Elite NCAA RBs and UM's Lack of Them for Decades
As we enter the long off season and soft whispers of how Onwenu is going to be so much better as a 2nd year player than Kalis was as a 5th, or O'Korn is so much better than Speight due to film at Houston (oh wait, that was last winter), I thought I'd take a look at the long Michigan drought of elite RBs.
As I sat there with jaw agape as they flashed Dalvin Cook's 6.5 yard per carry CAREER average my heart grew envious at the parade of elite RBs that seem to happen to other universities but seemingly not mine anymore. The 5 stars don't hit, the 4 stars don't turn into surprise stars, only the Hart stars happen and even that has been nearly a decade ago.
The one upside of age is you have memories. Memories of sheer athleticism rarely seen in the game in the form of Ty Wheatley- Bo Jackson like. Memories of singular amazingly games in the form of Timmmmmmmy Biakabutuka.... days when UM regularly beat those heathens to the south (insert deep sigh here). Mike Hart was a great RB, one of the all time leaders in rushing yards in NCAA history. Upon research, in historical context he was almost a clone to Thurman Thomas and Marcus Allen - great college RBs. But it's truly been 3 decades when we enjoyed the type of RB that FSU employed last night ... and Indiana has enjoyed multiple times.. and Wisconsin... and OSU... and Georgia... and well you get the point.
Since I like data I thought I'd break it down. Who have been the great RBs in college football since the Wheatley/Tim era. And was my age making me romanticize those 2? (short answer - no, they were among all time greats in YPA).
First, for context - here are all of UM's all time leaders by YPA at 5.0+ and at least 2500 yds - Tim and Ty at the top and by large margin. The only similar era was Butch and Jaime back ending the 80s; the time this boy fell in love with UM football.
| Ave | Total | |
| Ty Wheatley | 6.1 | 4,178 |
| Tim Biakabutuka | 6.1 | 2,810 |
| Rob Lytle | 5.9 | 3,307 |
| Gordon Bell | 5.4 | 2,902 |
| Butch Woolfolk | 5.4 | 3,850 |
| Jamie Morris | 5.4 | 4,392 |
| Harlan Huckleby | 5.2 | 2,624 |
| Lawrence Ricks | 5.1 | 2,651 |
| Mike Hart | 5.0 | 5,040 |
Comments:
- Some of these guys were before my time so it helps appreciate where they are in the context of the game. Honestly I've never heard of Gordon Bell or Lawrence Ricks. Sorry WD. Rob Lytle was sort of a bad man... I didn't realize how bad.
Now we go to the broader world. Let us remember, different eras - different workloads, different offenses, different defenses (or in the modern Pac 12 world, almost none outside of Stanford and Utah). But still averaging 6.0 PER carry puts you in elite territory. So below is a list of all NCAA runners from 1990 forward who played in a P5 conference who (a) averaged at least 6.0 YPA (b) had at least 2500 yards in a career - an arbitrary number I chose which signaled at least some longetivity and (c) had at least one 1000 yard season signifying he was "the man" at least for 1 season. I also threw in some "legend" types from pre 1990 so you can get an idea of where they ranked.
I put these in 3 categories: (I) Alba - i.e. video game numbers >=7.0 YPA (II) Kelly - i.e. damn son, 6.5-6.9 (III) JLH, 6.0-6.4 . I also created a Beckinsale section at the end for context of some of the legends who didn't quite make the cut, some who surprised me ala Herschel Walker. I also did it because... Beckinsale.
7.0+ Video Game #s, You've been Alba'd
| Ave | Total | ||
| Melvin Gordon | 7.8 | 4,915 | Wisc |
| Felix Jones | 7.7 | 2,956 | Ark |
| Jahvid Best | 7.3 | 2,668 | Cal |
| Reggie Bush | 7.3 | 3,169 | USC |
| Ki-Jana Carter | 7.2 | 2,829 | PSU |
| Mike Rozier | 7.2 | 4,780 | Neb |
| Tevin Coleman | 7.1 | 3,219 | Indiana |
| Billy Sims | 7.0 | 3,820 | OU |
| Boom Williams** | 7.0 | 2,478 | UK ('14-'16) |
| Henry Josey | 7.0 | 2,771 | Missouri ('10-'13) |
Comments:
- Melvin Gordon was unreal. I think we lacked appreciation as that was the era Wisconsin might as well have been playing in the Big 12 as we barely saw them here at Michigan.
