Spring Position Battles - Running Backs

[MichiganDad3]

Rex Burkhead was a dam fine RB and certainly would have been a FB in TO's days and could have played IB as well but lacked the break away 4.4 speed it would have taken to crack the line up from the deep spot. During the 90s we had almost zero RBs on the roster that played any significant time in their careers that ran slower than 4.55 and few were over 4.5 really. Even big Dan Alexander who finished under Solich was a sub 4.5 guy. Cory Ross was perhaps the slowest IB to start for the Huskers unless you go back to the '70s with big slow guys like Monte Anthony, etc. At that time the RBs were favored if they were bigger and 'pile pushers' when we tried to over power instead of out run defenders.

It is rather stranged that Omaha has failed to produce any really high caliber RBs in the past deade or so. We used to always take the top backs out of Omaha Central. Solich recruited David Horne out of Omaha instead of North Platte's star Danny Woodhead and instead of USC star Reggie Bush. Horne ran a 4.8 or so and never could have turned the corner on anybody. The option game was not going to work as the QB would have already turned the corner or been tackled waiting on the IB to get to the pitch location.

Wow that is a lot of rivisionist and wrong history. Woodhead graduated from NP in 2004 and Horne graduated in 2002, so he didn't take Horne over Woodhead. I have no idea where this Reggie Bush stuff comes into play he was not coming to Nebraska. Rex would have been a fine RB in the old TO offense. I think he ran a 4.52 at the combine. Monte Anthony was not slow. Jays Simms was the fastest Iback on the team in the 90's and he couldn't crack the top 4. Straight line speed is nice and you don't want a kid to be completely slow, but it is a little down on the list as to what makes a great RB. Mike Rozier ran around a 4.6, no one complained he was too slow.

I was slightly concerned with Rozier's speed. When Smith replaced Rozier in the MNC game, the offense took off. Smith was under 200 lbs, so maybe Rozier was stronger. Smith had a good senior year despite injuries, and was a 10th round draft pick.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Sounds like Ozigbo bulked himself up in the offseason. One reporter said his legs are huge. Question I have is did he add speed or does that almost certainly solidify him as the up the middle power back and short yardage back?

FB?

 

[Redux]

I for some reason Wilbon ends up beating out both ex starter Newby and possibly new starter Ozigbo so be it. Unlikely as it is, it woulf mean he earned it.

Now, if he remains 3rd string and you still can't get excited because Ozigbo won it fair and square then I just feel sorry for ya. He was a blast to watch when he was on and he looks to be a big contributor moving forward. Sorry.

 

[suh_fan93]

I for some reason Wilbon ends up beating out both ex starter Newby and possibly new starter Ozigbo so be it. Unlikely as it is, it woulf mean he earned it.

Now, if he remains 3rd string and you still can't get excited because Ozigbo won it fair and square then I just feel sorry for ya. He was a blast to watch when he was on and he looks to be a big contributor moving forward. Sorry.

Just so you know Redux I would agree with that. Do I want to see what Wilbon can do? Yeah. Absolutely. At the same time if he gets his chance and basically Ozigbo or Newby whichever outplay him or just play more consistently then by all means leave them out there.

For the record while I still can say that I'm not exactly super stoked about Newby or Ozigbo or the way our coaches handled our run game after last year I'm always hopeful that they or someone will establish themselves and give our running game the boost that it's going to need to give our offense some balance. I just felt like the coaches ran/had a decent ratio of run vs passing plays but a lot of times to me anyway they were calling the right play at the wrong time last year.

 

[84HuskerLaw]

Rex Burkhead was a dam fine RB and certainly would have been a FB in TO's days and could have played IB as well but lacked the break away 4.4 speed it would have taken to crack the line up from the deep spot. During the 90s we had almost zero RBs on the roster that played any significant time in their careers that ran slower than 4.55 and few were over 4.5 really. Even big Dan Alexander who finished under Solich was a sub 4.5 guy. Cory Ross was perhaps the slowest IB to start for the Huskers unless you go back to the '70s with big slow guys like Monte Anthony, etc. At that time the RBs were favored if they were bigger and 'pile pushers' when we tried to over power instead of out run defenders.

