13 SEC running backs to watch and zero Vols??!!

#76
#76
MWAVolfan said:
The 2017 season could be another big one for SEC running backs - SEC Blog- ESPN

Kelly not mentioned at all. ESPN hates us again? Are there really 13 running backs in the SEC that are better than anyone the Vols have?

I know this isn't an explicit ranking of who the best RBs are but you can read between the lines pretty well.
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And the issue is what? A lack of hype? How needs it? How did the preseason love from the media some of you knuckleheads went gaga over last year work out? Seemed it undermined the season more than it helped. And not to be insulting, but you are still going on about it, so does that makes you sound smart, shrewd, .....or WHAT?

If some of the players are discouraged by it, they don't deserve to wear orange. Hopefully, it will tick them off and motivate them. But as far as what can be read between the lines? Waste of time brother.
 
#77
#77
Crazy Ivan said:
JK got plenty of carries once Hurd took his ball and went home.
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And that's the problem. There was no reason to wait until that point, unless one was hoping Jalen Hurd would magically transform into someone other than Jalen Hurd.

Prior to that, not much chance for him to get a lot of carries.
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There were plenty of chances. Not taking a chance doesn't mean the chance didn't exist.

Even Saban isn't going to sit 2 5* so that a 3* can get a few more carries so that ESPN will be aware of him when they do their annual, but pointless, offseason 'best backs of the upcoming season' article.
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True. But if the 5* guy isn't performing he should give the 3* guy more carries so that the running game might perform better.
 
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#79
#79
If, at the end of Jones's 5th season, our RBs finish behind those of Vanderbilt, SC, Kentucky, and Missouri, coach should be fired on the spot.
 
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#81
#81
bamawriter said:
When 71 of your 122 carries go for 3 yards or less, you're just a guy.
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Barry Sanders holds the all time NFL record for plays with negative rushing yards. He's just a guy?

Note that I'm not defending Hurd but he was not utilized correctly. Also, him quitting on his team pretty much washed it with me.
 
#82
#82
90 Vol said:
Barry Sanders holds the all time NFL record for plays with negative rushing yards. He's just a guy?
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And yet his percentage of carries that went for 3 yards are less is better than Hurd's. And that's comparing an NFL back to a college back, which I'm sure you realize is problematic.
 
#83
#83
bamawriter said:
And yet his percentage of carries that went for 3 yards are less is better than Hurd's. And that's comparing an NFL back to a college back, which I'm sure you realize is problematic.
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Fair enough. I think Hurd was a bit more than "just a guy" but I don't think that he was the second coming of Jim Brown either. He was a slightly above average SEC back with the potential to be dominant in the right system. It just never really happened.
 
#84
#84
Hurd was the first five star that Bama desperately wanted from Tennessee but couldn't land. He's a sore subject for them that won't heal. :)
 
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#85
#85
fade route said:
Please detail the evidence you have for the charge that our line purposely stopped blocking for him.
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I thought they were talking about Hurd during one of the games after he got run off. I could easily be mistaken. Maybe it was the Nebraska game? It could have been them speculating. I've got no problem making stuff up for fiction posts, I did mean that as non-fiction.
 
#86
#86
90 Vol said:
He was a slightly above average SEC back with the potential to be dominant in the right system. It just never really happened.
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At a certain point a player has to stop living off potential. You either make it happen or you don't. Maybe the system was never right for Hurd's skill set, but, ultimately, you simply can't excuse mediocrity. I've read claims that Hurd expected to play more out of the I Formation. But who really runs that in this day and age? Who has a fullback in on a decent percentage of plays? If that's what Hurd felt he needed to succeed, then he's simply not cut out for today's game.

I will give Hurd this: he's a great blocker and he's got decent hands. Maybe it will work out for him at TE.
 
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#87
#87
#88
#88
90 Vol said:
Barry Sanders holds the all time NFL record for plays with negative rushing yards. He's just a guy?
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Actually I'd argue given that fact it's even more amazing that he is one of only two of the NFL's top 25 career yardage leaders with a 5ypc or better average. The only other is Jim Brown. In fact I was interested to note of the top 10 rushers in NFL history nobody other than Sander and Brown even managed better than 4.4ypc.

Anyway, Sanders savaged defenses when he found daylight...Hurd really didn't.
 
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#89
#89
Crazy Ivan said:
JK got plenty of carries once Hurd took his ball and went home. Prior to that, not much chance for him to get a lot of carries. Even Saban isn't going to sit 2 5* so that a 3* can get a few more carries so that ESPN will be aware of him when they do their annual, but pointless, offseason 'best backs of the upcoming season' article.
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My wager is that Saban would play his best players.

Granted Kelly didn't play against the meat of the schedule but Hurd never put up the high ypc numbers Kelly did on any sort of consistent basis.

Kelly has a knack for getting the most yardage out of each play.

It is the HC's job to see things like this.
 
#90
#90
hndog609 said:
Actually I'd argue given that fact it's even more amazing that he is one of only two of the NFL's top 25 career yardage leaders with a 5ypc or better average. The only other is Jim Brown. In fact I was interested to note of the top 10 rushers in NFL history nobody other than Sander and Brown even managed better than 4.4ypc.

Anyway, Sanders savaged defenses when he found daylight...Hurd really didn't.
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I agree. I wasn't trying to diss Barry Sanders. That dude was amazing to watch. I was just trying to make a point that folks can't pull a random stat out of their rectum and form a complete opinion about a player. There's just too many factors to consider, eg. offensive line, philosophy, etc. Also, Rb's from Bama tend to look like world beaters in college but they don't seem to have the same level of success in the league. Why is that?
 