- Mike Rozier was just as I was a young lad learning about football; knew he was good - didn't realize he was quite *THIS* level.
- Tevin Coleman - again in the class of "really, THAT good?"
- I looked up the last 2 guys - Boom Williams is a "change of pace" back at UK that I snuck in as he is barely under 2500 yds. I would have never guessed he would be on this list.
- Confession - I've never heard of Henry Josey who apparently played at Mizzou not long ago. Mr. Josey - I apologize.
6.5-6.9 Damn Son, Minka'd!
| Ave | Total | ||
| Warrick Dunn | 6.9 | 3,959 | FSU |
| Levron Williams | 6.8 | 3,095 | Indiana ('98-'01) |
| Barry Sanders | 6.8 | 3,556 | OK St |
| Eddie Lacy** | 6.8 | 2,402 | Bama |
| Ahman Green | 6.8 | 3,880 | Neb |
| Zeke Elliott | 6.7 | 3,961 | OSU |
| Duke Johnson | 6.7 | 3,519 | Miami FL |
| JJ Arrington | 6.6 | 2,625 | Cal |
| Bo Jackson | 6.6 | 4,303 | Auburn |
| Marshawn Lynch | 6.6 | 3,230 | Cal |
| LaMichael James | 6.6 | 5,082 | Oregon |
| Rashard Mendenhall | 6.5 | 2,539 | Illinois |
| Trung Canidate | 6.5 | 3,626 | Zona |
| Ronald Jones* | 6.5 | 2,014 | USC ('15-Now) |
| Gale Sayers | 6.5 | 2,675 | Kansas |
| Dalvin Cook | 6.5 | 4,319 | FSU |
Comments:
- I vaguely remember Levron Williams. I would have never thought Levron Williams basically put up Barry Sanders career #s (granted Barry was very heavily weighted into 1 year). That puts 2 Indiana guys in the top 12. Is the world still flat?
- I'm familiar with Duke Johnson - he was wasted away on some bad Miami teams.
- LaMichael James - had a hell of a career.
- Truny Canidate - one of my all time fav NCAA names.
- I included Ronald Jones as he is 2 years into his career and already at 2K yards, well on his way to 3K+ - again I had no idea how great he was doing.
6.0-6.4 Super Impressive, JLH'd.
| Ave | Total | ||
| Todd Gurley | 6.4 | 3,285 | GA |
| D'Onta Foreman | 6.4 | 2,774 | TX ('14-Now) |
| Larry Johnson | 6.4 | 2,953 | PSU |
| Nick Chubb | 6.3 | 3,282 | GA |
| Rashaan Salaam | 6.3 | 3,057 | Colo |
| James White | 6.2 | 4,015 | Wisc |
| Jamaal Charles | 6.2 | 3,328 | TX |
| Leonard Fournette | 6.2 | 3,830 | LSU |
| Ricky Williams | 6.2 | 6,279 | TX |
| Kenjon Barner | 6.2 | 3,623 | Oregon ('09-'12) |
| Christian McCaffrey | 6.2 | 3,915 | Stanford |
| Lawrence Phillips | 6.2 | 2,777 | Neb |
| Carlos Hyde | 6.1 | 3,198 | OSU |
| Darren Sproles | 6.1 | 4,979 | KSU |
| Archie Griffin | 6.1 | 5,589 | OSU |
| Samaje Perine | 6.1 | 4,036 | OK |
Comments:
- D'Onta Foreman is (most likely) headed to the first round along with Fournette and Cook. It's a golden era for RBs all the sudden with Perine out there too.
