Looking ahead to 2018 RBs

[aujeff11 6,243]

Carries per game for Cameron Artis Payne in 2014:

26

16

22

22

24

16

25

27

30

20

24

25

26

23 carries a game. So what Kerryon is averaging per game is comparable to what other trusted backs did under Gus. The only difference is that Kerryon was more injury prone, had already went under the knife before this season, and didn’t have the luck of staying healthy down the stretch of amen corner.

—————————————————————————-

2015: Peyton Barber 7 game profile before Jovon finally pryed loose some playing time against Ole Miss:

24

23

7

27

28

26

37

= 172 carries/ 7 games = 24.6

 

[Barnacle 9,064]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I've been arguing with *actual* size queens on this forum since the summer of 2013 and I've let it get the best of me this season. 

Oh lawd. 

Bavk to the topic at hand. Injuries happen, even when you are rotating backs. We saw that Saturday from Georgia and Michel. Kerryon could just as easily not gotten injured against Alabama. We could have rotated backs all season and Kerryon could have gotten injured still. You cannot predict injuries, but you also can't deny that the more you run a guy, the higher the chances get. 

However, that's not the point. You rotate backs so that when an injury does happen, you've got more experience behind that back and more trust in those guys. 

Also, Pettway should have been available and wasn't. That's on him. 

[AuburnTiger4Life 2,225]

I'm ready for Asa Martin 

[Apraser99 168]

7 hours ago, NorthGATiger said:

64 I like you so please don't take this wrong.  Gus is a control freak, paranoid, and scared to death of anyone making a mistake.  Its every position and every year.  How many passes did we let our back up QB throw this year?  Do we know he can do anything other than run the zone read?  When he came into games did the defense have any thought of him doing anything other than running the ball?  Is he now ready to run this offense if Stidham goes down?  We are talking about a man that was forced to use KP at RB.  If he was not forced to use him he would have never used him.  He would be splitting time with Chandler Cox last year instead of leading the SEC in rushing even though he missed two games.  How many players on this team are in KP's shoes right now.  Is McClain a 230 lb WR with really good speed who just doesn't know how to play or does Gus only trust his starters until they can't go anymore?  Gus is scared to death of change.  What was his gameplan last night if KJ could not go?  There wasn't one.  It was KJ or bust.  Your answer can't be just to stick KM into the game.  That is absurd.  Gus had no other gameplan because he does not know any other gameplan.  Same plays, same personnel no matter what.  He game planned like UGA was going to do the exact same things last night as they did in the first game.  They didn't but Gus did.  Only he tried to do it with a guy that was at best 60% healthy.  Sound familiar?

This is why it is absurd to pay Gus what we are going to pay him and why we will see players transferring. 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,650]

On 12/2/2017 at 8:47 PM, Randman5000 said:

ASA is the truth but Kerryon is the man. Lmao at all the folks who were crying over Pettway. He was never good against good teams. We'll be ?

Do we just take a dump on players because they wanna leave for their best being now or...........

I mean if Pettway was a bum like you're giving off, the entire SEC was full of bum RBs when KP was healthy. KP took an offensive line that was god awful and made their jobs so much easier. The man was a ******* train. His style of play requires being completely healthy in the legs to get that first step and DRIVE into the defense. To disrespect the man just cause he couldnt give 70 carries against #1 teams while being hit as soon as he takes the handoffs AT SUB 25% or whatever you're implying is shameful 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,650]

Here's something I want to bring up 

 

this offensive line hasnt even close to consistently pushed back the opposing defensive line since 2013. That's four years of RBs having to create insane amount of yards while taking pretty high levels of carries. And our play calling running wise is some of the worst and predictable in the entire nation. Can you really blame any RB here for having low yardage outputs when you have to basically be transcendent to make it work at all? 

[AUGunsmith 666]

On 12/2/2017 at 8:08 PM, AU64 said:

Note that Martin rushed for something like 450 yards this year....not too bad a season for him.....but some folks make it sound like he never saw the field.   The big loss was KP of course.     

