Post spring game RB depth chart

[NebraskaHarry]

If there was a game tomorrow...

1.) Newby (Only critique is that I think he's looking for the big run too often, instead of just running for positive yards. The big runs will come.)

2A.) Taylor (Need to catch those screen passes. But looks like a solid RB.)

2B.) Cross (No doubt a hard runner. Just not as quick as the others.)

3.) Wilbon (Lacks experience, but he could be a very good RB in 2 years.)

What does that mean? He's looking for the big run too often?

So on runs where he ony gains five yards, he wasn't looking for the big run?

When he runs fifty yards, then he must've been looking for it?

Running backs should try to make the most of every carry they get. End of story. Now if they arent hitting their gaps, hesitatiing, or running sideways far too often instead of north and south, that can be a problem. Always look for the big run. The offensive line and WR's should block like it's going to be the big run also.

You know exactly what I mean. Frankly, I think your looking for a fight.

 

[BigRedBuster]

I know I am in the minority here, but I am not sold on Newby yet. He has plenty of upside, but spends to much time trying to do the shake and bake...... he leaves yards on the field.

I don't think anyone is sold on any of the backs just yet. They all have limited game experience and are now in a different offensive system. Hard to really know, just best guesses right now.

I may not be "sold" on any of the backs yet but, I am confident that we have a player on the roster that is going to be very very productive for us and we are going to love watching what he can do. I just don't know which one that is.

There are some on here that I get the feeling they don't think we have much talent at RB. I think just the opposite. I think we have a lot of talent and I'm excited to see which one or two take control and create excitement on Saturdays.

 

[StPaulHusker]

I will be absolutely surprised if Imani Cross is anything more that a situational/goal line RB. I thought with the QB being under center more and handing the ball off with him getting more of a downhill start he would be better but Taylor and Newby looked way more comfortable.

 

[jmfb]

For those who have always been on the Imani Cross bandwagon:

As I stated shortly after Riley was hired- Cross would be on the bottom of the depth chart

Reason: Riley is almost exclusively a zone guy- IZ and OZ

Cross is great athlete, works hard, nice person etc etc

BUT he cant run zone, has very poor lateral quickness and cant hit the landmarks quickly- make the read well

Running zone is an art he simply doesn't have- hence he will be left out of the mix- like I said in December

 

[zoogs]

That's interesting. Benning was talking about how Nelson -- with whom he seemed to have some familiarity -- was a great zone runner. And Nelson certainly made some plays. Not only that, but has some decent game experience.

Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but I love a good walk-on story. And I definitely love the unheralded RB story.

 

[BIG ERN]

If we truly ran a Pro style offense this season then Taylor would be my #1. From what we saw, that won't be the case with the current QB situation. I still like Taylor, but I'm sure Newby will start initially which I am okay with. Hopefully he cuts down on the fumbles.

 

[StPaulHusker]

For those who have always been on the Imani Cross bandwagon:

As I stated shortly after Riley was hired- Cross would be on the bottom of the depth chart

Reason: Riley is almost exclusively a zone guy- IZ and OZ

Cross is great athlete, works hard, nice person etc etc

BUT he cant run zone, has very poor lateral quickness and cant hit the landmarks quickly- make the read well

Running zone is an art he simply doesn't have- hence he will be left out of the mix- like I said in December

And we have nothing to say he's on the bottom except a few people's opinion...once again, just like in December.

If he's where you think he when the season starts, then you can pound your chest a bit...until then, we all have opinions and yours isn't any better than someone who thinks Imani is #1 on the chart.

jmfb's opinion is better because he is basing it off what he saw from Cross in either games and/or this most recent Spring game. You are basing your opinion off how hard he works in practice.

