Running Backs - What Will We Learn This Spring

[Landlord]

Somebody explain the Newby love to me please.

Will somebody else explain to me the Adam Taylor love? Look, I'd like to see all of our guys contribute immensely, and I feel we can do some good things with multiple backs but Terrell Newby has proven that he can at least play and stay healthy. Adam Taylor hasn't played a down of live college football. Not a single down. Imani will start with Newby coming off first. Terrell is the one who is not like the others, which will help him. Adam has a lot of ground to make when it comes to experience and trust. He doesn't get skinny very well and his cuts are slow. He runs straight up through the hole sometimes and gets stopped rather easily. Many believed he was hesitant because of his prior injury. He had moments right before he got injured. The best raw talent is Mikale. He doesn't have a glaring weakness and is the one who could jump them all.

How do you discredit people from being optimistic about Taylor without him playing a single down, and then you give some authoritative assessment on how good of a runningback he is.....when he hasn't played a single down.

 

[Vince R.]

Somebody explain the Newby love to me please.

Will somebody else explain to me the Adam Taylor love? Look, I'd like to see all of our guys contribute immensely, and I feel we can do some good things with multiple backs but Terrell Newby has proven that he can at least play and stay healthy. Adam Taylor hasn't played a down of live college football. Not a single down. Imani will start with Newby coming off first. Terrell is the one who is not like the others, which will help him. Adam has a lot of ground to make when it comes to experience and trust. He doesn't get skinny very well and his cuts are slow. He runs straight up through the hole sometimes and gets stopped rather easily. Many believed he was hesitant because of his prior injury. He had moments right before he got injured. The best raw talent is Mikale. He doesn't have a glaring weakness and is the one who could jump them all.

How do you discredit people from being optimistic about Taylor without him playing a single down, and then you give some authoritative assessment on how good of a runningback he is.....when he hasn't played a single down.

you're right man, thats my bad.

 

[suh_fan93]

What we will learn is that mikale Wilbon will be the next stud RB

I like the sound of this. Really like what I've seen of Wilbon. Will be watching to see what he can do and if he can bring something to the table. Even though he broke a few decent runs at the end of the year last season Cross to me is still a short yardage back and after what I saw of Newby and Taylor last year it would seem that Wilbon's got a chance. Needs reps obv.

 

[lo country]

This will be the first year in quite a few with no "heir apparent" to the spot. Pretty much new Roy to Rex to AA..... There was a clear and separate number 2 IMO. This year not so much. We are incredibly deep at this position. In potential.......... A lot depends on who steps up and best fits Rileys new offense. It is a clean slate as far as "knowledge" of the system as the guys are all learning. Might be an edge to Cross or Newby as they have some real time game experience.

 

[Red Five]

I don't think that we will learn anything this spring as far as playing time or playing order. And I don't know if we will truly know the pecking order until the conference games start this fall.

 

[Husker_x]

Somebody explain the Newby love to me please.

Will somebody else explain to me the Adam Taylor love? Look, I'd like to see all of our guys contribute immensely, and I feel we can do some good things with multiple backs but Terrell Newby has proven that he can at least play and stay healthy. Adam Taylor hasn't played a down of live college football. Not a single down. Imani will start with Newby coming off first. Terrell is the one who is not like the others, which will help him. Adam has a lot of ground to make when it comes to experience and trust. He doesn't get skinny very well and his cuts are slow. He runs straight up through the hole sometimes and gets stopped rather easily. Many believed he was hesitant because of his prior injury. He had moments right before he got injured. The best raw talent is Mikale. He doesn't have a glaring weakness and is the one who could jump them all.

How do you discredit people from being optimistic about Taylor without him playing a single down, and then you give some authoritative assessment on how good of a runningback he is.....when he hasn't played a single down.

you're right man, thats my bad.

I was about to ask . . .

I think this is one of the reasons the RB competitions is going to be one of the most hyped position battles. With the QB basically settled, whoever gets the nod at tailback is going to tell us a bit more about what kind of running game we can expect to see. I'm a Cross guy, myself, though it seems that the dominant factions are pretty clearly gathered around Newby and Taylor.

 

[Redmusky]

I think the starter will be the RB who doesn't make mistakes ( blocking miscues )and who can hang on to the ball will be the starter. Since the backs all have positives and negatives when carrying the ball I think the ability to pickup the blitz and putting the ball on the ground will be the highest priority used to indicate who will be the starter.

 

[Hunter94]

nowhere to hang your hat here, we might not have a complete back on this team........this could make the offense a bit shakey.....they all are going to come up short somewhere, seems inevitable,

 

[cornographic]

Somebody explain the Newby love to me please.

It's mostly about experience at this point, but I also think he has a big upside once he starts getting more touches. Taylor and Wilbon will certainly contest him for the #1 spot midway thru the season, is my guess. I still see Cross as more of a role player, short yardage mostly.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

There's a lot to like about Imani Cross.

Having different styled I Backs doesn't hurt us at all and only makes it tougher for defensive coordinators. As soon as they expect different play calls when Cross or Newby or Taylor come in, we have a strategic advantage.

I'm thinking of 1999 when Dan Alexander, Correll Buckhalter, and Darhann Diedrick all got signficant carries.

Imani Cross has been treated as a Featured Fullback, and actually that's not a bad way to go.

We've lived by a single-back set for years because our quarterback is already a running back, but I'd love to see a few more plays with multiple RBs behind Armstrong.

 

[Landlord]

I've personally only ever seen Newby perform well against creampuff competition. Haven't seen anything from him against better teams to get super excited.

I'm high on Taylor based on potential via eyeball test. He's a fast, powerful, violent runner, which is fun to watch and gets me excited.

 

[junior4949]

I think we'll learn a lot more about our OL this year than our RBs. If we see improved OL play, our running game won't skip a beat. If we do no, we don't have a RB on the roster with Abdullah's capabilities. Therefore, our running game will suffer.

 

[Scratchtown]

Somebody explain the Newby love to me please.

Will somebody else explain to me the Adam Taylor love? Look, I'd like to see all of our guys contribute immensely, and I feel we can do some good things with multiple backs but Terrell Newby has proven that he can at least play and stay healthy. Adam Taylor hasn't played a down of live college football. Not a single down. Imani will start with Newby coming off first. Terrell is the one who is not like the others, which will help him. Adam has a lot of ground to make when it comes to experience and trust. He doesn't get skinny very well and his cuts are slow. He runs straight up through the hole sometimes and gets stopped rather easily. Many believed he was hesitant because of his prior injury. He had moments right before he got injured. The best raw talent is Mikale. He doesn't have a glaring weakness and is the one who could jump them all.

You just described Ron Brown's assessment of Imani Cross at the coaches clinic last year. But also add, "RUNS TOO DANG HIGH"

 

[Redux]

Can we get Cross on the field to block for Taylor or Newby on toss plays?

 

[suh_fan93]

I think we'll learn a lot more about our OL this year than our RBs. If we see improved OL play, our running game won't skip a beat. If we do no, we don't have a RB on the roster with Abdullah's capabilities. Therefore, our running game will suffer.

Absolutely. Biggest concern of the entire team imo.