Athlon ranks the nation's Running Back units

knapplc

knapplc

International Man of Mystery
In Athlon's assessment, Nebraska has the nation's sixth-best Running Backs units. That puts us one spot ahead of USC and four spots ahead of Texas (and Malcom Brown). The only other Big Ten team ahead of us is, not surprisingly, Wisconsin. Montee Ball would be in the top three all by himself, but according to this article Wiscy actually has other running backs as well.

Their blurb about Rex and the Huskers:

6. Nebraska – Strong rushing attacks are no stranger to Lincoln. The Cornhuskers averaged 217.2 yards per game on the ground last season, largely due to the play of running back Rex Burkhead. He led the team with 1,357 yards and 15 touchdowns, while catching 21 passes for 177 yards and two scores. Burkhead is a workhorse (284 carries) and carried Nebraska to victories against Iowa (38 carries, 160 yards) and Michigan State (35 carries, 130 yards). The senior could push for 275-300 carries once again, especially with no proven go-to back behind him. Sophomore Ameer Abdullah is a good change-of-pace option, while fullback Mike Marrow could help in short-yardage situations.
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Yeah, they include him. Redd is good, no doubt about it, but he was only tied with Rex for #2 in the Big Ten by ESPN. In fact, I think they listed Rex ahead at #2 and said Redd was close.

Curtis McNeal, USC's projected starter before the Redd transfer, is only 5'7" and 190lbs. Maybe that's what they're thinking about - even though McNeal went for 1,000 yards last year. Or it could be the fact that they make mention that Barkley and the WR corps are the nation's best QB/WR tandem in the country, and they think USC will focus on an aerial attack. Who knows.

 
Oh I feel Burkhead is better, I was just curious if this they still had us above them including the transfer.

I think Burkhead is starting to get a national buzz, good to see. Couldn't happen to a better kid.

 
I think Heard doesn't get enough credit! I thought he looked better than Aaron Green last year, he runs hard and doesn't shy away from contact. And if Ameer can't find a better handle on the rock Heard could see his self moving up the charts.

 
Abdullah lost four fumbles in 42 rushes. While not great, it's not like he's a fumbling machine, either - especially not for a true freshman getting his first taste of football at this level.

I think the timing of his fumbles are what makes them stand out more.

 
knapplc said:
Abdullah lost four fumbles in 42 rushes. While not great, it's not like he's a fumbling machine, either - especially not for a true freshman getting his first taste of football at this level.
I think the timing of his fumbles are what makes them stand out more.
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Thats 1 out of every 10 times he carries the ball. Thats absolutely awful at any level, freshman or not. Had Rex fumbled at that pace, he would have lost almost 30 fumbles last year (to put it into perspective). That's 30 extra possessions handed to the other team.

 
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knapplc said:
Abdullah lost four fumbles in 42 rushes. While not great, it's not like he's a fumbling machine, either - especially not for a true freshman getting his first taste of football at this level.

I think the timing of his fumbles are what makes them stand out more.
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I don't remember the exact yardage or location of the play, but one against South Carolina stands out the most to me. IIRC, we would have either scored or been very close to scoring were it not for Abdullah getting hit hard and letting the ball pop into the air. Instead, USC gets the ball and I believe they scored on that possession, or at the very least changed the field position up quite a bit.

Fumbles need to be addressed across the board, though. We had 32 which average out to a little over two per game, and we lost 11 of those.

 
SnowBigRed said:
knapplc said:
Abdullah lost four fumbles in 42 rushes. While not great, it's not like he's a fumbling machine, either - especially not for a true freshman getting his first taste of football at this level.
I think the timing of his fumbles are what makes them stand out more.
Click to expand...
Thats 1 out of every 10 times he carries the ball. Thats absolutely awful at any level, freshman or not. Had Rex fumbled at that pace he would have fumbled almost 30 times last year (to put it into perspective).
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This.

 
austinhusker said:
SnowBigRed said:
knapplc said:
Abdullah lost four fumbles in 42 rushes. While not great, it's not like he's a fumbling machine, either - especially not for a true freshman getting his first taste of football at this level.
I think the timing of his fumbles are what makes them stand out more.
Click to expand...
Thats 1 out of every 10 times he carries the ball. Thats absolutely awful at any level, freshman or not. Had Rex fumbled at that pace he would have fumbled almost 30 times last year (to put it into perspective).
Click to expand...

This.
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Agreed, it is awful. He was a freshman. Hopefully it gets better.

 
HuskerBowhunter said:
I think Heard doesn't get enough credit! I thought he looked better than Aaron Green last year, he runs hard and doesn't shy away from contact. And if Ameer can't find a better handle on the rock Heard could see his self moving up the charts.
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Couldn't agree more. I've been rooting for that kid to get on the field since he got here and he looked pretty good last year when he got the ball. He worked his a$$ off to get to college, never wavered on his commitment to us and now he's being a team player and rotating between offense/defense. I really hope his talents don't go to waste these next three years...

 
Heard has been practicing exclusively at RB so far, and Abdullah said its like he has never left. I also think heard will a better all around RB in the end. He was actually a higher rated RB then Aaron Green, just not as hyped.

 
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