Who will be next years starting running back?

Rog

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There are so many possibilities that I can imagine:


Smith and Brooks fight it out for starter and Ibrahim redshirts. or


Ibrahim starts: I can only guess what Brooks and/or Smith decide.


Running back by committee (but I doubt it)

A new recruit wins out and there is no problem


Soooo - It wouldn't surprise me if Abrahim red shirts.


A great problem to have however.


Thoughts??
 

There are so many possibilities that I can imagine:


Smith and Brooks fight it out for starter and Ibrahim redshirts. or


Ibrahim starts: I can only guess what Brooks and/or Smith decide.


Running back by committee (but I doubt it)

A new recruit wins out and there is no problem


Soooo - It wouldn't surprise me if Abrahim red shirts.


A great problem to have however.


Thoughts??


Ibrahim already redshirted.

Assuming everyone is healthy (big assumption)

Smith, then Brooks, then Ibrahim

Similar rotation to when we had Smith, Brooks, and McCrary.

I hope to see more jet sweeps with at least 2 of them on the field.
 


Do we know 100% that Smith and Brooks will be back and perfectly healthy, better than ever?
 



It should be whoever the best RB is, out of fall camp.

I'm not going to automatically assume Smith and/or Brooks is that guy. Ibrahim had a really great year, and I would not be displeased at all if he were named starter against SDSU.

More than one guy will play at tailback. That's just a given.



The guy who is a great candidate to redshirt, if it all works out, is Bryce Williams.
 






Smith, Brooks, Ibrahim with Williams redshirting is my prediction of the RB lineup (assuming health problems are past).
 

It should be whoever the best RB is, out of fall camp.

I'm not going to automatically assume Smith and/or Brooks is that guy. Ibrahim had a really great year, and I would not be displeased at all if he were named starter against SDSU.


The guy who is a great candidate to redshirt, if it all works out, is Bryce Williams.

Agree 100%. Ibrahim was better as a first year RB than either Smith or David Cobb were. Personally, I think Ibrahim was better as a RS freshman than Rodney Smith was as a RS junior. What I think we have going on here is a fan attachment to the guy they know better and longer.

And, until I see evidence to the contrary, I'm not assuming Brooks will be healthy and available for an entire season next year.
 

Do we know 100% that Smith and Brooks will be back and perfectly healthy, better than ever?

You need to ask this about every player in every thread. Morgan and Annexstad will be terrible next year if both of them are out for the year. Fleck can't coach if he is dead.
 

Agree 100%. Ibrahim was better as a first year RB than either Smith or David Cobb were. Personally, I think Ibrahim was better as a RS freshman than Rodney Smith was as a RS junior. What I think we have going on here is a fan attachment to the guy they know better and longer.

And, until I see evidence to the contrary, I'm not assuming Brooks will be healthy and available for an entire season next year.

I don't think we naturally have an attachment to the person we know longer and better, I think as fans, we tend to like the shiny new things.

As for Smith/Ibrahim, it's hard to really say. I personally think a healthy Smith is slightly better, but they are close. It's difficult to compare Smith in 2017 with Ibrahim in 2018 because our line was so much better this year.
 



As for Smith/Ibrahim, it's hard to really say. I personally think a healthy Smith is slightly better, but they are close. It's difficult to compare Smith in 2017 with Ibrahim in 2018 because our line was so much better this year.

I agree with that statement but I would also add that I think Ibrahim also was at least as good as a RS freshman than Smith was as a RS soph.
 

Seriously

Smith is the starter. Brooks and Mo will back up and get plenty of time when game is still meaningful and then hopefully we will be getting to see more leads to allow for further experience for younger players and all three could see 1000 yards.

As far as comparing RB's, you must look at the OL for each player and those OL under Limegrover were average where the OL next year could be special.
Mo had some holes to run through later in the year that were pretty impressive. I am not saying Mo didnt make a few holes himself but next year I expect a better OL than we have had since the Mason years, We will be comparing MBIII and Maroney to our group by years end
 

We have absolutely zero idea if Smith and Brooks will be the same way they were pre-injury or if they can go a full season without getting injured.

When all three of them were healthy and at their peak I would rank them

1. Rodney
2. Brooks
3. Ibrahiem

but again, we have no idea if Brooks or Smith will be at the same level they were previously if healthy at all.
 

Ibrahim already redshirted.

