Running back next year?

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Rog

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I've been watching recordings of last years games and we all know that Cobb was our bread and butter running back.
The question is, will anyone be our dominant back next year, or will it be running back "by committee"?.

Also, will Leidner be able to bring us to a balanced pass/run offense. That is if Kill and staff prefer it that way.

We know or have been told that we have the players to be better next year? But, will we have a better team?

Seeing how valued Williams was to the team, can we come any where close to replacing him?

Trying not to be negative, but I sure have some unanswered questions in my mind.
 


RBBC for sure unless someone pulls a Cobb and asserts themselves as far superior. I think all the guys will find success and it will be a good problem to have as we can stay fresh and mix it up
 


Jones will be RB1 until he leaves for the NFL in 2 years. Rodney Smith will succeed him, and Shannon after that.

We've all wanted to see more Rodrick and it hasn't materialized for Jerry-only-knows reasons.

I'm really excited to see Duke, Gibson, and Witham.

Of course, I'm pulling this all out of my azz, except for the Jones part. But, that's how I imagine it playing out. Until we see these guys play in our system against BIG TEN defenses it's hard to say if these guys will approach or surpass Cobb and Williams
 



I could see Roderick getting a little over half of the carries in the non conference portion of the season and then Jeff and Rodney getting the bulk the rest of the year. I could also see Jeff potentially blowing everybody else out of the water. This is a tweet from the begining of the year about Rodney and I do feel he will be a good one too.

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I do hope that either Jeff or Rodney, or both of them are in the 210-215 range weight wise by the time the season starts. Rodney is listed at 200 and Jeff is 198 and that currently isn't big enough to be the starting RB in this offense. I'm sure they will be though.
 

One thing is a certainty. Gopherhole will be alive and crawling come Fall practice. Best cheap entertaintment in town.
 




I know there has been some discussion about the # of RB's this Fall and who will step up. It appears that we could be very deep at that spot if they can stay healthy.

Who will switch positions? And some could transfer out after a year or two. This could be a very good problem for Coach Kill.
 

10 comments and no mention of Berkley? I agree with Pompous regarding my thoughts.
 

Also regarding possible RB by committee, I remember in 2013 Cobb saying that coach Anderson in a meeting near of the end of the non conference season told Cobb, Roderick and Kirkwood that he needed one of them to separate from the other two. Maybe the staff prefers just one guy instead of by committee?
 




die hard gopher said:
Also regarding possible RB by committee, I remember in 2013 Cobb saying that coach Anderson in a meeting near of the end of the non conference season told Cobb, Roderick and Kirkwood that he needed one of them to separate from the other two. Maybe the staff prefers just one guy instead of by committee?
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It is a lot easier to coach when one guy is your best back and you don't have to try to match RBs strengths against the defenses weaknesses.
 

#2Gopher said:
Berkeley hopefully be hungry this coming year.
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If he improved his hands, I could see Berkeley switching to primarily a receiving role. He seems like the player that needs space to be completely effective, at least at his current size. Jet sweeps and short passes to get some quick yardage. Maybe a deep ball if he can truly break away so he doesn't try to grab the ball out of the air against a tall DB.

He's got the speed. The coaches just need to put him in a position to be successful with it.
 

let someone come out and earn it in practice. In September of 2013 no one here really knew anything about David Cobb. The ones who said they saw this in him at that point of the season are lying to your face.


One of the stable of good backs will need to win the job....and someone will. We just won;t know until it happens.
 


Gopherdrummer said:
If he improved his hands, I could see Berkeley switching to primarily a receiving role. He seems like the player that needs space to be completely effective, at least at his current size. Jet sweeps and short passes to get some quick yardage. Maybe a deep ball if he can truly break away so he doesn't try to grab the ball out of the air against a tall DB.

He's got the speed. The coaches just need to put him in a position to be successful with it.
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Is he a guy with bad hands now because he dropped a pass in the Citrus Bowl?
 

Who is willing and able to block? That's the guy that will be on the field.