- James White ..Wiscy. Again, just a tip of the hat to the Wisconsin assembly line. It's one thing to get 4000 yds at 4.8 yards per carry but these are massive chunks per run at 6+.
- Ricky Williams - bad a$$.
- I didn't appreciate Kenjon Barner that's for sure.
Other Assorted Bad Asses, Legends Section - Kate!
| Ave | Total | ||
| Ron Dayne | 5.8 | 7,125 | Wisc |
| Tony Dorsett | 5.6 | 6,526 | Pitt |
| LaDainian Tomlinson* | 5.7 | 5,387 | TCU |
| Herschel Walker | 5.3 | 5,259 | GA |
| Marcus Allen | 5.2 | 4,810 | USC |
| Thurman Thomas | 5.1 | 4,847 | Ok St |
Comments:
- Until you see it like this you don't realize JUST how much of a machine Wisconsin RBs have been.
- Tony Dorsett - what a player; before my time in college but in my time as a Cowboy.
- I thought Walker would rank higher in yards per!
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* Tomlinson did NOT play for a P5 but being such a great player I decided to make an allowance
**Just missed the cut of 2500 but I included them
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One day we will have a 6.0+ yard back again. I hope to be alive at that point.
December 31st, 2016 at 1:52 PM ^
Honestly, I'm a little surprised by Timmy B matching Ty's YPC, but 300 plus yards against OSU will help with that.
But, yes, since the O.G. Ty Wheatley roamed the Big House, we haven't had a, "Dear God, will you look at THAT guy!" back. Even now, looking at his Wolverine Historian YouTube video, Ty's size, strength, speed and power are literally awesome.
Hopefully Evans, Najee, Walker, SOMEONE can be that back soon. But I won't count on it, because history has shown those talents are very rare.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:19 PM ^
After a quick look at the CFB stats for the season there are 24 or so RBs with more than 150'ish carries (I included a few at 145 or so) and greater than 6.0 ypc across the FBS. 14 at 6.5 ypc or more, and 6 at 7.0 ypc or more. The Big Ten usually has 2-4 of those kinds of backs every season (guys like Tevin Coleman, Venric Mark, LeShoure) and Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Nebraska has a guy like that just about every season.
Last Michigan RB over 150 carries and 6ypc was Biakabutuka in 1995 (279 carries, 1724 yds, 6.2ypc). Before that, it was Wheatley in 1992 (185 carries, 1357 yds, 7.3 ypc) and Jon Vaughn in 1990 (216 carries, 1364 yds, 6.3 ypc).
Michigan has had a bunch of grinders like Anthony Thomas or Hart but few very electric running backs. Meanwhile there are a handful of those guys in the Big Ten every year, and plenty across CFB.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:45 PM ^
By YPC, Mikel Leshoure was a better back than Herschel Walker. That's obviously silly. And I liked Leshoure as a college player.
I'm talking elite skills and measurables, and high usage across more than one year. A real workhorse. That was Wheatley, not Venric Mark. That's Dalvin Cook, not Justin Jackson (the B1G rushing champion this year.)
I will gladly take a Leshoure or a Mark, though. UM has to get better at running the football to salt away games.
December 31st, 2016 at 3:03 PM ^
Agree with your points on eye test.
By the way Justin Jackson has exact same career stats as A-Train (in 1 less year). He is a good back in the same vein as A-Train. 4.8 per carry.
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/justin-jackson-5.html
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/anthony-thomas-2.html
"Top end studs....but not historically elite" guys are more of the Eddie George type. He had less yards than both those guys - under 4K. He averaged 5.5 per. Passes eye test. Beanie Wells, 3400 yds - 5.8 yds per carry. Eye test passed. That is the type of back UM has been missing and should be getting hell once a decade if not twice as we recruit in those waters. Forget the Zeke Elliott types.
