PFF: Highest graded returning B1G RBs (#1. Mohamed Ibrahim, Minn)

Donate To GopherHole


Great news.

I'm guessing Bateman, Morgan and our offensive line would rank very high as well in their respective positions grades.
 

Man I'd really like to see the OL step up this year an gel a bit more ... feels like if they could we'd be on the cusp of having a juggernaut of an offense.
 

Mo is so underrated. Pretty much always breaks the first tackle, and gets 2-3 extra yards before going down. Great N-S runner who finds holes well and hits them hard.
He was better than Rodney and Shannon last year. I would predict him to lead the B1G in rushing this year as our feature back getting ~20 carries a game. STUD
 


Section2 said:
Mo is so underrated. Pretty much always breaks the first tackle, and gets 2-3 extra yards before going down. Great N-S runner who finds holes well and hits them hard.
He was better than Rodney and Shannon last year. I would predict him to lead the B1G in rushing this year as our feature back getting ~20 carries a game. STUD
Click to expand...
YES!
 

Section2 said:
Mo is so underrated. Pretty much always breaks the first tackle, and gets 2-3 extra yards before going down. Great N-S runner who finds holes well and hits them hard.
He was better than Rodney and Shannon last year. I would predict him to lead the B1G in rushing this year as our feature back getting ~20 carries a game. STUD
Click to expand...

I am interested to see if he gets the full workload. Agree he was probably our best back last year, but we have seemed to like a 60/30/10 split every year under Fleck. I think Mo is super underrated, but I also think keeping our backs fresh is part of strategy and really seems to pay dividends toward the end of the season.
 

Section2 said:
Mo is so underrated. Pretty much always breaks the first tackle, and gets 2-3 extra yards before going down. Great N-S runner who finds holes well and hits them hard.
He was better than Rodney and Shannon last year. I would predict him to lead the B1G in rushing this year as our feature back getting ~20 carries a game. STUD
Click to expand...
100% agree. He's also the best blocker at the RB position that I've ever seen with the Gophers. It's no coincidence that he almost always came in with Seth Green for the wildcat, because his lead blocks through the hole were a thing of beauty.
 

PoockItInfor6 said:
I am interested to see if he gets the full workload. Agree he was probably our best back last year, but we have seemed to like a 60/30/10 split every year under Fleck. I think Mo is super underrated, but I also think keeping our backs fresh is part of strategy and really seems to pay dividends toward the end of the season.
Click to expand...
We'll run the ball a lot more than 20 times a game, so I agree, there will be a split. Rodney averaged about 18 carries per game last year.
 



The big question for this year is defense. Will they be on par with last year or will we have to outscore opponents every game?
 

He’s really good...when he’s healthy. One of my favorites for sure. He had a hell of a finish to 2019. The bigger question in my mind is what the platoon will be going forward to take the hits off Mo. Who will emerge out of the veteran Williams, redshirt Wiley and Potts, true freshman Thomas.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
He’s really good...when he’s healthy. One of my favorites for sure. He had a hell of a finish to 2019. The bigger question in my mind is what the platoon will be going forward to take the hits off Mo. Who will emerge out of the veteran Williams, redshirt Wiley and Potts, true freshman Thomas.
Click to expand...

I wonder the same thing. It's super early yet, but Wiley has been dinged a lot for the little action he's seen and Potts had 2 major knee injuries in high school. Just bad luck or more of the same to come? Williams is decent but he doesn't seem to find the creases, often bounces outside. That leaves Thomas. Early buzz was positive but also sounded like he reported a little overweight. This COVID-19 lockdown can't be good for that. Oh, well. Someone will emerge, I just don't have a clue who. That's one of the things I love most about college FB.
 

Don't forget Williamson, heard VERY good things about him before the injury.
 



Gosh, I've never seen credible folks saying Minnesota has the best returning WR, RB, and a top 2 QB in the Big Ten, all at the same time we're likely turning out one of the program's best draft showings. This is like, a program or something... Are our guys suddenly:

A. More talented to start with?
B. Being developed better?
C. Benefiting from rising exposure?
 

fmlizard said:
Gosh, I've never seen credible folks saying Minnesota has the best returning WR, RB, and a top 2 QB in the Big Ten, all at the same time we're likely turning out one of the program's best draft showings. This is like, a program or something... Are our guys suddenly:

A. More talented to start with?
B. Being developed better?
C. Benefiting from rising exposure?
Click to expand...

A combination of A & B
 

The coolest part to me is that I think B has as much to do with it as anything... Winfield, Johnson have both exploded. Morgan was barely recruited, Mo was not that highly graded... I think Fleck has a draw for dudes who are hungry, who are willing to outwork their competition... who strive to be the best version of themselves.