But just noting that other running backs besides KJ and KP accounted for more than 1000 yards rushing this year...and that's not counting JS who had over 400.   KJ had about 1400 and KP gained 300 yards,    Looks to me that the ball was spread around quite a bit.   ; 

Yardage lies. Garbage time against trash teams will do that. KJ had more than double the touches of KM,CP, MM, and DB combined. 

[ScottsboroAuburnFan 462]

40 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Here's something I want to bring up 

 

this offensive line hasnt even close to consistently pushed back the opposing defensive line since 2013. That's four years of RBs having to create insane amount of yards while taking pretty high levels of carries. And our play calling running wise is some of the worst and predictable in the entire nation. Can you really blame any RB here for having low yardage outputs when you have to basically be transcendent to make it work at all? 

Completely agree but we have also slowly gotten worse OL coaching. I think year 2 of the Zone Blocking scheme will be better than 1st year. 

[Brannigan's Law 29]

Last year we had such little depth we had to play a War at RB. Gus goes out and adds one underside RB to the recruiting class. Still had deoth problems this year and Gus rode one RB to injury while not developing any depth. Would not be shocked if neither KJ nor KP came back next year.  Then we are screwed. Typical roster management from Gus.

[zhpate 0]

I feel like if Martin could put 25 pounds of mass on, we could have something special. He has always reminded me of a Dyer/Omac hybrid.. I loved how Dyer used his height to his advantage, always able to find his way through the oline/dline garbage. Freshman year Kam did not shy away from contact and I was really impressed by that. He did more this year, I know he's not a power back.

The more we play them the better. Can we look way too far ahead? Because when it’s Malik’s turn to step up they will be more mature & experienced We will be able to ride them until MK gets adjusted if needed. If Malik pans out like I think he will, We could have a 2013 type offense. That is one reason I like the new contract, Gus & Mk could be deadly. Honestly I did not read the first five pages, someone probably touched on this.

Hope this has not been posted.

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

4 hours ago, Brannigan said:

Last year we had such little depth we had to play a War at RB.

The funny thing is that everybody that is complaining about the pitch counts were the same guys that were saying “he wouldn’t play much anyway” when we lost Roc and Truitt to transfer. Cannot have it both ways.

I think people need to get used to the fact that Gus has to develop a trust with the RBs that he plays. That’s been his thing since he got here. There were couple games when Gus sacrificed speed and athleticism( Jovon) for the trusty mule (Peyton Barber) after halftime in 2015. He has also primarily gravitated toward using feature backs. 

Who knows, Gus may not trust playing inexperienced players in big games after the way Roc let him down in the 2014 Iron Bowl. Gus doesn’t like liabilities and pass protection and ball security both qualify as such. I personally don’t like playing backs that can’t pass protect or hold on to the ball during crunch time either, so I can see why Gus plays his RB’s the way he does.

It’s frustrating when the trusted RBs get hurt, though, because seemingly they are the only backs given much of a chance to succeed. Even during the championship game, neither Barrett nor Martin were given much of a chance to explode out of the gate. Instead, we ran a hurt KJ, used him as a decoy, we passed more, and we asked our WRs to run more sweeps. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

24 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

The funny thing is that everybody that is complaining about the pitch counts were the same guys that were saying “he wouldn’t play much anyway” when we lost Roc and Truitt to transfer. Cannot have it both ways.

Not sure who you're talking about, but I and several others bemoaned Truitt's departure because Gus should have used him more- most notably in the UGA game last year- and that's why he left. I was not a fan of Thomas. I don't see anybody trying to have it both ways. A bit of a false equivalency, I think.

Quote

I think people need to get used to the fact that Gus has to develop a trust with the RBs that he plays.

Why? We didn't get used to him having the same problem with his QB and OC. He seems to have gotten over it and our football team has gotten a lot better because of it.

