Does PJ Fleck run his running backs into the ground?

Does he?

  • Yes

    Votes: 107 79.3%

  • No

    Votes: 26 19.3%

  • Its balanced

    Votes: 2 1.5%
  • Total voters
    135
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Dakota2 said:
There is no connection between a minor bowl game where you want to give the kid his time in front of family and friends, and an entire Big Ten football season.

If you think the two are comparable and that coaches will treat each the same, you are indeed a confused fellow.
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Guy gets 37 carries backup gets 3
“This has no connection to what might happen in the future “
-Dakota

Got it!
 

Some guy said:
Guy gets 37 carries backup gets 3
“This has no connection to what might happen in the future “
-Dakota

Got it!
Click to expand...

You pretty much ignored everything Dak said.

Taylor was a guy freakin' Michigan was after. Fleck brought him here against long odds.

Of course the coach is going to feed him the carries, in front of his home town crowd. Especially so considering it was highly, highly effective — and our QB was making his first career start.
 

RememberMurray said:
You pretty much ignored everything Dak said.

Taylor was a guy freakin' Michigan was after. Fleck brought him here against long odds.

Of course the coach is going to feed him the carries, in front of his home town crowd. Especially so considering it was highly, highly effective.
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I bet when he is effective next year and he is still a guy Michigan wanted and the backup is Nubin fleck might give him the ball.
 




Some guy said:
I did but now Dakota has me doubting reality
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Taylor will carry the ball a lot in 2024, as he should.

Taylor will not carry the ball almost exclusively in 2024, like he did in the bowl game. Those were unique circumstances, for the reasons that Dak already gave you.
 

RememberMurray said:
Taylor will carry the ball a lot in 2024, as he should.

Taylor will not carry the ball almost exclusively in 2024, like he did in the bowl game. Those were unique circumstances, for the reasons that Dak already gave you.
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Nobody claimed Taylor would carry the ball exclusively or almost exclusively.
I did say the coaches really showed what they thought of Nubin by not being willing to give him even 5 of those 40 touches
 

Dakota2 said:
I also like Nubin as a No. 3 option if someone is better.
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Was supposed to be Tyler this year.

Incredibly unfortunate that he kept putting the ball on the ground.

Would be awesome to peer into an alternate universe where he doesn't fumble, to see how the RB depth turned out with him (Tyler) being a viable option for much of the season.
 




RememberMurray said:
I'm not much for predictions, but here are some:

1) The Gophers will run the ball, first and foremost.

2) If he stays healthy, Darius Taylor will carry the ball a freakin' lot. I mean, A... LOT.

3) If Darius Taylor stays healthy, people will complain that he gets "too many carries"... even if he leads the B1G in rushing.

4) If Darius Taylor sustains an injury, people will complain that Fleck "runs his running backs into the ground" — even though running backs in football get injured quite frequently.
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I dont care how many carries Taylor gets as long as the game is still in question. If we’re either way up or way down and he continues to get pounded as Fleck is apt to do then I will again call PJ stupid.
 

Gopherchase said:
I dont care how many carries Taylor gets as long as the game is still in question. If we’re either way up or way down and he continues to get pounded as Fleck is apt to do then I will again call PJ stupid.
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Or, you know, you do like Mason said and you have a pair and a spare.

Makes sense.
 

RememberMurray said:
Taylor will carry the ball a lot in 2024, as he should.

Taylor will not carry the ball almost exclusively in 2024, like he did in the bowl game. Those were unique circumstances, for the reasons that Dak already gave you.
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Yep, if he his healthy he is going to get the ball a lot based on what he was able to do this season. 800 yards in 5 games is insane production for a true freshman, we may very well have a superstar on our hands.

Hopefully they have enough confidence in the other guys to spread the carries some during the season but I fully expect to see a common theme around here of people complaining about the number of carries Taylor is getting because if he plays like he did this year he is going to get the ball....a lot.....
 



For many of us 2019 was notable because of the incredibly efficient and productive passing game the Gophs fielded. That was we have missed in each of the following seasons, hitting a low point in 2023.

But in 2023, we also had a excellent and dominant running game--arguably our best in the PJ years. And in that year, PJ used a good 3-back rotation: Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks and Mo Ibrahim. We also had 5 other guys get several carries: Bryce Williams, Seth Green, Cam Wiley, Trey Potts and Preston Jelen. The result was that we had backs in the 4Q of games who weren't too gassed to make a difference, and we had several of the top-line backs all make it through to play in the Wisconsin game.

Taylor is clearly the top back in 2024. If we are going to run the ball 525 times (as we did in 2019), my hope is that Taylor gets the majority of this carries. But I truly hope he isn't running 35-40 times a game--so that he isn't on crutches or wearing a boot when the tough November games roll around.
 
