Running BackS

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ncgo4

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Let's face it the running game will be a major determinant of success this season. We've hashed the O line to death. Perhaps my biggest curiosity this year is who will carry the ball. We have two returning RB's that are fighting for the starting spot. Not to disparage, but last year I didn't see a Maroney or Barber looking to come out from behind a poor O line. How long into the training camp before we begin to learn about the three freshman RB's?

RB is one of those positions that someone with "star" potential can come in and make an early impact. I'm dying to hear some reports on these three young guys,
 

I don't expect to see a big improvement on the field this year unless one of the true freshman backs wins the starting job outright during camp. Bennet and Eskridge are serviceable and both have shown flashes of talent (especially Bennet), so it's not a given that one of the new backs can win the job outright. If one did, that would be a very good indicator that we may have found the key to our run the ball offense.
 

What about Lamonte Edwards?

Former Gopher Justin Conzemius of KFAN compares Edwards to Adrian Peterson.
 

Art Vandelay said:
What about Lamonte Edwards?

Former Gopher Justin Conzemius of KFAN compares Edwards to Adrian Peterson.
Click to expand...

He wasn't serious was he Art? Did you ever see Edwards play in high school?
 

ncgo4 said:
I'm dying to hear some reports on these three young guys,
Click to expand...

MV has a summer camp preview wherein he mentions Edwards is the only one who looks physically ready to play this fall. He said Wright is faster than Bennet or Eskeridge, but that he needs a redshirt year. Kirkwood needs one too.

Hopefully Edwards can play.
 


Important things to remember

Eskridge - entering his junior year. Under normal circumstances this would be his RS soph year and probably the first year he should be competing for real PT. He's supposedly about 205 which is finally a good weight for him. We've seen him play for 2 years and formed opinions about a guy that really shouldn't have been playing as he was still not strong enough to be effective.

Bennett - last year was his first after major knee injury, one that takes 2 years to fully recover. At 210 now he's also finally at an ideal weight for him.

These are 2 guys that got thrown to the wolves before they should've. We haven't had the luxury of not playing guys until they're ready because the cupboard has been so bare. Its like seeing a girl for the first time when she's just woke up and scrubbed half the face mask off. I don't think either of these guys are stars but I think they'll be better backs simply because they'll be more physically prepared. Eskridge looked like a little kid out there and people forget that he came in at about 180lbs. I remember seeing him at the mall and thinking how small dude was a few years back. He's put on about 25lbs of muscle and should finally be strong enough to be a serviceable B10 back
 



I know I am going to get ripped for this but the best college RB in MN isn't a golden gopher. Isaac Odim from UMD has size, speed, and unbelievable balance. I have seen him play numerous times and I would take him over Bennett and Eskridge any day...He will get a legit. shot to play in the NFL.

Let's hear how stupid I am now!!
 



go4fan said:
I know I am going to get ripped for this but the best college RB in MN isn't a golden gopher. Isaac Odim from UMD has size, speed, and unbelievable balance. I have seen him play numerous times and I would take him over Bennett and Eskridge any day...He will get a legit. shot to play in the NFL.

Let's hear how stupid I am now!!
Click to expand...

What's stupid about that?
 

The people that will come on here and say that "there is no way a D2 player can play in the big10."
 


Has anybody heard how the young RB's are looking in practice?
 



go4fan said:
The people that will come on here and say that "there is no way a D2 player can play in the big10."
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Players have been drafted from DII into the NFL, before. So sure, it can happen. I have no idea if Odim is a Big 10 caliber back, but he is sure burning it up at UMD. I looked him up and read some of his twitter (sounds like a character, and a thinker). He got into some trouble with the law which ruined his chance of playing football at Yale, and after bouncing around to Saginaw State and RCTC he made his way to UMD. Good article about him here (albeit from 2 years ago):

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/36089539.html?elr=KArksUUUU
 

gophmeister said:
MV has a summer camp preview wherein he mentions Edwards is the only one who looks physically ready to play this fall. He said Wright is faster than Bennet or Eskeridge, but that he needs a redshirt year. Kirkwood needs one too.

