RB Evans

[Golden Elephant]

Where’s the tl;dr version

Gophers lost 2 games this year (Purdue, IA) because they didn't have a B1G quality #2 RB. Evans appears to be that guy. Coaching malpractice not to play him if he was healthy. I hope Fleck tells Potts & Williams to transfer or else that they're gonna ride the pine in 2023 with 3 star RBs incoming.

 

[Golden Elephant]

Fleck is very loyal to starters, as has been demonstrated on numerous threads over several years. I know Gophs have had players, like Mo, who were not starters, who got a chance to start based on an injury or something else, who then became starters. I feel like we've seen that multiple times at RB in the last 6+ years too. I think Thomas Barber is another example where he became a starter after making it onto the field.

Right, and RB #2 this year he was loyal to a fault. If Evans was healthy, it was a crime that he wasn't played - in at least the 4 games he could w/o burning a redshirt.

 

[Golden Elephant]

I find it funny how bad people think Potts and Williams are? Mo averaged 5.2 you, Potts 4.7, Williams 4.9. You would think Mo averaged double what these guys did if that was true. Mo was special in that he could get you 6, when someone else would be lucky to get 1-2.

Under Fleck, I doubt our rbroom will ever be devoid of talent. We run a ton so backs will line up to play here.

The challenge is to throw more to the wr so better we recruits will consider us.

I agree with you that we need to effectively pass more, and I think we will in 2023 w/AK.

But if you think Potts & Williams are almost as good as Mo, then apparently you didn't watch a single game this year. Listen, I don't want to talk bad about these guys too much, but they're just not B1G quality RBs. Potts has some wiggle but gets brought down by arm tackles. Williams has strength but no wiggle - he just runs straight ahead into tackles. Just go back and watch the Illinois game if you think Potts & Williams are a reasonable answer at RB.

 

[pharmacygopher]

Right, and RB #2 this year he was loyal to a fault. If Evans was healthy, it was a crime that he wasn't played - in at least the 4 games he could w/o burning a redshirt.

He for sure wasn't healthy at the start of the year. My tickets are behind the Gopher bench and he wasn't in pads at all.

Can't tell you what the injury was, severity or recovery. But he definitely wasn't healthy. So please stop with this crime/malpractice nonsense.

It's funny. I compare this to the hoops board where people are complaining about Battle. He's just finally getting back to himself a couple MONTHS after surgery. And he's a proven commodity.

So maybe....just maybe....it wasn't a smart idea to throw a injured/recovering true freshman to the wolves.

 

[btowngopher]

You’re not going to keep anyone from transferring by giving them a bit of garbage time.

 

[Whytetale]

I would generally agree with you, but....

1. As others noted, Evans had a lot of hype in Spring ball.
2. Evans looked very, very good in those 3 carries
3. Them bringing in a transfer RB just says they found a guy who is very good, and there isn't anyone fully proven. Evans isn't fully proven in games - it doesn't say anything about their confidence in him.


To me, I love this thread because this was my #1 hobby horse this year: where the hell is Evans and why isn't he on the field?!! Listen, I'm sure Williams and Potts are great guys and I thank them for working hard in practice for the U and their commitment to their program. All that said, IMO Fleck's biggest offseason mistake was not telling Potts (and Williams to a lesser extent, but I don't mind keeping him around primarily as a 3rd-down blocker, which was largely his role) to go find a lower-level program where they could be a star or else that they were going to ride the pine if they came back. And Fleck's biggest in-season mistake was playing Potts & Williams so much. Potts & Williams clearly are not Big10 caliber backs.

If Fleck had told Irving & Thomas in the off season that they were the clear #2 & #3 guys, maybe one of them would've stayed.

The reason I care so much is that, IMO, we clearly lost 2 games this year because of the lack of an option behind Mo, and Evans looked like a clear option.
1. Purdue - Potts & Williams couldn't run at all. If Evans was healthy - and I don't know if he was - then a good RB would've allowed us at least some running yards and enough to win that game
2. Iowa - yes, Mo ran for 250 or so yards. But on that drive when he fumbled, he fumbled on his 14th (FOURTEENTH!) carry of the drive and his 10th (TENTH!!!) in a row. He was rightly exhausted, and I blame that fumble not on Mo, but on Fleck for not giving him a breather on that drive because he knew Potts and/or Williams would lose yards or get zero if put them in.

Those were the games that decided the B1G West title and I'm annoyed that Evans didn't play in those games (asterisk for Purdue, because I don't know if he was healthy). Although - like I said - if he had told Irving or Thomas that they were #2 then maybe one of them would've been back and played in those games.