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Easiest poll i've ever seen.

Absolutely yes he does. Whoever is hot at the time he runs them down
to a knub. He talks about the Mason balance of a pair and a spare, but
he rides his #1 until he's hurt then the spare has to play.
 

Running a dude 30+ times game in, game out is not the right thing to do and almost guarantees they will miss time due to injury. You have to reduce that load - doesn’t matter if it goes to other backs or to passes but the per-game volume has been way too much.
 

Gopher028 said:
Easiest poll i've ever seen.

Absolutely yes he does. Whoever is hot at the time he runs them down
to a knub. He talks about the Mason balance of a pair and a spare, but
he rides his #1 until he's hurt then the spare has to play.
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That has not always been the case.
2017, 2018, and 2019 that was not the case.

Maybe Mo Broke him, or maybe he just hasn’t liked his RB depth 2020-2023.

He never had a RB with more than 230 carries in a season until 2022
Mo also had an insane amount of carries in 2020 for a 7 game season.
 

SamSquatch said:
Running a dude 30+ times game in, game out is not the right thing to do and almost guarantees they will miss time due to injury. You have to reduce that load - doesn’t matter if it goes to other backs or to passes but the per-game volume has been way too much.
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This seems to be a pretty unanimous opinion
 



Some guy said:
Guy gets 37 carries backup gets 3
“This has no connection to what might happen in the future “
-Dakota

Got it!
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No, you don't get it. If you did you would acknowledge a minor bowl game has nothing to say about the strategy for an entire football season in 2024/
 


Dakota2 said:
No, you don't get it. If you did you would acknowledge a minor bowl game has nothing to say about the strategy for an entire football season in 2024/
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No I do get that. You have me in a box.
Your thoughts are more important than reality
 

Some guy said:
I bet when he is effective next year and he is still a guy Michigan wanted and the backup is Nubin fleck might give him the ball.
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Do you see any difference between a minor bowl game and several months off after to a 12-game season with a week between most games?
 


MNVCGUY said:
Yep, if he his healthy he is going to get the ball a lot based on what he was able to do this season. 800 yards in 5 games is insane production for a true freshman, we may very well have a superstar on our hands.

Hopefully they have enough confidence in the other guys to spread the carries some during the season but I fully expect to see a common theme around here of people complaining about the number of carries Taylor is getting because if he plays like he did this year he is going to get the ball....a lot.....
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The point is, Taylor will play best and the team with have the best chance of winning close games when he is rested for a few downs from time to time. That would be smart coaching.
 

Dakota2 said:
Do you see any difference between a minor bowl game and several months off after to a 12-game season with a week between most games?
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It doesn’t matter if I do. It matter if Pj does.


Eastern Michigan
D Taylor 33 carries
S Tyler 17 carries
Nubin 0 carries

North Carolina
D Taylor 22 carries
Tyler 3 carries
Nubin 0 carries

Northwestern
Taylor 31 carries
Williams 5 carries
Nubin 0 carries

Iowa
Taylor 10 carries
Evans 10 carries (8 before Taylor’s last carry)
Tyler 9 carries (0 before Taylor’s last carry)
Nubin 0 carries

Bowling green
Taylor 35 carries
Nubin 3 carries



But sure it was just one bowl game
 

All I know after watching Tuesday's bowl game is next season Gopher running game will be exciting, fun to watch & devastating. The Oline must be salivating. As a great college running attack elevates all other parts of the team.
 

Chucklehead said:
30 or 40 years ago, it was the norm to carry the ball 25 times a game. Now it's too much. Pretty soon, it will be flag football.
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From ages 6-10 I was All-World Flag Football. Been waiting to share that for years - appreciate you giving me the window.
 

RememberMurray said:
I'm not much for predictions, but here are some:

1) The Gophers will run the ball, first and foremost.

2) If he stays healthy, Darius Taylor will carry the ball a freakin' lot. I mean, A... LOT.

3) If Darius Taylor stays healthy, people will complain that he gets "too many carries"... even if he leads the B1G in rushing.

4) If Darius Taylor sustains an injury, people will complain that Fleck "runs his running backs into the ground" — even though running backs in football get injured quite frequently.
Click to expand...
You forgot one: Backup RB gets a carry and either fumbles or fails to convert on short yardage and GH is livid Taylor wasn’t in the game.

Seriously though, as others have said above, Fleck did NOT do this early in his tenure here or as recently as ‘21. IMO, Mo (and now Taylor) have messed up the calculus because they’re so freaking good (and the backups, while capable, have been a HUGE step down).
 

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