Hopefully Edwards can play.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping we can redshirt at least two of the frosh RBs. Whichever one steps up and looks ready the most should get playing time this year with the other two getting the redshirt. Unless a couple of the young guys look that good and ready to get solid PT.
 

Justin Conzemius should be replaced by FBT on KFAN for Gopher football chat. Justin does not dot his i's and cross his t's re: Gopher football review and preview. Everything from messed up names to odd comments of things that did not occur. 'there were no students at the game.'
 

Art Vandelay said:
What about Lamonte Edwards?

Former Gopher Justin Conzemius of KFAN compares Edwards to Adrian Peterson.
Click to expand...

This is BS. I heard what Art heard, but as usual, Art is spinning it his way to be a d!ck. Conzemius was talking about Edwards style of running more upright, and he was careful to say that he was not comparing the two in terms of talent.

Nice try, though.
 

We need one of the Freshmen to step up. I hope they prove me wrong but Bennett and Eskridge are not Big Ten caliber running backs. Is there a school in the Big Ten whose running back situation is worse than ours? I think one of the young guys has to step up in order for us to have a decent running attack. The last two years everyone was blaming the O-line and finally at the end of last year people were coming to their senses. They realized our O-line is not great but our running backs aren't either. Two years ago people were thinking Eskridge was Adrian Peterson after he had one good game against Illinios.

I hope Bennett and Eskridge prove me wrong but I think we will struggle at running back until we find someone else.
 


It's hard to judge how good any of the backs have been the last two years. The OL just hasn't performed well enough. Hopefully this year we'll see what they have. I do think the freshman should be given opportunities over the next three weeks to show what they have though. It's not like there is a lot of depth at the position and injuries happen--I'd be very surprised if they were able to redshirt more than one of the freshman RBs.
 

Schnoodles is saving his pennies b/c Eskridge will get the start :D
 

go4fan said:
I know I am going to get ripped for this but the best college RB in MN isn't a golden gopher. Isaac Odim from UMD has size, speed, and unbelievable balance. I have seen him play numerous times and I would take him over Bennett and Eskridge any day...He will get a legit. shot to play in the NFL.

Let's hear how stupid I am now!!
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Odim is tremendous. Without some very serious legal issues a few years ago, he would be a hot commodity nationally.
I had the good fortune of being on the sideline when he returned the opening kick for a TD against Grand Valley last November. His explosivness, strength and speed are impressive.
Speaking of Grand Valley, they had a linebacker and a corner who would not just play, but star in a Gopher uniform.
Of course, this is all hindsight. I have no idea what these guys looked like coming out of high school.
 

Running back is the easiest position to come in and play as a true frosh.

That's the good news. I think.
 


I don't think we really know what we have in Bennet and eskridge. E was way too weak his freshman year, and showed some nice flashes late last year. Bennett showed promise as a freshman and then suffered an injury that most people believe takes a full year to recover from. Add this to a run blocking game that was not fully developed because of the focus on the pass blocking, and I think we've got a whole bunch of ???????'s

I think those with anwers are guessing with little basis. I for one am expecting better un blocking, better lateral movement from Bennet and a significanlty more consistent run scheme. I hope by now we understand that Brew likes to get freshmen reps but does not like to rely one them unless absolutely necessary. That means that unless Bennet and E are hurt or simply get significantly beat out, it will be Bennet first, E second and then the rest.
 

Buckner

I couldn't have imagined Buckner being much worse than our running back situation has been the last two years. If this offense is going to be effective, it's the passing attack that needs to step up. All our better athletes are quarterbacks or recievers. Yes we need to run the ball and have a balanced attack, but it's the quarterback and the recievers who will make this offense go. That's where our talent on offense resides.
 

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