Mid 5s is not "rare" air. UM has flailed finding that "top end but not historic" guy...forget the historic guys. Our top guys (Chris Perry, A-Train types) are almost 0.75 to a full yard less a carry over a CAREER than guys OSU routinely puts out (not their elite guys, their "normal guys") .
January 1st, 2017 at 10:36 PM ^
Not to over-complicate things, but I wonder how much of that (referring to your last comment about Perry and Thomas) had to do with offensive scheme, where the opponent usually knew what M would do because of a very bland offensive design. Not something one could ever quantify, but I'd be willing to give those two RBs some extra credit given the system they worked in.
And yes, I realize UM had top-flight OL during that time, but so did OSU.
December 31st, 2016 at 5:28 PM ^
Yeah I know stats aren't the be all end all measurement, but they are a decent rough benchmark. And for the record Justin Jackson isn't a high ypc kinda guy.
My overall point though was that there are plenty of guys that have a single great season, and there are a handful of them in the Big Ten every year. But Michigan hasn't had any of those kinds of guys - even for a single season - in 21 years.
So while. Dalvin Cook is rare, I'd simply be happy to have a guy like Tevin Coleman for a season.
December 31st, 2016 at 11:09 PM ^
Those were pretty darn good seasons:
2000, ATrain, 11 games. 1551 yds, 5.4 yds/carry, 13 receptions, 239 yds, 18.4 yds/reception, 17 tds total.
2003 Perry. 13 games, 1674 yds, 5.0 yds/carry, 44 receptions, 367 yds, 20 tds total.
Hart had 3 yrs where he had 1500 yds rushing with each season at 5.0 yds/carry.
The catch is I don't think most people would consider these 3 dynamic backs - none of them really had rediculous speed or quickness like a Wheatley, Vaughn, Boles or Biakabutuka.
January 1st, 2017 at 12:12 PM ^
December 31st, 2016 at 3:27 PM ^
Honestly, I'm a little surprised by Timmy B matching Ty's YPC, but 300 plus yards against OSU will help with that.
Biakabutuka averaged 6.2 YPC as a sophomore ('94) and 6.2 again as a junior ('95), so it wasn't just due to that game. He was really good.
I'd argue that playcalling was a factor for some of these guys, especially under Carr. There was a lot of running into stacked fronts in his time. But it's true that we haven't had a home run hitter in awhile at this spot.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:22 PM ^
Its been my single greatest pet peeve as a Michigan fan the majority of my life. How schools like Northwestern (Jackson, Mark), Indiana (Coleman), Illinois (LeShoure, Mendenhall), Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, etc, etc can ALL find a good RB at least once a decade and Michigan consitently comes up empty.
Blows my mind.
January 1st, 2017 at 10:40 PM ^
I was thinking similar thoughts as I watched Wadley tear up the M defense this season. How a team like Iowa could find a guy like that while M rarely has was a real head scratcher. A runner like that wouldn't necessarily be the workhorse, but would be great in the role M uses for Evans.
January 7th, 2017 at 7:02 PM ^
January 9th, 2017 at 11:11 AM ^
...but I think we have very capable backs and get good ones every recruiting cycle. In my opinion, running back efficacy is more a function of quality O-line than anything else. I think the general consensus is that our O-lines of late have been lackluster, hence our running game and stats have been down.
If Evans, Higdon, Walker, etc... have the holes to get to the second level, the YPC stats will rise dramatically. We just haven't been able to consistently get them the space they need up front.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^
this exercise just proves these kind of backs are rare for any team. This is a very small number of RBs relative the number of starters in CFB in the last 30 years. Florida, ND, and several other "big" programs don't have anyone on the list. And shouldn't Ty and Tim be on the JLH tier with 6.1 ypc? Which actually puts us ahead of most teams in terms of representation on the list.
These kinds of players just don't come along very easily and a good number of guys on this list are "system" guys that benefitted from playing in spread n shred offenses.
We have been on the weak end of things here since Tim B though. A few five stars that didn't pan out and arguably the most talented guy in that time (Rawls) was misused and playing for bad offenses behind bad lines.
