Anyone have opinions on running backs A-Day performances

[au701948 998]

I obviously did not get to view the game and wondered what the 3 prime RB contenders may have looked like. From article, It seems that Robinson only had about 6 carries or so. Just wondering what your thoughts may be as fans watching yesterday.

[AUEngineer2016 407]

Roc was VERY impressive. He showed that he has the ability to take a short gain (or even a loss) and turn it into a long run (see his touchdown run).

Barber showed that he is a powerback through and through. He was able to truck some defenders (Cassanova McKinzy, for example), but also showed that he did not have the same top-end speed that Robinson and Roc do, which hurt some of his explosiveness when hitting some of the holes.

Robinson didn't show us a lot. If I remember correctly, he didn't have any big runs, though to be fair it felt like he also didn't get a lot of touches. I'm not sure if that was because he didn't have the hot hand yesterday, or if the coaches are trying to keep him as a relative unknown for the beginning of the season.

I think that our 3 backs are fantastic. Based off of yesterday, I think that if anyone does become the primary back, it will be Roc, but again that was just 1 scrimmage and that's not a huge body of work. All in all, I think that we are in good shape as far as the running back position is concerned.

[japantiger 4,051]

From what I saw; and my 17 year old's assessment; Roc, rocked. the few highlights I saw he looked like the promisee. Now, that wasn't against LSU or Arky D; but he looked like he had a different gear; in addition to just looking a lot bigger than last fall. Barber ran hard; and thru people. He also looked bigger and more physical. Jovon had the least impressive day...he didn't do anything wrong; just never got rolling for whatever reason.

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

Not sure, but I believe JR was nursing some bruises as well as still learning the offense, that the other two have had a year to learn. I think we have 3 good RBs with another on the way. It might be late fall to see who is 1a and 1b and who is 2. A lot could depend on what JJ brings to the table. My suspicion is JJ will be effective inside dive like Cam, then Roc might be the speed outside guy. But until mid-August, it is still TBD. WDE

[IronMan70 3,277]

My opinion is we have 3 very good running backs. Two are very powerful and will easily be able to carry the load between the tackles. The 3rd one has some great moves and some break away speed to go with it. We will need all 3 this year.

[aujeff11 6,243]

I'm still curious about what was going on with Jovon. If someone finds an article where the coaches are talking about Jovon 's lack of carries, definitely post it. I was expecting different from Jovon but maybe my expectations were too high. What I am hoping for is that the coaches already know what to expect from Jovon and they didn't want him to get hurt so they cut down on his plays. Definitely since Jovon is constantly trying to run over defenders.

[GBAU83 212]

Similar as others have posted, but I expect more of running back by committee a bit more this year than in the past. I think all three will be fine for power up the middle, JR and Roc more of the outside threat. I think we will see a lot more packages featuring any of the three which will keep teams confused as they are not sure of run, which type of run or pass. Should be fun. I also think A-Day was more pass because we were comfortable with the run game.

[AURaptor 1,122]

Roc seems to have grown up , mentally and physically. What little I saw, his whole body language spoke of confidence and intensity. He looked timid in comparison coming out of the gate last season.

I too had hoped Jovon would put on more of a show. I'm hoping that the staff knows what they have in him, and don't feel the need to put him out there too much, but we'll find out come Fall.

[bikeriderga 134]

Roc definitely stole the show for the A-Day game. His spin moves can make a defender twist an ankle.

Second best looking at A-Day was Peyton Barber.

Javon did not have many moments in the A-Day scrimmage.

Would not read much into this, except to say Roc has definitely improved his game.

Oh, and our passing game is going to be scarry good.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Coach Malzahn likes to ride on the running back that gets hot.Until I see differently, I doubt we will ever finish a season with a RB by committee where no rb is considered the bona fide starter. Jovon and Roc on the field at the same time will be deadly though..

[subterranean_jack 112]

I've seen enough A-Day games to know that the coaches are not going to reveal any secret weapons. Remember the A-Day that Cam Newton had?

Kicking game looked solid, but can't tell much about punting with the restrictions.

