Anyone have opinions on running backs A-Day performances

[collector527 0]

completely agree with bikeriderga. 1..roc 2..barber 3...robinson

They all looked good but Roc has an explosiveness that the other do not have. Barber might be the best all around back imo. Slower than the others but is powerful, has better agility than you think and picks up blocks.

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

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.

As long as he doesn't spin into big hits and fumble....I love it. He was impressive for sure. Still needs to get more north and south. I don't care who starts at RB b/c can't go wrong with any of them IMO.

[douggwilliams 61]

Javon will get more carries with Roc coming in 2nd. I think we use our WR as our speed sweep guy. Barber will contribute as I expect there will be quite a few games we will rest our starters. He is a good back, but from what little I have seen, he's third on the list.

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

Running back by committee is where I think we're headed going into fall camp. Gus plays the hot hand I agree, but all three backs are studs.

[AU64 10,122]

Running back by committee is where I think we're headed going into fall camp. Gus plays the hot hand I agree, but all three backs are studs.

no question that all are good but history shows that Gus will eventually settle on one primary back even when there is only a hair's width difference between the candidates.

I think Javon will be the primary heavy duty back if he shows the ability to block for JJ....and IMO, blocking skill will be the tie breaker for the RBs.

[juscAUse 1]

Just for the record, the only worse showing than Cam's in a spring game was probably Sims at uat last year. So much for showing what you got. Wouldn't surprise me if we open the first game with 9 straight runs. The last for a TD. Coaches show next to nothing in a spring game. Gus may have been trying to find a backup at certain positions, but the rest of the starters are known. The plays we will run are not known, cause we didn't see half of them

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[AUIH1 1,515]

Pretty sure I have read that Jovon has been getting the majority of the carries in the real practices/scrimmages this spring. I imagine that if he is healthy he will be the number 1 RB for game 1.

wde

[AU64 10,122]

Pretty sure I have read that Jovon has been getting the majority of the carries in the real practices/scrimmages this spring. I imagine that if he is healthy he will be the number 1 RB for game 1.

wde

Javon has the size (and reportedly the attitude) to take on DEs and LBs trying to get to the QB. If the passing game gets increased emphasis this year, pass blocking will be a key factor in JJ's success.

[3Jtiger22 0]

Here is one thing I know for sure. We won't have anyone running out of bounds this year. I know all three are after playing time but none of these guys strikes me as the type to pass on a hit and give up a couple extra yards.

[Randman5000 4,224]

There's no doubt Roc is going to be a weapon... I think alot of people have jumped on Jovon bandwagon without letting this play out. If you watch the replay, Barber runs over Casanova in the hole. He goes down but it was impressive. It's possibly going to be a three headed attack in the end.

[AUbritt 611]

Roc had the best A-day performance, but a lot of that was really because of one long run. Both Jovon and Barber ran hard. Agree with Clayton and others that it will start out as RB by committee. One will separate himself after the first few games. I suspect we'll find our #1 back during the LSU game this year. If I had to bet, I'd put my money on Jovon. But I think Roc is special and would not be shocked to see him come out on top.

[Randman5000 4,224]

Roc had the best A-day performance, but a lot of that was really because of one long run. Both Jovon and Barber ran hard. Agree with Clayton and others that it will start out as RB by committee. One will separate himself after the first few games. I suspect we'll find our #1 back during the LSU game this year. If I had to bet, I'd put my money on Jovon. But I think Roc is special and would not be shocked to see him come out on top.

I don't think it was just one run though for Roc..go catch the highlights that Red posted. The swing pass was great running and then the run where he got caught in the back field, waited patently and found a hole when there wasn't one. He powered through a few guys and was looking to cut it when ganged tackled After ten yards. That was probably his best run.

[BhamCAT 47]

I haven't seen anyone comment on who Roc's lead blocker was on his first TD run as he went into the endzone.

[AUbritt 611]

Roc had the best A-day performance, but a lot of that was really because of one long run. Both Jovon and Barber ran hard. Agree with Clayton and others that it will start out as RB by committee. One will separate himself after the first few games. I suspect we'll find our #1 back during the LSU game this year. If I had to bet, I'd put my money on Jovon. But I think Roc is special and would not be shocked to see him come out on top.

I don't think it was just one run though for Roc..go catch the highlights that Red posted. The swing pass was great running and then the run where he got caught in the back field, waited patently and found a hole when there wasn't one. He powered through a few guys and was looking to cut it when ganged tackled After ten yards. That was probably his best run.

Yeah. I was being lazy and equating performance with total yards.

[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.

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.

No one is insinuating the RBs didn't play hard. The plays were pretty vanilla and there were a couple starting linemen out. And you can't really expect any great revelations from a spring game either. However, I think the fans did get a sense of the different RBs styles. It is already a good mix of talent. If Kerryon Johnson is added, Auburn's rushing attack will easily be one of the best in the country.

