Running Back Room

[BigRedBuster]

3 minutes ago, The Dude said:

 

Yeah it would be wise to transition him into more of a receiver role given his skill set and the apparent log jam at runningback. 

 

Maybe there's people on the staff now who have some sense??  Seems almost too good to be true.

 

I like him at the wingback position he was in in the clip.  A little RB...a little WR.  He's not going to break into the two deep as a straight WR.  But, when he has enough skills to do a little bit of both....nice.

[ColoradoHusk]

26 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

I like him at the wingback position he was in in the clip.  A little RB...a little WR.  He's not going to break into the two deep as a straight WR.  But, when he has enough skills to do a little bit of both....nice.

I used to love how the Wingback position was used "back in the day".  I think it would be great to have Rahmir and another RB on the field at the same time, as it could create mismatches, especially if NU uses no-huddle offense under Whipple.  With NU not having a lot of depth at TE, NU could use more 2-back sets (with one of them moving all over the field) instead of 2-TE sets.

 

EDIT:  Whipple said today that Rahmir is also getting reps at WR in practices so he can fill-in at WR as needed if injuries pop up (especially in Big Ten road games, when rosters are limited).

[BIG ERN]

Grant

Ervin/Yant/Johnson 

 

The initial starter doesn't mean much to me for this room this year. When Whipple doesn't see someone great he will distribute carries. If he feels you are an impact player you will see a load of carries/receptions. 

[suh_fan93]

Would agree about not really caring about who is the initial starter as well.  I have a feeling this rotation might be a little like last year for some reason except I'm hoping for more consistency.  If someone is hot please keep giving them the rock. 

 

Also hopefully no more disappearing acts after someone looks like they're finding a groove or seemed to have a good game.

[Pedro G]

4 hours ago, Husker in WI said:

Interesting look here with Rahmir in an old school wingback alignment while we're under center. I assume there will be a fair amount more under center with Whipple, and that could open up some cool play designs that wouldn't have been worth pursuing when our under center game was limited to sneaks and an option package.

 

EDIT: Actually looks like Rahmir was with the WRs today - he wasn't in the RB drill later on, and was in a WR drill.

Appears like Belt then won’t see much playing time. You have Alante Brown before him. And with Johnson, sorry Brody. 

[Huskerfollower4life]

13 hours ago, suh_fan93 said:

Would agree about not really caring about who is the initial starter as well.  I have a feeling this rotation might be a little like last year for some reason except I'm hoping for more consistency.  If someone is hot please keep giving them the rock. 

 

Also hopefully no more disappearing acts after someone looks like they're finding a groove or seemed to have a good game.

AG will lead the running back room and i believe he will become a 1000 yard rusher for us. For me i understand Yant's role and Rahmir but Ervin im stuck between a rock and a hard place. I know he was the first ever true freshmen to start last year but they didn't have anyone to really give him a test. This year AG has come in and has been as advertised so far. When Ervin was the starter he was solid but not spectacular. When i think of Ervin he is probably the guy that does everything right in practice but not great. He will get you 4 or 5 yards but not the long touchdown runs or spectacular plays. Yant is Yant a bulldozer who you know you don't even want to try tackling by himself. Can carry the load of carries if need be or can give guys piggy back rides down the field for excitement. Rahmir is tough and quick just not alot of wiggle to his game. Big heart small statue to be a every down back in the big 10. He certainly will get his touches probably in trick plays or if they are running up tempo and trying to offset the defense from substituting out on plays. It will be fun to watch the running back room but even more fun to see the success of AG.

[Red Five]

28 minutes ago, Huskerfollower4life said:

AG will lead the running back room and i believe he will become a 1000 yard rusher for us.

 

Leading rusher under Whipple offenses

Pitt 2021 - 651 yds

Pitt 2020 - 632 yds

Pitt 2019 - 530 yds

UMass 2018 - 778 yds

UMass 2017 - 982 yds

UMass 2016 - 898 yds

UMass 2015 - 973 yds

UMass 2014 - 573 yds

Miami 2010 - 899 yds

Miami 2009 - 675 yds

[krc1995]

14 hours ago, Pedro G said:

Appears like Belt then won’t see much playing time. You have Alante Brown before him. And with Johnson, sorry Brody. 

We finally have a staff that evaluate and train the receiving group.  Belt, while I’m sure a studious and nice kid, obviously lacks the upper tier of ability. 