Now, I have a friend who is a booster who claimed he had dinner with Fleck and Fleck told him (or implied or whatever) that the reason they didn't play Evans much is they didn't want a repeat of last year where our Freshmen RBs played and then were lured away by other schools. That's hearsay to me at this point, so I don't know how much truth there is to that. But if it's true, I find that gross malpractice by Fleck. If true, he has to prioritize winning those games and know that he could sell a different story to Evans than he could've to Irving/Thomas last year (Mo & Williams graduate, no need to play Potts next year).

Finally, I sincerely hope that Fleck tells Potts to find another school or else that he'll be riding the pine next season if he comes back here with the 3 talented guys (Evans, W Mich transfer, HS recruit from Mich) coming in. Again, I'm sure Potts is a great guy, and I don't like to even say anything negative about guys who have worked so hard for our program, but IMO Potts is just not a Big10 caliber back. If Potts is back and getting more than garbage time carries next year, I'm not gonna be happy.

"Now, I have a friend who is a booster who claimed he had dinner with Fleck and Fleck told him (or implied or whatever) that the reason they didn't play Evans much is they didn't want a repeat of last year where our Freshmen RBs played and then were lured away by other schools."
Kenni Burns at a Goal Club Luncheon pretty much said the same thing about exposing Evans.

 

[Polski]

I wonder what the players think of that.

"Hey, we're not going to play you because you might get noticed, and then transfer to a different school."

Those must be difficult conversations.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I agree with you that we need to effectively pass more, and I think we will in 2023 w/AK.

But if you think Potts & Williams are almost as good as Mo, then apparently you didn't watch a single game this year. Listen, I don't want to talk bad about these guys too much, but they're just not B1G quality RBs. Potts has some wiggle but gets brought down by arm tackles. Williams has strength but no wiggle - he just runs straight ahead into tackles. Just go back and watch the Illinois game if you think Potts & Williams are a reasonable answer at RB.

He didn't say that. Both are good RBs, Potts probably the better of the two.

 

[mngg11]

But if you think Potts & Williams are almost as good as Mo, then apparently you didn't watch a single game this year. Listen, I don't want to talk bad about these guys too much, but they're just not B1G quality RBs. Potts has some wiggle but gets brought down by arm tackles. Williams has strength but no wiggle - he just runs straight ahead into tackles. Just go back and watch the Illinois game if you think Potts & Williams are a reasonable answer at RB.

Agreed. I'll argue all day that Potts is the equivalent to Ky Thomas in value and ability at the very least but to compare Potts and Williams as being even near the same orbit as Mo is bonkers. He's quite literally the best back in the program's history.

They're fine as change of pace or backs or, in Williams' case, for pass blocking, but neither are feature backs. I think Potts could have been a feature back but either physically or mentally he took a step back after his injury. And I feel awful about that because I love that he fought back to being on the roster and playing.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I wonder what the players think of that.

"Hey, we're not going to play you because you might get noticed, and then transfer to a different school."

Those must be difficult conversations.

Might want to take the source with a grain of salt....this is what someone heard from a friend, so might not be the most reliable of sources. I find it a little hard to believe that Fleck would be admitting something like that to boosters.

 

[Dakota2]

Hey, I could be wrong.

But here is how I see it:

Fleck and the coaches evaluated the roster at the end of the season. They looked at areas where they felt they needed help and then tried to fill those holes through the transfer portal.

The Gophers then brought in a RB transfer - someone they wanted badly enough that they went out and flipped him after he had committed to another program.

That tells me that the coaches saw RB as a position of need.

If they were 100% confident in the returning RB's and the incoming FR, they would not have gone after a grad transfer. Ergo, they had questions/doubts about the RB room.

RB is always a position of need. Injuries. Coach doesn't have to doubt anyone on the roster to want another one.

 

[Dakota2]

Gophers lost 2 games this year (Purdue, IA) because they didn't have a B1G quality #2 RB. Evans appears to be that guy. Coaching malpractice not to play him if he was healthy. I hope Fleck tells Potts & Williams to transfer or else that they're gonna ride the pine in 2023 with 3 star RBs incoming.

Evans was hurt for Purdue. Mo was having career day against Iowa.

 

[mngg11]

Evans was hurt for Purdue. Mo was having career day against Iowa.

Off topic: I was upset but I wasn't even mad at Mo when he fumbled. Dude put every ounce he had on the field that game and then some. I literally shrugged, a combination of some belief in a weird Iowa curse and that we can't have nice things.