It is rather stranged that Omaha has failed to produce any really high caliber RBs in the past deade or so. We used to always take the top backs out of Omaha Central. Solich recruited David Horne out of Omaha instead of North Platte's star Danny Woodhead and instead of USC star Reggie Bush. Horne ran a 4.8 or so and never could have turned the corner on anybody. The option game was not going to work as the QB would have already turned the corner or been tackled waiting on the IB to get to the pitch location.

Wow that is a lot of rivisionist and wrong history. Woodhead graduated from NP in 2004 and Horne graduated in 2002, so he didn't take Horne over Woodhead. I have no idea where this Reggie Bush stuff comes into play he was not coming to Nebraska. Rex would have been a fine RB in the old TO offense. I think he ran a 4.52 at the combine. Monte Anthony was not slow. Jays Simms was the fastest Iback on the team in the 90's and he couldn't crack the top 4. Straight line speed is nice and you don't want a kid to be completely slow, but it is a little down on the list as to what makes a great RB. Mike Rozier ran around a 4.6, no one complained he was too slow.

I was slightly concerned with Rozier's speed. When Smith replaced Rozier in the MNC game, the offense took off. Smith was under 200 lbs, so maybe Rozier was stronger. Smith had a good senior year despite injuries, and was a 10th round draft pick.

Mike's 2100 yards senior year was amazing since he played nearly all year with a severe case of turf toe. That may have held him back but he had no speed issues. He could take it to the house on any play and ran couple kick offs for TDs as well. He could turn the corner consistently. He had plenty of speed.

 

[Warrior10]

Depth Chart for Spring game:

Red

Newby

Ozigbo

Bryant

White

Wilbon

Taylor

Nelson

I think Ozigbo and Newby split carries in the spring game

Wilbon gets to start for the white team and we can see what he can do vs the first team defense

Bryant won't be playing.

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

When people post their opinions on a message board, do they expect other people NOT to argue the point?

Because that would destroy the internet.

 

[Mierin]

When people post their opinions on a message board, do they expect other people NOT to argue the point?

Because that would destroy the internet.

Apparently people are either not supposed to argue or assume that the person they're responding to is incredibly oversensitive.

 

[cm husker]

Rex Burkhead was never an elite running back, referencing the OP. The only folks who ever thought this were dyed in the wool husker fans. Of which I am one, but you have to be real. Burkhead wouldnt have made 3rd team on the 95 squad. He is a great guy! He was a solid back. He was a great leader by example. BUT he was not an elite running back.

The '95 squad? That's your reference? He would have been at least 3rd or moved to another position so he could contribute.

If he didn't get hit with an injury bug, he would have obtained bunch of records/awards.

He definitely had elite talent, as do most men who make the NFL.

 

[cm husker]

Rex Burkhead was a dam fine RB and certainly would have been a FB in TO's days and could have played IB as well but lacked the break away 4.4 speed it would have taken to crack the line up from the deep spot. During the 90s we had almost zero RBs on the roster that played any significant time in their careers that ran slower than 4.55 and few were over 4.5 really. Even big Dan Alexander who finished under Solich was a sub 4.5 guy. Cory Ross was perhaps the slowest IB to start for the Huskers unless you go back to the '70s with big slow guys like Monte Anthony, etc. At that time the RBs were favored if they were bigger and 'pile pushers' when we tried to over power instead of out run defenders.

It is rather stranged that Omaha has failed to produce any really high caliber RBs in the past deade or so. We used to always take the top backs out of Omaha Central. Solich recruited David Horne out of Omaha instead of North Platte's star Danny Woodhead and instead of USC star Reggie Bush. Horne ran a 4.8 or so and never could have turned the corner on anybody. The option game was not going to work as the QB would have already turned the corner or been tackled waiting on the IB to get to the pitch location.

Wow that is a lot of rivisionist and wrong history. Woodhead graduated from NP in 2004 and Horne graduated in 2002, so he didn't take Horne over Woodhead. I have no idea where this Reggie Bush stuff comes into play he was not coming to Nebraska. Rex would have been a fine RB in the old TO offense. I think he ran a 4.52 at the combine. Monte Anthony was not slow. Jays Simms was the fastest Iback on the team in the 90's and he couldn't crack the top 4. Straight line speed is nice and you don't want a kid to be completely slow, but it is a little down on the list as to what makes a great RB. Mike Rozier ran around a 4.6, no one complained he was too slow.

