Who will be next years starting running back?

Donate To GopherHole
Rodney is really going to like running behind Faalele

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

RB’s take a beating - they will all get plenty of action, including Williams.
 


I don't ever remember us having as much depth as we will coming into 2019. 4 scholarship QB's, depth in the O line, and now even some depth coming in on the D line. Behind Smith, Brooks and Ibrahiem will be Williams as well as Nolan Edmunds who red-shirted this year and who we did not see at all to the best of knowledge. There are also a couple of pretty good looking freshmen RB's coming in too.
 

dpodoll68 said:
This literally made me LOL. Nobody who is sane will be doing this.
Click to expand...

That "run" of running backs was amazing in the early 2000s.

TJackII
MB3
Maroney
Tapeh
Gary Russell
Amir Pinnix

Each had 1000 yard seasons (maybe not Tapeh, he just consistently picked up 4 yards for like 4 straight years), some in the same year, some had multiple 1000 yard seasons.
 


Winasota Gopher said:
That "run" of running backs was amazing in the early 2000s.

TJackII
MB3
Maroney
Tapeh
Gary Russell
Amir Pinnix

Each had 1000 yard seasons (maybe not Tapeh, he just consistently picked up 4 yards for like 4 straight years), some in the same year, some had multiple 1000 yard seasons.
Click to expand...

Hamner ran for almost 1400 yards and was All Big 10 as well.
 

Who among our big three has the best break away speed? They all appear to be in that 4.5/4.6 area.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Hamner ran for almost 1400 yards and was All Big 10 as well.
Click to expand...

He was before the early 2000s and before my Gopher fandom. I got on the bandwagon 2002ish when I was applying to colleges.

Therefore he does not exist in my Gopher legends memory bank.
 

As others have said this is a great problem to have. Smith would seem like the feature back if he is healthy but the other 2 should see plenty of carries as well. Having multiple strong RB is a major advantage because it doesn't allow the defense to let up a little against the run when the starter leaves the field.

Health is always the great x-factor in football but fully healthy this offense has the pieces to be scary good next year. Will be interesting to see what Rockford and others have to say about Dunlap yesterday and Andries playing LT but to my untrained eyes both guys seemed to do a nice job.
 



march madness said:
Who among our big three has the best break away speed? They all appear to be in that 4.5/4.6 area.
Click to expand...

If healthy, Brooks is my guess. They are all great college running backs and that lack of break away speed may keep them from having an NFL career. Look at David Cobb - great college player but not enough speed to make it work in the NFL.

Was Maroney the last back that we had with that type of break away speed? I was a student back in the Darkins days and he definitely had that speed.
 
Last edited:

All are good but when healthy. Mo was phenomenal last night. He reminds me of a smaller combination of Brooks and Cobb. The caveat in my mind is he has the benefit of playing in a competent passing offense with maybe more favorable numbers at times, and has an improving blocker corps.

Brooks is the most entertaining runner. Personally (while I’m open to other arguments) I think he’s the best (when healthy which is rare). He’s strong, shifty, quick, breaks tackles, has a touch better long speed and like Mo he likes to finish in spectacular fashion and take on tacklers. Like Green he can be counted on to get a few yards in short yardage.

Smith did some amazing things in a putrid offense. His Houdini-like runs when caught in the backfield were breathtaking. Quick, shifty, and getting stronger as an upperclassmen. Good pass catcher. I thought he’d have a breakout year this season. May have to wait until next year.

For me:
Brooks
Mo
Smith

Chances are all will get nicked up at some point, particularly Brooks and Mo with the way they finish runs and take awkward hits.
 

We'll see all 3, but like many others I expect Rodney to be the lead dog
 

march madness said:
Who among our big three has the best break away speed? They all appear to be in that 4.5/4.6 area.
Click to expand...

While Ibrahim was tremendous, and I the other backs should do well next season; I'd like to see the Gophers add 1 RB who
is a true breakaway threat. While I would still like to add Barlow, I'm primarily thinking about being very particular about the 2020 class, and just adding a RB if we can get one with blazing speed. The Gophers have shown enough offensive and defensive improvement that 4-star players might not be so unusual.
 



