Will the next starting RB please step up?

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Minnesota rushing vs the vaunted Colorado defense:

T. Potts — 21 carries / 121 yards / 3TD / Long 14

M. Irving — 15 carries / 89 yards / 0TD / Long 28

K. Thomas — 7 carries / 61 yards / 1TD / Long 24

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I hate losing Mo and Trey (hopefully briefly in his case), but we have other capable runners. Plus, I like Kramer in the wildcat; I think the staff has more options than we've seen so far from that package. Seems like most people who've seen him in extended action say Kramer can really throw.
 

Get healthy, stay healthy! We need all our horses for the rest of the season.
 

RememberMurray said:
Minnesota rushing vs the vaunted Colorado defense:

T. Potts — 21 carries / 121 yards / 3TD / Long 14

M. Irving — 15 carries / 89 yards / 0TD / Long 28

K. Thomas — 7 carries / 61 yards / 1TD / Long 24

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I hate losing Mo and Trey (hopefully briefly in his case), but we have other capable runners. Plus, I like Kramer in the wildcat; I think the staff has more options than we've seen so far from that package. Seems like most people who've seen him in extended action say Kramer can really throw.
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Kramer threw well in high school. And with his athletic ability he would have been moved to safety by now if coaches did not view him as a competitor on QB depth chart.
 

I just don't feel like we can use one game versus a terrible Colorado team and be using it for the future. Honestly, there is a reason these guys are #3, 4, and 5 on the depth chart. Without a good running game, our offense is going no where since we have no passing game, and that means no more wins the rest of the year. Add in one of the worst OCs in college football and PJ not wanting to get rid of him and our boat is sunk.
 


amk8930 said:
I just don't feel like we can use one game versus a terrible Colorado team and be using it for the future. Honestly, there is a reason these guys are #3, 4, and 5 on the depth chart. Without a good running game, our offense is going no where since we have no passing game, and that means no more wins the rest of the year. Add in one of the worst OCs in college football and PJ not wanting to get rid of him and our boat is sunk.
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If Sanford's hidden talent is to ruin QBs as someone has said, we are in a boatload of trouble.

Maybe he has other hidden talents that we have to start worrying about.

What is bothersome is we haven't seen the plug-in and play with the RBs. We have an excellent stable of backs. We have a good WR Corps that hopefully don't turn into corpses. For goodness sake, let's see some creative, imaginative plays. You can shoot yourself sticking to the TOP game against every team you faced.

Under Sanford, vanilla is the boring flavor.
 

amk8930 said:
I just don't feel like we can use one game versus a terrible Colorado team and be using it for the future. Honestly, there is a reason these guys are #3, 4, and 5 on the depth chart. Without a good running game, our offense is going no where since we have no passing game, and that means no more wins the rest of the year. Add in one of the worst OCs in college football and PJ not wanting to get rid of him and our boat is sunk.
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RB group is very deep, and somebody has to be #3-5. Mo was #3 in 2018, worked out OK.
 

hungan1 said:
If Sanford's hidden talent is to ruin QBs as someone has said, we are in a boatload of trouble.

Maybe he has other hidden talents that we have to start worrying about.

What is bothersome is we haven't seen the plug-in and play with the RBs. We have an excellent stable of backs. We have a good WR Corps that hopefully don't turn into corpses. For goodness sake, let's see some creative, imaginative plays. You can shoot yourself sticking to the TOP game against every team you faced.

Under Sanford, vanilla is the boring flavor.
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?
 

The group may be deep, but if they are so good why did we barely see them at all especially when Mo went out? It feels like this is either on their abilities, our OC, or most likely both.
 



amk8930 said:
The group may be deep, but if they are so good why did we barely see them at all especially when Mo went out? It feels like this is either on their abilities, our OC, or most likely both.
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Anything we can blame on Sanford is the right answer in this case. Dude’s anathema for the offense
 

amk8930 said:
The group may be deep, but if they are so good why did we barely see them at all especially when Mo went out? It feels like this is either on their abilities, our OC, or most likely both.
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Because the staff seems to want to give one back 80% of the carries.
 

Someone better show up its Nebraska next week.
 

PhiloVance said:
Someone better show up its Nebraska next week.
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beaker-muppets.gif
 




hungan1 said:
If Sanford's hidden talent is to ruin QBs as someone has said, we are in a boatload of trouble.

Maybe he has other hidden talents that we have to start worrying about.

What is bothersome is we haven't seen the plug-in and play with the RBs. We have an excellent stable of backs. We have a good WR Corps that hopefully don't turn into corpses. For goodness sake, let's see some creative, imaginative plays. You can shoot yourself sticking to the TOP game against every team you faced.

Under Sanford, vanilla is the boring flavor.
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Sanford's primary talent -- not hidden at all -- is to make opposing defensive coordinators look brilliant with nothing much to do.
 

Kramer was at the Shakopee/EP game on Friday night. The MN weight room and nutrition certainly showed. He was a rock-solid 200 pounder. I would suggest that the Gopher OC consider how to use his athletic skill, speed, and throwing ability in the Wildcat, or God forbid, a direct under center snap and open up the offense; he's a deceptive ball handler He's not an answer for a RB in our standard offense, but he could do a lot of damage if turned loose.
 

amk8930 said:
The group may be deep, but if they are so good why did we barely see them at all especially when Mo went out? It feels like this is either on their abilities, our OC, or most likely both.
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We barely saw Potts before Mo was injured (the last couple of years) and it is now pretty clear that he is a productive Big 10 RB. We didn't see any of Bucko until Mo was injured.

