Things to Improve On

[MadcatNU]

Too many people looked at Lucky's 5 stars and assumed he was going to do what Adrian Peterson did. If you compare him to the other top backs from his class he's right on schedule. He had a significant impact on the offense last year both in the running and passing game - as a sophomore.

If he hadn't split time with the other 3 guys he probably would have had stats just as good or better than Jonathan Stewart (the top rated running back of '05) at Oregon and Jamaal Charles (also highly rated) at Texas.

His junior year is coming when he'll have the opportunity to be as much of a feature back as Callahan will have in this offense.

my take on the guy is IF he was as good as Stuart......he WOULDN'T have had to split playing time...he still isn't playing like a 5 star guy.....not that he is bad, he just isn't THAT good....

Not quite the whole story though. Lucky was a true soph and Bjax a (redshirt?) junior - one who played himself into the NFL this season at that.

Does this speak ill of Bjax that he had to split carries with Lucky? Not to me in the slightest. I think it means Lucky is not that far behind Bjax, and Bjax was pretty good.

It may be that Lucky turns out to be overrated, but he may also deliver on his ranking. His development from frosh to soph season was huge. How can we say he won't continue to improve and be great his last two seasons?

 

[DJR313]

skers i agree with all you just said other than ruud gets it done. i saw things differently. i saw someone getting beat all the time and getting 10 tackle a game which was really 20 half tackle cuz he piled on at the end

I'm just curious. Did you feel the same way about his older brother? I always thought his older brother was nothing more than a pile flopper as well. I guess I'm still bitter about the combines where he took over a tenth of a second off his 40 and said it was due to laying off the beer. I guess playing for the Huskers wasn't motivating enough for him.

Wow, couldn't agree more. Biggest knock on Barret was that he had problems shedding blockers. And it wasn't 1 tenth that he shaved, it was 2. That was kind of disappointing, hearing about that.

Not to get way off topic or nothing...

But about Lucky, he improved dramatically from 05 to 06, and from beginning of the season to now. I think B-Jax didn't play much in the Cotton Bowl because of lingering concerns about the broken hand. I think that Lucky isn't the impact player that AP was initially, but he will continue to improve and when it is all said and done, you will see why he was touted so highly. It's not necessarily fair that his progress is not seen as "enough" because some have an unrealistic expectation of what a 5 star athlete "should be".

 

[landonhusker]

skers i agree with all you just said other than ruud gets it done. i saw things differently. i saw someone getting beat all the time and getting 10 tackle a game which was really 20 half tackle cuz he piled on at the end

I'm just curious. Did you feel the same way about his older brother? I always thought his older brother was nothing more than a pile flopper as well. I guess I'm still bitter about the combines where he took over a tenth of a second off his 40 and said it was due to laying off the beer. I guess playing for the Huskers wasn't motivating enough for him.

Wow, couldn't agree more. Biggest knock on Barret was that he had problems shedding blockers. And it wasn't 1 tenth that he shaved, it was 2. That was kind of disappointing, hearing about that.

Not to get way off topic or nothing...

But about Lucky, he improved dramatically from 05 to 06, and from beginning of the season to now. I think B-Jax didn't play much in the Cotton Bowl because of lingering concerns about the broken hand. I think that Lucky isn't the impact player that AP was initially, but he will continue to improve and when it is all said and done, you will see why he was touted so highly. It's necessarily fair that his progress is not seen as "enough" because some have an unrealistic expectation of what a 5 star athlete "should be".

Barretts really struggling to shed blocks in the NFL

 

[gamecocks]

I think the biggest knock on Lucky is that he is not a great between the tackle runner like BJax was. However, that does not mean that he is not good. He has shown that he can do some great things when he gets the ball in the open and BC knows this with some of flare screens and swing passes that he runs to Lucky. I think we need to utilize him more in these situation with a couple of jail break screens and such just to get him the ball in the open field. Kind of like what Florida did with that one freshman of theirs this year. He might not be the best back we have for our power running game but the stuff he can do on other plays makes him a very big contributor to this team and the future.

 

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Hopefully Lucky can improve his field vision and tackle breaking ability. Unfortunately I believe the first is more of an ability you either have or you don't. I'd love nothing more than to see Lucky step up and seperate himself from the pack.

If the offense starts utilizing the FB more then moving Glenn there might be good. It would open up the offense more and give a scoring threat from another position. I would like to see the days of the FB breaking thru the line past the secondary to the endzone again.

 

[Hunter94]

Too many people looked at Lucky's 5 stars and assumed he was going to do what Adrian Peterson did. If you compare him to the other top backs from his class he's right on schedule. He had a significant impact on the offense last year both in the running and passing game - as a sophomore.

If he hadn't split time with the other 3 guys he probably would have had stats just as good or better than Jonathan Stewart (the top rated running back of '05) at Oregon and Jamaal Charles (also highly rated) at Texas.

His junior year is coming when he'll have the opportunity to be as much of a feature back as Callahan will have in this offense.

my take on the guy is IF he was as good as Stuart......he WOULDN'T have had to split playing time...he still isn't playing like a 5 star guy.....not that he is bad, he just isn't THAT good....

