Univ of Miami's Graig Cooper

#1
The Dude

The Dude

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Jan 21, 2007
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#1
This was from the Miami Herald's website:

Word is UM coaches want running backs Javarris James and Graig Cooper to combine for more than 30 touches a game. The two will play a lot together, with Cooper sometimes lining up at receiver. One senior said Cooper, a freshman, already is among UM's best players.
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Why in the world didn't we pursue this guy; he's from Memphis and seems like a pretty good player. I know he was committed to UM before his trip to prep school, but considering Miami's coaching change, I think it may have been a good idea to go after this kid. Ohh wait, we have Spencer McFumble aka Arian Foster aka Good Against Inferior Competition...we don't need him!
 
#2
#2
As I recall, we could have had him. He would have been in our acclaimed class of 2005. Instead we went after Lamarcus Coker, who was rated higher despite being injured frequently. We could have had him again this past year, but chose to get Lennon Creer instead. If this guy turns out to be the real deal and our running game is crap again, our coaches are going to look really stupid.
 
#3
#3
I'm gonna go ahead and get in on this thread so that we can bring out the crow when Foster doesn't fumble next year.

That said, I don't think we really had room for this guy. We have 3 good running backs playing, signed more, and our class last year was VERY tight. Still looks like one may have to greyshirt. There's not room for everyone. When you tell a kid that he's got a scholarship to play at UT, and he accepts, you don't go shopping around to replace him right away. No reason to have 30 runningbacks when our needs last year were in different areas. We got Creer, so why chance it.

I'm not sure, kpt, if you're angry we took a higher rated back, rather than this kid? I think instead of talking running back recruiting, you all should be discussing O-linemen.
 
#4
#4
jwells said:
I'm not sure, kpt, if you're angry we took a higher rated back, rather than this kid? I think instead of talking running back recruiting, you all should be discussing O-linemen.
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Cooper will probably give Miami a few years of solid play. I'm not sure UT will ever get a full season out of Lamarcus.
 
#5
#5
jwells said:
I'm gonna go ahead and get in on this thread so that we can bring out the crow when Foster doesn't fumble next year.
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He's not going to fumble because he's not going to play. If Foster gets significant carries, it will be because Hardesty and Coker have proven to be massive failures.
 
#6
#6
hatvol96 said:
He's not going to fumble because he's not going to play. If Foster gets significant carries, it will be because Hardesty and Coker have proven to be massive failures.
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I'd be pretty surprised if Foster didn't start against Cal.
 
#7
#7
The Dude said:
This was from the Miami Herald's website:



Why in the world didn't we pursue this guy; he's from Memphis and seems like a pretty good player. I know he was committed to UM before his trip to prep school, but considering Miami's coaching change, I think it may have been a good idea to go after this kid. Ohh wait, we have Spencer McFumble aka Arian Foster aka Good Against Inferior Competition...we don't need him!
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Well we do have the staff that wouldn't give Patrick Willis the time of day back when he wanted to play for Tennessee.

As far as Foster goes, I expect he'll be starting most games unless he gets hurt. Fumbles or not, he is a Fulmer type back. Fulmer has pretty much admitted he's not a fan of Coker's running style. Fulmer wants a guy that's going to hit the hole, run north south, and pound out yards if neccesary. The anti-Coker.

Although I do think Foster has problems holding onto the ball.
 
#8
#8
We didn't take Cooper this year because we had Creer. Creer committed silently way before he went public. Let's see how Creer pans out before we call it a horrible decision.
 
#10
#10
On a similar yet unrelated topic, I saw a whole bunch of Gators shirts, hats, etc. in Miami last week. Canes merchandise was more or less invisible.
 
#11
#11
hatvol96 said:
He's not going to fumble because he's not going to play. If Foster gets significant carries, it will be because Hardesty and Coker have proven to be massive failures.
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Wrong.....the only reasons Foster would not get significant carries would be injury or a recurring case of fumbleitis. Of the trio of Foster Coker and Hardesty, Foster has shown the most ability, he's not a speed merchant but he is elusive, he almost always makes the 1st guy miss and usually the second, he never gets tackled behind the line of srimmage, he's a good receiver out of the backfield and has been the best blocker of the bunch.
Coker has great speed and can take it the distance when he gets a lane and that's great but he hasn't shown any abilty as of yet to make defenders miss him, he got tackled behind the line of scrimmage time after time against UGA, Bama and Arky, and he can't pass protect worth a damn. If he keeps his nose clean his gamebreaking speed warrants having him on the field alot because eventually he's gonna break one, but to date he's not proven himself to be an every down type of back.
Hardesty, other than the TD run against Cal has shown pretty much nothing, but that may be partly because he was not 100% healthy yet after his knee surgery, this year should tell us more about him but I haven' t see anything about him that makes me think he's the go to guy.
All that being said, any success in the runnig game will depend on the OL, no blocking = no run game.
 
