Cobb

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Indi1006 said:
You must have not paid attention when MB3 was here or watched him in the NFL. He ran like a man possessed, he pass blocked like an all conference OL man, he caught the ball like a WR and was pure class as a human being. Most of all, he had a will to win and toughness that you just can't teach as well as an uncanny ability to get into the end zone. I was truly priviledged to watch him play for the Gophers. The total package that he was may never be duplicated in my lifetime.
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Yes I did.

MNfootballfan said:
not counting the nfl, I'd take Maroney over Barber every day. Barber was a great player but he was far from a "once in a lifetime" player.
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Exactly.
 

Cobb is now 4th in the league in rushing (5th in yards per game).

There are only two seniors on the top 10 list: White is 3rd and Toussaint is 10th. All the rest are juniors or sophomores.
 



Leidner came in after about a minute was gone in the second quarter. At that point, Cobb had 5 carries for 5 yards. Cobb gained one yard on his first carry with Leidner. After another short run, Cobb's next carry was the 58 yarder. Wonder if the threat of Leidner running is what opened things up for Cobb to get rolling.
 


I think what really impresses me about Cobb is two things. First, he's a very patient runner. He does a great job of waiting for the holes to develop and then once they do, hitting them hard and fast. The play that impressed me most (although it won't be noted in the stats) may be the play that Cobb went for a long run and there was a holding penalty on us and then a late hit that ended up resulting in a 5 yard gain for the Gophers. There was nothing there and he waited for the block to come to get him one-on-one, then made a very impressive juke to break it wide open. Too bad it ended up getting called back.

Second, he can both plant his foot and make a man miss, as well as just dig for extra yards. I can't count the number of times I've thought he was down for no gain or a short gain and he ends up bouncing or pushing forward for 3-5 yards. He's not afraid to put his head down. It's a very impressive skill set and I'm excited to see what he can do the rest of this year and into next.
 

Cobb isn't fast enough? Sheesh. He's playing great! Did anyone notice him picking up the blitzes on some of our huge pass plays? He always seems to get an extra yard or two with twists, wiggles, and down right power. The running game is go important to this team -- this program -- his importance cannot be understated. And, what a great story! The journey from his arrival, where he's been the last couple of years, and how he's performing now is a great story of perseverance. He's doing it when our running back corps is banged up, too. And, I think the middle screen needs to be in the mix at least once a game. We've run it a couple of times to perfection recently. Top it all off with him saying all the right things. Hard to argue he wasn't the player of the game.
 


He had the 4th most rushing yards in the country yesterday, according to the bottom line as I watch the NYC marathon. Don't ask me why I'm watching a marathon on tv either.
 




4th in the Big Ten for rushing yards. 1 yard behind James White
 

I thought this kid did a hell of a job in the pass protection game. The whole team kept Phil and Mitch very much unmolested.
 

MNfootballfan said:
not counting the nfl, I'd take Maroney over Barber every day. Barber was a great player but he was far from a "once in a lifetime" player.
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I respectfully disagree with this. Maroney had better speed than Barber, but Marion was a better back in pretty much every other way - power, patience, football IQ, blocking, etc. I always wanted Barber to get the ball on any important play. Of course, I loved Maroney too, but I always felt (both at the time and today as well) that Barber was the better player.
 



Barber was a violent runner. I never saw a guy his size run with the flat-out energy that he ran with. He was nowhere as smooth as Maroney, but for whatever reason, he squeezed out a more productive pro career (I seem to remember that Maroney got dinged up when he hit the pros).

Laugh at the "how many stars?" question, like Cobb just fell out of the sky and he's an overachiever. He was, as others have pointed out, a 3-star recruit with a Stanford offer.
 

Cobb is 28th nationally in rushing yardage. Not bad considering he wasn't the feature back at the beginning of the year.
 

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