Looking ahead to 2018 RBs

[Barnacle 9,064]

Just now, lionheartkc said:

Average yards per carry isn't how it works. It's are they getting the yards necessary to make the first down when needed, and the answer was no, they weren't. Also, each one got fewer yards with each carry, except for Stove. We likely wouldn't have scored at all in the first half if it weren't for Georgia playing dirty and getting called on it. 

Also, I did say a 100% Kerryon could have made a difference, because he's an elite player, but that wasn't happening, not because we wore him out, but because he got injured by landing wrong.

To each their own, Lion. 

You are free to think that RB health did not make differences in the Clemson and Georgia games. I disagree and we can just leave it at that. 

I also never said anything about why Kerryon was hurt, or what could have been done to prevent his injury. So, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. The point is that he was hurt, which apparently didn't matter anyway. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 hour ago, lionheartkc said:

I think there was a plan... and then Pettway got hurt and Sean got kicked off of the team and the priorities shifted to protecting our QB and using our back who can block. I imagine the original plan was to rotate Pettway and Kerryon and then bring in Kam as an O-Mac/Grant type of change of pace.

This very well could have been the plan. I agree with.mostly everything that you are saying, also. 

[Jfsmoncrief 10]

I think we did abandon the run too quickly this game. Gotta get the players in a rhythm 

[Barnacle 9,064]

18 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

I so don't get this.  Why would a back like Cam Akers not even give Auburn a second glance? We regularly lead the toughest division in college football in rushing and our backs are stars. The only thing I can think is, mostly do to attrition, we've had a drought in putting backs in the NFL (at least with a signing bonus), and other coaches are using that against us.

Bringing it back around, I wish I knew the answer to this question. Obviously, individual cases are going to differ, but it does surprise me that we aren't landing a top 10 running back each and every season (subject to our own evals). 

Georgia is whooping us on that front. 

edit: this post is not to take away from our two 2018 commits, both of which I am extremely excited about. It's a trend that needs to continue.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

Bringing it back around, I wish I knew the answer to this question. Obviously, individual cases are going to differ, but it does surprise me that we aren't landing a top 10 running back each and every season (subject to our own evals). 

Georgia is whooping us on that front. 

So are a couple other schools, and at least one of them is on our schedule every year. 

Love the guys we're getting, but the Master Teague thing still has me bummed. We really, really wanted that guy. He would have been Tecmo Bo in this offense. He decided to go freeze his masster off in Columbus. That's a battle we need to start winning. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

So are a couple other schools, and at least one of them is on our schedule every year. 

Love the guys we're getting, but the Master Teague thing still has me bummed. We really, really wanted that guy. He would have been Tecmo Bo in this offense. He decided to go freeze his masster off in Columbus. That's a battle we need to start winning. 

So, what's the deal here? Don't get me wrong, losing a player to OSU isn't as disheartening as say, South Carolina (see Marcus Lattimore), but it seems like we lose the battle on our top prospect more often than not. 

[aucom96 1,618]

18 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

I so don't get this.  Why would a back like Cam Akers not even give Auburn a second glance? We regularly lead the toughest division in college football in rushing and our backs are stars. The only thing I can think is, mostly do to attrition, we've had a drought in putting backs in the NFL (at least with a signing bonus), and other coaches are using that against us.

Our running game, with respect to our tailbacks, is fairly primitive and exposes them to heavy levels of punishment with very little "highlight" potential. It's a grind and we have had our starting running backs go down to injury just about every year Gus has been here, get kicked off the team or transfer. I'm sure more pro-offenses like bama or UGA sell NFL-ready over us as well. 

[Tiger 8,818]

Does anyone think our lack of nega-recruiting our opponents is part of us not winning the battles for the top guys? It's no secret our opponents have been bashing us on the trail. It's part of the game, and I get Gus not wanting to do it but you can still do it respectfully and not be classless about it. Just need to point out inarguable statistical deficiencies in our opponents at certain positions

[Barnacle 9,064]

7 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

Our running game, with respect to our tailbacks, is fairly primitive and exposes them to heavy levels of punishment with very little "highlight" potential.  