 

[jmfb]

My opinion is based on:

What Ive seen of Imani the last 2 years in games

The handful of practices Ive attended

My understanding of our offense and what it takes from a RB to run Zone

The lack of carries in the Spring game

Comments from others that know the team/football and have attended a few practices- understand what a Pro Offense is and what type of plays they will run- understand how tough it is for stiff running backs to run zone

Again, working hard, being a great kid/nice person etc doesn't mean same player is great zone runner

Being a good High School running back and being a consistently great zone runner aren't always the same thing- it's difficult for many

Newby runs zone well

Cross not in same galaxy as him

 

[swmohusker]

Newby will be a very good back next year. I think he has more power than people give him credit for. He just needs to learn that you get 1 cut per level and to get north and south as soon as you can to utilize his breakaway speed (which he has better speed than AA)

 

[BigRedBuster]

Newby will be a very good back next year. I think he has more power than people give him credit for. He just needs to learn that you get 1 cut per level and to get north and south as soon as you can to utilize his breakaway speed (which he has better speed than AA)

Agree.

 

[HUSKER FREAK]

If Taylor didn't get hurt last year he would have gotten a lot of carries. Having said that it will be Newby, Taylor, Wilbon, cross/the rest. The only thing going for Cross is it is said that Mike Riley likes his backs going north and south more than east and west like the previous staff (thank God). Oh and DPE is going to have a really big year can't wait.

 

[Mavric]

There are more reasons that one back might have gotten more playing time than another other than being the better player - at least in this case where they were both playing backup roles. Such as one player having a very similar skill-set to the starter while the other player offered a different set of skills.

Not to mention that they both had exactly the same amount of touches - Newby caught eight passes while Cross caught none.

 

[StPaulHusker]

My opinion is based on:

What Ive seen of Imani the last 2 years in games

The handful of practices Ive attended

My understanding of our offense and what it takes from a RB to run Zone

The lack of carries in the Spring game

Comments from others that know the team/football and have attended a few practices- understand what a Pro Offense is and what type of plays they will run- understand how tough it is for stiff running backs to run zone

Again, working hard, being a great kid/nice person etc doesn't mean same player is great zone runner

Being a good High School running back and being a consistently great zone runner aren't always the same thing- it's difficult for many

Newby runs zone well

Cross not in same galaxy as him

My opinion is the same...

Based on what I've seen of Imani in the past 2 years in games (more carries, more yards than Newby...obviously better in pass pro than Newby, picks up blitzes better)

My understanding of what it takes for a RB to run a zone and the fact that he's run the same plays as Newby the past few years.

There was no lack of carries (5 to Newby's 7)...they had Cross switch colors to run on Newby's side where he averaged more YPC with fewer carries.

Comments from others that know you have to be able to pick up a blitz and pass block to be a better RB

Comments from Newby saying Cross is the best of all RB's at picking up blitzes and in Pass Pro.

Again, your opinion and my opinion differ...but that doesn't make yours right nor does it make mine right. However, when the games start...one of us will be. Until then, different perspectives. I can see yours, hopefully you can see mine as well.

If Cross is not named the starter are you going to blame the coaches or realize that Cross wasn't better?

 

[jmfb]

My opinion is based on:

What Ive seen of Imani the last 2 years in games

The handful of practices Ive attended

My understanding of our offense and what it takes from a RB to run Zone

The lack of carries in the Spring game

Comments from others that know the team/football and have attended a few practices- understand what a Pro Offense is and what type of plays they will run- understand how tough it is for stiff running backs to run zone

Again, working hard, being a great kid/nice person etc doesn't mean same player is great zone runner

Being a good High School running back and being a consistently great zone runner aren't always the same thing- it's difficult for many

Newby runs zone well

Cross not in same galaxy as him

My opinion is the same...

Based on what I've seen of Imani in the past 2 years in games (more carries, more yards than Newby...obviously better in pass pro than Newby, picks up blitzes better)

My understanding of what it takes for a RB to run a zone and the fact that he's run the same plays as Newby the past few years.

There was no lack of carries (5 to Newby's 7)...they had Cross switch colors to run on Newby's side where he averaged more YPC with fewer carries.

Comments from others that know you have to be able to pick up a blitz and pass block to be a better RB

Comments from Newby saying Cross is the best of all RB's at picking up blitzes and in Pass Pro.

Again, your opinion and my opinion differ...but that doesn't make yours right nor does it make mine right. However, when the games start...one of us will be. Until then, different perspectives. I can see yours, hopefully you can see mine as well.

