Who Starts @ I-Back Next Season?

[True2tRA]

I understand inside and outside zone and I happen to think Imani suits it pretty well. Just my opinion. Newby seems to hesitate too much. You need a one-cut-and-go kind of back. Like Terrell Davis used to be in Denver. Same stuff they did there.

I'll be interested in seeing if anyone behind Newby and Cross on the depth chart gets a serious look.

Of course, none of this will matter if the offensive line is still not understanding zone blocking techniques and missing assignments. Really hard to judge any of our running backs too harshly when they were stuck in Tim Becks mess with a not so physical offensive front.

 

[huskered17]

I would just like to see Cross get a good chance. We know he can pickup 1 or 2 yards almost all of the time, running straight ahead. Just never seemed to get the chance, when we needed him most. The last run in the Iowa game was a good example, why didn't he get that carry?

GBR!!!

 

[jmfb]

Imani doesn't have the quickness- body control, explosiveness needed to run Zone- the skills that make Ameer such an effective zone runner

Damon Benning- someone who knows a lot about coaching RBs and Zone- has mentioned this a good number of times as well. Note DB had Helu and Abdullah starting WAY before any of them distinguished themselves from the 3 player packs they were in. DB knows these offenses well and what baseline RB skills that are required.

Imani- nice on power- Iso- Wham style plays- not very effective when running true IZ or OZ plays. Patience is GOOD- required, the decision cant be forced, you aren't moving the pile.

But once the decision has been made, then it's who can put that foot in the ground, or even change direction a bit- with great body control AND accelerate quickly? Not Imani

Also making that read quickly seeing it is a SKILL, not all RBs are equal at, some in fact never get it. On the field in real life its MUCH different than how you see it on TV or

in slow motion. Guys that get it- they see it, the game slows down for them from a vision standpoint, hard to explain.

Probably why Imani came back after his Freshman year lighter- he wanted to be an every down back- which for NU meant you had to be a good zone running guy

 

[IlliniHusker]

Before the injury I thought Adam Taylor would be the back-up to Ameer. It all depends on how he bounces back from his broken ankle. A couple of years ago we had an all-American caliber tight end who broke his leg. After that was healed, he never returned to his prior form.

SO - If Adam can return to his full potential, I'd bet on him.... its a big IF.

 

[Hayseed]

Yeah, I think Cross is pretty slow on outside runs whereas Pierson-El would be deadly. Can't say much about the rest because they haven't been tested much on either, but it wouldn't surprise me if this guy Wilbon or one of the other mystery backs makes a name for himself a couple games in. And I hate zone-read.

 

[True2tRA]

I wouldn't rule Imani out although I like Taylor and Newby a lot. Although Beck and Riley may use a lot of zone running, I don't think Riley does it nearly the same as Beck. If what little I've seen is any indication, then Riley runs more inside zone from under center with a FB lead blocker? Is this accurate?

Beck ran more stretch zone and outside zone than anyone, but mostly stretch. We ran out of shotgun or pistol 95% of the time including zone read option. Though really, apparently there wasn't really a read or an option, the plays were pre-determined.

These two things though similar in their zone blocking schemes, are not really that similar otherwise. I'd like to see how an improvement on the offensive front benefits us. I'd also like to see how operating the run game from under center will improve our run game. I say this simply because I felt under Beck our run plays took too long to develop, our running back was too deep in the backfield too often, it took too long to hit the gaps, we asked our linemen to hold blocks too long and the RB ran laterally far too often in these stretch zone plays instead of hitting the point of attack with a head of steam.

I don't think we will continue to do these things. I hope I'm right.

This is why I think it's impossible to overlook Cross. As I said, the Denver Broncos under Coach Shanahan ran a lot of inside and outside zone in the same way Riley does (again, from what I have seen which is limited). Terrell Davis and Imani Cross are cut from the same thread. Not overly fast on the top end, but they see the gap, they run north and south, and they don't dance in the backfield. It's usually one-cut-and-go.

Comparing Imani's style to Ameers, I would only say this. Ameer did what he was asked to do in this offense. Really, I think Ameer could succeed in any style, he is that versatile. So surely, I'd take Ameer in Riley's offense in a heartbeat, so would Riley, but just because Imani's style is different than Ameer's doesn't mean he's not a fit for these inside zone schemes. It's just that Ameer is a fit for damn near any scheme.

 

[jmfb]

For those saying ANYONE should move to Fullback DONT understand the offense Riley knows and believes in

The one back Pro style offense that Riley loves doesn't use a fullback like a Janovich or someone who looks like Cross

Lead blockers? Everything they run is pretty much inside zone, outside zone and stretch- none of those plays are anything Cross runs well

Some guys can run zone, some can't it's MUCH harder than it looks even with great coaching

Cross runs the inside zone just fine. It's the outside zone that Abdullah runs that he's not good at.

