i was confused by the LWJ article. the author wrote only Johnson was healthy but Frost quoted as he hope all the others can play which refers to multiple options at RB. What do we know? or dont know?
RBs
- Thread starter jimmyjoseph
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He said Mills has been dinged up a bit since rolling his angle in the 1st half of the Penn St game but didn’t mention in any availability for Saturday..
Pretty sure if Frost was still at UCF he would be saying Mackenzie Melton has been "dinged up" the past 2 years.
Mills has been out. Ronald Thompkins has missed the past 3 games. So that leaves Marvin Scott, Rhamir Johnson, Sevion Morrison as the next 3 scholarship running backs. Scott Frost is 100% of the time going to say he trusts all his running backs, even Weinmaster and Isaiaha Harris who are walkons. But he is never really gonna trust them, he will always play Wan’Dale at running back before all the other backs! But he will not admit it to the public.
With only 2-3 games left, using Robinson as the main running back may not be a bad idea. It probably gives us the best chance to win a game or two.
i know winning a game or 2 would be great right now but does it really matter for this year or the future? I think the recruiting class is locked in and NEB has proven you dont have to win games to recruit really well. I think the players understand its a wacky year the only people who really benefit are the fans and its a very temporary positive emotion. I dont think Frost needs to win. he is not in trouble
Yes he needs to win. Yes it helps the future. If the staff starts locking stuff down this offseason in an attempt to get the team more focused and better, do you think the kids are going to respect that when the best this coaching staff could do the year prior was 1-7?
Morrison also not 100% healthy. My guess is Scott got hurt as he went MIA early in Iowa game if I’m not mistaken.
So that leaves Johnson Wandale and walkons as far as healthy options.
So that leaves Johnson Wandale and walkons as far as healthy options.
More reason for Luke McCaffery getting more touches at running till the others are health..
So what‘s the injury to Sevion Morrison this late in the season that he hasn’t been able making it on the field?
Remember the days when RBs played "dinged up" all the time? Of course I don't want anybody playing with a serious injury, just saying I remember when guys played hurt all the time. Without knowing the severity of their injuries, because the coaches won't share the info, it leaves me to wonder if some of these guys are hurt rather than seriously injured.
No idea. I’m pretty sure he’s not been dressed at all this year but on the sidelines with no visible casts/crutches, etc.
I was really hoping to see him this year. Injuries hurt every team, but boy sometimes if feels like we can’t catch a break.
Anyone know if they officially said Manning won’t be back til next year? Didn’t he tweet something like that?
Even if it’s the last game, I wish we could get him involved a little just to get a taste.
I heard Manning is seating out the rest of the season but should be able to participate in Spring drills..
Well we don't let guys who can't pass the concussion protocol play anymore. That's probably a good thing. Gone are the days of "How many fingers am I holding up?". I suspect Mills' injury is worse than Frost will divulge or he would be playing. Mills doesn't seem to me to be a candy ***. I think if there were any way he could be out there, he would be out there. There's nothing wrong with Rahim at RB, but I would like us to limit how much we try to pound Wandale up the middle in the redzone. That said, he's a really good tight quarters guy who gets low and can exploit small gaps.
Yep, Pork Chop comes to mind. He went for a few weeks where he was wearing a walking boot and missing practice because of some foot/ankle problem, but still suited up every Saturday and ground out 100+ yards a game.
Remember the days when our 3rd team RB could have been a starter just about anywhere else in the country?
I know, right?
Of all the positions groups, I'm most disappointed in the RBs. We have several scholarship guys, and yet our best option in the backfield is a WR. Depressing.
True enough. I'm sure there must be perfectly good reasons why a room full of scholarship RBs can't find a single man to play the position better than a WR, legitimately injuries and dudes who don't know the playbook. I was just thinking about a different time. For example, LP was a man. I swear that guy coulda played with broken legs and still eclipsed the 100 yard mark every game. And Berringer, how many games did he sit with a collapsed lung? A couple? Anyway, those days are gone.
Berringer played with a collapsed lung in the Wyoming game and it collapsed again the next week against Oklahoma St..
came in for Turman in the second half against Kansas St..
came in for Turman in the second half against Kansas St..
Guys like Paul Miles, Jay Sims, Clinton Childs who were career back ups. And then there were all the future stars that were down the depth chart early in their careers. Still chuckle thinking about the allegations that TO only played LP after the incident because he wanted to win. His back up was the GB Packers future career rushing leader.
The doctors gave him permission to play in the K- State game, but Osborne decided to only let him play if he was needed..
Obviously the less hits he took in a full game would be more beneficial if needed..
As I recall he even ran the option a few times before the trap play to Jeff Mackovika for a TD..
Wandale is a special athlete. He has extremely good running instincts and all of our backup RBs other than Rahim haven't got the experience Wandale has. That said, when your top 3 RBs are injured that kind of limits your possibilities. IF you go back and watch Oregon or UCF, you'll see that having a Duck R back/WR who can play outside or behind the QB is part of the plan. It allows you to run multiple sets and a wide variation of plays from the same personnel group.
Morrison is the only other scholarship back and as I understand it he's not really been available either.
IMO, even though we don't have an LP on our roster, we've got some really good young backs who would eventually fit nicely with the guys Tom used to have. Scott is a stud. Rahim has shown flashes. Thompkins likewise. Need some more guys like Scott IMO.
I appreciate the insight. I guess I just thought/hoped that in addition to Mills, at least one of the RBs we've recruited would make a move this year.
Thompkins did. He's hurt now. He jumped Rahim as did the freshman Scott. Rahmir looks good I think though too. We've got some really good young backs IMO each with a little different skill set. Just have to get them up to speed on the whole offense and keep them healthy. Missing all of spring, all of summer 7 on 7s and fall camp really hurt our young players.
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When you can't complete a downfield pass so that the defense cheats up and your run blocking is mediocre at best, you need to find creative ways to get yards on the ground. That might mean using a much quicker receiver turned running back to find and get through smaller holes than using a traditional bigger running back that can't get through those same holes.
or get him the ball with the defense flowing the wrong direction. A lot of Frost's and for that matter Purdue's offense is based on misdirection. I don't particularly like when they give the ball basically up the gut 3 times in a row to Wandale in the redzone, but I know why they do it. He's the most instinctual runner we've seen at NU since Rex Burkhead.
You're forgetting a pretty important running back in Ameer, but I agree. Haven't had a running back with good instincts back there since those two.
Ozigbo wasn't a slouch his senior year. But recruiting at that position has been sub par for awhile.
thanks
. When I first typed that I thought, that doesn't look right but was too lazy to look it up.I honestly don't think Ameer had the pure instincts that Rex or Wandale had. IMO Ameer really was a straight ahead hit the hole hard kind of guy for the most part. Wandale is and Rex was IMO more likely to probe and then explode through some pretty small creases. Just different styles. What people didin't realize about Rex is that while his straight ahead 40 time wasn't noteworthy, he had tremendous quickness in that 5-10 yard range both vertically and laterally.
I played against Jeff Quinn in high school and he was like Rex in that regard whether it was football or basketball. The guy had good but not great speed but MAN he had quick feet. He was so damned tough to get a shot at when you tackled him. I played against Dave Leigl too and while Leigl ran back punts and played wingback, Quinn was quicker IMO.
Luke needs to be on the field, we're not good enough to not have our best athletes not playing. Plug him in somewhere please...