Defense looked better but still a long way to go. Better may be good enough with the firepower the offense has.

No major problems apparent on offense. Looks like passing game will be a bigger factor, but rushing attack also solid just not on display as much. Jovon may be an all-SEC caliber back, and Malzahn is not going give the opposition a good look at him during A-Day.

[cooltigger21 0]

Major goal for A Day is to get nobody hurt but also provide a fairly good time. When it comes to actually gleaning anything meaningful, you're out of luck.

[weagl1 1,782]

Roc looked like a stud. I think he will be the starter.

[war eagle6 0]

I've seen enough A-Day games to know that the coaches are not going to reveal any secret weapons. Remember the A-Day that Cam Newton had?

Kicking game looked solid, but can't tell much about punting with the restrictions.

Defense looked better but still a long way to go. Better may be good enough with the firepower the offense has.

No major problems apparent on offense. Looks like passing game will be a bigger factor, but rushing attack also solid just not on display as much. Jovon may be an all-SEC caliber back, and Malzahn is not going give the opposition a good look at him during A-Day.

This^^. Jovon is waaaaaaay better than what was shown yesterday, please believe me!!

[lutzcammed 469]

I kinda feel like Javon is still in carry over mode from his jc season last year. He may be great and I hope he is, but I think we have unfairly built him up allready for greatness. Same with JJ. Let's wait and see the results this fall.

[AUStew87 326]

I thought what jovon did best was pick up blocks in the passing game. This doesn't get him stats but I think he will ultimately play more cause of it.

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,295]

I've seen enough A-Day games to know that the coaches are not going to reveal any secret weapons. Remember the A-Day that Cam Newton had?

Bingo. I thought this going in to A day. Why reveal what we have?

[mustache eagle 2,397]

Re watch the game. Roc definitely made fantastic runs. Jovon simply did not have the combination of play calls/blocking to show anything special. He has to run the play that is called.

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Jovon's value will be his being both a bone fide ball carrying threat out of the backfield AND a pass catcher. I would have been very surprised if Gus & co. had revealed that much on A Day. Glad our RBs are not using the high school East-West juke as plan #1 any more. We're set for 2015 in the backfield IMO. One unanswered question I have is how much we'll run the Jet Sweep & who'll run it? We may have some almost Robinson-esque O line pullers by Fall.

[AU64 10,122]

Jovon's value will be his being both a bone fide ball carrying threat out of the backfield AND a pass catcher. I would have been very surprised if Gus & co. had revealed that much on A Day. Glad our RBs are not using the high school East-West juke as plan #1 any more. We're set for 2015 in the backfield IMO. One unanswered question I have is how much we'll run the Jet Sweep & who'll run it? We may have some almost Robinson-esque O line pullers by Fall.

One thing we should count on is that A-Day does not have the purpose of showing future opposition much about our offense or defense.

I think Gus wanted to make the game reasonably interesting for the fans BUT without tipping his hand about what will happen in September.

JMO but it is likely that no player ever played his way into the starting line-up by what he did during an A-Day game.

None the less.....looked like a fun day for those who were able to attend....but I have to say...it was pretty boring to watch on TV.

[cooltigger21 0]

Jovon's value will be his being both a bone fide ball carrying threat out of the backfield AND a pass catcher. I would have been very surprised if Gus & co. had revealed that much on A Day. Glad our RBs are not using the high school East-West juke as plan #1 any more. We're set for 2015 in the backfield IMO. One unanswered question I have is how much we'll run the Jet Sweep & who'll run it? We may have some almost Robinson-esque O line pullers by Fall.

One thing we should count on is that A-Day does not have the purpose of showing future opposition much about our offense or defense.

I think Gus wanted to make the game reasonably interesting for the fans BUT without tipping his hand about what will happen in September.

JMO but it is likely that no player ever played his way into the starting line-up by what he did during an A-Day game.

None the less.....looked like a fun day for those who were able to attend....but I have to say...it was pretty boring to watch on TV.

that's the way most spring games are. The coaches get more out of the scrimmages than they do these games. They are there for the fans more than anything else. Everything that goes on at the campus makes it good. The actual game itself isn't really great entertainment for tv viewers.