We haven't given Cross a fair shake running plays that benefit his running style. I anticipate lots of surprised people next year.

Not true at all

Zone is zone, requires exact same skill set, just inside and outside use a different set of monuments

Some kids just never get it, its NOT the easiest thing to do- has very little to do with distance

Lots of kids who are used to running power, iso or sweep and used to just cutting off a lead block- have a real problem with zone. Cross is one of these kids

THATS why you see him running power more often than zone and when he runs zone or stretch he really struggles

If you think an outside zone read is the same as the inside zone read, then I think we're done here...

Pretty sure he's talking zone blocking, note a zone reed/veer/inverted veer play...

I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about Cross running zone blocking in his original statement...

The inside zone read develops faster as a hole will open up right away. The cut the RB makes is not a hard cut and relies on the RB to read the linebacker trying to plug the hole. If the OL drops off their initial block soon enough, they then kick out the linebacker or safety (depending on the defensive set) allowing the RB to run free. If you look at EVERY SINGLE 100 YARD GAME BY CROSS...we ran this inside zone read to him and he broke it big. Remember Wyoming 2013? Remember MSU 2013? Those are perfect examples of him running inside on the zone read perfectly. He was built to run like that....he's not as gifted laterally as our shifty smaller backs.

Now, he tried to run the outside zone read numerous times this year but due to craptastic play calling times by Tim Beck (remember TB calling it on the 1ft line?) and craptastic blocking by our line it doesn't work well. The outside zone read doesn't have a hole open right away so you have to laterally string it out and wait for the hole to open up. Imani does not have a cut like Abdullah does running that and thus won't run it very well. Give him an inside zone read and he'll eat people's lunch. Run a counter inside and he'll make people pay for it too.

If there is one thing I know it is this: Mike Riley will put plays in to fit our skilled players. Imani is a skilled player and he's been vastly underutilized and subsequently, REALLY under-appreciated by a lot of fans and posters here on this board. I look for him to have a breakout year next year and make a lot of people eat crow.

When a coach is talking about zone, like I was he says "zone", inside zone and outside zone

When someone is talking about zone read, a totally different concept, they use the words zone read

I never used the word zone read anywhere in that post- I was talking about zone

 

[Hunter94]

i agree, since Becker-head and Bo didnt know how to use him, they left Cross on the bench....along with the TE's.....hope this changes.

 

[Hayseed]

I'm just disappointed that neither of these guys will acknowledge that zone blocking involves sashaying around like a chorus line dancer and the occasional use of jazz hands.

 

[Saunders]

I think you 2 aren't even talking about the same thing. One is talking about a simple inside vs outside run that uses zone blocking AKA the line is feeling where to block. The other is arguing that zone reads are different inside and outside.

Both of you guys are right you just aren't arguing about the same thing fwiw

Thats what I said, then someone got butthurt.

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

I think you 2 aren't even talking about the same thing. One is talking about a simple inside vs outside run that uses zone blocking AKA the line is feeling where to block. The other is arguing that zone reads are different inside and outside.

Both of you guys are right you just aren't arguing about the same thing fwiw

Thats what I said, then someone got butthurt.

Don't worry I got your back

 

[30Rozier]

Cross is entirely too slow to be a feature back. Riley is pretty creative and may find a good spot for him but if he is an every down back, we're in trouble.

 

[Mierin]

Cross is entirely too slow to be a feature back. Riley is pretty creative and may find a good spot for him but if he is an every down back, we're in trouble.

I don't agree at all. Cross is just fine...he's not setting land speed records but he's got just as much speed as Rex did.

Possibly, but he doesn't have near as much ability to not fall down the first time someone touches him.

 

[30Rozier]

Cross is entirely too slow to be a feature back. Riley is pretty creative and may find a good spot for him but if he is an every down back, we're in trouble.

I don't agree at all. Cross is just fine...he's not setting land speed records but he's got just as much speed as Rex did.

Sorry but... LMAO.

 

[Abdullah the Butcher]

Cross is entirely too slow to be a feature back. Riley is pretty creative and may find a good spot for him but if he is an every down back, we're in trouble.

I don't agree at all. Cross is just fine...he's not setting land speed records but he's got just as much speed as Rex did.

Sorry but... LMAO.

Mute Landlord's terrible music and watch Imani run, the big man can rumble when given an opportunity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm8AgBa14Pg#t=140

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWsC-KQY_xg#t=5090

Here is a Rex long run, he didn't have that great of speed either. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUTMGJicU3o