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Duke Johnson with a Message to Mark Antony Richards

supersaiyanshel said:
Duke still to this day has one of the best HS tape I've ever seen. Maybe only Reggie Bush compares.

I just think they would've recruited him as an athlete as opposed to a RB. They seem to like those larger backs.
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His performance in the playoffs was legendary.
 

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supersaiyanshel said:
Breaks my heart this dude had to play under you know who.

BUT, interesting conversation I had recently and semi-related --

I'm not so sure Thomas Brown or Mark Richt would've prioritized or gone after Duke at RB. Seems like they don't care for Backs of his stature and style. They probably would've recruited him as an athlete with an eye toward playing DB.
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They would have absolutely recruited Duke. He was a stud and was all Cane from birth. We just would have had a RB room so loaded that it wouldn't have been Duke Johnson on top of the depth chart, even if he's on a **** stretcher, and then a bunch of Jabronies. Dude would have been doing at UM, what he is now doing in the league, 3rd down back, slot receiver, that sort of thing, plus returning kicks and punts. Asking Duke to go and get you two on 4th and 1 against FSU is what happens when your corch is Al Folden. When you have CMR, Duke is standing next to him on the sideline and Todd Gurley, Isaiah Crowell, or Keith Marshall are in there pounding out that yard for you.

Nayquan Wright is no Duke Johnson. Yes, Richt and Co. do appear to prefer bigger backs, as they should and as Playoff Championship history has seemed to show is the way to go. You have to be able to grind out short yardage to win big, and you need your running game to be able to wear down opposing defenses. But in no way do I believe that they would turn away such elite talent except in the most stacked of years at that position. Duke would have been a Cane under CMR.
 
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Hate to say it but Auburn wants this kid in a big way. They want him all over the offensive side. They will fight for him all the way to the end.
 
I don’t understand the Duke hate by some of our fans. I remember when he broke the gameday thread when had that first TD run against BC.
 
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Don Caneleone said:
It's shocking how RB's are paid in the league these days. I remember reading an article 3-4 years ago that said RB's were the lowest paid position on the field only in front of TEs.
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It's crazy. Pittsburgh doesn't want to pay Bell who is a top 5 offensive player in the league. Glad to see Duke got his but I bet he's looking at CB contracts like ****, which is why we have these comments.
 
supersaiyanshel said:
Breaks my heart this dude had to play under you know who.

BUT, interesting conversation I had recently and semi-related --

I'm not so sure Thomas Brown or Mark Richt would've prioritized or gone after Duke at RB. Seems like they don't care for Backs of his stature and style. They probably would've recruited him as an athlete with an eye toward playing DB.
Click to expand...

Duke was offered a scholarship by UGA when he was playing for Norland...
 
Corner and safety are two entirely different positions. And Mark Richards is choosing between wr and s. Money wise, WR is by far the better choice..
Unless you just didn't pay attention to how NFL free agency just played out. Safeties got ****ed
 
I spoke with Duke a couple of weeks ago. He didn't practice the last day of camp with the Browns because he was nursing what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Like what has already been said, his comments were based on the physical toll playing rb has as well as the the position's diminished value. If I were MAR, I'd listen to an actual player living it out right now versus an SEC coach who's gonna grind him down to the point where his earning potential in the NFL will be severely damaged.
 
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supersaiyanshel said:
Yeah, the same year they took Gurley and Marshall iirc. I'm guessing he wouldn't have played RB there.
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It was a counter of the general narrative that his RB play wouldn't have been enough for Brown / Richt to offer him as a RB. This is the same staff that went after Booger McFarland, who was shorter than Duke (albeit he was also 20lbs heavier). Comparing just high school ball, Duke's career makes McFarland's career seem average, yet the staff was ready to take an injured McFarland even with Robert Burns also injured.

Based on what's been on board Running Back wise for Miami in the 3 recruiting cycle's that Richt/Brown has been here.. there is 0 doubt in my mind that the staff would've been all over Duke for any of these classes as a RB if that's what he wanted.
 
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supersaiyanshel said:
Breaks my heart this dude had to play under you know who.

BUT, interesting conversation I had recently and semi-related --

I'm not so sure Thomas Brown or Mark Richt would've prioritized or gone after Duke at RB. Seems like they don't care for Backs of his stature and style. They probably would've recruited him as an athlete with an eye toward playing DB.
Click to expand...
Richt wouldn’t have gone after one of the best S Fla RBs? Lol wut
 
calinative umstudent said:
Corner and safety are two entirely different positions. And Mark Richards is choosing between wr and s. Money wise, WR is by far the better choice..
Unless you just didn't pay attention to how NFL free agency just played out. Safeties got ****ed
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I feel like your kind of just assuming the bolded, and I'm not sure I agree.

The Auburn and Florida appeal are both based on multi-functional offensive weapon based largely out of the backfield (the Harvin role and the RB in Auburn's system).

He has played RB his whole life and that's what's drawing him to offense. He wears 21, a RB number. He plays primarily RB on his HS team. His highlight tape is almost all RB role (receiving mostly out of backfield) and DB. Additionally, he played CB this spring for his HS team.

He can project to a nice college WR IMO. He can also project nicely at RB. But, even if he's equally likely to succeed in college at each of RB, WR, and DB, as a Miami fan I want him at DB. We have plenty of elite level WR and RB talent in the pipeline. We can use some more elite level S or CB talent.

With that said, I really do feel that his ceiling is highest at Safety. And his NFL aspirations (and financial aspirations) are best realized as a DB
 
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