One has to think the bad "luck" will change very soon.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:17 PM ^
Imagine Michigan with a Zeke Elliot or Carlos Hyde, a Melvin Gordon or Larry Johnson ...
But how big of an issue is blocking in all of this? How much has the oline and bad coaching undermined the talent we have had?
December 31st, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^
It's not an excuse. UM had very good OLs for many years until RR. We churned out LTs like Wisconsin churns out RBs.
Other reasons its not an excuse - Dalvin Cook had a supposedly bad OL. Look at him. You can see the explosion through holes last night that UM's OL also created at times. The great backs take advantage of those holes.
To put it into greater context - Saquon Barkely as a FRESHMAN averaged 5.9 in 2015 behind a Penn State O line that made UM's 2013 line look functional.
Another reason I say RBs either "have it or they don't." They don't develop - you have the vision, ability to cut, explode, accelerate - or you don't.
And I agree with the burger guy above - guys who average 6+ over their career are rare. But getting Jaime Morris type production (mid 5s) over a career is not rare PER carry. Especially in the last 15 years when the game has turned more to offense than in the 70s or 80s. Especially the type of RBs that UM recruits - only about 15 schools are anywhere in the same water as UM in recruiting the past 3 decades. So saying "look, Arizona State doesn't find these guys nor does Wake Forest or Boston College - it ain't easy to find them!" doesn't hold water. We recruit like those schools above (or better). It's a small comparison group to go apples to apples.
December 31st, 2016 at 4:58 PM ^
Until RR?!
I liked your post, but I think you're viewing most of the early '00s with rose-colored glasses. Aside from a couple of players (Long and Baas), the lines after the Hutchinson-Backus group weren't that great.
For all his failings, RichRod had a decent hit rate with offensive linemen (Lewan, Schofield, Omameh). His guys and Molk made up one of the better lines ('11) in recent history.
December 31st, 2016 at 6:20 PM ^
Sorry I try to block almost everything out of that era out of my head. You are probably correct that late Carr was not too different than RR. But RR & staff OL recruiting laid the groundwork for the disaster Hoke had at OL in 2013, and just above disaster in 2014 OL. And Hoke & staff wasn't much better at locating OL.
January 18th, 2017 at 12:05 PM ^
No, i would say the Hoke staff was much worse at OL talent that RR. RR's issue (excluding the defense) was that he didn't recruit enough OL. Hoke's OL just were not any good (except Mason Cole).
December 31st, 2016 at 11:14 PM ^
The '03 line was pretty good and for most of Hart's career the running game titled heavily towards running behind Long. You pretty much have to go back to the 90s to find when UM produced darn good lines almost on an annual basis from tackle to tackle.
January 1st, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^
...really good OLinemen with Taylor Lewan, Michael Schofield, Patrick Omameh, Stephen Schilling and David Molk in 2010. And they all went on to play in the NFL. Since then, however, there has been a dearth of really good OLinemen.
December 31st, 2016 at 5:51 PM ^
Imagine if UM had a good Oline and a good offensive coordinator. It's been a long time.
January 1st, 2017 at 10:47 AM ^
Michigan from Bo forward to mid stage Lloyd generally had outstanding offensive lines with no real weaknesses or one at most along with great blocking tight ends and excellent blocking wide receivers. Michigan had a ton of backs who were very, very good, but I'm not sure they were THAT much more talented than say Chris Evans.
Ty Wheatley IMO, was the one transcendant talent.(and maybe Denard) From Late Lloyd on we have had one or two outstanding blockers on the line, not 4 or 5.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:27 PM ^
Im just glad Deveon Smith is gone. I feel like Ive been watching his slow ass fight to get past the line of scrimmage for 10 years now.Funny how Harbaugh let Chris Evans get a couple chances and he broke one off which Deven has been incapable of doing all year. These slow backs who cant break a tackle are killing us
We need Najee more than ever
January 1st, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
Snowflake hot take...