 

[GopherTheJugular]

So play guys who aren’t worthy or playing time so they don’t transfer?

That's not what he said. Look, we all get your schtick. You read someone's post, interpret the meaning a little differently, then make a snarky reply.

But I think a more fair assessment of what he said would be, "play the young talented guys some so they don't transfer" or he was asking "is Evans not good enough" or something along those lines. But at no point did he suggest playing someone who is known to be worse than the starters.

Keep up the snark though. You do you!

 

[btowngopher]

He didn't say that. Both are good RBs, Potts probably the better of the two.

Good compared to what other B1G teams have? Just looking at the West one could argue that they are just above NW at the bottom.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Good compared to what other B1G teams have? Just looking at the West one could argue that they are just above NW at the bottom.

I think Potts' 2021 season shows that he is a very good RB.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

That's not what he said. Look, we all get your schtick. You read someone's post, interpret the meaning a little differently, then make a snarky reply.

But I think a more fair assessment of what he said would be, "play the young talented guys some so they don't transfer" or he was asking "is Evans not good enough" or something along those lines. But at no point did he suggest playing someone who is known to be worse than the starters.

Keep up the snark though. You do you!

He said we must find ways to play these guys…which means to play them for the sake of keeping them happy. I’m sorry if you don’t see it that way.

If Evans can’t beat out Potts and Williams then I don’t think him transferring is a big deal. Obviously he was injured so maybe he’ll get a bunch of opportunities in the fall and be great. But as it stands now he hasn’t shown a lot. But either has Potts so

 

[Dave H]

I think Potts' 2021 season shows that he is a very good RB.

I think that shows he was good when we had an awesome line.

 

[mngg11]

Good compared to what other B1G teams have? Just looking at the West one could argue that they are just above NW at the bottom.

I think it's great that you think we can do better at rb but it's not really thrilling to see you shitting on two guys who have worked hard to be part of this program and have contributed in significant spots.

 

[btowngopher]

I think it's great that you think we can do better at rb but it's not really thrilling to see you shitting on two guys who have worked hard to be part of this program and have contributed in significant spots.

How am I shitting on them? I’m just giving my honest assessment. Trust me, I’m probably the only guy in here that defended Cam Wiley to a point when he was being ripped by most on here.

 

[GOPHERSWINBIG]

Gophers lost 2 games this year (Purdue, IA) because they didn't have a B1G quality #2 RB. Evans appears to be that guy. Coaching malpractice not to play him if he was healthy. I hope Fleck tells Potts & Williams to transfer or else that they're gonna ride the pine in 2023 with 3 star RBs incoming.

you said better then i did. that is exactly what was trying to say.

 

[GOPHERSWINBIG]

The question is, what are YOU saying?

i have tried to spell it out for you 2 times. its not clicking with you.

 

[GopherTheJugular]

He said we must find ways to play these guys…which means to play them for the sake of keeping them happy. I’m sorry if you don’t see it that way.

If Evans can’t beat out Potts and Williams then I don’t think him transferring is a big deal. Obviously he was injured so maybe he’ll get a bunch of opportunities in the fall and be great. But as it stands now he hasn’t shown a lot. But either has Potts so

I agree with you on the first paragraph in the above quote. But playing them to keep them happy, which you say now, isn't always the same as "play guys who aren't worthy of* playing time" which is the quote I responded to. It "can" be the same, in some cases, but not always.

I believe the poster was thinking more along the lines of "PJ, let the young talent get some run so they don't get frustrated on the bench and leave." Or he was asking if maybe Evans wasn't good.

But it's obvious he wasn't implying to play Evans just to play him, it was "is he not good enough" or "is PJ just being stubborn again".

*footnote: I corrected the word "or" in the quote to be "of" which it obviously was meant to be.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

I agree with you on the first paragraph in the above quote. But playing them to keep them happy, which you say now, isn't always the same as "play guys who aren't worthy of* playing time" which is the quote I responded to. It "can" be the same, in some cases, but not always.

I believe the poster was thinking more along the lines of "PJ, let the young talent get some run so they don't get frustrated on the bench and leave." Or he was asking if maybe Evans wasn't good.

But it's obvious he wasn't implying to play Evans just to play him, it was "is he not good enough" or "is PJ just being stubborn again".

*footnote: I corrected the word "or" in the quote to be "of" which it obviously was meant to be.

You’re really getting into semantics. I post strictly from my phone while almost always doing other stuff. If I spoke too quickly I’m sorry.