Which type I-back do you prefer?

[walksalone]

What seems to be overlooked in this whole thread is the importance of the offensive line.  

How many great line have made mediocre RB's look amazing?  A hell of a lot more than a RB making an offenive line look good.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

What seems to be overlooked in this whole thread is the importance of the offensive line.  

How many great line have made mediocre RB's look amazing?  A hell of a lot more than a RB making an offenive line look good.

Obviously a great o-line makes a RB look better. But that kinda proves the point that I (and others) are trying to make. Quick, elusive RB’s can make up for poor o-lines and find creases to make gains. Big, bruising backs require better o-lines to get up to speed and break the tackles downfield against safeties and smaller LB’s. 

 

[ActualCornHusker]

Not sure.  Do the determine who won by judging which team looked better on the field?

Usually those go hand in hand with the stats but stats don't tell the whole story. 

Who was a better RB in 2017 on our roster besides Tre Bryant who got hurt a couple games in?

 

[Mavric]

What seems to be overlooked in this whole thread is the importance of the offensive line.  

How many great line have made mediocre RB's look amazing?  A hell of a lot more than a RB making an offenive line look good.

This is true.  But that’s kind of a separate discussion.

Pertinent to this topic would be “Which type of RB helps the OL look better?”  As demonstrated in the last video I posted, I would claim that the the quicker back who can make something out of nothing.

 

[ActualCornHusker]

What seems to be overlooked in this whole thread is the importance of the offensive line.  

How many great line have made mediocre RB's look amazing?  A hell of a lot more than a RB making an offenive line look good.

Ameer Abdullah sure made our line look better than they were  :cowbell:

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Usually those go hand in hand with the stats but stats don't tell the whole story. 

Who was a better RB in 2017 on our roster besides Tre Bryant who got hurt a couple games in?

Ozigbo might have won the prettiest pig competition among the RB’s in 2017, but that still didn’t make him a good running back until he got in shape for the 2018 season. 

 

[4skers89]

What seems to be overlooked in this whole thread is the importance of the offensive line.  

How many great line have made mediocre RB's look amazing?  A hell of a lot more than a RB making an offenive line look good.

I think Wisconsin had a slew of running backs that didn't amount to much in the NFL.

 

[ActualCornHusker]

Ozigbo might have won the prettiest pig competition among the RB’s in 2017, but that still didn’t make him a good running back until he got in shape for the 2018 season. 

My original statement was that i believe he was the best RB on our roster his entire career. I kind of forgot about Tre Bryant - he definitely looked special in the short stint that we got to watch him tote the rock. There's an argument to be made for Terrell Newby in 2016, but since we're talking about guys getting tackled easily... he sure did. 

 

[ColoradoHusk]

My original statement was that i believe he was the best RB on our roster his entire career. I kind of forgot about Tre Bryant - he definitely looked special in the short stint that we got to watch him tote the rock. There's an argument to be made for Terrell Newby in 2016, but since we're talking about guys getting tackled easily... he sure did. 

I’m not sure what the original argument was, but I remember statements saying that Ozigbo was so good because he could get that extra 1-2 yards. My argument was that Ozigbo wasn’t “good” until his senior year when he was in shape for the first time as a Husker. Until then he was slow, not agile, and not powerful. He was often tackled by the first defender he faced, and was not a good back, given NU’s struggles with the o-line under Riley. 

 

[ActualCornHusker]

I’m not sure what the original argument was, but I remember statements saying that Ozigbo was so good because he could get that extra 1-2 yards. My argument was that Ozigbo wasn’t “good” until his senior year when he was in shape for the first time as a Husker. Until then he was slow, not agile, and not powerful. He was often tackled by the first defender he faced, and was not a good back, given NU’s struggles with the o-line under Riley. 

You guys definitely made me question my memory, so i am looking at the offensive drives against Wisconsin in '17, and what I'm seeing is ozigbo not having much running room but consistently running over defenders and keeping the offense on schedule. He definitely took it to a different level his Sr year, but he was always a quality RB

 

[Mavric]

Usually those go hand in hand with the stats but stats don't tell the whole story. 