January 1st, 2017 at 11:02 AM ^
Slow? Okay, no arguing that. Can't break a tackle? You've got to be kidding me.
January 3rd, 2017 at 7:23 PM ^
While DeVeon Smith won't go down as the greatest RB in Michigan history, he had a pretty damn good career at Michigan. I've enjoyed watching him play and he always put his heart and soul into every game. Don't believe my words? Watch with your own eyes...
December 31st, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^
Some of the productivity shortfall in that period falls on Carr/DeBord. That was Carr's biggest weakness, even more so than the inability to ever figure out spread defense. He wanted to run and play manball but was consistently mediocre at it with superior to above average talent. Like look at the rushing numbers for the 2000 team that had ATrain, who was quite good as a college back but not in that category of your Alba guys obviously. And then Hutchinson, Backus, Williams, another OL dude I'm forgetting right now, Henson, Terrell, Walker etc. For a college team that was sick talent but we did not use it effectively. You can really say the same for much about his whole tenure and while I'm too lazy to pull rushing stats I recall them as tepid for almost ever year.
I do think you have to throw out some of those 70s and 80s guys. Like they were that good, but the talent was so concentrated in the best teams before the full effects of scholarship limits came into place that you get some skewed info.
Yeah, WI is killing it with the running game for sure. The truly shocking part about that is how they've been able to sustain that after Alvarez went upstairs across Bert, beaver dude, and now Pitt guy.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^
I give WI a lot of credit. A lot. As we see here and have seen across college landscape - one bad hire and you can kill decades of progress. They have far less buffer to make a mistake than a blue blood, they TWICE been forced to go find a coach because he moved onto other pastures so had to do coaching changes not of their own volition. And yet they have maintained in an era Texas Michigan Notre Dame USC etc all faltered by bad choices. And they have done it without the budget of the blue bloods to hire the HC and staff.
Some people don't like Alvarez and he appears to be an ego maniac but he is a talented MOFO - he both built a program and then has the eye for talent for other coaches.
December 31st, 2016 at 3:37 PM ^
I do think you have to throw out some of those 70s and 80s guys. Like they were that good, but the talent was so concentrated in the best teams before the full effects of scholarship limits came into place that you get some skewed info.
The NCAA adopted a limit of 105 scholarships in 1973, then 95 in 1978, and 85 in 1992. The difference between 105 and 85 might be large, but I don't know if going from 95 to 85 made that much of a difference.
The flipside is that today's era features far more open offensive schemes and production is way up.
December 31st, 2016 at 3:43 PM ^
Yeah, scholarship limitations is probably not the only factor. I guess the only thing that I would say is just that there is a lot more parity now then there was back then. Not sure exactly why. Maybe because the $$$ side has exploded and so there are more resources to go around for everyone?
December 31st, 2016 at 4:31 PM ^
Factors: the population has grown (leading to a larger overall talent pool), there are far more games on TV than before, and players can go pro after three years, so senior-led teams are becoming rarer.
December 31st, 2016 at 11:18 PM ^
I can't believe the reduction in scholarships from 105 to 95 made a huge difference but it was only a couple years after 1978 when the Big Ten started to become more balanced and was no longer the Big 2 and Little 8.
January 1st, 2017 at 4:33 PM ^
But that was also when Iowa hired Hayden Fry, a Hall of Fame coach, and Illinois hired Mike White, who was dirty but a pretty good coach. It's hard to know how much of the parity was due to scholarship restrictions and how much due to improved coaching.
December 31st, 2016 at 5:55 PM ^
You don't think the best talent is concentrated even more now than it was in the 70s? Bama, OSU, FSU, Georgia, LSU, USC, Okla get anyone they want.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:52 PM ^
but inexplicably lost carries to Smith and Higdon who performed at a lower level. I know Evans needs to gain strength but I can't help believe he could have turned at least 1 of these losses into a win with more playing time
December 31st, 2016 at 2:57 PM ^
Like everyone else, my fingers are crossed that Harris ends up here. If not, Evans should progress and get more snaps and I have an optimism that's based on nothing that Walker is going to have a word in all of this.