I think Ameer has been quoted that he thinks Newby is the man

He has the physical skills to run zone and Ive seen him run it the way it is intended to be run

Ive coached Zone

I know what it takes to run Zone- been taught by College coaches how to run it, teach it etc, personel required

Ive seen Imani try and run zone last year- he wasn't very good at it, that;s why when he did get carries it WASNT in zone very often

Really limited the offense when he was in there

This coaching staff is pretty much zone only

They aren't a gap scheme (power or counter trey) or Iso scheme staff- not the way they have ever done things

Ive seen Imani in practice doing the jump cut drills and others- he doesn't have the lateral speed, body control or read skills to run zone, that's why they didn't run him a bunch on zone last year

Since this offense is going to be almost exclusively zone, he wont get many carries

If you think Imani and Newby ran the same plays as each other in same ratios- you weren't watching the film very closely or don't know what to look for

Most people on the radio and even local newspaper don't even know what Pro Style Is, the clowns on the radio were totally lost when they tried talking about it.

I just listened to Sipple and Peterson- they were CLUELESS, Pro style DOESNT mean what the NFL runs today, although ALL NFL teams run some or most of if. . Pro Style is an accepted coaching definition that isn't a moving target. It is an offense Just like Veer, Air Raid, RUn and Shoot, and Flexbone are offenses.

Damon Benning knows what he is talking about- the rest need to do some research and attend some coaching clinics- no wonder so many are misinformed

 

[BigRedBuster]

My opinion is based on:

What Ive seen of Imani the last 2 years in games

The handful of practices Ive attended

My understanding of our offense and what it takes from a RB to run Zone

The lack of carries in the Spring game

Comments from others that know the team/football and have attended a few practices- understand what a Pro Offense is and what type of plays they will run- understand how tough it is for stiff running backs to run zone

Again, working hard, being a great kid/nice person etc doesn't mean same player is great zone runner

Being a good High School running back and being a consistently great zone runner aren't always the same thing- it's difficult for many

Newby runs zone well

Cross not in same galaxy as him

My opinion is the same...

Based on what I've seen of Imani in the past 2 years in games (more carries, more yards than Newby...obviously better in pass pro than Newby, picks up blitzes better)

My understanding of what it takes for a RB to run a zone and the fact that he's run the same plays as Newby the past few years.

There was no lack of carries (5 to Newby's 7)...they had Cross switch colors to run on Newby's side where he averaged more YPC with fewer carries.

Comments from others that know you have to be able to pick up a blitz and pass block to be a better RB

Comments from Newby saying Cross is the best of all RB's at picking up blitzes and in Pass Pro.

Again, your opinion and my opinion differ...but that doesn't make yours right nor does it make mine right. However, when the games start...one of us will be. Until then, different perspectives. I can see yours, hopefully you can see mine as well.

I think Ameer has been quoted that he thinks Newby is the man

He has the physical skills to run zone and Ive seen him run it the way it is intended to be run

Ive coached Zone

I know what it takes to run Zone- been taught by College coaches how to run it, teach it etc, personel required

Ive seen Imani try and run zone last year- he wasn't very good at it, that;s why when he did get carries it WASNT in zone very often

Really limited the offense when he was in there

This coaching staff is pretty much zone only

They aren't a gap scheme or Iso scheme staff- not the way they have ever done things

Ive seen Imani in practice doing the jump cut drills and others- he doesn't have the lateral speed, body control or read skills to run zone, that's why they didn't run him a bunch on zone last year

Since this offense is going to be almost exclusively zone, he wont get many carries

If you think Imani and Newby ran the same plays as each other in same ratios- you weren't watching the film very closely or don't know what to look for

Most people on the radio and even local newspaper don't even know what Pro Style Is, the clowns on the radio were totally lost when they tried talking about it.

I just listened to Sipple and Peterson- they were CLUELESS, Pro style DOESNT mean what the NFL runs today, although ALL NFL teams run some or most of if. . Pro Style is an accepted coaching definition that isn't a moving target. It is an offense Just like Veer, Air Raid, RUn and Shoot, and Flexbone are offenses.

Damon Benning knows what he is talking about- the rest need to do some research and attend some coaching clinics- no wonder so many are misinformed

So, please explain what "prostyle" means. Heck, Riley couldn't even exactly define it when asked. He said something about..."Well, it must mean we are under center more and huddle".