People literally just make sh#t up at this point. It's almost crazy at this point.

 

[MichiganDad3]

Rex Burkhead was a dam fine RB and certainly would have been a FB in TO's days and could have played IB as well but lacked the break away 4.4 speed it would have taken to crack the line up from the deep spot. During the 90s we had almost zero RBs on the roster that played any significant time in their careers that ran slower than 4.55 and few were over 4.5 really. Even big Dan Alexander who finished under Solich was a sub 4.5 guy. Cory Ross was perhaps the slowest IB to start for the Huskers unless you go back to the '70s with big slow guys like Monte Anthony, etc. At that time the RBs were favored if they were bigger and 'pile pushers' when we tried to over power instead of out run defenders.

It is rather stranged that Omaha has failed to produce any really high caliber RBs in the past deade or so. We used to always take the top backs out of Omaha Central. Solich recruited David Horne out of Omaha instead of North Platte's star Danny Woodhead and instead of USC star Reggie Bush. Horne ran a 4.8 or so and never could have turned the corner on anybody. The option game was not going to work as the QB would have already turned the corner or been tackled waiting on the IB to get to the pitch location.

Wow that is a lot of rivisionist and wrong history. Woodhead graduated from NP in 2004 and Horne graduated in 2002, so he didn't take Horne over Woodhead. I have no idea where this Reggie Bush stuff comes into play he was not coming to Nebraska. Rex would have been a fine RB in the old TO offense. I think he ran a 4.52 at the combine. Monte Anthony was not slow. Jays Simms was the fastest Iback on the team in the 90's and he couldn't crack the top 4. Straight line speed is nice and you don't want a kid to be completely slow, but it is a little down on the list as to what makes a great RB. Mike Rozier ran around a 4.6, no one complained he was too slow.

I was slightly concerned with Rozier's speed. When Smith replaced Rozier in the MNC game, the offense took off. Smith was under 200 lbs, so maybe Rozier was stronger. Smith had a good senior year despite injuries, and was a 10th round draft pick.

Mike's 2100 yards senior year was amazing since he played nearly all year with a severe case of turf toe. That may have held him back but he had no speed issues. He could take it to the house on any play and ran couple kick offs for TDs as well. He could turn the corner consistently. He had plenty of speed.

Before the ankle injury in the MNC game was he suffering from turf toe? It seemed like Smith was significantly quicker than Rozier in that game. I remember Howard Schnellenberger saying something about how surprised they were by Smith's speed.

 

[HuskermanMike]

Depth Chart for Spring game:

Red

Newby

Ozigbo

Bryant

White

Wilbon

Taylor

Nelson

I think Ozigbo and Newby split carries in the spring game

Wilbon gets to start for the white team and we can see what he can do vs the first team defense

Bryant won't be playing.

Ahh, my bad thanks for telling me, forgot he wasn't on campus yet.

I will add another walk-on in Bryants place, since nabity is FB we will insert Austin Rose for Tre Bryant, this is all my prediction so idk the actual lineups

 

[Enhance]

If we are still talking about Newby and Ozigbo as our main guys once the season is about to start I can't say I'm going to be terribly excited about our run game heading into this season.

Never thought I'd feel like that about something that has been such an integral part of Nebraska football as long as I can remember.

Riley better pull his head out and get Wilbon out there. If he's not fumbling there is absolutely no reason he shouldn't be seeing touches. I'm not buying the whole needs to learn the position better bit.

What are you basing your opinion in because I'm not sure I follow. I can certainly understand reservations about Newby considering he wasn't very consistent at times. However, despite limited carries, Ozigbo did very well for himself. 5.5 YPC, one touchdown and 209 rushing yards.

I know you've been taking heat in this thread but the reason I'm continuing the debate (as respectfully as possible) is because there's very little substance for the idea of Riley pulling his head out of anywhere and getting Wilbon on the field. What has Wilbon done to earn this praise, outside of what people say he's done in practice?

I simply don't like player posturing without something real to go off of and right now, and in my opinion, Wilbon is just about equal to Adam Taylor in my eyes. I don't care what Damon Benning or anyone else says about his running style and potential.