#91
#91
bamawriter said:
True. But if the 5* guy isn't performing he should give the 3* guy more carries so that the running game might perform better.
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That is what happened. When it became obvious Hurd was an issue in the UGA game, Kelly's carries increased significantly starting the next game against TAMU. Remember, the game before UGA was the UF game, and Hurd had a pretty solid game against the gators (26/95 yds, which was not too bad against that D). In the first half against UGA his stats weren't bad either (10/42 yds), the problem was his casual attempt into the EZ which cost UT a TD in the first half, and could have cost UT the game if not for the Hail Mary. And against TAMU the next week we saw JK's carries increase significantly when Hurd was left at home. Where I thought Butch made his mistake was not giving JK carries against SC because I think Hurd had already mentally checked out at that point. I didn't mention the Bama game because none of the RBs were going to have any success against that front 7 running behind a patchwork OL.
 
#92
#92
Crazy Ivan said:
Remember, the game before UGA was the UF game, and Hurd had a pretty solid game against the gators (26/95 yds, which was not too bad against that D). In the first half against UGA his stats weren't bad either (10/42 yds),
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This is what I'm talking about when I say that fans romanticize players. The stats you listed as "not bad" are only "not bad" by Hurd's standard. In terms of your average college RB, these stats are mediocre.

Take the Florida game for example. Hurd averaged 3.65 YPC. The following backs all averaged better than that against UF in 2016: Webb, Crockett, Witter, Boom Williams, Rawleigh Williams, Whaley, Guice, Cook, Scarbrough, and Wadley (for the sake of a fair comparison, I only listed backs who got at least 10 carries against UF). That's 10 backs in 13 games that put up better numbers than Hurd. Florida's rush defense was not amazing last year (37th in the country).
 
#93
#93
90 Vol said:
I agree. I wasn't trying to diss Barry Sanders. That dude was amazing to watch. I was just trying to make a point that folks can't pull a random stat out of their rectum and form a complete opinion about a player. There's just too many factors to consider, eg. offensive line, philosophy, etc. Also, Rb's from Bama tend to look like world beaters in college but they don't seem to have the same level of success in the league. Why is that?
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The problem with that cited stat in Hurd's case is it wasn't mitigated by other more positive stats. Sanders could get ensnared for negative yardage but the next play house an 80 yarder. Hurd simply never gave us that other option. In Hurd's big So year he averaged 4.7ypc. Dobbs equaled that and Kamara beat it handily. In '16 Dobbs, Kamara and Kelly all beat that mark, and by a large margin.

Points go to Hurd for being a solid blocker and a legit receiver but as far as making things happen from his primary position (running the ball) he suffered in comparison to even those on his own team, nevermind the rest of the SEC, where his ypc was only enough to tie for 12th.

I'll never argue Hurd sucked or that he couldn't have probably done better in a more suitable system but that doesn't change the fact that what he most achieved is lots of carries (589, 2nd most I think) with a pretty pedestrian average.
 
#94
#94
They keep on dreaming that Chubb will return to his freshman form and it's never going to happen. Any injury that tramatic isn't going to return back to normal, no matter who the surgeon or the therapist. Ask M. Lattimore
 
#95
#95
bamawriter said:
This is what I'm talking about when I say that fans romanticize players. The stats you listed as "not bad" are only "not bad" by Hurd's standard. In terms of your average college RB, these stats are mediocre.

Take the Florida game for example. Hurd averaged 3.65 YPC. The following backs all averaged better than that against UF in 2016: Webb, Crockett, Witter, Boom Williams, Rawleigh Williams, Whaley, Guice, Cook, Scarbrough, and Wadley (for the sake of a fair comparison, I only listed backs who got at least 10 carries against UF). That's 10 backs in 13 games that put up better numbers than Hurd. Florida's rush defense was not amazing last year (37th in the country).
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Several of those RBs you say had better games against UF were late in the season when UF's front 7 was not the same front 7 UT faced in game 5 due to injuries.
 
#97
#97
Grudenator said:
They keep on dreaming that Chubb will return to his freshman form and it's never going to happen. Any injury that tramatic isn't going to return back to normal, no matter who the surgeon or the therapist. Ask M. Lattimore
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I thought of Lattimore too.

A knee severe knee injury is usually a two year recovery. I don't think we can say he won't return to form but it doesn't seem likely.
 
#98
#98
Grudenator said:
They keep on dreaming that Chubb will return to his freshman form and it's never going to happen. Any injury that tramatic isn't going to return back to normal, no matter who the surgeon or the therapist. Ask M. Lattimore
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You could be right to at least some degree but unlike Lattimore Chubb returned to pretty good form even if not to what he had been previously. He was the SEC's #7 rusher and averaged 5ypc. Certainly not what he'd been but not exactly shabby either.

It really will be interesting how another year of recovery works out for him.
 
#99
#99
Grudenator said:
They keep on dreaming that Chubb will return to his freshman form and it's never going to happen. Any injury that tramatic isn't going to return back to normal, no matter who the surgeon or the therapist. Ask M. Lattimore
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Adrian Peterson disagrees.
 
#100
#100
90 Vol said:
Barry Sanders holds the all time NFL record for plays with negative rushing yards. He's just a guy?

Note that I'm not defending Hurd but he was not utilized correctly. Also, him quitting on his team pretty much washed it with me.
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I always wanted to see Barry Sanders with Emmit Smiths OL. My God....
 
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