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2014 Leading Rusher


PCBAuburnaFan

Who will be AU's leading rusher  

188 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will have the most rushing yards

    • Cameron Artis-Payne
      101
    • Corey Grant
      9
    • Peyton Barber
      54
    • Nick Marshall
      14
    • Rudy Ford
      2
    • Other
      8


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Voted for Barber. Not a knock against CAP, I think he is a fantastic back. But there is something special about Barber me thinks, and I think he is going to absolutely bust onto the scene this year. He was a HUGE steal last year.

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I voted CAP. Guy has good size and speed and some experience under his belt. When in doubt its usually safe to go with experience. Looking forward to seeing what Barber and Roc bring to the position next year!

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I voted Marshall. I think we go HUNH passing next year with some designed draws and reads that keep our backs around 700 yards each. Marshal is on the field every play so I'm going with 800 for him

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I wondered about Thomas too. Peyton got my vote in lieu of Roc.

An all-purpose (rushing & receiving) yards poll would be interesting. IMHO, if Ford's switched back to O, he'd rack up HUGE pass reception yardage on designed short/dump passes + respectable "rushing" yards out of the backfield. (fwiw I see Jovon Robinson has made his way back into AU recruiting discussions as a JUCO guy...he & Ford shuttling in & out would wreack havoc on Ds having to deal with 2 potentially world class rushing/receiving backs in a Malzahn O).

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My thoughts:

CAP gets the majority of the carries but not to the degree that Mason did this past year

Grant continues to be a home run threat like McCalebb

I can't judge Barber until I see him in a game (question did he redshirt?)

I think Ford has shown some amazing skills at RB even though it was against lesser teams I'd like to see him get some attempts against SEC defenses to see what he really had

And I agree Roc Thomas will be a force but I refuse to speculate on recruits before NSD because you never know what may happen (whether it's a academic issue or a flip to another team or any of the other things that have happened to recruits before getting to Auburn)

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I voted for CAP and think the guy is going to be a star, I really do! If a freshman leads Auburn in rushing it'll be the first time that's ever happened. CAP has been in the program now for a year, knows the playbook and has the size and speed to accomplish great things and I think he will.

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I don't know guys.. I just get the feeling that there's more to CAP not playing as much this year. I'm not saying he's done anything wrong, just a gut feeling that it wasn't his lack of ability to run the ball successfully that kept him from getting more carries.. maybe fumbling issues in practice or something.

EDIT: or blocking issues..

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I voted Grant for a couple of reasons. First I think he will benefit from a much improved passing game on those sweeps. Second I think he will also get some of the between the tackle gives that Mason recieved because Mason is gone and no other back has yet proven to be as dominate.

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I voted Grant for a couple of reasons. First I think he will benefit from a much improved passing game on those sweeps. Second I think he will also get some of the between the tackle gives that Mason recieved because Mason is gone and no other back has yet proven to be as dominate.

I almost voted for Grant but voted for CAP instead. Some posters I respect have stated before that they think Grants does not have the skill set to be a between the tackles running back. Early in the season I would have agreed with them but I saw a few carries by Grant in later games that made me think there may be more to Grant than just an outside runner. I would like to see Grant get some more normal carries and see how he develops. Obviously if he gets to the second level he is a threat to take it the distance.

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I think it's going to be Barber. Artis-Payne will play a bigger role than last year, but I think he struggles too much hanging on to the ball. Roc Thomas will also start taking carries away from him toward the 2nd half of the season.

Mark it down - Roc Thomas and Peyton Barber is going to be the next Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown. But these two are going to be scary good in Malzahn's system!

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1. Nick Marshall

2. CAP (not getting enough credit from AU fans)

3. Grant

4. Barber

5. R Thomas

Gotta go with Marshall here. He's a proven 1000 yard rusher in the SEC. Gus and Lashlee will continue to play to Marshall's strengths. Now that they have all the information on him they will continue to gash defenses with Nick's legs.

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I'm struggling to remember when CAP fumbled but to be candid the whole team had fumbling issues last year.

Go back and look at our turn over margin this year, the interceptions didn't add to that total much.

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CAP looks to me more like a Ronnie Brown type of RB, great for when you have to get 3-4 yards, a real bull. But not so much the break away long distance RB.

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I was one that before the season was buying into CAP being the go to back based on all the hype. Having Tre break out and blow teams up I believe had alot more to do with CAP lack of carries than some think. I'm hoping CAP gets his due this season. The carries he got this season were productive. He's a big back, but he's got some moves as well. I haven't seen enough of PB to form an opinion of him yet. Its equally difficult to think Roc is going to come in and run rampant on SEC teams his first season in big boy ball. I feel the Marshall, Grant, CAP trio combined with a triple threat receiving corps is more than enough to give opposing DCs nightmares.

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It will be CAP, for sure, barring injury or fumbling issues. A lot of people are freaking out about what Tre said about Barber, but if you notice, every upper-classman has been talking up young guys when they get the chance. I think it's just a nice gesture and a recruiting tactic.

Honestly I think Grant could be a feature back, easily. He has speed and power. The only reason why he won't be the feature back, is because he was and is the only upperclassman that could fill that position.

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I watched ESPN film room breaking down AU vs FSU. They ran CAPs TD run against Mizzou 4-5 times and I still don't know what he saw to turn that into a 25 yd TD run. I think CAP is going to light it up this year. We will see how his speed is, but we know what he can do up the middle. We never even let him get going. His last big effort was A day game (where I think he was the player of the game). Barber may be great, and I hope he is. But he is going to really have to be spectacular to beat out CAP.

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