Not quite the whole story though. Lucky was a true soph and Bjax a (redshirt?) junior - one who played himself into the NFL this season at that.

Does this speak ill of Bjax that he had to split carries with Lucky? Not to me in the slightest. I think it means Lucky is not that far behind Bjax, and Bjax was pretty good.

It may be that Lucky turns out to be overrated, but he may also deliver on his ranking. His development from frosh to soph season was huge. How can we say he won't continue to improve and be great his last two seasons?

ok, and it may turn out that way......but i don't see Heisman stuff like an Adrian Petersen or a C.J. Gable from USC, who started as a freshman......i never saw the flashes that come right away as a freshman either.

as they say......."it's all good"......verying degrees of good or greatness? if he is that good, he should at least make all Big 12 this year, agree?

 

[skersfan]

Lucky was selected due to his Nike campe. He was unheard of before that. I never heard a single word about him here in SoCal..

I watched the recruiting films on him and said day one that I was not impressed. Still do not see the gigantic improvement and would be willing to bet he will never be a AP or RB. He will be an adequate back, nothing more. Vision at the line of scrimmage. He just does not seem to have it.

Nothing against the kid. I still keep hoping that BC's vision will come through on him. I trust BC so I still have hope it will happen.

 

[admo]

I didnt see anything from BJAX his frosh and soph seasons. Then the RB coach (Jordan) started praising him around this time last year. I thought nothing of it. I didnt think he would get any PT this year. I was totally wrong. From the first game on he ran hard and looked polished. I guess a few years into a system, some maturity, etc, well who knows. I'm not sure many expected BJAX to leap Lucky, Glen and Wilson. I know I didnt. All the talk and hype was about the other three. I think someone will learn from what BJAX did and become "the man". Whoever it is. It's up for grabs. Time will tell. I hope they're all healthy this year. And someone earns the spot for the heavy load.

 

[skersfan]

Not quite correct.

BJ was penciled as the starter the year before. He was ahead of Cory Ross in the spring, because of his blocking ability. Shoulder injury took him out. BJ, according to the coaches has always been our most complete back.

 

[gamecocks]

Still do not see the gigantic improvement and would be willing to bet he will never be a AP or RB.

Well when we put that lofty of expectations on a kid, he will more than likely always fall short of expectations.

 

[skersfan]

As stated I never put lofty expectations on him. I picked him third in the group behind Leon Jackson.

 

[gamecocks]

I didn't mean to single you out. Your sentence was just what I quoted. Sorry about that skersfan.

I do read where a lot of people bring up his five star ranking and sort of use it as way to say that Lucky is underacheiving. IMO, Lucky has not reached his full potential yet and still has the ability to get better. Will he reach his potential? I don't know, but he still has room to improve and the ability to do it.

 

[skersfan]

Same here.

BC says he is the real deal, who am It to question. I just hate that little stutter step he always seems to make when running inside. Open field he is impressive, but just goes down a little too easy. With experience he may just prove me wrong. I certainly would be the first to scream it from the rafters if so.

 

[admo]

Not quite correct.

BJ was penciled as the starter the year before. He was ahead of Cory Ross in the spring, because of his blocking ability. Shoulder injury took him out. BJ, according to the coaches has always been our most complete back.

Then according to the coaches, our "most complete back that has always been".... was fourth on the depth chart the first half of the season. Or "co-backup" to the "co-starters" as they put it.

 

[Benard]

Too many people looked at Lucky's 5 stars and assumed he was going to do what Adrian Peterson did. If you compare him to the other top backs from his class he's right on schedule. He had a significant impact on the offense last year both in the running and passing game - as a sophomore.

If he hadn't split time with the other 3 guys he probably would have had stats just as good or better than Jonathan Stewart (the top rated running back of '05) at Oregon and Jamaal Charles (also highly rated) at Texas.

His junior year is coming when he'll have the opportunity to be as much of a feature back as Callahan will have in this offense.

my take on the guy is IF he was as good as Stuart......he WOULDN'T have had to split playing time...he still isn't playing like a 5 star guy.....not that he is bad, he just isn't THAT good....

Not quite the whole story though. Lucky was a true soph and Bjax a (redshirt?) junior - one who played himself into the NFL this season at that.

Does this speak ill of Bjax that he had to split carries with Lucky? Not to me in the slightest. I think it means Lucky is not that far behind Bjax, and Bjax was pretty good.

It may be that Lucky turns out to be overrated, but he may also deliver on his ranking. His development from frosh to soph season was huge. How can we say he won't continue to improve and be great his last two seasons?

ok, and it may turn out that way......but i don't see Heisman stuff like an Adrian Petersen or a C.J. Gable from USC, who started as a freshman......i never saw the flashes that come right away as a freshman either.

as they say......."it's all good"......verying degrees of good or greatness? if he is that good, he should at least make all Big 12 this year, agree?

Glad to see we agree on something. Lucky will never be more then a average to below average big 12 back.