Other RB's

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Jordekorn said:
Not a shot at Williams or Wiley, but can the posters that were infatuated with them see the difference in Irving and Ky?

Eye test
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Yup. Not “infatuated” with either. Always liked Williams because of his freshman year plus Wiscy game. Never been a proponent of Wiley as a RB. Would benefit from a position change?
 

Wiley and Williams should not see the field unless we're down to the 4th and 5th RBs. Irving has quickness, elusiveness, moves. Thomas has vision, speed and power. A great 1-2 punch for the future! Irving will be even better next year after he bulks up some more. I'm just wondering what took so long to see these two?
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Yup. Not “infatuated” with either. Always liked Williams because of his freshman year plus Wiscy game. Never been a proponent of Wiley as a RB. Would benefit from a position change?
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Maybe. Some guys stand out in hs because they are just physically better in a certain attribute that doesn't move levels with them.. Sometimes they just ended up at one level beyond their ability.
 


Jordekorn said:
Not a shot at Williams or Wiley, but can the posters that were infatuated with them see the difference in Irving and Ky?

Eye test
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I don't think I saw a single post that seemed infatuated with Wiley just that he's young and he's fast and we'll see. I am not sure if today changes any of those opinions.

As for Williams, I can't speak for how good Irving and/or Thomas block, but I think of Williams more like a blocking back. He's good in protection. I believe Irving is competing for attempts with Wiley, I'm not sure (I really don't know) if either of them are strong in pass protection.
 


Based on this game, Wiley has probably dropped a few notches, though Fleck seems to love Wiley’s basic athleticism. I though Ky Thomas looked damn good, too. Saw the hole well (though in mop up time against a tired, dejected defense).
 
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Potts had a great game, has been really impressive the last couple weeks. Irving and Thomas looked great, MN is in good hands for the foreseeable future. Most is this sample was against a tired, defeated defense but Irving looks really elusive, Thomas seems to have some power and decent speed. Williams appears to have been relegated as he did play a couple snaps but only fumbled. Doesn’t seem like he will be a prominent factor this year. Wiley AFAIK didn’t play, not sure reason.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Based on this game, Wiley has probably dropped a few notches, though Fleck seems to love Wiley’s basic athleticism. I though Ky Thomas looked damn good, too. Saw the hole well (though in mop up time against a tired, dejected defense).
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Ky Thomas has some power. Irving has speed and can break tackles and Thomas is a load. He seems like a guy that will always move the pile forward a yard or two.
 
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My prediction on Running Back Depth Chart the rest of the season:

1. Potts
2. Irving
3. Thomas
4. Williams
5. Wiley

Potts should be the feature back but there is something special about Irving. He is going to be good, really really good. We maybe still can't replace Mo but Potts continues to do a pretty damn good impression of him.
 



With this line, and the offensive playstyle, I'm a huge fan of the RB by committee approach. Use 3 guys, we have at least that many backs that can succeed with this line. Keep them all fresh.
 

RolGnav said:
Wiley and Williams should not see the field unless we're down to the 4th and 5th RBs. Irving has quickness, elusiveness, moves. Thomas has vision, speed and power. A great 1-2 punch for the future! Irving will be even better next year after he bulks up some more. I'm just wondering what took so long to see these two?
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I honestly think that coaches sometimes get too stuck up their own rear end about how guys do in practice and meeting rooms. Too risk averse to just put a guy in a game and see if he's a "gamer".
 

skauma said:
With this line, and the offensive playstyle, I'm a huge fan of the RB by committee approach. Use 3 guys, we have at least that many backs that can succeed with this line. Keep them all fresh.
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Pair and a spare!
 

Did anyone see how Irving and Thomas did in pass protection? My guess is that's a huge factor in which backs get playing time.
 



AgedFan said:
Did anyone see how Irving and Thomas did in pass protection? My guess is that's a huge factor in which backs get playing time.
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I actually watched for it pretty close.

I don't think we called a pass play with Thomas in the game. With Irving, he didn't really stand out. He was a pretty good receiver though.
 

MNVCGUY said:
My prediction on Running Back Depth Chart the rest of the season:

1. Potts
2. Irving
3. Thomas
4. Williams
5. Wiley

Potts should be the feature back but there is something special about Irving. He is going to be good, really really good. We maybe still can't replace Mo but Potts continues to do a pretty damn good impression of him.
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I think Williams' position is a little different than the rest. I think Williams will continue to see run on obvious passing downs or on downs with multiple RBs because he is our best in protection.

I'm not sure if Williams' touches will diminish due to the emergence of Irving and Thomas.
 





GophersInIowa said:
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First of all, Irving looks incredible. Thomas looked very good as well. I hate to be the one to bring this up, but did anyone else notice Irving like hopping off the field after his last carry? I don't believe he came back in either...it was all Thomas after that right? Obviously hope he's OK.
 

Finally got around to reading this thread from start to finish. Pretty entertaining reading all the "Running game is screwed with Mo injured. Who can handle the load." comments from the Sept. 3 start of the thread. Granted, Gophers aren't playing Big 10 caliber teams the last 2 weeks, but it does appear that, that between the O-line and the backs who have filled in, the running game should be respectable enough to not force any big game plan changes away from the run this season. Glad to see Potts respond to his new starting job the way he has so far.
 

Chico Gopher said:
Finally got around to reading this thread from start to finish. Pretty entertaining reading all the "Running game is screwed with Mo injured. Who can handle the load." comments from the Sept. 3 start of the thread.
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This is bizarre revisionism for a thread everyone can still read. I didn't see any posts here suggesting the running game was "screwed" as a result of Mo's injury. Most comments were about having RB depth and wondering/speculating on how carries would be distributed going forward.
 

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