Cobb was always a good running back, but he just wasn't blocking well. It was only when he started to block that he became the main man. Jeff Johnson is a unique talent, but does he block as well as he changes directions and slips tackles? If not, he'll have to come off the field every time we pass and that's not a good thing. I've heard great things about Rodney Smith, but know nothing of his blocking. I never got to see much of him at the practices I've attended. Is this the year that Nugget finally puts all the pieces together? I think he's a much better all around running back that many give him credit for. The good part is we have several good options and competition makes people better.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Is he a guy with bad hands now because he dropped a pass in the Citrus Bowl?
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He dropped a few passes during the season. Some of the balls were poorly thrown, some hit him square in the hands. The latter is what he needs to improve on. He was brought in as a running back. But if he can catch passes consistently, then it gives us more play making options on the field at the same time with his speed out there. That is all I was saying.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Is he a guy with bad hands now because he dropped a pass in the Citrus Bowl?
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Easy swing pass also went off his hands 1st drive of the Eastern Illinois game.

I don't think Berk's future is at WR. Players with bad hands can't practice their way into good hands (from first hand experience - though you can practice your way to "catches most swing passes"). I think there's a degree of spatial awareness/ball tracking that you either have or you don't.
 

I also saw him drop an easy catch in the Spring game. Not a big sample size, but I have seen him drop more than he has caught so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

The line play will matter much more than who the RB is.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Is he a guy with bad hands now because he dropped a pass in the Citrus Bowl?
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Gopherdrummer said:
He dropped a few passes during the season. Some of the balls were poorly thrown, some hit him square in the hands. The latter is what he needs to improve on. He was brought in as a running back. But if he can catch passes consistently, then it gives us more play making options on the field at the same time with his speed out there. That is all I was saying.
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I didn't see the spring game last year, but the year before he caught like 1 of 6 or 7 that hit him square in the hands. Since then I've watched for him to show me that was a fluke (everyone has bad days) but I have yet to see it. He has dropped a few passes when he's had opportunities in games, and from what I've heard he hasn't shown good hands in practice. When he catches them, then he's electric and that's the only reason he's gotten the opportunities he's gotten. But unless something improves I can easily see him end up buried on the depth chart.
 

Ski U Master said:
The line play will matter much more than who the RB is.
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Exactly this. Line has to be better at the point of attack or it won't matter a ton. Cobb's unique ability to find holes and fight for yardage made our line look much better than it was for most of the year. That said I firmly believe that Jones is the most talented of the newcomers. After that I'm honestly not enamored with any of the other guys. JFC looks menacing but his film doesn't really show a guy who's running style matches the power you'd expect from him. Smith has some nice skills but isn't very fast, same with the kid from GA. I really hope Nugget can stay on the field for once because he is talented with the ball in his hands
 


It's Nuggets job for the taking. He has the strength and experience to step in and lead this talented young group.
What about the center position? Will it be Christenson, Bobek, or Connor Mayes?
 

Lakeville Goldy said:
I didn't see the spring game last year, but the year before he caught like 1 of 6 or 7 that hit him square in the hands. Since then I've watched for him to show me that was a fluke (everyone has bad days) but I have yet to see it. He has dropped a few passes when he's had opportunities in games, and from what I've heard he hasn't shown good hands in practice. When he catches them, then he's electric and that's the only reason he's gotten the opportunities he's gotten. But unless something improves I can easily see him end up buried on the depth chart.
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Yep, he dropped one that hit him right in the hands at 1:02 of this video in the EIU game


He dropped one that hit him right in the hands in the spring game at the spring game. It's at the 2:36 mark in the BTN production

http://www.btn2go.com/game/minnesota-at-minnesota-04122014

And he also dropped a screen that hit him in the hands on the last play of our first drive at Michigan this year. Plus the drop against Missouri.
 

And I also watched a HS game of his and he dropped one right in his hands at 47:20. Also missed a difficult one at 9:10.

 

I think it will be Nugget/R. Smith/J. Jones/B. Edwards getting carries, in that order until someone seperates themselves.

By year end, I expect it to either be Nugget/Rodney Smith or Nugget/Jeff Jones with the other two being situational guys.
 

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