KillmeNow said:
We literally have 2 quality options at QB
Click to expand...

Are you saying this based on Clark or Annexstad? Did ZA get in the game last night? I don't remember seeing him. Sure, he was our starter, and could well win the job again this spring. He's obviously not going to just give up.

But overall I feel like our offense improved with TM at the helm, which could also be at least in part coincidental with other changes (such as Faalele being a starter, or switching to a simpler playbook, who knows).
 

GopherVotary said:
RB’s take a beating - they will all get plenty of action, including Williams.
Click to expand...

He'll get his 4 games in, and I hope to see Edmonds in there next year too. But would like Williams to redshirt and be in the same class/duo with Edmonds, hopefully it works out that way.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
For me:
Brooks
Mo
Smith
Click to expand...

I would go Brooks, Smith, Mo. I think Brooks is the best pure runner and like what Smith can do catching the ball. This is a good problem to have, assuming all can stay healthy. Would be nice for Williams to take a redshirt year and bulk up.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Hamner ran for almost 1400 yards and was All Big 10 as well.
Click to expand...

Yep, 1999 was really the beginning of that run. Redmon followed up with over 1100 in 2000. He also was the team's 2nd leading receiver that year.
 

Word said:
If healthy, Brooks is my guess. They are all great college running backs and that lack of break away speed may keep them from having an NFL career. Look at David Cobb - great college player but not enough speed to make it work in the NFL.

Was Maroney the last back that we had with that type of break away speed? I was a student back in the Darkins days and he definitely had that speed.
Click to expand...

I agree. He has pretty explosive acceleration so I think that's what makes for his breakaway ability.
 

My buddy who doesn't follow the Gophers texted me during the game last night to ask where this Ibrahim came from -- was he hurt all year? I said he came from the bench after #s 1 and 2 went down with season ending injuries. :)

If you watched the Indiana game you know how much better Brooks is than Ibrahim. I'd forgotten, but the dude is just beastly. I know it's hard to imagine Mo on the bench after watching the last 4 games this season, but Brooks and Smith are a cut above.
 

Naming our rb crew for next year right now. Smash, dash and slash.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

A bit off topic but a few were discussing breakaway/home run speed. Vandy just scored on a 65 yard screen pass to Khari Blasingame...showed some major breakaway speed. He was a recruit the Gophers were after back in the 2014 class (same class as Rodney).

Sawvel and Kill were the recruiters and he was listed as a S so may have ended up on defense. Just found it interesting on the 'what could have been' front

https://247sports.com/Player/Khari-Blasingame-30307/high-school-49529/

Back on topic. I'd like to see maybe a 35/30/25% split. Assuming the Gophers are getting ~45 carries (seems to be in line when the offense is working well). That would be 16/14/11 carries for whoever has the best match up for that game. The other 10% would be for Green/Williams/Edmonds. That's how I'd roll in NCAA 14 :cool:
 
Last edited:

I play Shannon on first down and short yardage.
Rodney Smith on second and third down. (Better pass catcher)
Mo comes in if and when Shannon gets hurt.
Close games, go every down with Rodney.
As we pull away, Mo gets the 2nd half carries.
 

If all backs are 100% healthy, I could see a rotation of Smith 40%, Mo 35%, Brooks 25%.

The coaches can move them in and out depending on situation, down-and-distance, and the type of defense they're facing. If they want to get creative, I could see Mo as the TB and Smith or Brooks at a wing, because they are better pass-catchers IMHO. Then, you can bring the wing on a jet sweep action - fake or give to the wing, or give to the TB.

And, they will still (I suspect) use the Wildcat at times as a change-of-pace. Green is too valuable to be sitting on the bench.
 

Rodney will get some play at WR perhaps.
 

If all healthy I’d love to see Smith in the slot occasionally and run some of the side to side action that Maryland used against us this year. It speaks to how well Mo played that this is even a topic. I do hope however it shakes out that we are able to redshirt Bryce though... he has a lot of talent and might be the fastest of all the RBs, but if we could RS him ands let him put on weight that should help him run through more of the arm tackles that seemed to bring him down with some regularity this year.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom