Heisman Watch: Ranking the BT's Top Candidates for 2019 (7. Mohamed Ibrahim, RB, MN)

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per Athlon:

7. Mohamed Ibrahim, RB, Minnesota

The Gophers are a bit of a wild card in the Big Ten West this season, and their young running back is one of the reasons why. Ibrahim was the Big Ten's second-leading rusher last season as a freshman with 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns.

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/heisman-watch-ranking-big-tens-top-candidates-2019

Go Gophers!!

As much as I love Ibrahim and even though I appreciate, as a Gopher fan, our team getting some recognition... a little research would have turned up a couple of dudes named Smith and Brooks who might get as many carries as Mo does.
 

Both Smith and Brooks are better than Ibrahim, to be honest. To be fair, we’ve only seen Ibrahim’s Freshman season, but I also recall how good the other two were when they were Freshman. A rotation of all three of them would be fine with me.


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Am I remembering the Barber/Maroney years correctly, that they were often on the field at the same time with one of them as a wingback who would typically go in motion behind the tailback to either get the handoff or be part of a fake?
 


It sure sounds like Brooks wont be ready to go by the opening game and I think Gophs are going to be creative in having both Ibrahim and Smith on the field at the same time quite often. I can envision a scenario where Mo is getting the bulk of the carries. I am so grateful for these kind of problems.
 

Our 3rd string running back is the 7th most likely Big 10 player to win the Heisman?

Seems like they didn't do any research at all for this. Even if he gets the most carries, Smith, Brooks, and Green will all get quite a few and limit how many Ibrahim gets.
 


I think Mo is the team’s best RB but yeah, competition likely will eliminate him from a big year. Plus there’s a real pass game to siphon off plays.

I think Mo is a nice sleeper pick to break the Gopher single-season rushing record in 2020.
 



When Brooks gets healthy at the end of the year he will become a College Football Legend.
 

Brooks looked unbelievably good in that Indiana game before he got injured.


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Is he even going to be the starter?

No. He will get carrys all season but Smith will start year as starter and Brooks will also get carries when healthy.

Edit: Im sure uou already knew that. For some reason Im Capitan Obvious tonight
 
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I still don't understand how the consensus seems to be that Mo is worse than Brooks and Smith. His stats are at worst on par with the other 2.
 

The national opinion on our RB's is so scattered and random. Theres been articles about how Mo is going to be the third back, I think I saw one where they might try to sneak a red shirt on him. Others say he'll start. And then this one saying within the Big Ten, he's one of the better guys for a shot at the Heisman. Unless there are some big injuries, the whole season is going to be RB by committee, they'll ride the hot hand at times, they'll mix up packages at times, and sometimes one RB might be a better matchup fit vs certain teams. I think anyone who follows the Gophers somewhat closely knows this. I don't think the national media understands much of whats going on here with the RB's.
 

I still don't understand how the consensus seems to be that Mo is worse than Brooks and Smith. His stats are at worst on par with the other 2.

Brooks is more explosive, Smith is shiftier and a really goood receiver. We haven’t seen either behind the new look offensive line except Brooks vs Indiana and I thought the different burst was pretty noticeable. Ibrahim runs really, really hard and is impressive in his own right but if I need a big conversion I know who I’m giving the ball to.
 

I think No would have been as good, or maybe a bit better, than Brooks and Smith were in their freshman years. He has a high ceiling and a good running style IMO, he just need some more experience under his belt to shine his brightest.
 

As much as I love Ibrahim and even though I appreciate, as a Gopher fan, our team getting some recognition... a little research would have turned up a couple of dudes named Smith and Brooks who might get as many carries as Mo does.

Shannon Brooks has never had more than 140 carries in a season. Mo had over 200 last year.

People vastly overrate Brooks
 


Shannon Brooks has never had more than 140 carries in a season. Mo had over 200 last year.

People vastly overrate Brooks

If Smith and Brooks had both been healthy last season, there's no way Mo gets as many carries as he did. No way.

If Smith and Brooks are both healthy for the entire 2019 season, the most Mo will get is roughly 1/3 of the carries.

Let's see what Smith and Brooks can do with the likes of Faalele blocking for them.
 

If Smith and Brooks had both been healthy last season, there's no way Mo gets as many carries as he did. No way.

If Smith and Brooks are both healthy for the entire 2019 season, the most Mo will get is roughly 1/3 of the carries.

Let's see what Smith and Brooks can do with the likes of Faalele blocking for them.

The fact that brooks has never had more than 140 carries in a season isn’t because coaches don’t give him the ball. It is because he is inconsistently available. Brooks has more upside but the fact he has never stayed healthy tells me he won’t be getting 150 carries this year either.

I think Smith is better than Mo, but Smith is coming off an ACL so we will see.
 

The national opinion on our RB's is so scattered and random. Theres been articles about how Mo is going to be the third back, I think I saw one where they might try to sneak a red shirt on him. Others say he'll start. And then this one saying within the Big Ten, he's one of the better guys for a shot at the Heisman. Unless there are some big injuries, the whole season is going to be RB by committee, they'll ride the hot hand at times, they'll mix up packages at times, and sometimes one RB might be a better matchup fit vs certain teams. I think anyone who follows the Gophers somewhat closely knows this. I don't think the national media understands much of whats going on here with the RB's.

They're going to give Ibrahim a 2nd redshirt? Sweet!

Are you sure it's the national media that doesn't understand much of what's going on here with the RBs?
 

The fact that brooks has never had more than 140 carries in a season isn’t because coaches don’t give him the ball. It is because he is inconsistently available. Brooks has more upside but the fact he has never stayed healthy tells me he won’t be getting 150 carries this year either.

I think Smith is better than Mo, but Smith is coming off an ACL so we will see.

You're 100% right about injuries/durability and how they impact this situation.

Bud Grant used to say that the first requirement for being a star player was the ability to stay on the field, game after game.

All three (Smith, Brooks and Mo) have their own unique talents. I love Mo. I wish he had more burst/top line speed. But he can finish a run, that's for certain.
 

There’s a lot of talk how ZA may be better behind the new line (although that’s a little bit of revisionist history as the change was made vs Iowa) but little talk about how difficult life has been for Smith and Brooks in the old offense...yet they were still pretty productive. Bigger, stronger, faster, older. Obviously chronic injuries are part and parcel for some players and some backs like Brooks and Mo are more likely to get injured with the way they finish. History says the RB situation will change possibly game to game...
 

I don't know who's better than who or who is the "starter", but I don't think you win a Heisman as a running back by sharing carries with 2 other players.
 

I love Mo as a RB and I think there is a good chance he leads the teams in yards this year but he is not explosive enough to be a Heisman candidate. Heisman trophy candidates are flashy and make the big highlight real plays on a regular basis which gets them the National attention they need.

If I was going to select the player on our team with the best shot at the Heisman it would have to be TJ.
 

I still don't understand how the consensus seems to be that Mo is worse than Brooks and Smith. His stats are at worst on par with the other 2.

Mo had the worst average yards per carry of the three last year. His stats are only better if you look at their entire careers and that's not a good comparison because they were playing with different offensive lines, plus Brooks and Smith both had a year where the QB wasn't much of a passing threat and defenses were playing the run much more. He has a good shot of having the best career of the three but if Brooks and Smith aren't slowed down by their injuries, Mo will be the worst of the three this year and won't get anywhere near enough carries to even be in consideration for the Heisman.
 

Both Smith and Brooks are better than Ibrahim, to be honest. To be fair, we’ve only seen Ibrahim’s Freshman season, but I also recall how good the other two were when they were Freshman. A rotation of all three of them would be fine with me.


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I think the word is different! Ibrahim reminds me of a bit of Gary Russell and Leroy Hoard. He is great between the tackles, and moving the chains!
 

I still don't understand how the consensus seems to be that Mo is worse than Brooks and Smith. His stats are at worst on par with the other 2.

Kinda with you on this. Its a little hard to compare him and Brooks, but I think he as good as Rodney. Not saying better but very similar.
 

Brooks is more explosive, Smith is shiftier and a really goood receiver. We haven’t seen either behind the new look offensive line except Brooks vs Indiana and I thought the different burst was pretty noticeable. Ibrahim runs really, really hard and is impressive in his own right but if I need a big conversion I know who I’m giving the ball to.

Seth Green?
 




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