[AU64 10,122]

Jovon's value will be his being both a bone fide ball carrying threat out of the backfield AND a pass catcher. I would have been very surprised if Gus & co. had revealed that much on A Day. Glad our RBs are not using the high school East-West juke as plan #1 any more. We're set for 2015 in the backfield IMO. One unanswered question I have is how much we'll run the Jet Sweep & who'll run it? We may have some almost Robinson-esque O line pullers by Fall.

One thing we should count on is that A-Day does not have the purpose of showing future opposition much about our offense or defense.

I think Gus wanted to make the game reasonably interesting for the fans BUT without tipping his hand about what will happen in September.

JMO but it is likely that no player ever played his way into the starting line-up by what he did during an A-Day game.

None the less.....looked like a fun day for those who were able to attend....but I have to say...it was pretty boring to watch on TV.

that's the way most spring games are. The coaches get more out of the scrimmages than they do these games. They are there for the fans more than anything else. Everything that goes on at the campus makes it good. The actual game itself isn't really great entertainment for tv viewers.

Amen to that...did not get to see it in the afternoon but went to ESPN Watch later on where it was available as a replay....watched most of the first half and a little of the second half and when it got to the point that Rod did not know who was making tackles, I turned it off.

But...I thought While looked pretty good...very sharp and accurate passes.

[dmoney 271]

I was very impressed with all of them. Roc has great speed and balance. Peyton and Jovon both have alot power. I wouldn't read too much into Jovon not getting that many carries. This year should a good year to be a tiger. WDE

[chimesAU 89]

I've seen enough A-Day games to know that the coaches are not going to reveal any secret weapons. Remember the A-Day that Cam Newton had?

Kicking game looked solid, but can't tell much about punting with the restrictions.

Defense looked better but still a long way to go. Better may be good enough with the firepower the offense has.

No major problems apparent on offense. Looks like passing game will be a bigger factor, but rushing attack also solid just not on display as much. Jovon may be an all-SEC caliber back, and Malzahn is not going give the opposition a good look at him during A-Day.

This^^. Jovon is waaaaaaay better than what was shown yesterday, please believe me!!

Sorry guys but this doesn't make any sense. Y'all are saying that JR purposefully sandbagged so that D coordinators wouldn't think to scheme against our rushing attack? I get that we're going to keep it very "vanilla" scheme-wise so we don't show too much, but each player is going 100%.

What y'all are saying is the equivalent of Gus telling Jeremy to go out and throw 5/20 for 35 yards and 3 picks just to throw off opposing coaches. Makes 0 sense.

[AU64 10,122]

I've seen enough A-Day games to know that the coaches are not going to reveal any secret weapons. Remember the A-Day that Cam Newton had?

Kicking game looked solid, but can't tell much about punting with the restrictions.

Defense looked better but still a long way to go. Better may be good enough with the firepower the offense has.

No major problems apparent on offense. Looks like passing game will be a bigger factor, but rushing attack also solid just not on display as much. Jovon may be an all-SEC caliber back, and Malzahn is not going give the opposition a good look at him during A-Day.

This^^. Jovon is waaaaaaay better than what was shown yesterday, please believe me!!

Sorry guys but this doesn't make any sense. Y'all are saying that JR purposefully sandbagged so that D coordinators wouldn't think to scheme against our rushing attack? I get that we're going to keep it very "vanilla" scheme-wise so we don't show too much, but each player is going 100%.

What y'all are saying is the equivalent of Gus telling Jeremy to go out and throw 5/20 for 35 yards and 3 picks just to throw off opposing coaches. Makes 0 sense.

Not saying JJ was told to go in the tank...but definitely history is on the side of those who say that coaches show very little during an inter-squad game. Just think back to Cam's debut on A-Day....that should tell you all you need to know.

Javon and the other backs got a few carries and that was good for the day. Meanwhile as noted, no fly sweeps, no quick outs that I recall, no blitzing, no punt returns, no KO returns......basically we saw nothing....