Even Bateman, who was highly recruited... has passed basically every other receiver who was ahead of him In his class.

I think now that A and C are starting to feed off of B... Sky really is the limit. Credit to the players putting in the work, but also credit PJ for fostering that part of who these young men are and strive to be.
 

Running game led by Mo is going to be a key with the help of some passes to keep their defense confused. No doubt we want to keep our defense off the field as much as possible. Will be interesting to see how we do. After hearing the same guys for a while on D, it does feel like we are missing something. I'm hopeful we'll be fine.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Man I'd really like to see the OL step up this year an gel a bit more ... feels like if they could we'd be on the cusp of having a juggernaut of an offense.
Click to expand...

Do we have good OL depth this year? (I read GHole a lot, comment some, but also drink a lot while reading GHole, so I'm not quite sure what has been said about the OLine outlook for this year)
 

GopherJack said:
Do we have good OL depth this year? (I read GHole a lot, comment some, but also drink a lot while reading GHole, so I'm not quite sure what has been said about the OLine outlook for this year)
Click to expand...
I have no idea. Most folks seem to be betting that everyone returning just gets better....
 

I sort of got carried away in remembering how good the Brooks and Smith were before the injuries, andhad unrealistic expectations for them last year. Neither one was ever quite back to what they used to be even if they had their moments. (Brooks vs. Illinois and Nebraska,) Brooks looked smaller, and Smith seemed a little slower although still quick.

Also, it seems silly now but I forgot how great Mo was down the stretch in 2018, and watching those runs in the Outback Bowl made me realize how much we missed him during parts of the year.

He might have been banged up, but he probably deserved more carries all year in 2019.
 

Mo will probably almost triple the yardage of the next closest back, but i still expect Ky Thomas to have around 600 of the most exciting yards we'll have seen from a Gopher RB in some time. Anything less than 1500 from Ibrahim would be a bit of a shock to me.
 

WhoFellDownTheGopherHole? said:
Mo will probably almost triple the yardage of the next closest back, but i still expect Ky Thomas to have around 600 of the most exciting yards we'll have seen from a Gopher RB in some time. Anything less than 1500 from Ibrahim would be a bit of a shock to me.
Click to expand...
Good prediction! Mo might be a little less because of the stable of backs.
 

It always seems to me that he puts the”fight or flight response” into opposing secondaries. By the end of the game they usually choose flight.
 

I thought Mo should’ve been the #1 back last year. Lots of people were saying he was not as good as Rodney or Shannon despite the numbers he put up. Mo could make some big strides this year if he can avoid getting signed up.
 

btowngopher said:
I thought Mo should’ve been the #1 back last year. Lots of people were saying he was not as good as Rodney or Shannon despite the numbers he put up. Mo could make some big strides this year if he can avoid getting signed up.
Click to expand...
I feel like half of the issue last year was wanting to pay respect to Smith, and to a lesser extent Brooks, due to their being seniors. Had Mo and Smith both been juniors last year, I think Mo would've been the main guy and Smith would've been a change of pace guy.

When push came to shove in the bowl game, look whose number was called.
 


fmlizard said:
Gosh, I've never seen credible folks saying Minnesota has the best returning WR, RB, and a top 2 QB in the Big Ten, all at the same time we're likely turning out one of the program's best draft showings. This is like, a program or something... Are our guys suddenly:

A. More talented to start with?
B. Being developed better?
C. Benefiting from rising exposure?
Click to expand...

They have more program stability. The players are now the leaders of the team. It appears there is more team camaraderie now than ever before.
 



bfriedrichs10 said:
I feel like half of the issue last year was wanting to pay respect to Smith, and to a lesser extent Brooks, due to their being seniors. Had Mo and Smith both been juniors last year, I think Mo would've been the main guy and Smith would've been a change of pace guy.

When push came to shove in the bowl game, look whose number was called.
Click to expand...
I think this is a good take. That's one reason I think Veritas is flawed in his view that the defense is going to regress based on the starters we lost. He says if the backups were as good as the starters they should have been starting last year. I think the older player typically gets the nod even if the younger guy is slightly better. Just out of respect and the expectation that the more experienced guy will make better on field decisions and fewer mistakes even if less talented physically.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom