RB Rodney Smith Commits!

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He has a sense of humor too.

"The Georgia running back played a prank on the Gopher coach when he committed. When I called coach Brian Anderson to commit, he was actually at my friend Melvin Holland Jr.'s house," Smith explained. "I told him that I had committed to ECU and there was silence. He told that if that was the best decision for me, so be it. Then I told him I was playing and I wanted to be a Gopher. I wanted to have some fun with my decision since it'd been a long stressful process. Coach Anderson was real pumped and I can't wait to play for him. I'm going to definitely start to get in Melvin's ear about Minnesota some more too."

See the full write up here: http://minnesota.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1601286

And, he is going to help us land Melvin too! Way to go, Rodney!!
 

DuluthTexan said:
He has a sense of humor too.

"The Georgia running back played a prank on the Gopher coach when he committed. When I called coach Brian Anderson to commit, he was actually at my friend Melvin Holland Jr.'s house," Smith explained. "I told him that I had committed to ECU and there was silence. He told that if that was the best decision for me, so be it. Then I told him I was playing and I wanted to be a Gopher. I wanted to have some fun with my decision since it'd been a long stressful process. Coach Anderson was real pumped and I can't wait to play for him. I'm going to definitely start to get in Melvin's ear about Minnesota some more too."

See the full write up here: http://minnesota.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1601286

And, he is going to help us land Melvin too! Way to go, Rodney!!
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good
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Son of the OC and Baseball HC. A middle infielder on the school's baseball team, Smith is considered a Major League draft prospect. Sounds like a pretty good Athlete.
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Will he be playing baseball for the Gophers too?
 


Excellent news! I really wanted to land this kid. Some of the cuts he makes on his highlight tape are ridiculous.

It's great to get 2 RBs in this class. Watch him turn out to be better than Jones.
 



Pompous Elitist said:
Any thoughts on his rivals star rating/ 5.4 despite the impressive stats? Coming off major injury? Speed? Level of competition?

It doesn't really matter. think we'll be seeing more plays like this

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9950941

Or maybe like this:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9950793
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I'd imagine he plays against a pretty high level of competition. Mundy's Mill is a large school (either the largest or second largest class in Georgia). Georgia is always stacked with talent, so I'd imagine it was good competition. I don't think he was coming off any large injury, he had over 2000 yards this year and like 1500 yards last season. So I can't imagine he had any injury.

I think he is one of those guys whose "measurables" don't wow you. He isn't overly big and he isn't super fast. That doesn't mean that he isn't fantastic, he seems to really be a natural runner and have great vision, and sometimes those things don't jump out to schools. They are harder to gauge.

That would be my guess.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I'd imagine he plays against a pretty high level of competition. Mundy's Mill is a large school (either the largest or second largest class in Georgia). Georgia is always stacked with talent, so I'd imagine it was good competition. I don't think he was coming off any large injury, he had over 2000 yards this year and like 1500 yards last season. So I can't imagine he had any injury.

I think he is one of those guys whose "measurables" don't wow you. He isn't overly big and he isn't super fast. That doesn't mean that he isn't fantastic, he seems to really be a natural runner and have great vision, and sometimes those things don't jump out to schools. They are harder to gauge.

That would be my guess.
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Almost 100% sure he was coming back from a torn ACL this year.

EDIT: Just found a couple articles referencing his torn ACL late in his junior year.
 

GophersOnTheRise said:
Almost 100% sure he was coming back from a torn ACL this year.

EDIT: Just found a couple articles referencing his torn ACL late in his junior year.
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Good find! I stand corrected, I wasn't aware of that. Even more impressive!
 



Seems pretty smooth to me

175 yards per game and 9.16 yards per carry .... kind of impressive to me


[video]http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1780127/highlights/32862415?autoplay=1[/video]
 


60's Guy said:
175 yards per game and 9.16 yards per carry .... kind of impressive to me


[video]http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1780127/highlights/32862415?autoplay=1[/video]
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That's top notch competition too. If you watch him run, he does a ton of little things well. He really sets up his blocks well, he seems smooth and really comfortable on his feet. If he ran a 40 two tenths of a second quicker, we wouldn't have had a shot at this kid.
 






Impressive young man in the interview. Brick by brick. The program keeps building!

BTW, look at his junior stats before the ACL. Comments on his parents pushing him. How he and Jones want to be that tandem for years to come. A kick returner too. Keeping Jones, adding Ragnow and Holland. A great class to accelerate the program building.