I'm not even getting into the debate on whether or not you agree with our coaches, but IMO, it's pretty clear our coaches do not like to share the carries much at the RB position.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
We barely saw Potts before Mo was injured (the last couple of years) and it is now pretty clear that he is a productive Big 10 RB. We didn't see any of Bucko until Mo was injured.

I'm not even getting into the debate on whether or not you agree with our coaches, but IMO, it's pretty clear our coaches do not like to share the carries much at the RB position.
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Mo got his opportunity pretty much the same way through another's injury.
 



PMWinSTP said:
Mo got his opportunity pretty much the same way through another's injury.
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In the Kill Era, David Cobb got his opportunity when Donnell Kirkwood went down with an injury.

The story with RB playing time has not changed much. You have a back that carries the bulk of the load. There is a lot of moving parts to the execution of a run play.

When Mo went down, there had to be a lot of offensive adjustments to put another RB in. They have to adapt the offense to the new back. That takes time and lots of reps in practice.
 

https://247sports.com/college/minne...kers-Preview-Coach-PJ-Fleck-quotes-172884977/

DO YOU SEE BUCKY[sic] GET A SIMILAR AMOUNT OF CARRIES GOING FORWARD LIKE TREY WAS?
Fleck: "That's a really good question. I think right now, it's going to be a little bit more by committee.

Because I think when you look at Bucko as a true freshman, he's a very, very talented player, but he hasn't really played a ton yet. He's still learning and I believe in him 100%. You're going to see a heavy dose of him. Probably see a heavy dose of Ky Thomas and Cam Wiley, and even Bryce. So I think it's gonna be a little bit by committee based on some of the strengths they all have, and then I'm going to find out just like you.

Because a lot of them don't have game experience besides Cam and Bryce in what it looks like. We're all going to find out as there's a difference between practice and games. I want to be able to see how they perform in the game situations as well you and your staff. It's not the position you want to be in with finding out what guys are going to be able to do but that's a position we're in, and we're going to attack it head on."
 

Cam Wiley

Fleck just can't get out of his own way, in his sometimes debilitating loyalty to people. Yeah I get it, Cam was a nice recruit, so you feel like you can't just abandon him. Worried about how that will look to future recruits. It's your thing.


But man, if there ever was a straight-up-and-down runner, as tall, lanky kid who couldn't look any less like a Big Ten running back ... it's Wiley.
 

MplsGopher said:
Cam Wiley

Fleck just can't get out of his own way, in his sometimes debilitating loyalty to people. Yeah I get it, Cam was a nice recruit, so you feel like you can't just abandon him. Worried about how that will look to future recruits. It's your thing.


But man, if there ever was a straight-up-and-down runner, as tall, lanky kid who couldn't look any less like a Big Ten running back ... it's Wiley.
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First off, just mentioning him when talking about his RB depth which has taken a massive hit doesn't really mean anything.

Second, Wiley is a young player so it is too early to just give up on him.

Third, it is very clear Wiley is behind the other guys on the revamped depth chart so I wouldn't expect him to see a big chunk of carries. He may get some opportunities but if he doesn't capitalize on those opportunities the coaches aren't going to keep giving him the ball.

I agree that Wiley has not looked the part to this point and is probably a player who would be well served by a position change. But with our top 2 backs now out for the year and a couple of freshman in the mix for a heavy workload, you have to keep all your options open and one of those options is Wiley.
 

I like Bucko. I want to see him get the majority of carries. Looks like a mini mo. Also, not a big fan of cam wiley, wanted him to be good but he just cant break tackles like the rest, don't doubt his open field speed but he just isn't the best RB we have in the bag.
 


KT is another good one, when we're talking about pure RB talent and ability.

It's about who can do that and not whiff/have MA's in pass-pro.
 

GopherJohn said:
I like Bucko. I want to see him get the majority of carries. Looks like a mini mo. Also, not a big fan of cam wiley, wanted him to be good but he just cant break tackles like the rest, don't doubt his open field speed but he just isn't the best RB we have in the bag.
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I really worry about Bucko's abilities to break tackles on runs 15-20 in a game. I hope Bucko stays fresh (~15 carries per game). I really worry that if Bucko gets 30 and Ky gets 5, we're in serious trouble.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I really worry about Bucko's abilities to break tackles on runs 15-20 in a game. I hope Bucko stays fresh (~15 carries per game). I really worry that if Bucko gets 30 and Ky gets 5, we're in serious trouble.
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Totally agree but looking at PJ's history, I'm guessing that will be the case unfortunately.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I really worry about Bucko's abilities to break tackles on runs 15-20 in a game. I hope Bucko stays fresh (~15 carries per game). I really worry that if Bucko gets 30 and Ky gets 5, we're in serious trouble.
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I see your point, but if Bucko has 30 carries and Ky gets 5, it's an indication that our bell cow is having a great day running — which might indicate we're winning the game. You go with what's working for you. I know we worry about fatigue and giving one back "too many" carries, but I trust the staff's judgement as far as that goes. That being said, Fleck's recent comments seem to indicate they plan to spread the carries out more than they have to date.

I also believe that if Tanner Morgan has more than 25 throws in this game, it might be an indicator that we're playing from behind.

Our defense has been playing well. Let's hope that that trend continues.
 

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