This is exactly the kind of thing other teams tell our recruits, I'm sure. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

4 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Does anyone think our lack of nega-recruiting our opponents is part of us not winning the battles for the top guys? It's no secret our opponents have been bashing us on the trail. It's part of the game, and I get Gus not wanting to do it but you can still do it respectfully and not be classless about it. Just need to point out inarguable statistical deficiencies in our opponents at certain positions

I was under the impression that a lot of the negativity has been about Gus' job stability? Incredibly, we've had plenty of success recruiting talented WRs. To me, it just seems natural that we should be recruiting RBs at a similar pace to UGA and Alabama.

[Tiger 8,818]

3 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

I was under the impression that a lot of the negativity has been about Gus' job stability? Incredibly, we've had plenty of success recruiting talented WRs. To me, it just seems natural that we should be recruiting RBs at a similar pace to UGA and Alabama.

I agree, I think the extension will go a long way in silencing that argument.

[leglessdan 1,934]

20 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

I was under the impression that a lot of the negativity has been about Gus' job stability? Incredibly, we've had plenty of success recruiting talented WRs. To me, it just seems natural that we should be recruiting RBs at a similar pace to UGA and Alabama.

I tend to believe it has a lot to do with scheme. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

9 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

I tend to believe it has a lot to do with scheme. 

I don't understand that at all. Auburn running backs are no less prepared for the NFL than backs from other schools.

[BigWhiskey91 632]

4 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

I tend to believe it has a lot to do with scheme. 

Other than the lack of rotation, we constantly have a RB that will get carries and likely get over the 1k mark if he stays healthy. 

If the deal is NFL, look at all the backs the Gus/Horton have had that made it in the NFL. McFadden, Felix Jones, Ben Tate, Mason, CAP, Barber, Corey Grant. Now we have KJ who looks to be a drafted everydown back and Pettway could make some noise if he can have another 2016. 

Weve has some poor luck as well. Alaric Williams not qualifying sucked. Jovon getting kicked off, Roc Thomas transferring. We shall see how Barrett and Martin turns out. Barrett could be a nice back, and there is always JaTarvious Whitlow. This means absolutely nothing, but I could hear Rod and Stan saying “Whitlow down the sideline” and it has a nice ring to it. With out luck, we would hear it once in his career and it would against Southern Miss or something like that.

[leglessdan 1,934]

I'm not saying they can't or won't be successful or get to the NFL. Bammer and thuga have always ran a pretty traditional pro style offense. Not only that, they're churning out pro quality talent every year as of late at the RB position. Think about it. Mark Ingram, Lacy, Richardson, Yeldon,  Henry, Gurley, Chubb, Michel. Year after year those 2 schools specifically are putting high profile RBs into the league. It's gotta be tough to recruit against when trying to get 215-225 lb. premier 5* RBs. They're kicking our asses in that regard and IMO scheme has a lot to do with it as well. The kids want to play in a system that prepares them the best for the NFL and those 2 teams have a pretty good track record of doing that. 

[leglessdan 1,934]

Just look at this season alone. Thuga has 2 phenomenal RBs splitting carries and a very reliable backup. Bammer has 3 very good, reliable RBs all sharing carries.  Meanwhile, here we ride the s*** out of one back that in a scheme for the past 2 seasons has produced 2 injured backs with no viable backup or development.  I don't really think people take that as serious as we should. 

[leglessdan 1,934]

If Gus could somehow channel that 2009 seasons magic back into this offense, I think we could get bigger and better RBs. In it's current state however, it's limited IMO.  Develop an intermediate passing game and incorporate a TE or big bodied slot receiver and I feel this offense could explode with the level of talent we're getting. And it would only get better. 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

2 hours ago, Barnacle said:

Bringing it back around, I wish I knew the answer to this question. Obviously, individual cases are going to differ, but it does surprise me that we aren't landing a top 10 running back each and every season (subject to our own evals). 

Georgia is whooping us on that front. 

edit: this post is not to take away from our two 2018 commits, both of which I am extremely excited about. It's a trend that needs to continue.