Quote

It’s frustrating when the trusted RBs get hurt, though, because seemingly they are the only backs given much of a chance to succeed. Even during the championship game, neither Barrett nor Martin were given much of a chance to explode out of the gate. Instead, we ran a hurt KJ, used him as a decoy, we passed more, and we asked our WRs to run more sweeps. 

Exactly. That's all anybody's been trying to say. 

And, yes, I quoted his carries per game. That was a poor choice on my part. What is more important is his percentage of the total carries. That's why I pointed out that Tre took roughly half of the carries in 2013. KJ has taken almost 2/3 of them this season. That 2013 offense was also set up with a lot of misdirection, as Cole pointed out, that changed the nature of the carries themselves. There were also gaping holes created by GRob and Prosch. This offense is very different. 

I don't have the stats, but I bet it gets really crazy when you factor in how many total snaps KJ has been in on. As our best pass blocker, that dude has played a lot of football this season, even with the two missed games. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

30 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Not sure who you're talking about, but I and several others bemoaned Truitt's departure because Gus should have used him more- most notably in the UGA game last year- and that's why he left.

Well I didn’t say you said anything one way or another. Im not Cole, I’m not going to claim you said something and not prove it either. Here is a link:

 

As far as I’m concerned,  @NorthGATiger was on point regarding the lack of reps and I don’t see you saying much one way or another.

Here is what NorthGATiger said January 3rd: 

The problem with many players like Stanton is the lack of reps and being put in a position to succeed. I watched him in HS and the kid was awesome.  One of the fastest kids I have seen.  Although he was back on returns as well, I can't for the life of me understand why we gave KJ the majority of reps there.  With a roster stacked with talented players Gus used KJ as the kick returner and he has never been a threat to take it beyond the 30.  This is a small example of how Gus is killing this team.  Without trying that hard I can give you five players that would be better back there but Gus has always had "Trust" issues.  Nothing against the kid, it's not his fault, but why in the world do we have a 5'-6" WR playing outside?  Not the slot but outside.  Nate Craig Myers must have either been caught snorting fertilizer or he all of the sudden forgot how to catch a football.  Look at the other top programs who recruit stud players.  They play them.  They don't redshirt guys like Nate when the roster in front of him is atrocious.  

 

The number of carries doesn’t change. We have seen Kerryon and Pettway both go down injured without being tackled at all...

30 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Why? We didn't get used to him having the same problem with his QB and OC.

Because Gus isn’t going to change the way he gravitates toward feature RBs. Gus expected to have two capable backs in KJ and Pettway this season.

 

30 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

And, yes, I quoted his carries per game. That was a poor choice on my part. What is more important is his percentage of the total carries.

We ran a heckuva lot more and passed less in 2013. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

I hope Barrett bulks up in the offseason and learns how to pass block...gonna need him next year.  KM is great as a change of pace and not overly impressed with Miller.  Can't rely on a TFr (Asa) as our primary back in the SEC West.  Like I said w/ our QB sitch...we might be best served grabbing a JUCO guy to add depth.

[bigbird 60,458]

To me, KMart is by far the most electric back we have.

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

Just now, AUDevil said:

I hope Barrett bulks up in the offseason and learns how to pass block...gonna need him next year.  KM is great as a change of pace and not overly impressed with Miller.  Can't rely on a TFr (Asa) as our primary back in the SEC West.  Like I said w/ our QB sitch...we might be best served grabbing a JUCO guy to add depth.

I think Miller will be fine and people are selling him short.  I remember watching Ronnie Brown as a freshman and he danced so much he never had a chance.  We all know how he turned out.  Miller needs reps.  He needs to rep against the speed of the college game and understand to be patient with his blocks.  This is never more important than when playing a zone blocking scheme.  You can't hit the hole wide open because in a zone blocking scheme the holes take a second to open.  He and DB both need reps reps reps.