Who was a better RB in 2017 on our roster besides Tre Bryant who got hurt a couple games in?

Ozigbo might have won the prettiest pig competition among the RB’s in 2017, but that still didn’t make him a good running back until he got in shape for the 2018 season. 

Exactly this.  Bryant was our best back by far.  But do you know who got the first call after Bryant got hurt?  Wilbon.  He got a ton of carries the first game after Bryant got hurt.  But it’s well documented that Wilbon was not good at a lot of the other things that came with playing running back (pass blocking/knowing the offense/whatever).  So then they ended up going with Ozigbo.  So he was basically our third-best back that year.  But he ended up getting a lot of carries because he was the only one left.

 

[Mavric]

You guys definitely made me question my memory, so i am looking at the offensive drives against Wisconsin in '17, and what I'm seeing is ozigbo not having much running room but consistently running over defenders and keeping the offense on schedule. He definitely took it to a different level his Sr year, but he was always a quality RB

He did have a really good game against Wisconsin.  

He also averaged 1.7 YPC against Penn State that year.  And an eye-popping 0.8 YPC against Purdue.  So either he was getting hit behind the line of scrimmage on every carry or he wasn’t really getting that 1-2 yards extra yards very often.

Somehow Wilbon managed to average 5.3 YPC against Penn State.

 

[ActualCornHusker]

Exactly this.  Bryant was our best back by far.  But do you know who got the first call after Bryant got hurt?  Wilbon.  He got a ton of carries the first game after Bryant got hurt.  But it’s well documented that Wilbon was not good at a lot of the other things that came with playing running back (pass blocking/knowing the offense/whatever).  So then they ended up going with Ozigbo.  So he was basically our third-best back that year.  But he ended up getting a lot of carries because he was the only one left.

So your contention is that Wilbon was a better RB than ozigbo in 2017?... idc who the coaches put in first - that's my whole point in saying Devine was our best RB (other than Bryant) but he didn't see the field enough. Btw, wilbon also struggled with sticking his foot in the ground and getting upfield. 

He did have a really good game against Wisconsin.  

He also averaged 1.7 YPC against Penn State that year.  And an eye-popping 0.8 YPC against Purdue.  So either he was getting hit behind the line of scrimmage on every carry or he wasn’t really getting that 1-2 yards extra yards very often.

Somehow Wilbon managed to average 5.3 YPC against Penn State.

I'll take a peek at those games for sure

 

[Mavric]

So your contention is that Wilbon was a better RB than ozigbo in 2017?... idc who the coaches put in first - that's my whole point in saying Devine was our best RB (other than Bryant) but he didn't see the field enough. Btw, wilbon also struggled with sticking his foot in the ground and getting upfield. 

Wilbon was more productive at running the ball that Ozigbo was, yes.  He averaged 0.5 more yards per carry than Ozigbo did.  And the coaches obviously thought he was better (not that their judgement meant a whole lot).

But Wilbon was not the better running back because he couldn’t do all the other things that needed to be done.  So they ended up going with Oz most of the time.

Again, you’re letting the things you like or don’t like dominate your opinion.  Ozigbo always got the extra yards.  Wilbon wouldn’t cut and get up field.  Yet Wilbon still got more yards per carry than Ozigbo.  So you’re obviously ignoring a pretty significant part of running the ball that Wilbon was doing significantly better to make up those yards.

 

[Mavric]

My original statement was that i believe he was the best RB on our roster his entire career. I kind of forgot about Tre Bryant - he definitely looked special in the short stint that we got to watch him tote the rock. There's an argument to be made for Terrell Newby in 2016, but since we're talking about guys getting tackled easily... he sure did. 

There’s more than an argument to be made for Newby.  He was the starter, got by far the most carries and had the most yards per carry.  There is really no argument that he WASN”T our best back.