December 31st, 2016 at 2:57 PM ^
Denard Robinson - 723 carries - 4,495 yards - 6.2 YPC (I can not find how many yards were deducted and carries added due to sacks. So the YPC should be considerably higher.)
I know he was not a true RB, so it does not fit in with what you are saying. In terms of historical context he clearly deserves a mention, at least in the comment section.
December 31st, 2016 at 3:09 PM ^
I excluded QBs as this is about pure RBs... but with the change to the game the past 2 decades there are now quite a few creeping into the rushing list - Kaepernick, Pat White, Mariota, Vince Young, Denard types are all there. Heck Matt Jones is up there. They all get dinged for sacks by the way so a 6.0 average for a QB is really more like 8+!
December 31st, 2016 at 3:01 PM ^
For most of the past two-plus decades, the RB coach (and, presumably, primary talent-evaluator/recruiter) was apparently not very good at his job. Hate to say this because he seems like a great guy, but results-based charting . . .
December 31st, 2016 at 3:14 PM ^
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January 2nd, 2017 at 2:15 AM ^
went to the NFL after UMass.
December 31st, 2016 at 5:57 PM ^
+100 Hate to say it, but I think this is the truest comment on this thread.
December 31st, 2016 at 3:11 PM ^
December 31st, 2016 at 3:41 PM ^
Great list and I arbitrarily stopped at 6.1 ypa! Because that is where the 2 UM backs were. There are a lot of great backs in the 5.7, 5.8 area - over a career really anything 5.5+ is fantastic. Which is the greater point - we have not been getting those types in the 5.5, 5.7 range - forget the 6.0+.
If I went just 0.1 yard lower you'd see Edgerrin James at 6.0!
Clinton Portis barely made the cut at 2573 yards but averaged 5.7.
Frank Gore also 5.7 but he had under 2K yds and never a 1K yd season. McGahee elite average of 5.9 but he did it all in 1 season and had only 2K yds in a career.
But you make the greater point - Miami churned out guys who had 6.0, 5.7, 5.7, and 5.9 all in a decade one after the other.
December 31st, 2016 at 4:09 PM ^
December 31st, 2016 at 3:50 PM ^
December 31st, 2016 at 4:13 PM ^
It's quick feet and accelerative burst. Morris, Biaka, Bell, and Wheatley all had those, and Wheatley had the size and speed as well. Hart had very quick feet and good burst, although he was limited by a lack of top-end speed.
Sproles, Gordon and James, just to pick a few, all were incredibly quick to and through the hole, and could accelerate effortlessly through a cut.
By contrast, IMHO Isaac has extremely slow feet and very little "suddenness," to use an old-school term. A-Train was a productive UM RB, but he was not tremendously quick to the hole and early in his career was routinely brought down with simple arm tackles.
Kevin Grady and Derrick Green were so similar—slow feet at the LOS, with no ability to make anybody miss or to break tackles. I think our recruiting staff and coaches were seduced by big numbers put up while playing physically inferior HS competition.
Given how many of the RBs on the list above played in the BIG or the midwest, I'd say that it doesn't reflect well on our talent identification to begin with. Did we even extend an offer to Leveon Bell or any of the WI or IU running backs?
Not that it has any bearing on this question, but it's amazing how many of those top-end college RBs were literal busts in the NFL.
December 31st, 2016 at 11:24 PM ^
top end speed is great when a running back breaks into the clear as we saw last night with Cook, but the other attributes you mention are key. Quick feet, acceleration and the ability to bet to top speed in a few steps is what allows a great back to turn a 2-3 yd gain into 5 or 6 yds and 5-6 yd gain into 10+.
January 1st, 2017 at 11:22 AM ^
All of this allows a decent run game with an average offensive line. Which is why a playmaking RB would be very important to our developing offensive line. Occasionally this O line opens good run lanes but our main RB just doesn't have the tools ready to take advantage.
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