David Cobb a Gopher

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I don't think too much depth at RB should be a concern. If you look at our production at that spot the last three years, it's been less than desireable. RB is a high injury position. Nothing wrong with having 4 or 5 guys to carry the ball.
 

FYI, Cobb now officially shows up as Committed, not signed, on Rivals. I'm excited about this kid!
 

Jeshurun said:
I don't think too much depth at RB should be a concern. If you look at our production at that spot the last three years, it's been less than desireable. RB is a high injury position. Nothing wrong with having 4 or 5 guys to carry the ball.
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Especially in Kill's offense. As others have already stated, he likes to use a lot of different backs.

Welcome David!
 

grunkiejr said:
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/10133492

Beason has speed and he's one of the surest tacklers among this year's draft-eligible linebackers. Plus, he played at a school that has produced a litany of NFL linebackers, most of them good ones.

But it's his size that's the problem. At 6-foot, 237 pounds, he's considered short for an outside linebacker –- and that's not me talking, it's NFL scouts combing through prospects for flaws.

Although yes, the range of LB heights currrently in the NFL is 5-10 to 6-5.
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I agree that there can be guys who don't have the ideal body type and be succesful at all levels.

I also agree with Dpo that it doesn't seem as logical to say that so and so has the height to play LB. It just seems to make more sense at other positions. But the truth is that LBs under 6'0" are becoming rarer and rarer.
 

Who cares what the avg height of NFL linebackers is? What about good college LB's?

Lets worry about getting quality Big Ten starters up and down the 1st team O and D before we start worrying if they are NFL material.
 


Back to Lamonte...

Don't forget that Kill could move Lamonte to DE. In high school he played both DE and RB. And I think Kill has also mentioned he likes fast DEs, similar to Patterson from TCU's liking of fast DEs. Lamonte was an incredible DE in high school, so I think that moving to OLB would be a bigger transition for him than DE.
 

I don't think our rushing problems last year were the RB's. The lack of production was overweight OL's that couldn't consistently pull and a p*SS poor offensive scheme. Just my 2 cents.
 

ncgo4 said:
I don't think our rushing problems last year were the RB's. The lack of production was overweight OL's that couldn't consistently pull and a p*SS poor offensive scheme. Just my 2 cents.
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I don't think we really had an overweight OL besides Wills and he was our best OL. I think our problem was much more based on overall ability and injuries than it was with being overweight.
 

Nice pick-up, personally I hope they keep in at RB.
 



The linemen last year lacked speed and lateral quickness as a result of carrying too much bad weight.

I hope this regime employs athletic linemen rather that the huge linemen of the past.
 

After watching the film on Cobb: decent speed, follows his blockers well and still uses vision to make good judgement on when to find the most open seem. Good hands on the pitch reception and keeps his body squared to the end zone. This is a smart running back. It would have been fun to have a Setterstrom or Eslinger leading the way. Hope we can utilize our linemen as effectively as that this year. I don't see why not.


SPEED KILLS!

Go Gophers.
 

If Edwards were moved

I would think at 6'2" 215+ good speed and running ability, he would be a nice fit at WR. He could see playing time this year with our lack of experience at that position and puts one more athlete on the field with Gray, McKnight and whoever emerges at RB. As far as his height, 6'2" is tall for a running back. Pad level and stride length can become issues at that height.

Thoughts?
 

Pengy65 said:
I would think at 6'2" 215+ good speed and running ability, he would be a nice fit at WR. He could see playing time this year with our lack of experience at that position and puts one more athlete on the field with Gray, McKnight and whoever emerges at RB. As far as his height, 6'2" is tall for a running back. Pad level and stride length can become issues at that height.

Thoughts?
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Eric Dickerson 6'3

Marcus Dupree 6'2

Just 2 excellent tall RB's that come to mind....others?
 



Pengy65 said:
I would think at 6'2" 215+ good speed and running ability, he would be a nice fit at WR. He could see playing time this year with our lack of experience at that position and puts one more athlete on the field with Gray, McKnight and whoever emerges at RB. As far as his height, 6'2" is tall for a running back. Pad level and stride length can become issues at that height.

