Top 20 Running Backs

#4
#4
i think by the end of the year that we will have a back on their whether its foster, hardesty, creer or coker. i don't think that forsett is a top 20 back, all he did last year was run east and west againist us and very few backs can do that and gain positive yards.

it is funny though to look back at those players when you follow recruiting. if i remember correctly we recruited 4 of those players very hard: mcfadden, james davis, felix jones, and jonathon stewart; but either way you've got to develop them when they get there
 
#5
#5
JZVOL said:
I think it's sad we don't have a guy even close to the top 20.
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We don't have a guy on the list because we split time last year between two freshman (107 and 108 carries, respectively,) and an injury hampered sophomore (91 carries.) That's 8.3 carries per game for our MOST used back. They are two young and too inexperienced to get the national exposure required to appear in that kind of list.

Especially if Coker gets his act together, we have plenty of quality at the running back position. Worry about the line of scrimmage, the receiving corps, or the secondary
.
 
#6
#6
cotton said:
We don't have a guy on the list because we split time last year between two freshman (107 and 108 carries, respectively,) and an injury hampered sophomore (91 carries.) That's 8.3 carries per game for our MOST used back. They are two young and too inexperienced to get the national exposure required to appear in that kind of list.

Especially if Coker gets his act together, we have plenty of quality at the running back position. Worry about the line of scrimmage, the receiving corps, or the secondary
.
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I worry about a guy who can't hold onto the ball, a guy who can't stop smoking and another who hasn't been healthy.
 
#8
#8
cotton said:
We don't have a guy on the list because we split time last year between two freshman (107 and 108 carries, respectively,) and an injury hampered sophomore (91 carries.) That's 8.3 carries per game for our MOST used back. They are two young and too inexperienced to get the national exposure required to appear in that kind of list.

Especially if Coker gets his act together, we have plenty of quality at the running back position. Worry about the line of scrimmage, the receiving corps, or the secondary
.
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There are also 5 sophomores on that list and at least two teams (Arkansas and Clemson) with two backs each on there. So that isn't an excuse that can be made.
 
#9
#9
I may be off base here....But IMO....During the Randy Sanders Fiasco we recruited alot of players that during... say the 95-98 era we normally would not have touched, I really believe that Sanders influenced who we went after made some of those choices based on what he wanted to do as a OC....Fault Fulmer for allowing him to have more say-so in what went on and complacency, but The players we have now are left overs from Sanders Style offense....I would be willing to bet with Cutcliff back at the helm we see a change in the type of players we recruit not positions but players that will live up to their billing....injuries or not our backs to me havent come close to fulfilling their potential
 
#10
#10
General_Neyland said:
I may be off base here....But IMO....During the Randy Sanders Fiasco we recruited alot of players that during... say the 95-98 era we normally would not have touched
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The only back I know of that Sanders might have influenced is Foster, who looked pretty good when healthy as a Frosh.

Coker was the #2 Rivals All-purpose back in the country
http://tennessee.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=871

and Hardesty was the #9 athlete
http://tennessee.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=884

General_Neyland said:
injuries or not our backs to me havent come close to fulfilling their potential
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I'm not sure what kind of fulfillment you are looking for. You've got one guy with 4.3 ypc, another with 6.4, and the last with 3.6, and last year they had 15 TDs and 1,400 yards rushing between them. Be thankful that we have the depth to share the load, so that if one of our guys can't stop smoking, or another stays injured, we don't miss much.
 
#11
#11
cotton said:
The only back I know of that Sanders might have influenced is Foster, who looked pretty good when healthy as a Frosh.

Coker was the #2 Rivals All-purpose back in the country
http://tennessee.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=871

and Hardesty was the #9 athlete
http://tennessee.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=884



I'm not sure what kind of fulfillment you are looking for. You've got one guy with 4.3 ypc, another with 6.4, and the last with 3.6, and last year they had 15 TDs and 1,400 yards rushing between them. Be thankful that we have the depth to share the load, so that if one of our guys can't stop smoking, or another stays injured, we don't miss much.
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Well the fulfillment I'm looking for (or missing) is a playmaker back...To me that is Coker but we all know where that situation is at the moment....Back in the day we always had playmaking backs that broke the long runs more so than not it seems like....Henry, Lewis, Stephens, Stewart, Webb, Johnnie Jones, etc, etc, etc.....To me we havent had that with Hardesty or Foster and I miss that....Granted Hardestys long run last year against CAL was brilliant but outside of Cokers 2 runs last year when was the last time one of our backs took it to the house....not from just inside the Red Zone....

I agree Foster looked promising as a freshmen...but since then has tanked IMO
 
#14
#14
I promise I studied the female in the picture as any red-blooded heterosexual guy would, but I couldn't help but notice the guy was sporting a serious "outie" in the middle of our sacred Power "T". Not cool.:no:
 
#15
#15
IPorange said:
I promise I studied the female in the picture as any red-blooded heterosexual guy would, but I couldn't help but notice the guy was sporting a serious "outie" in the middle of our sacred Power "T". Not cool.:no:
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Agreed. As a Vol, he has an obligation to plug that hole with Silly Putty and paint over it.
 
#18
#18
General_Neyland said:
Well the fulfillment I'm looking for (or missing) is a playmaker back...To me that is Coker but we all know where that situation is at the moment....Back in the day we always had playmaking backs that broke the long runs more so than not it seems like....Henry, Lewis, Stephens, Stewart, Webb, Johnnie Jones, etc, etc, etc.....To me we havent had that with Hardesty or Foster and I miss that....Granted Hardestys long run last year against CAL was brilliant but outside of Cokers 2 runs last year when was the last time one of our backs took it to the house....not from just inside the Red Zone....

I agree Foster looked promising as a freshmen...but since then has tanked IMO
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I'll admit it remains to be seen how his knees hold up but a healthy Hardesty is nothing to sneeze at even as a gamebreaker. Don't get me wrong, he's not Coker fast, but would it surprise you to know that in '04 Hardesty took 1st in both the 100 and 200 meter sprints at the Jacksonville Cardinals Invitational track meet?
 
#20
#20
hndog609 said:
I'll admit it remains to be seen how his knees hold up but a healthy Hardesty is nothing to sneeze at even as a gamebreaker. Don't get me wrong, he's not Coker fast, but would it surprise you to know that in '04 Hardesty took 1st in both the 100 and 200 meter sprints at the Jacksonville Cardinals Invitational track meet?
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Ehhh....Im actually not all that surprised...He is fast...but that speed does him no good if he cant find the holes and get to the outside though....
 
#21
#21
General_Neyland said:
Ehhh....Im actually not all that surprised...He is fast...but that speed does him no good if he cant find the holes and get to the outside though....
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True enough.

It is my sincere hope that the time elapsed from his knee surgery will have him hitting the holes with more authority this season. It has been pointed out how last season he sometimes tended to be a bit tentative and "dancy" at the LOS. In truth, not uncommon for people coming back on newly reconstructed knees. Having said that this will sort itself out in very short order and with the way Mr. Creer has been acquitting himself of late Montario needs to make things happen, injuries nonwithstanding.
 
#23
#23
:salute: yeah your right ...It will sort itself out soon enough....I hope both he and Foster show their stuff this year....We dont have that much longer to wait :yahoo:
 
#24
#24
Foster will be all SEC this year. He has really worked hard in the off season and has looked really good so far. Hardesty will be a solid back up.
 
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