidified himself as a star, winning the Heisman with 2,219 yards rushing on a whopping 395 carries. Drake got the leftovers, with 77 attempts for 408 yards (adding 29 receptions.)
It made it easier with his time with the Dolphins, when he battled for snaps with Jay Ajayi, Frank Gore, Mark Walton and Kalen Ballage.
“His situation is unique because when you look at some of those running backs he was behind in college, you’re talking Heisman Trophy winners/first picks of the draft-type talent,” Kingsbury said. “It’s tough to keep your head about yourself and stay focused and know who you are and how good you can be. That’s the most impressive thing about him – he never lost sight of that.”
Drake said he had a “great time” in Miami, lauding his coaches and teammates, and the decision to distribute playing time among running backs only served to put him in the position he’s in today.
“I don’t really regret anything,” Drake said. “Everything, good or bad, is a learning lesson.
“I feel like, sometimes, you have to bet on yourself, and I guess that’s where I am now.”
Free agency beckons in March. Kingsbury noted that Drake’s jump in touches and production has worked out well -- “Timing,” Drake acknowledged, “is everything” – and it would be hard to believe at this point the Cardinals wouldn’t want to try and keep him around.
Given Johnson’s contract situation, and the $10.2 million in guaranteed salary Johnson has for 2020, the running back situation as a whole has to be sorted out by General Manager Steve Keim. But Drake knows how to be patient. He’s done it for a long time.
On a recent Instagram post, Drake wrote “You don’t sit back and contemplate the future when you are in the middle of it.”
“That’s what I am doing right now,” Drake said. “Being where my feet are, or whatever cliché you want to add to that. I’m focused on the things I need to do now so when that time comes I can put myself in the best scenario. I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch.”
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