What if....

[bathtubgin]

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?

207.

 

[Dingaan1828]

I have converted to Islam just so I have 5 opportunities a day to pray for Duke's continued good health.

true story.

 

[The Franchise]

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.

James was a better leader and teammate than any of the guys on the roster, but he wasn't a great RB. I'll take Gus Bus and even a healthy Ed Clements over James because I think both bring more skill to the table.

RB is one of those positions where you either have it or you don't for the most part. You can't really teach that twitch and vision and toughness that is necessary to be really good. We'll pretty much know right away if Gus Bus is the real deal or not. Clements was just as good as James before he got hurt and was actually taking James' reps at the end of 2011.

 

[bathtubgin]

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.

To this point OT has done nothing to make you think he could be comparable to James, and while Edwards may be a total stud he's really an unknown commodity at this point. Mike James is a bigger hole to fill than many seem to realize.

 

[rok]

Clements has had 2.5 seasons to make his mark and has done next to nothing.

 

[The Franchise]

Clements has had 2.5 seasons to make his mark and has done next to nothing.

What had James done prior to last season? Most UM fans thought he was a bum. Now, we love him because of his tremendous leadership and a few clutch plays. But he's slowly morphing into something that he wasn't while he was here--a high quality back.

Clements had a neck injury last year, so I won't count last year against him.

 

[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.

James was a better leader and teammate than any of the guys on the roster, but he wasn't a great RB. I'll take Gus Bus and even a healthy Ed Clements over James because I think both bring more skill to the table.

RB is one of those positions where you either have it or you don't for the most part. You can't really teach that twitch and vision and toughness that is necessary to be really good. We'll pretty much know right away if Gus Bus is the real deal or not. Clements was just as good as James before he got hurt and was actually taking James' reps at the end of 2011.

Fair enough. I thought MJ was better than OT and that was before OT's injury.

Gus certainly looks physically capable and he was one of my favorite recruits. Not saying MJ set this impossibly high bar, but I just got nothing when it comes to what to expect out of these other guys.

 

[BigPoppaCane]

AL JUST GETS IT

 

[Canes4348]

I wanted to start a legit convo about this and people acuse me of being Dillard or a troll? Child please.

 

[bathtubgin]

Clements has had 2.5 seasons to make his mark and has done next to nothing.

What had James done prior to last season? Most UM fans thought he was a bum. Now, we love him because of his tremendous leadership and a few clutch plays. But he's slowly morphing into something that he wasn't while he was here--a high quality back.

Clements had a neck injury last year, so I won't count last year against him.

James did have 719 yards rushing and 241 yards receiving going into his senior season. Not exactly a superstar, but those numbers show he was a solid contributor.

 

[Man Of Steel]

negged for even mentioning this happening. You do not speak this **** into existence.

 

[LuCane]

Clements has had 2.5 seasons to make his mark and has done next to nothing.

What had James done prior to last season? Most UM fans thought he was a bum. Now, we love him because of his tremendous leadership and a few clutch plays. But he's slowly morphing into something that he wasn't while he was here--a high quality back.

Clements had a neck injury last year, so I won't count last year against him.

Well, I wouldn't go that far. Mike James' soph campaign was solid. He had 398 yards on 70 carries and 13 catches. Those are more touches, as a Soph, than Clements has earned his entire career here. What gives me some hope is that Clements' yards per carry numbers (albeit much smaller in sample size) are more consistent than Mike James'.

 

[LuCane]

Here's what I hope for from this group:

Clements needs to give us about 350 yards on 80 carries this year.
Hagens might be able to give us around 110 yards on 35 carries this year.
Gus Bus needs to get it together and give us around 300 yards on 60 carries this year.
Dallas Crawford needs to play spot situations and give us around 360 yards 80 carries this year.

Total = 255 carries for 1,120 (4.4 ypc) from RBs not named Duke and including a good amount of mop-up duty.

Add in what I've projected from Duke, and that represents a 30% increase in rush attempts over last year's identity.

 

[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.

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.

James was a better leader and teammate than any of the guys on the roster, but he wasn't a great RB. I'll take Gus Bus and even a healthy Ed Clements over James because I think both bring more skill to the table.

RB is one of those positions where you either have it or you don't for the most part. You can't really teach that twitch and vision and toughness that is necessary to be really good. We'll pretty much know right away if Gus Bus is the real deal or not. Clements was just as good as James before he got hurt and was actually taking James' reps at the end of 2011.