[aujeff11 6,243]

5 minutes ago, AUDevil said:

I hope Barrett bulks up in the offseason and learns how to pass block...gonna need him next year.  KM is great as a change of pace and not overly impressed with Miller.  Can't rely on a TFr (Asa) as our primary back in the SEC West.  Like I said w/ our QB sitch...we might be best served grabbing a JUCO guy to add depth.

I wonder why Barrett has mostly been used as a pass catching back. 

[AUApostle 7,651]

1 minute ago, aujeff11 said:

I wonder why Barrett has mostly been used as a pass catching back. 

3 or 4 of those "passes" were those little forward tosses that are more like hand offs.

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, bigbird said:

To me, KMart is by far the most electric back we have.

He had several really impressive runs between the tackles this season. He did good things with all of his limited opportunities. 

People keep forgetting about Worm Shivers, too. 

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

7 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

I wonder why Barrett has mostly been used as a pass catching back. 

Thats the frustrating part of our RB recruiting.  The staff said they saw DB as an elite RB and that he was #1 on their list.  You don't waste a redshirt year on an elite RB by giving him 13 carries and a couple of screen passes.  The kid is no more ready to be the go to guy right now than he was in August.  Compare his usage to that of Swift at UGA.  That guy got tons of playing time with Sony and Chubb.

[Mikey 16,566]

On 12/2/2017 at 8:59 PM, AUwent said:

Is there any truth to Pettway having off the field issues?

Also, is Carlton in trouble?

My personal opinion is that Pettway will move on to the NFL, even via free agent status if that's how it goes.

Carlton Davis came out of the SECCG because of a head injury. He has no other issues, though he's likely to declare for the draft.

[McLoofus 35,182]

5 minutes ago, NorthGATiger said:

Thats the frustrating part of our RB recruiting.  The staff said they saw DB as an elite RB and that he was #1 on their list.  You don't waste a redshirt year on an elite RB by giving him 13 carries and a couple of screen passes.  The kid is no more ready to be the go to guy right now than he was in August.  Compare his usage to that of Swift at UGA.  That guy got tons of playing time with Sony and Chubb.

Carpet bombing this thread with truth, sir. 

[aujeff11 6,243]

15 minutes ago, NorthGATiger said:

August.  Compare his usage to that of Swift at UGA.  That guy got tons of playing time with Sony and Chubb.

Swift was mainly used because there was a 2 possession lead and Sony was hurt imo. I think Gus is more willing to use other RBs in those situations as well. Against Arkansas, Mississippi State, Georgia, and others, our second stringers did get some carries, after our feature back broke the game wide open. So there is some opportunity for experience building out there. 

But to your whole point, I agree that 15 carries isn’t worth burning a redshirt.  

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Carpet bombing this thread with truth, sir. 

Swifts stats from this year

	Rushing				Receiving				Scrimmage
Year	School	Conf	Class	Pos	G	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Plays	Yds	Avg	TD
2017	Georgia	SEC	FR	RB	13	73	597	8.2	3	15	146	9.7	1	88	743	8.4	4
Career	Georgia					73	597	8.2	3	15	146	9.7

DB's stats

	Rushing				Receiving				Scrimmage
Year	School	Conf	Class	Pos	G	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Plays	Yds	Avg	TD
2017	Auburn	SEC	FR	RB	10	13	82	6.3	0	9	29	3.2	1	22	111	5.0	1
Career	Auburn					13	82	6.3	0	9	29	3.2	1	22	111

[NorthGATiger 1,801]

3 minutes ago, aujeff11 said:

Swift was mainly used because there was a 2 possession lead and Sony was hurt imo. I think Gus is more willing to use other RBs in those situations as well. Against Arkansas, Mississippi State, Georgia, and others, our second stringers did get some carries, after our feature back broke the game wide open. So there is some opportunity for experience building out there. 

But to your whole point, I agree that 15 carries isn’t worth burning a redshirt.  

Swift played in 13 games