Kobe McCrary commits

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This staff has always liked having a big back, Brooks is 206 and Smith 200, McCrary might largely be a niche player but there are things a 235 lb back can do that a 200 can't.
 

GophersInIowa said:
My guess is depth and to try and even out the classes some. It wouldn't be good if they go into next season with just four scholarship RBs. With how careful they are with concussions and other injuries now days, it is easy to be down to your 3rd or 4th string guy. Could also be that they don't think Femi-Cole and Johannesson are ready yet.
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Good point on Femi-Cole and Johannesson. ND and Canada players so not playing real strong comp. Only coaches real know where they fit in.
Great to have JC player with experience for back up.

Go Gophers!
 

IMO I just think we need to have some trust in JFC and Johannesson. I find it hard to believe that neither are ready enough as second year players that they couldn't take about 5 carries a game on goal line or short yardage situations. Thats how they are going to get better anyways.
 

die hard gopher said:
IMO I just think we need to have some trust in JFC and Johannesson. I find it hard to believe that neither are ready enough as second year players that they couldn't take about 5 carries a game on goal line or short yardage situations. Thats how they are going to get better anyways.
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Maybe they do have trust in those two. At least one running back was still needed for depth. Both Brooks and Smith were beat up with injuries at times last year. With an offense predicated on running the ball, do you really want to rely on just 2 RS FR if they both go down or get beat up again?
 




As many have said the bottom line is that you need bodies at RB. This guy is not only a decent fit for class sake, he's a big body, appears to be able to pass block, and can presumably be counted on immediately. FMC and JJ may not be at the level to be trusted if they have to play a lot at this point as RB isn't just get the ball and go. You want RBs that can catch, that have vision, and can block. If you only have 2 guys you trust on the roster then I'm ok with getting another one. Another aspect is this: You have 2 soon to be Sophs that look like they'll be the guys for a while. Presumably any RB coming in as a frosh will have to be confident they're better than 1 or both of those guys so they'll see the field. I'm guessing for a non helmet school its hard to get a really talented frosh when you have that situation. But you definitely need depth. It's likely easier to get a good JUCO guy knowing he'll be the only upperclassman on the depth chart.
 

Word said:
He rushed for 1200 yards at 5.3 yards per carry (108 yards per game). Yeah, that's pretty awful. Why would we want him? /sarcasm
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James Gillum came in with very similar numbers in terms of total yards, yards per carry, and yards per game. Not sure that worked out so well. Looking at McCrary's numbers this year, in five of the eleven games they played this year, he averaged 3.6 yards or less. That is not very good when you consider he was playing against far less than Big Ten caliber players and guys his age or younger. Some of the teams in their conference were really bad and they had the Air Force Prep School on their schedule. It is not going to translate well into the Big Ten. It just doesn't make any sense when there are two big backs coming off of redshirt years.
 

3399 said:
James Gillum came in with very similar numbers in terms of total yards, yards per carry, and yards per game. Not sure that worked out so well. Looking at McCrary's numbers this year, in five of the eleven games they played this year, he averaged 3.6 yards or less. That is not very good when you consider he was playing against far less than Big Ten caliber players and guys his age or younger. Some of the teams in their conference were really bad and they had the Air Force Prep School on their schedule. It is not going to translate well into the Big Ten. It just doesn't make any sense when there are two big backs coming off of redshirt years.
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My guess is you had never heard of McCrary until he committed. Then, having never seen him play and without having any idea what aspects of his game the coaches may be looking for, you broke down some game stats- chose a subset of games that supported your agenda- and presented them as proof that he wasn't a good signing. I'd also guess you have some ties to ND and think JJ is special.

How did I do?
 



3399 said:
James Gillum came in with very similar numbers in terms of total yards, yards per carry, and yards per game. Not sure that worked out so well.
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What happened with Gillum has zero influence on how McCrary does.

That is not very good when you consider he was playing against far less than Big Ten caliber players and guys his age or younger.
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He was also playing with many guys that weren't Big Ten caliber players.