Liked... and if I could I'd throw a double like in there for the final paragraph.

[BigWhiskey91 632]

48 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

Just look at this season alone. Thuga has 2 phenomenal RBs splitting carries and a very reliable backup. Bammer has 3 very good, reliable RBs all sharing carries.  Meanwhile, here we ride the s*** out of one back that in a scheme for the past 2 seasons has produced 2 injured backs with no viable backup or development.  I don't really think people take that as serious as we should. 

Don’t you think that the amount of carries our backs have received are also increased by the injuries we’ve sustained? 

Our #1 AND #2 backs have been hurt and missed games in 2016 and 2017. Hell in 2015, Robinson and Thomas both got dinged up in the opener. Then Barber wore down as season went on. UGA was fortunate to have both Chubb and Michel stay healthy. It also didn’t hurt to have their schedule either. Having KJ and Pettway healthy together for this back half of the season would’ve been huge. We got it in one game, Arkansas. 

Even in 2009, Ben Tate was battling injuries late in the season and his production dropped off. When you have a RB that gets close to 300 carries, they are going to have some injuries. Tre Mason and CAP were fortunate to not have any major injuries during their time and their numbers were great. 

I wasn’t arguing that you were wrong, I was just saying that this offense is going to get it’s feature back serious playtime. You get the yardage, the media will talk about you and the NFL will atleast give you a shot. Pass blocking and receptions is where we drop off. KJ has been the exception to that as far as feature backs go at Auburn. 

[leglessdan 1,934]

9 minutes ago, FullBloodedTiger91 said:

Don’t you think that the amount of carries our backs have received are also increased by the injuries we’ve sustained? 

Our #1 AND #2 backs have been hurt and missed games in 2016 and 2017. Hell in 2015, Robinson and Thomas both got dinged up in the opener. Then Barber wore down as season went on. UGA was fortunate to have both Chubb and Michel stay healthy. It also didn’t hurt to have their schedule either. Having KJ and Pettway healthy together for this back half of the season would’ve been huge. We got it in one game, Arkansas. 

Even in 2009, Ben Tate was battling injuries late in the season and his production dropped off. When you have a RB that gets close to 300 carries, they are going to have some injuries. Tre Mason and CAP were fortunate to not have any major injuries during their time and their numbers were great. 

I wasn’t arguing that you were wrong, I was just saying that this offense is going to get it’s feature back serious playtime. You get the yardage, the media will talk about you and the NFL will atleast give you a shot. Pass blocking and receptions is where we drop off. KJ has been the exception to that as far as feature backs go at Auburn. 

No I get that.  My response was to the question of why is bammer and uga out recruiting us for premier backs year after year. It's true whether people want to acknowledge it or not. Wde

[BigWhiskey91 632]

34 minutes ago, leglessdan said:

No I get that.  My response was to the question of why is bammer and uga out recruiting us for premier backs year after year. It's true whether people want to acknowledge it or not. Wde

Oh no doubt. This has been the case for a long time I feel like. Would love to see it change!

[leglessdan 1,934]

Another thing. I wished we would stop recruiting "change of pace" type backs. We never use them. They end up on the bench or converted to WR to run jet sweeps. Yet we keep recruiting smaller WR for the exact same reason.

[wde1968 262]

On 12/2/2017 at 8:18 PM, Farmer Brown said:

How many of them would actually play? We should have developed the backs we had. Miller wasn't in till the last few plays. Gus rides a horse to death. JMO

This KJ was the man but got way too many carries. Kam Martin should have had much bigger role.

[lionheartkc 6,150]

1 hour ago, leglessdan said:

converted to WR to run jet sweeps.

I think that's what Gus considers a change of pace.

[leglessdan 1,934]

22 minutes ago, lionheartkc said:

I think that's what Gus considers a change of pace.

I know, but we're recruiting 2 positions to run one. We're missing out , by not going after one of the other positions I mentioned before. Why recruit scat backs that we're not using? We need thorobreds, and we're going after mighty mouse. My point is, they're not between the tackles runners and we always seem to end up short in that area as of late.