Darius Taylor

[Willwin40]

He’s a fantastic runner. His vision and timing is remarkable. How many RB’s have you seen come to a complete stop and then take off like he does. In the beginning of the game AK threw him a pass in the flat and he got 25 yards. Why didn’t they do it again? He was a slot receiver early in his high school career. Take advantage of his abilities. Why they didn’t have him in on 3rd and 2 is completely unbelievable. Tyler just isn’t big enough and strong enough to be in there in that situation. Are they trying to lose? Several of us wanted him to start the first game but they didn’t see fit to do it and as I recall he was in for only 3 plays.

 

[El Amin Fan]

He’s the real deal and I’m glad he’s RB1.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

Taylor is real deal. Tyler is interesting. Can’t believe we took Taylor out on 3rd and 2, when a first down keeps us on a drive to close in on NC, and a fail pretty much means we concede a loss. I just don’t get it. Play calling and personnel packages are linked. What was working today; what wasn’t? Why with the game on the line, needing only a short gain to continue, do we go away from the one thing that was working?

 

[akgo4]

Now the question.... Because we've been burned by this before... Will be able to convince him to stay?

 

[Gopher028]

Beating a dead horse, but PJ has got to give the full OC job to Simon.
Harbaugh ain't it and we keep missing on offense when there's so much potential...

 

[Stuff]

Now the question.... Because we've been burned by this before... Will be able to convince him to stay?

 

[forever a gopher]

Now the question.... Because we've been burned by this before... Will be able to convince him to stay?

In the days of NIL, there is such a fine line coaches have to walk. Play young guys too little, they want to leave somewhere else for immediate playing time. You play a young guy too much and he blows up and the big guys come calling. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I don't envy coaches in this upsidedown world.

Presumably, if Taylor wanted the bright lights, he would have committed to Michigan when he had the chance. So not super paranoid about him (unless of course somebody brings a Brinks truck NIL offer he can't refuse).

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Pretty obvious that Taylor is 1, Tyler is 2. From what I saw today, it sure looked like Jordan Nubin took the pass protection role while Bryce Williams was out. No PT for Evans again.

 

[upnorthkid]

Now the question.... Because we've been burned by this before... Will be able to convince him to stay?

Getting all the Carries for the next 3 years and a somewhat ample NIL deal should cut it: there’s no Mo coming back

 

[upnorthkid]

Pretty obvious that Taylor is 1, Tyler is 2. From what I saw today, it sure looked like Jordan Nubin took the pass protection role away from Bryce Williams.

Bryce is hurt. Was not in pads today

 

[Replacement Gopher]

Taylor is real deal. Tyler is interesting. Can’t believe we took Taylor out on 3rd and 2, when a first down keeps us on a drive to close in on NC, and a fail pretty much means we concede a loss. I just don’t get it. Play callin and personnel packages are linked. What was working today; what wasn’t? Why with the game on the line, needing only a short gain to continue, do we go away from the one thing that was working?

Think about it…
We need to score and are at midfield with around 11:00 left.

First down incomplete pass.
2nd down, run with Taylor for 8 yards.
Take Taylor out…
Third down, run AK (who was pulled for cramps) on a bootleg - loss of yards.
Fourth down punt… game over.

Just maddening he can be that dumb.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

If this is our offense, and how the OC calls the game when everything is in the line, we have 7 wins tops. Maybe fewer.

 

[Word]

Now the question.... Because we've been burned by this before... Will be able to convince him to stay?

Hard to say the gameplan was that bad when the QB can't throw and receivers are dropping balls.

 

[Taji34]

Honestly, the only thing I think Taylor can improve on is identifying the holes a bit faster. You could tell on a few runs he needed a second after the handoff to identify the hole to attack, which allowed the holes to collapse a little.

If he shortens the time it takes to identify a hole, he'll be unstoppable. I'm very excited to follow his career. Maybe it's too early to tell, but I think he might have the potential to leave early for the NFL.

 

[Panthadad2]

Honestly, the only thing I think Taylor can improve on is identifying the holes a bit faster. You could tell on a few runs he needed a second after the handoff to identify the hole to attack, which allowed the holes to collapse a little.

If he shortens the time it takes to identify a hole, he'll be unstoppable. I'm very excited to follow his career. Maybe it's too early to tell, but I think he might have the potential to leave early for the NFL.

