What if....

[Canefam]

This is why I agree with the OP's concern. There's a huge gap between Duke Johnson and the other RBs. This is also why I continue to say that Johnson should NOT return kicks or punts.

Clements is coming off a neck injury.

Crawford has carried the ball six times for twenty-three yards so far in his career.

Hagans is a FB who has carried the ball eight times for twenty-four yards in his career.

Edwards is a true freshman.

Hopefully at least one of these guys can step up and be a solid second RB behind Duke. At this point though those saying "we're good" at RB are a bit ahead of themselves. There is plenty of reason to be concerned about this position.

Return kicks - yes.

Punts - no.

 

[Consigliere]

If your star playmaker goes out the quality of play is going to decrease. Hence, he is the star and the backup is normally not as good.

You think TAMpon will be as good if Manziel is out.

As for Duke though, the kid is great on kickoff returns. I hate to remove that aspect from his game unless someone can replace that quality on the returns.

 

[JHallCanes]

 

[U Know]

If we can assume Kaaya and Olsen are the next big thing, why can't we assume if Duke goes down, that Clements, Crawford, Hagens, or Gus can be sufficient enough to carry the load?!? Next man up has always been the mentality of the Hurricanes. #JustSayin'

 

[rok]

If we can assume Kaaya and Olsen are the next big thing, why can't we assume if Duke goes down, that Clements, Crawford, Hagens, or Gus can be sufficient enough to carry the load?!? Next man up has always been the mentality of the Hurricanes. #JustSayin'

We only assume that Olsen and Kaaya are the truth because we've never seen them play. Clements, Crawford, and Hagens are known commodities to an extent.

Everyone is on board the Gus Bus because nobody here has ever seen him play. He comes highly touted, but so did Clements and he's average.

 

[zone3cane]

Stephen Morris and the passing game is going to allow all of our running backs opportunities to exploit defenses....

But if you all are expecting one of these other running backs to be the playmaker that Duke is then i can see the concern.... but as a group this unit is more developed and deeper then they were last year.

 

[bathtubgin]

Can we toss Hagans out of the conversation? I think we can be fairly certain he'll get a hand full of carries from the FB spot at best. He's not going to be taking any of the load off of Duke.

 

[L A M P]

I'll give you a hint...

 

[WhatTheHell]

Stephen Morris and the passing game is going to allow all of our running backs opportunities to exploit defenses....

But if you all are expecting one of these other running backs to be the playmaker that Duke is then i can see the concern.... but as a group this unit is more developed and deeper then they were last year.

The group is markedly worse because they lost Mike James.

 

[3G Cane]

What if Duke gets banged up at some point? Do we just let Morris go air raid? Do we have enough confidence in the back up running backs to carry the load?

 

[deleted1562]

Negged

 

[zone3cane]

Can we toss Hagans out of the conversation? I think we can be fairly certain he'll get a hand full of carries from the FB spot at best. He's not going to be taking any of the load off of Duke.

Mo Hagens is going to get touches from the RB position too.

Stephen Morris and the passing game is going to allow all of our running backs opportunities to exploit defenses....

But if you all are expecting one of these other running backs to be the playmaker that Duke is then i can see the concern.... but as a group this unit is more developed and deeper then they were last year.

The group is markedly worse because they lost Mike James.

lol Mike James is legit but the group thats behind Duke can replace his production at minimum.

Eduardo and Dallas are better runners then they were last year

Gus Edwards and Mo Hagens bring a different dynamic to the running game

also the coaching staff may have moved Corn Elder to rb... i saw him in one of the last canes reports in the backfield during a play action.

 

[rok]

The men behind Duke have a combined 53 carries between them.

I guess we can make it work with Clements, Crawford, Edwards, Hagens and Tucker.

We have a good qb, good receivers and a good pass blocking OL. Duke goes down and we release the passing game kraken.

 

[The Franchise]

The men behind Duke have a combined 53 carries between them.

I guess we can make it work with Clements, Crawford, Edwards, Hagens and Tucker.

We have a good qb, good receivers and a good pass blocking OL. Duke goes down and we release the passing game kraken.

How many carries did Duke have before last season?

 

[Cans4life]

Stephen Morris and the passing game is going to allow all of our running backs opportunities to exploit defenses....

But if you all are expecting one of these other running backs to be the playmaker that Duke is then i can see the concern.... but as a group this unit is more developed and deeper then they were last year.

The group is markedly worse because they lost Mike James.

I might take OT + Gus Bus over one Mike James.

 

[rok]

The men behind Duke have a combined 53 carries between them.

I guess we can make it work with Clements, Crawford, Edwards, Hagens and Tucker.

We have a good qb, good receivers and a good pass blocking OL. Duke goes down and we release the passing game kraken.

How many carries did Duke have before last season?

Maybe Edwards is the truth and will be a stud. Maybe Crawford is ready to explode. Maybe Clements got his groove back. I see your point.

 

[itsacanething]

What if Duke gets banged up at some point? Do we just let Morris go air raid? Do we have enough confidence in the back up running backs to carry the load?

what if....my mother was my father. what if a hurricane hits and they have to close dolphin stadium???

 

[WhatTheHell]

The men behind Duke have a combined 53 carries between them.

I guess we can make it work with Clements, Crawford, Edwards, Hagens and Tucker.

We have a good qb, good receivers and a good pass blocking OL. Duke goes down and we release the passing game kraken.

How many carries did Duke have before last season?

Maybe Edwards is the truth and will be a stud. Maybe Crawford is ready to explode. Maybe Clements got his groove back. I see your point.

I don't think comparing any of them to Duke is fair. He had no college carries, but he was all-everything coming out of high school for a reason. My hopes rest on Gus' freakish shoulders because he looks like a 27-year-old general from a war-torn village somewhere in Africa.

 

[JHallCanes]

Stephen Morris and the passing game is going to allow all of our running backs opportunities to exploit defenses....

But if you all are expecting one of these other running backs to be the playmaker that Duke is then i can see the concern.... but as a group this unit is more developed and deeper then they were last year.

The group is markedly worse because they lost Mike James.

I might take OT + Gus Bus over one Mike James.

I really like Gus but I would take Mike James in that deal.

You could very well end up being right, but there's only one ball and noone in my untrained eye stacks up to MJ.

 

[Miami04]

Clements is coming off a neck injury.

Crawford has carried the ball six times for twenty-three yards so far in his career.

Hagans is a FB who has carried the ball eight times for twenty-four yards in his career.

Edwards is a true freshman.

Hopefully at least one of these guys can step up and be a solid second RB behind Duke. At this point though those saying "we're good" at RB are a bit ahead of themselves. There is plenty of reason to be concerned about this position.

This*

this board has become bash everyone with a legitimate question. If Duke goes down I think the pass/run ratio will have to go to 80/20 because we have no proven backs. It is a scary thought and one reason why that RB who spurned us at his announcement was so stupid if he wanted playing time. (I forget his name)