Borges: Thomas Rawls likely to be "the guy"
AnnArbor.com has Al Borges saying that Rawls is the starter if Fitz misses games. It might not be groundbreaking news but it's unusual that a coach is this candid about players, especially at this point in the season.
"We're just going to the next guy -- we're not really changing anything," Borges said during a news conference at Schembechler Hall. "Thomas Rawls is going to be that next guy. Vince is going to do what he's done, and on we go."
This thread is awesome. Exception = A cute girl from Michigan who just happens to be a Michigan fan AKA Ms. Upton.
I'm actually excited to see what Rawls can do. Would also be excited to see Hayes get some carries as well. I'm sure all will work out with the OL we have in place. GO BLUE beat BAMA!
I honestly don't care who gets the most carries so long as they secure the football. I really don't see Alabama blowing up the scoreboard in their first game, and I think they will most likely have a relatively conservative gameplan. Even if we have very little success running the football, I think we have a decent shot so long as we avoid the back-breaking turnovers.
He broke Mark Ingram's city record in Flint and then broke it again -- the second time rushing for 396 yards. 3* on the rating sites due to academic issues (which he worked hard to fix) and questionable competition (I assume it was roughly the same competition Ingram faced in high school).
I wasn't rating the competition because I didn't watch him play. "Questionable competition" was a knock on Rawls by the ever-finicky rating sites. Again, I assume that Ingram faced roughly the same high school compettion for comparison.
This isn't too big of a step back, sure Fitz has the game experience, But I really like Rawls as RB of the future [even if it is temporary future]... During the spring game I thought his running technique was similar to that of McGuffie in how he HITS the hole and is not afraid of contact... The actual stats and what not of the Spring game, meh... who cares, but how he approaches the holes is incredible, I like his vision, and how his speed seems to maintain as he gets to the next level of the Linebackers... He may not be Fitz, but I don't think there's a HUGE drop off going from Fitz to Rawls... who knows, he may even be a key to us staying in the game as Alabama has minimal film on Rawls to really know what to expect...
Excited to see Rawls get his chance. Regardless of the outcome of the Alabama game, it will be good to see him competing with Fitz for touches the remainder of the season.
I don't mean to be "that guy" but... I am not "that guy". I am a terrible running back.
August 8th, 2012 at 10:51 PM ^
August 8th, 2012 at 11:50 PM ^
Who knows, maybe Rawls, with his punishing "angry" running style, is a better RB to have against Alabama's defense anyway. Not to mention, as Sideline said, they're not going to have a whole lot of film on the kid. I love Fitz, and I'd love to have them both, but this is definitely a chance for a very talented to kid to come to the fore. Michigan's history of great RB's is full of relatively untested RB's who rose to occassion and had a big coming out party in a big game.
Let's see what you got Thomas!
Go Blue!