Welcome Mr Smith!!!
 

This has been a fun time to be a Gopher fan (good news on Rodney, Jacques, and maybe Jeffrey)! Welcome aboard Mr. Smith!
 

2 rodneys in the backfield...Dave Lee still would have messed up the call.
 

Rodney Smith is now a 3 star on ESPN with a grade of 75 which also what Elmore has is the most middle grade you can give a 3 star. He wasn't rated and didn't have an evaluation the last time i checked

*ooh, Jonathan Celestin is now a 3 star on ESPN as well and has a grade of 70 which is the lowest you can give a 3 star and same grade as Kafo. wasn't rated/didn't have an evaluation last time i checked as well. hopefully they check out Weyler as well but probably won't for Rasmussen since he already has been committed for so long and his film quality is kind of hard to watch and not very clear
 

not starting a new thread but found this interesting

http://www.news-daily.com/news/2014/apr/24/rodney-and-patrick-smith-have-formed-a-close-bond/?sports

heck of a ball player... this quote caught my attention


Those plans could change with the June baseball draft. Depending on where he is drafted and the contract being offer, the family could decide to forgo college and pursue a professional baseball career.

“It is a decision we will make at that time,” Rodney said. “I’m just trying to finish up the season on a high note. I’m looking forward to the future.”
 

stuck_in_scony_go4_fan said:
not starting a new thread but found this interesting

http://www.news-daily.com/news/2014/apr/24/rodney-and-patrick-smith-have-formed-a-close-bond/?sports

heck of a ball player... this quote caught my attention


Those plans could change with the June baseball draft. Depending on where he is drafted and the contract being offer, the family could decide to forgo college and pursue a professional baseball career.

“It is a decision we will make at that time,” Rodney said. “I’m just trying to finish up the season on a high note. I’m looking forward to the future.”
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Definitely hope he sticks with football. I'm glad this thread got bumped as i was looking at his film a few days ago. I actually think that Rodney has a better size-speed combo then Jeff as both are 200 pounds and seemed to do a good job breaking tackles however Rodney seems significantly faster to me and has more break away speed. Limegrover also commented that they really like that he can get a play over with referring to his breakaway speed yet he is still physical. Will be the second fasted RB on the roster next to Berkley. Jeff obviously is superior in every other facet though.
 

In a couple years Jones and Smith (talk about strange names) will be one heck of a tandem.
 



Just think of the fun we'd have if Jones' last name was Wesson?
 

die hard gopher said:
Definitely hope he sticks with football. I'm glad this thread got bumped as i was looking at his film a few days ago. I actually think that Rodney has a better size-speed combo then Jeff as both are 200 pounds and seemed to do a good job breaking tackles however Rodney seems significantly faster to me and has more break away speed. Limegrover also commented that they really like that he can get a play over with referring to his breakaway speed yet he is still physical. Will be the second fasted RB on the roster next to Berkley. Jeff obviously is superior in every other facet though.
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Kind of strange that you said his film was nothing special when he committed but now you sound really excited about him.
 


stuck_in_scony_go4_fan said:
not starting a new thread but found this interesting http://www.news-daily.com/news/2014/apr/24/rodney-and-patrick-smith-have-formed-a-close-bond/?sports heck of a ball player... this quote caught my attention Those plans could change with the June baseball draft. Depending on where he is drafted and the contract being offer, the family could decide to forgo college and pursue a professional baseball career. “It is a decision we will make at that time,” Rodney said. “I’m just trying to finish up the season on a high note. I’m looking forward to the future.”
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Anyone follow the baseball draft and was he drafted? Not sure how many rounds were yesterday and if the chance he enrolls increased.
 


The offensive line is the key for how effective a running back will be. Pay attention to the offensive line's development and recruits: they are the key to everything...and demand that the wide outs block for the running game IF they are going to get playing time. This offense wants to run, run, run the ball. Period. So build an offense that can and will block. Control the L. O. S. Run the ball. Run the clock. And score touchdowns once you get to the red zone. Score touchdowns early in the game and make the other team throw the ball and take all the chances you take when you throw the ball. Especially at the end of October and all through November.

With a great offensive run blocking team, the number of stars the recruited running backs have don't matter quite so much. You never know which running back is going to take over the job. It may not even be the one who comes to the team with all the hype and fantasy star stuff going for him.

As always BEAT that stinking badger in 2014 and remember how to attack the border battle foes ALWAYS.

Woody Hayes would approve! Murray would have liked this pretty damn well too.
 

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