It is not going to translate well into the Big Ten.
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You may be right but looking at stats alone is not a very good way to determine this.

It just doesn't make any sense when there are two big backs coming off of redshirt years.
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What if multiple guys get hurt? Teams are more careful with injuries now than ever before. Not out of the question that both are hurt at the same time. Teams are sometimes down to their 3rd or even 4th string RB. We also don't know how ready the two redshirt freshman are.

We need more depth at RB. This helps provide that. He may never play a whole lot and that's okay. That means the other guys remain healthy.
 

Spoofin said:
My guess is you had never heard of McCrary until he committed. Then, having never seen him play and without having any idea what aspects of his game the coaches may be looking for, you broke down some game stats- chose a subset of games that supported your agenda- and presented them as proof that he wasn't a good signing. I'd also guess you have some ties to ND and think JJ is special.

How did I do?
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Guessing you got his profile about right. Of course there is also the reverse profile that goes on all the time in recruiting of fans making their judgement on who is destined for stardom based on some stats and a highlight video.

This is actually one of the rare cases where someone expresses doubt about a recruit. Usually everyone falls all over themselves to talk about how great a get the player was no matter how little they might actually know about him.

Very few are willing to admit that even on signing day as fans we know next to nothing about the majority of the class and in most cases won't really know who is going to actually pan out for a couple of seasons.

Even the so called "can't miss" recruits aren't a sure thing and we are rarely ever dealing with that level of player here.
 


3399 said:
James Gillum came in with very similar numbers in terms of total yards, yards per carry, and yards per game. Not sure that worked out so well. Looking at McCrary's numbers this year, in five of the eleven games they played this year, he averaged 3.6 yards or less. That is not very good when you consider he was playing against far less than Big Ten caliber players and guys his age or younger. Some of the teams in their conference were really bad and they had the Air Force Prep School on their schedule. It is not going to translate well into the Big Ten. It just doesn't make any sense when there are two big backs coming off of redshirt years.
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We have no idea what kind of OL he was running behind. You ever heard of injuries. I remember a number of years ago when Ia had a really good team and they were down to their #4 and # 5 running back. Balanced roster. Plus wasn't Gillum a Brew recruit. That was probably his problem.
 



No, Gillium was a Kill recruit, there was some mention that he was over used by his JUCO team. That said, this staff has had more hits than misses on JUCO players, I'll give them the benifit of the doubt.
 

nsmike said:
No, Gillium was a Kill recruit, there was some mention that he was over used by his JUCO team. That said, this staff has had more hits than misses on JUCO players, I'll give them the benifit of the doubt.
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Out of curiosity, quickly went back and looked at all Jucos under Kill. I agree. Easily more hits than misses.

2011
Geshaun Harris
Malcolm Moulton

2012
Jeremy Baltazar
Brien Boddy-Calhoun
Isaac Fruechte
Roland Johnson
Martez Shabazz
James Gillum

2013
Devondre Campbell
Jordan Hinojosa
Damien Wilson

2014
Cody Poock

2015
Ace Rogers
 

Who is going to be our Full Back for next year? McCrary with his size would probably be a really solid one,
 

If we are going to be a committed running team in the Big Ten, you need to have 3-4 guys be able to step in and carry the rock. I have no problem with the commitment. I like it. Puts a little bit of pressure on Brooks to keep improving his game. Competition is always good.
 


dpodoll68 said:
We relied on a true FR and RS FR last year.
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I am not sure that I'd say we "relied" on Brooks, at least not at this point last year. He was a pleasant surprise and he beat out some guys we had pegged ahead of him on the depth chart. A position that was kind of a question mark (with the departure of Cobb) became a position of strength. However, I don't think our staff assumed Brooks would be able to play right away like he did. Going into the season we had Smith returning (the staff knew what they had with him), a RS SR, and Edwards.

Things worked out great with Brooks but we were lucky. You normally can't rely on a true freshman RB to be as good as Brooks and really can't rely on your running backs being as healthy as ours were last year.
 

In watching his film I'm guessing he is the fullback in the pistol and short yardage guy.
 

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