#12
#12
The Dude said:
This was from the Miami Herald's website:



Why in the world didn't we pursue this guy; he's from Memphis and seems like a pretty good player. I know he was committed to UM before his trip to prep school, but considering Miami's coaching change, I think it may have been a good idea to go after this kid. Ohh wait, we have Spencer McFumble aka Arian Foster aka Good Against Inferior Competition...we don't need him!
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i feel very comfortable with taking creer over this kid
 
#13
#13
JOEY'S ALL VOL !!! said:
Wrong.....the only reasons Foster would not get significant carries would be injury or a recurring case of fumbleitis. Of the trio of Foster Coker and Hardesty, Foster has shown the most ability, he's not a speed merchant but he is elusive, he almost always makes the 1st guy miss and usually the second, he never gets tackled behind the line of srimmage, he's a good receiver out of the backfield and has been the best blocker of the bunch.
Coker has great speed and can take it the distance when he gets a lane and that's great but he hasn't shown any abilty as of yet to make defenders miss him, he got tackled behind the line of scrimmage time after time against UGA, Bama and Arky, and he can't pass protect worth a damn. If he keeps his nose clean his gamebreaking speed warrants having him on the field alot because eventually he's gonna break one, but to date he's not proven himself to be an every down type of back.
Hardesty, other than the TD run against Cal has shown pretty much nothing, but that may be partly because he was not 100% healthy yet after his knee surgery, this year should tell us more about him but I haven' t see anything about him that makes me think he's the go to guy.
All that being said, any success in the runnig game will depend on the OL, no blocking = no run game.
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Good to see people still buying into the fantasy that Foster is a quality SEC back.
 
#14
#14
hatvol96 said:
Good to see people still buying into the fantasy that Foster is quality SEC back.
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Miami had a running back they were excited about in Javarris James. We had one of the most pathetic rushing seasons in UT's recent history. Miami went out and got a running back that coaches and Edgerrin James have said is better than J. James. So basically they upgraded their RB group and UT went for a guy that will probably get 7 carries next season (against Memphis and Vanderbilt).
 
#16
#16
JOEY'S ALL VOL !!! said:
Wrong.....the only reasons Foster would not get significant carries would be injury or a recurring case of fumbleitis. Of the trio of Foster Coker and Hardesty, Foster has shown the most ability, he's not a speed merchant but he is elusive, he almost always makes the 1st guy miss and usually the second, he never gets tackled behind the line of srimmage, he's a good receiver out of the backfield and has been the best blocker of the bunch.
Coker has great speed and can take it the distance when he gets a lane and that's great but he hasn't shown any abilty as of yet to make defenders miss him, he got tackled behind the line of scrimmage time after time against UGA, Bama and Arky, and he can't pass protect worth a damn. If he keeps his nose clean his gamebreaking speed warrants having him on the field alot because eventually he's gonna break one, but to date he's not proven himself to be an every down type of back.
Hardesty, other than the TD run against Cal has shown pretty much nothing, but that may be partly because he was not 100% healthy yet after his knee surgery, this year should tell us more about him but I haven' t see anything about him that makes me think he's the go to guy.
All that being said, any success in the runnig game will depend on the OL, no blocking = no run game.
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You forgot to add Foster's ability to run east and west instead of north and south. That's how he made people miss, he kept running out of bounds before he got to the line of scrimmage.
 
#18
#18
hatvol96 said:
Good to see people still buying into the fantasy that Foster is a quality SEC back.
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I don't think Foster is a bad back at all, but I also don't believe he's our next great rb like some make him out to be.

I'll give him a pass for last year for playing hurt just like I would for Ainge in 05 having to get yanked around by Phil and friends. Healthy, I think Foster is a respectable back. He looked good in 05. Although his fumbling is disconcerting.
 
#19
#19
Didn't everyone say before last season that they wanted Crompton to start over Ainge because he sucked so bad. What happened then?
 
#20
#20
govols182 said:
Didn't everyone say before last season that they wanted Crompton to start over Ainge because he sucked so bad. What happened then?
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Heck no I've never said that. I figured with Cutcliffe's instruction Ainge would be a respectable qb. Although I didn't expect him to improve in one season as much as he did.

Seeing that improvement in one season gives me high expectations for his play this season.
 
#21
#21
I know a bunch of other people wanted Crompton to start because Ainge played so bad in 05'. Like I said, what happened next?
 
#22
#22
govols182 said:
I know a bunch of other people wanted Crompton to start because Ainge played so bad in 05'. Like I said, what happened next?
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Ainge got a new position coach and offensive coordinator. Our current RB crew won't get either.
 
#25
#25
True, but people are already righting him off because of past seasons. I think we should atleast see how much he has improved before we start saying Coker should start.
 
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