[Huskerfollower4life]

36 minutes ago, Red Five said:

 

Leading rusher under Whipple offenses

Pitt 2021 - 651 yds

Pitt 2020 - 632 yds

Pitt 2019 - 530 yds

UMass 2018 - 778 yds

UMass 2017 - 982 yds

UMass 2016 - 898 yds

UMass 2015 - 973 yds

UMass 2014 - 573 yds

Miami 2010 - 899 yds

Miami 2009 - 675 yds

I understand that he likes to throw and stats say otherwise but i definitely can see it. Even if AG doesn't get a 1000 yards he will still be the featured back.

[BigRedBuster]

There's a lot we can think we know about what offense Whipple is going to run.  But, at the same time, there's a lot we don't know.  Like, I know they don't want to feature the QB run a lot.  However, has he ever really had a QB that is mobile like what we have here?  So, I don't expect a lot of QB runs.  But, will he, every once in a while, have a designed QB draw?  Has he ever used a wingback before?

[Loebarth]

1 hour ago, Huskerfollower4life said:

I understand that he likes to throw and stats say otherwise but i definitely can see it. Even if AG doesn't get a 1000 yards he will still be the featured back.

 

If we put ourselves in Whipple's shoes and see what talent he saw while coaching Pitt.. 1. A first round QB and 2. A superstar wideout that nobody could cover... well, I think we'd likely do what he did and "throw the ball".. That said, while with the steelers his coaching (he was the QB coach) led to Big Ben being the youngest qb to go 13-0 and later on the same year, winning the superbowl. To think anyone here has any idea of what Whip will do with his game planning is speculative and pure assumptive on their (our) part. Whip's seen it all over the years and nobody is going to throw a defensive scheme at him that will confuse him. It may, probably will, confuse the players but I'm putting my trust in Whip being able to adjust as needed and if that means "run the rock" then he'll run the rock. 

[84HuskerLaw]

1 hour ago, Loebarth said:

 

If we put ourselves in Whipple's shoes and see what talent he saw while coaching Pitt.. 1. A first round QB and 2. A superstar wideout that nobody could cover... well, I think we'd likely do what he did and "throw the ball".. That said, while with the steelers his coaching (he was the QB coach) led to Big Ben being the youngest qb to go 13-0 and later on the same year, winning the superbowl. To think anyone here has any idea of what Whip will do with his game planning is speculative and pure assumptive on their (our) part. Whip's seen it all over the years and nobody is going to throw a defensive scheme at him that will confuse him. It may, probably will, confuse the players but I'm putting my trust in Whip being able to adjust as needed and if that means "run the rock" then he'll run the rock. 

This has been my hope since he was hired.  I just hope they’ve had enough real fb practice to get an offense with the kind of diversity and flex to be able to function as a finesse pass and power run team, as circumstances dictate.  It’s doubtful Whip can just run whatever he wants. We lack that kind of talent in the team, especially O line, in year 1 of the Frosty-Whip system, whatever that ends up being.  I’ve been wondering if he can assemble some packages to groups of players for the first 4-6 games while the whole team gets up to speed, execution wise.  

[Lorewarn]

1 hour ago, Loebarth said:

 

If we put ourselves in Whipple's shoes and see what talent he saw while coaching Pitt.. 1. A first round QB and 2. A superstar wideout that nobody could cover... well, I think we'd likely do what he did and "throw the ball".. 

 

 

That explains last year. Doesn't explain the multiple years before it.

[BigRedBuster]

4 minutes ago, 84HuskerLaw said:

This has been my hope since he was hired.  I just hope they’ve had enough real fb practice to get an offense with the kind of diversity and flex to be able to function as a finesse pass and power run team, as circumstances dictate.  It’s doubtful Whip can just run whatever he wants. We lack that kind of talent in the team, especially O line, in year 1 of the Frosty-Whip system, whatever that ends up being.  I’ve been wondering if he can assemble some packages to groups of players for the first 4-6 games while the whole team gets up to speed, execution wise.  

Even the most talented teams don't "just run whatever they want".  I remember a couple years ago reading an article about Alabama and how Saban changes his offense to the talent he has on the team.  He's had QBs that are pure drop back passers all the way to QBs that are very mobile and athletic.  His offenses changed with what talent he had.

 

I expect Whipple to do the same.  Yes, his offense will require a good passing QB.  But, if he's more mobile and athletic, there might be some wrinkles put in that take advantage of that.

[Husker in WI]

Pitt also had 3 guys with over 500 yards, and ran the ball 37 times per game compared to 40 for us. I like a bell cow back, but I'm much more concerned about the totals and I'm not worried. We might run slightly less than 37 a game - Pitt ran ~7 more plays a game than we did, and it's just hard to get the volume of plays when you're facing Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. But this isn't going to be the air raid offense or anything.