Anyway, we got a chance to see the new RBs do their thing. Barber is a bowling ball with a dancer's feet. Roc Thomas has the quickness and agility. Jovon is a solid all-around back. I agree Jovon may get the most carries, but Barber and Roc are going to get their carries too but they may be more situational backs at least for the moment.

[AURex 1,984]

Roc was running mostly with the #1 offensive line against the #2 defense in the first half, and that's where he looked the best. In comparison, Barber was running with the #2 offensive line vs the #1 defense, so he was in a more challenging situation. I wasn't sure what to make of Jovon's lack of productivity. He started out with the #1 OL against the #2 defense. He didn't break loose, but he definitely looked powerful.

Barber fits the mold of Mason and CAP, steady, durable, reliable, but without that real speed gear. Roc is elusive and quick, but despite gaining some weight and muscle, he's still the lightweight of the three. I don't know about his durability as an every-down back. JR, well, if he can get his head around the playbook and master the system, he'll be a hoss.

Overall, I think it is still a tossup.All three of them are still in a battle.

[AUpreacherman22 3,876]

Roc looked a lot like Cadillac to me.

Peyton Barber is a BEAST!

If those two guys are our 2nd and 3rd best RBs, then call me giddy!

And NO fumbles all spring by any of them!

Yes sir, giddy!!!!

[IronMan70 3,277]

On replay you get a better appreciation for the few carries by Jovon. He is very powerful and I'll tell you one thing, he can flat move the pile. A running back like that in the 4th quarter can be devastating for an opponent's defense. Jovon also does a nice job in pass protection.

Roc is more elusive with more speed but even at his new weight, he doesn't seem the type of back you want to take the majority of the pounding. He is the perfect compliment to Jovon. The overuse of those spin moves are a concern. While it creates excitement for the fans, if he uses it too many times, eventually he is going to come out of a spin and meet a LB or DE head on. Not good.

Barber seems to be somewhat of a combination of the other two. More powerful than Roc but less than Jovon and more elusive than Jovon but less than Roc. Barber is also a decent pass blocker

We will be able to throw one RB after another at opponents and keep them fresh in a game. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2 of them out there at the same time on occasion.

[AUbritt 611]

On replay you get a better appreciation for the few carries by Jovon. He is very powerful and I'll tell you one thing, he can flat move the pile. A running back like that in the 4th quarter can be devastating for an opponent's defense. Jovon also does a nice job in pass protection.

Roc is more elusive with more speed but even at his new weight, he doesn't seem the type of back you want to take the majority of the pounding. He is the perfect compliment to Jovon. The overuse of those spin moves are a concern. While it creates excitement for the fans, if he uses it too many times, eventually he is going to come out of a spin and meet a LB or DE head on. Not good.

Barber seems to be somewhat of a combination of the other two. More powerful than Roc but less than Jovon and more elusive than Jovon but less than Roc. Barber is also a decent pass blocker

We will be able to throw one RB after another at opponents and keep them fresh in a game. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2 of them out there at the same time on occasion.

I really hope we do run more plays with 2 RBs. That gave teams fits when we did it in the past.

[mustache eagle 2,389]

Can't help but think we get near or at Gus's supposed 85 play magic number this year. Think we were around 73 plays last year? I am hoping a 50/35 run pass split with JJ only having 5 or less runs a game for D honesty. A few sweeps and then split the 40-44 remaining rushing attempts between 3 very solid running backs ... I am geeked thinking about it.

I would assume 35 attempts would put JJ around the 300 yds/game mark. Minimum 5 yds/carry on those 50 attempts and we average in upper 200's per game ...

Yea, I like those thoughts.

[AUbritt 611]

Can't help but think we get near or at Gus's supposed 85 play magic number this year. Think we were around 73 plays last year? I am hoping a 50/35 run pass split with JJ only having 5 or less runs a game for D honesty. A few sweeps and then split the 40-44 remaining rushing attempts between 3 very solid running backs ... I am geeked thinking about it.

I would assume 35 attempts would put JJ around the 300 yds/game mark. Minimum 5 yds/carry on those 50 attempts and we average in upper 200's per game ...

Yea, I like those thoughts.

Hmmmmmmm ....

What do you propose to do with the rest of the plays?

I think we'll rock on offense this season; but I'm not confident enough to do nothing on 15% of our plays.

[vatz22au 142]

I think given J. Rob's lack of carries it was a sure sign that he's the #1 back. Didn't want him to get injured.

[auwrx 0]

The secondary abandoned their assignments and charged down when Javon got the ball. They've been burned enough by him this spring it wasn't happening on a-day.

[eagle76 1]

Roc did look good but I will reiterate what has been said. Spin moves are very exciting for the crowd to watch. They get a lot of ooohs and aaahhhhs. But they are VERY high risk/high reward(some times). Fumbles and being nailed by a lb or safety can get the back on the trainer's table in a hurry not to mention the turn-over that may occur with it.