Thoughts?
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I have watched Edwards play from Jr High through Sr. High and he does a lot of things really well but catching the ball is not one of them. I think he is going to be the big back that we haven't had in a while and if he was to change positions he might fit that quick athletic defense end type that Kill seems to prefer (would still need to add weight, however). Don't think he'll change positions but DE was the position he played in HS on the defensive side of the ball. He also can play OLB but as I said before, I see him starting the season at RB. If not for an ankle issue early last fall I think we would have seen a lot more of him. With the issue, he was redshirted and was the named the offensive scout player of the year while playing RB.
 



Edwards and Cobb will be running backs...can we move on?
 

46Gophers said:
I have watched Edwards play from Jr High through Sr. High and he does a lot of things really well but catching the ball is not one of them. I think he is going to be the big back that we haven't had in a while and if he was to change positions he might fit that quick athletic defense end type that Kill seems to prefer (would still need to add weight, however). Don't think he'll change positions but DE was the position he played in HS on the defensive side of the ball. He also can play OLB but as I said before, I see him starting the season at RB. If not for an ankle issue early last fall I think we would have seen a lot more of him. With the issue, he was redshirted and was the named the offensive scout player of the year while playing RB.
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I was wondering about his catching ability. Looking at last years stats for NIU, it does not appear they throw the ball to RB's at all.
 

This moving Edwards away from RB talk is getting beyond fuc&ing annoying. Please punch yourself in the face if this thought ever enters your mind, you deserve it.
 

sonnygarcia said:
This moving Edwards away from RB talk is getting beyond fuc&ing annoying. Please punch yourself in the face if this thought ever enters your mind, you deserve it.
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Lighten Up Francis ;)
 

He obviously is around 6', but it's pretty funny that I've seen his height posted on here as anywhere from 5'8" to 6'2". I think he has all the tools to be a good rb, including pass catching ability. Just lacks the speed to be a real home run threat.
 


tpbeight said:
Isn't it possible that Cobb is an insurance policy for Wright? Hasn't there been rumblings about Wright not being the best student? 5 Backs might seem like a lot, but 2 of them will be seniors, and one of them is a possible academic risk. I think Cobb stays at RB.

Edwards is a RB. Stop trying to move him to LB. It isn't happening.

The RB battle should be interesting next year. You've got 2 seniors that probably have the least amount of natural talent, and a group of underclassmen that probably fit much better into what Kill is looking for from the RB position. I think you see a lot of Kirkwood, Edwards and Bennett next season.
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Great post. Edwards is staying at RB. Everyone who's seen him practice says he's the best RB on the team hands down.

Cobb said in an interview he was recruited to play RB, plus with Kill's emphasis on a speedy D, it doesn't make sense to move this player to a position that requires top speed.
 

"Killeen (Texas) Ellison running back David Cobb is not sure if he will sign a letter-of-intent this week. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound three-star prospect might wait to visit a couple of Conference USA schools after signing day." Per Rivals. :eek:
 



I believe Marcus Allen was about 6'2" so you can sdd him to the list of taller running backs as well.
 

Triple D said:
Eric Dickerson 6'3

Marcus Dupree 6'2

Just 2 excellent tall RB's that come to mind....others?
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Add Brandon Jacobs, he's 6'4", he flourished under Jerry Kill at Southern Illinois.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Yeah, that's important. It's also just that the Dlineman and OL have gotten so tall, that some height helps you see things in the backfield better. It's also a matter of being able to hold more weight effeciently. A taller player can (theoretically) hold more weight with losing less speed than a shorter player. You can get to that ideal weight where you won't get manhandled in the trenches without giving up so much athleticism.
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Bingo.:clap: Plus leverage, try having a person with a 5 or 6 inch height advantage push into you and see how strong they feel.
 

Taller running backs not mentioned yet:

Ottis Anderson 6'2
Chuck Foreman 6'2
John Riggins 6'2
Jim Brown 6'2
Franco Harris 6'2
Robert Smith 6'2
OJ Simpson :eek: 6'2
Antowain Smith 6'2
Chuck Muncie 6'3
Steven Jackson 6'3
Larry Csonka 6'3

So there have been plenty of taller backs who have been darn good, however shorter backs still hold the advantage due to having a lower center of gravity and thus as a general rule making it more difficult to tackle them. Their short stature also makes it easier for them to 'hide' behind all those tall linemen in front of them, making it harder for defenders to get a read on them as a play first develops. Barry Sanders would be that perfect example of an RB having just an incredibly low center of gravity, as he stood only 5'7.
 

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