I agree w/ most of ur statement except the highlighted... there are a number of examples at UM where a running back hasnt done much but has turned into an impact player his Senior Year....

now I dont think Gus is going to fall in that category but i'm just sayin even if either of our young rbs dont look like much right now, it doesnt mean that they wont eventually be able to make an impact in the end.

Clements has had 2.5 seasons to make his mark and has done next to nothing.

Eduardo Clements had Lamar Miller, Storm Johnson, and Mike James in front of him throughout his career..... you say he has done nothing as if he was expected to carry the load and failed at it.

He is a Senior this year and "Senioritis" has turned many not so good looking players into impact players.

 

[sowba]

Clements has had 2.5 seasons to make his mark and has done next to nothing.

What had James done prior to last season? Most UM fans thought he was a bum. Now, we love him because of his tremendous leadership and a few clutch plays. But he's slowly morphing into something that he wasn't while he was here--a high quality back.

Clements had a neck injury last year, so I won't count last year against him.

James did have 719 yards rushing and 241 yards receiving going into his senior season. Not exactly a superstar, but those numbers show he was a solid contributor.

Mike James also got those yards wiping off the ground for Lamar "Miller Time" Miller-Time and being a generally reliable back up bruiser. Clements is not proven to be a reliable back up, and is not a bruiser. I'm an OT fan because of a few nice looking runs over the past 8 years he's been a back up, but he's not going to replace the Big Unit Randy Johnson to even 20% of full charge. Crawford retweets too much undue twitter praise for me to take him seriously right now. If Duke goes down, its pass-Mo Hagens 4 yard dive-pass and repeat till score or punt.

 

[rok]

Here's what I hope for from this group:

Clements needs to give us about 350 yards on 80 carries this year.
Hagens might be able to give us around 110 yards on 35 carries this year.
Gus Bus needs to get it together and give us around 300 yards on 60 carries this year.
Dallas Crawford needs to play spot situations and give us around 360 yards 80 carries this year.

Total = 255 carries for 1,120 (4.4 ypc) from RBs not named Duke and including a good amount of mop-up duty.

Add in what I've projected from Duke, and that represents a 30% increase in rush attempts over last year's identity.

A 30% increase in rush attempts is uncalled for. We have the qb, the receivers, and OL to have a dynamite passing game. We don't have a great stable of running backs. I do hope we see more of an effort to run the ball but the personnel we have doesn't demand it.

 

[motorcitycane]

I would have no worries honestly injuries happen. If it was on defense I would be concerned, but if the OL is what everyone is expecting then I have no worries.

Think 2012 Season for Nebraska. Rex Burkhead goes down. Everyone expects that to derail Nebraska's 2012 season. Then here comes a sophomore backup in Ameer Abdullah who ended rushing for 1000+ yards. Teams will run the ball and pass as normal just with different personnel.

I remember coach Belichick saying that every year people are too concerned about roster turnover. Our 11 best men will be on the field.

 

[bathtubgin]

Clements has had 2.5 seasons to make his mark and has done next to nothing.

What had James done prior to last season? Most UM fans thought he was a bum. Now, we love him because of his tremendous leadership and a few clutch plays. But he's slowly morphing into something that he wasn't while he was here--a high quality back.

Clements had a neck injury last year, so I won't count last year against him.

James did have 719 yards rushing and 241 yards receiving going into his senior season. Not exactly a superstar, but those numbers show he was a solid contributor.

Mike James also got those yards wiping off the ground for Lamar "Miller Time" Miller-Time and being a generally reliable back up bruiser. Clements is not proven to be a reliable back up, and is not a bruiser. I'm an OT fan because of a few nice looking runs over the past 8 years he's been a back up, but he's not going to replace the Big Unit Randy Johnson to even 20% of full charge. Crawford retweets too much undue twitter praise for me to take him seriously right now. If Duke goes down, its pass-Mo Hagens 4 yard dive-pass and repeat till score or punt.

Maybe in 2011 you could say he was mopping up for Lamar, but not so much in 2010. Their numbers were pretty comparable for that season

And James was never a bruiser. I know he got the "thunder" part of thunder & lightning Miller/James duo, but he was never a move the pile kind of guy. To be honest Duke as a freshmen was better at moving a pile than James was as a senior.

 

[UMprodigy]

no he didn't ...

 

[U Know]

This is a stupid thread...NO one knows what type of production any of the running backs will have this year, that's why they PLAY. Let's just hope ALL our players are healthy for the whole season. This thread can lead to...WHAT IF Seantrel gets hurt, or Morris gets hurt, or Perryman gets hurt, or Howard gets hurt. If any team lose their marquee player they will see a decline in production! Go Canes! ///End Thread/// LoL