I'm going to disagree. Taylor's patience in the zone blocking scheme is a huge strength. Nobody is perfect, but he's got it.

 

[Willwin40]

You beat me to it.

 

[Wehatebadgers]

If I were him I’d get the hell otta here as soon as I could

 

[GopherPete]

If I were him I’d get the hell otta here as soon as I could

Well, nobody is stopping you from getting the hell outta here right now

 

[Wehatebadgers]

Well, nobody is stopping you from getting the hell outta here right now

Was that the question

 

[btowngopher]

If I were him I’d get the hell otta here as soon as I could

Why would he? He is the center piece of the offense.

 

[Wehatebadgers]

Why would he? He is the center piece of the offense.

What offense? With the portal now in effect I don’t see him staying. I wish he would

 

[btowngopher]

What offense? With the portal now in effect I don’t see him staying. I wish he would

The one he’s looked good in?

 

[MplsGopher]

Taylor is sitting at a local establishment eating lunch, and a guy he has never seen before calmly walks up, slides a folded piece of paper over to him, and walks away.

Opens it up, it says “$250k” and has a phone number (to a burner cell).


Convince me that’s not how it works. Maybe I watch too much TV

 

[NateDawgUM]

Oh yes, everyone who sniffs success at Minnesota is leaving, this narrative again.

Things just haven't been the same around here since Richard Pitino left for Louisville to replace his Dad after winning the NIT in his first season.

 

[SHGopher]

Darius Taylor is so good.

 

[Stuff]

Darius Taylor is so good.

Agreed. Amazing that a true freshman is out playing everyone else.

My concern is we don't have a pair nor a spare at this point.

Tyler is good in space, but he is not the guy to run it when it's 3rd and 2 against a stacked D.

I just can't imagine why Evans can't even get a single touch.

Are we going to run Taylor 35-40 times a game?

 

[USAF]

Things just haven't been the same around here since Richard Pitino left for Louisville to replace his Dad after winning the NIT in his first season.

We should have been so lucky.

 

[Gophergrandpa]

We really need another RB to emerge and become a dependable fixture in the offense. Taylor averaged 6.3 yards per carry against NC; Tyler averaged 0.7 yards per carry. With the game on the line, 3rd and 2, we bring Tyler in for Taylor. WTF? I'm sure there was a reason for it (pass play to Tyler planned?), but why abandon the only efficient and dependable facet of the offense yesterday on a play for all the marbles? And when you need two yards, why bring a guy who is averaging less than a yard? Have we no one else who can contribute?

Taylor and Tyler are the only RBs who got touches yesterday. To keep Taylor fresh in a long season (esp. if Athan can't accurately deliver long and crossing route passes), we truly need Mason's "pair and a spare" at RB. At this point, and with the way we are game planning our running game, Tyler's limitations running in heavy traffic have me thinking he's the spare; a change of pace back. We need to fill out the "pair." Where is Evans?

 

[walrus]

In the days of NIL, there is such a fine line coaches have to walk. Play young guys too little, they want to leave somewhere else for immediate playing time. You play a young guy too much and he blows up and the big guys come calling. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I don't envy coaches in this upsidedown world.

Presumably, if Taylor wanted the bright lights, he would have committed to Michigan when he had the chance. So not super paranoid about him (unless of course somebody brings a Brinks truck NIL offer he can't refuse).

Supply and demand, I guess. Bring in a young coach and if he/she has too much success right away other schools start offering $$$ right away. The media makes them out to be genius wonders. Agents start calling. Ad agencies start featuring the coach in commercials. Sports networks start running those commercials in the prime time games that the coach is coaching in.

It can be frustrating to the fans who are so afraid of losing that coach to a higher bidding school or the NFL teams.

Some times the program tries to lock that coach into a long-term (10 year) big$$$ (9.5 million per year contract. (Notre Dame with CW and now Michigan State have tried that with ??? outcomes.)

It is hard to know what to do as a fan, I guess.

But, fans have always had the option of being fickle, feeling let down by players, coaches, programs and their own opinions of how things “should have been…”

I’m rooting for our players, our coaches, our program and I’ll take my chances of having NIL, the big $$$, the big programs win the bidding wars.

The laws of supply and demand always win in the year 2023. Any good economist and any good sports fan knows that.

 

[Off-GridTNgopher]

He's the shit.... problem is other schools WILL be trying to poach him... and I don't blame him if he takes a payday... better than being stuck in the f'n mud