Assuming everyone is healthy (big assumption)

Smith, then Brooks, then Ibrahim

Similar rotation to when we had Smith, Brooks, and McCrary.

I hope to see more jet sweeps with at least 2 of them on the field.

I'm with you on getting two of them on the field together...all three are good pass catchers.
 

I watched the Holiday Bowl replay this morning on BTN and forgot how good Smith is. He has a great knack for changing speed and making tacklers miss. I hope hope hope he's healthy next year with our up-and-coming O-Line and more balanced offense. Combine his shiftiness with Brooks aggression and Ibrahim's raw power and we might have something really special in the backfield.
 

I expect 45-40-15 mix. RS, SB, Mo
In the second half of games when we have huge leads it will be BW for 4 games and NE for the others with 4 games from the 2019 freshmen.
 

It is a long season with a good problem to have with three capable backs. I'd say running by committee. Sometimes, a two-back set. You've got three backs that will provide versatility, and can keep them relatively fresh with substitutions.

Finally, we will have both capable running and receiving corps that can be a nightmare for someone.
 

Ibrahim already redshirted.

Assuming everyone is healthy (big assumption)

Smith, then Brooks, then Ibrahim

Similar rotation to when we had Smith, Brooks, and McCrary.

I hope to see more jet sweeps with at least 2 of them on the field.

I'm going to leave Brooks out of the RB question, simply because I have no idea whether playing will be an option for him. I'll go with redshirting Bryce Williams and going with a rotation of Smith, Ibrahim and Nolan Edmonds. Nolan was actually the highest rated back P.J. has recruited, as far as I know. I haven't heard anything about him leaving the team.
 

MO is a grinder and the type of back that needs touches. I say Rodney 60% Mo 25% brooks 15%. Shannon and Rodney get some looks in slot. Also could see them work in some multiple tailback sets. After Shannon and Rodney graduate we still have Williams and Edmonds as well as this years recruit, they can use it going forward. Also not convinced Brooks can stay healthy
 

Ibrahim is a really effective blocker. That's an underrated aspect to his game.
 

Love Mo, but I’d still take a healthy Brooks over him. Problem is, Shannon is rarely healthy. Somehow, it will work itself out next year. Always does.


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All I can say is that it is a nice problem to have. Can’t say that we have had many problems of this type at Minnesota.


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You almost have to play Shannon Brooks right away and get his carries in. Use him while you have him knowing that in any particular game he could get nicked up where he'll be out another couple games.
He's the most violent runner I've seen so having him run behind this improving offensive line could really beat up some defenses.

I think the only thing that we can count on is that Bryce Williams will get 4 games of play max and will use his redshirt.

Smith, Brooks, Mo
Edmonds


Potts,
Williamson / Wiley?
 
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You almost have to play Shannon Brooks right away and get his carries in. Use him while you have him knowing that in any particular game he could get nicked up where he'll be out another couple games.
He's the most violent runner I've seen so having him run behind this improving offensive line could really beat up some defenses.

I think the only thing that we can count on is that Bryce Williams will get 4 games of play max and will use his redshirt.

Smith, Brooks, Mo
Edmonds


Potts,
Williamson / Wiley?

Awesome backfield next year!
 

No guarantee Brooks is even going to be healthy for the majority of next season. With the future in mind and keeping Mo happy, I'd have him getting 35/40% of the carries behind Rodney.
 

You need to ask this about every player in every thread. Morgan and Annexstad will be terrible next year if both of them are out for the year. Fleck can't coach if he is dead.

Paterno seemed dead his last dozen or so years and did alright, so maybe coaching dead is a possibility.
 

I mentioned this in another thread, I have a feeling next season could be similar to 2003 with Maroney, Barber, Tapeh & Asad also getting over 400 yards rushing. That season saw 4 players with over 400 yards and 2 with over 1000. I can easily see next year's squad outperforming that 2003 squad with the biggest difference being, imho, a better passing game than we had in 2003.

We literally have 2 quality options at QB, and so many options at RB, and if we don't lose anyone in the WR group to the NFL, we'll just have so many options on offense, I just can't wait to see how it all plays out. And this is where we have failed in the past, in the past, when a star player got injured, we didn't have the quality depth to plug in the next guy and keep rolling. We might be a little more vulnerable on defense, but hopefully our offense can keep our defense off the field.
 




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