 

[84HuskerLaw]

Rex Burkhead was a dam fine RB and certainly would have been a FB in TO's days and could have played IB as well but lacked the break away 4.4 speed it would have taken to crack the line up from the deep spot. During the 90s we had almost zero RBs on the roster that played any significant time in their careers that ran slower than 4.55 and few were over 4.5 really. Even big Dan Alexander who finished under Solich was a sub 4.5 guy. Cory Ross was perhaps the slowest IB to start for the Huskers unless you go back to the '70s with big slow guys like Monte Anthony, etc. At that time the RBs were favored if they were bigger and 'pile pushers' when we tried to over power instead of out run defenders.

It is rather stranged that Omaha has failed to produce any really high caliber RBs in the past deade or so. We used to always take the top backs out of Omaha Central. Solich recruited David Horne out of Omaha instead of North Platte's star Danny Woodhead and instead of USC star Reggie Bush. Horne ran a 4.8 or so and never could have turned the corner on anybody. The option game was not going to work as the QB would have already turned the corner or been tackled waiting on the IB to get to the pitch location.

Wow that is a lot of rivisionist and wrong history. Woodhead graduated from NP in 2004 and Horne graduated in 2002, so he didn't take Horne over Woodhead. I have no idea where this Reggie Bush stuff comes into play he was not coming to Nebraska. Rex would have been a fine RB in the old TO offense. I think he ran a 4.52 at the combine. Monte Anthony was not slow. Jays Simms was the fastest Iback on the team in the 90's and he couldn't crack the top 4. Straight line speed is nice and you don't want a kid to be completely slow, but it is a little down on the list as to what makes a great RB. Mike Rozier ran around a 4.6, no one complained he was too slow.

People literally just make sh#t up at this point. It's almost crazy at this point.

Monte Anthony: LOL I would say he was the slowest I back in Huskery history (atleast the modern era (since 1965 let's say). He could not turn the corner on anybody. He was known by folks in the south stadium where I sat as "3 yards and a cloud of astro turf". I don't think they ever reported it but I am sure he ran no faster than 4.8 and we most likely had a couple offensive linemen who could out run him. Slow might have been his middle name.

 

[suh_fan93]

If we are still talking about Newby and Ozigbo as our main guys once the season is about to start I can't say I'm going to be terribly excited about our run game heading into this season.

Never thought I'd feel like that about something that has been such an integral part of Nebraska football as long as I can remember.

Riley better pull his head out and get Wilbon out there. If he's not fumbling there is absolutely no reason he shouldn't be seeing touches. I'm not buying the whole needs to learn the position better bit.

What are you basing your opinion in because I'm not sure I follow. I can certainly understand reservations about Newby considering he wasn't very consistent at times. However, despite limited carries, Ozigbo did very well for himself. 5.5 YPC, one touchdown and 209 rushing yards.

I know you've been taking heat in this thread but the reason I'm continuing the debate (as respectfully as possible) is because there's very little substance for the idea of Riley pulling his head out of anywhere and getting Wilbon on the field. What has Wilbon done to earn this praise, outside of what people say he's done in practice?

I simply don't like player posturing without something real to go off of and right now, and in my opinion, Wilbon is just about equal to Adam Taylor in my eyes. I don't care what Damon Benning or anyone else says about his running style and potential.

Finally a decent response but I always enjoy your posts anyway. Again no one has to agree with me. It's simple. I wasn't blown away by either running back last year (Newby or Ozigbo) and from what little there was to see of Mikale Wilbon he certainly showed flashes of having some serious potential. Riley said as much just last week in his presser. That they need to get him going and get him on the field. That's about it really. I had no idea my comments about simply not being so high on Newby or Ozigbo would elicit such strong feelings from a few posters. I know most of the people on here aren't like that though.

Everyone is free to have their own opinions and in the end they're simply just opinions about football. That's the whole point of this board. To express your opinions. You don't have to agree with everyone as I certainly don't but when people really start going over the line and calling people morons as I basically was then that's obviously taking things much, much too seriously. We're all Husker fans and not all Husker fans are going to see things the same way.

To get back to the topic though maybe Ozigbo can show us that maybe he can be a back that we're going to need this year. I still don't see Newby as that guy. I definitely think Wilbon needs more touches so if anything it's going to be fun (I hope) to see how it all shakes out. GBR.