Brandon Minor

Submitted by umjdg on

What is the deal with Minor not seeing more carries? You can't tell me it is b/c he has been "injured". Rodriguez appears to be favoring his recruits at the skill position on offense. I can't imagine this won't create some animosity on the team…Mathews hinted at it in a rivals article I read. Thoughts?

MGoBoard

umfan

September 8th, 2008 at 6:37 PM ^

well i think minor is good but our future is Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw. I don't think Minor is getting a lack of carries, they are all getting a few carries here and there. In the end, sam mcguffie and shaw are better than minor

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 130

turbo cool

September 8th, 2008 at 6:37 PM ^

i agree, some of the older guys are definitely getting overlooked. massey hasn't seen hardly any playing time and clemons/hemingway haven't had much either. and what about all the talk of savoy? i like richrod and i think he will be be building something special but please use ALL the talent. but in his defense, mcguffie wasn't his recruit.

Joined: 07/10/2008

MGoPoints: 977

baleedat

September 8th, 2008 at 6:40 PM ^

McGuffie was Lloyd's recruit. but RR said in the press conference after the Miami game that McGuffie and Shaw were the only guys who stayed healthy/practiced all summer

Joined: 07/10/2008

MGoPoints: 272

The Other Brian

September 8th, 2008 at 6:42 PM ^

RR is a strong believer that you have to practice to play. Minor's been healthy enough to see game action, but not healthy enough to practice, apparently. If he wants his carries to increase, he'll need to practice (and hang onto the ball).

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 1420

ShockFX

September 8th, 2008 at 7:35 PM ^

Brandon Minor fumbles all the time.  He also is not fast, and his potential "vision" advantage is negated by the fact we can't run inside.  Therefore, there is no reason to play him.

"i agree, some of the older guys are definitely getting overlooked. massey hasn't seen hardly any playing time and clemons/hemingway haven't had much either. and what about all the talk of savoy?"

 Massey sucks and we don't use TEs, let alone crappy TEs when you have Carson Butler on the team.  Hemingway is injured, and Clemons seems to be the target for passes to Tacopants.  Savoy has never been heralded as being much more than adequate.  Do the people criticizing RR's playtime decisions actually watch the games?

Joined: 07/16/2008

MGoPoints: 4073

goody

September 8th, 2008 at 7:58 PM ^

that Minor has recieved, he is a meaner runner than McGuffie or Shaw.  Meaning, that he breaks tackles, keeps his feet moving forward, and initiates contact where McGuffie and Shaw want to run around people. 

 I would like to see 35-40 touches a game spread out between the four RB's with McGuffie and Minor see the majority of them.  Just my humble opinion.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 1532

ShockFX

September 8th, 2008 at 8:10 PM ^

Somehow, it makes sense to me that if you can run AROUND the tackler, not only do you not have to run into him to initiate contact and, you know, maybe get tackled, but it's a faster route down the field.  Actually, fuck me, play Minor.  He's a meaner runner, and that's worth like 5 points a game at least.

Joined: 07/16/2008

MGoPoints: 4073

Hannibal.

September 9th, 2008 at 11:10 AM ^

Can't say I'm disappointed to see McGuffie getting a majority of the carries.  He brings that excitement level that I haven't seen since the first time Mike Hart started getting a lot of carries.  Minor is in his third year in the program, and he hasn't shown much.  He has that slow plodding nature that has defined a lot of our mediocre running backs over the years and he doesn't run over or stiffarm nearly enough people to make up for it.  The TD that he had against Miami was very nice though.

Joined: 09/09/2008

MGoPoints: 9051

chitownblue (not verified)

September 9th, 2008 at 1:34 PM ^

A few things:

I hate second-guessing playing-time decisions when they are based, largely, on practice. Given that Minor is not practicing much, this undoubtedly leads to less playing time. So, this isn't a case of Rodriguez choosing "his guy".

Second, Rodriguez is playing one veteran Carr holdover (Butler) over Massey. So Massey cannot be used as an example of Rodriguez picking "his guys".

Hemingway has basically not played a single practice with contact. That's why he doesn't play. Clemons is repeatedly on the field, but hasn't had a pass thrown to him that he can catch.

In the end, there have been 3 true freshmen get lots of PT - McGuffie, Stonum, and Odoms. ONE of whom is a Rodriguez recruit. Shaw has gotten sporadic PT (partly because of an injury), and Mike Martin is working in the rotation at DT. No one else has gotten lots of PT. So, basically, Shaw and Odoms are the only "Rodriguez guys" getting routine snaps.

Joined: 12/12/2017

MGoPoints: 0

mjv

September 9th, 2008 at 2:02 PM ^

I want to add to Chitown's first point regarding practice time.  This is even more important this season because (i) we are incorporating an entirely new system, and (ii) the system requires and understanding between QB and RB regarding who is keeping the ball on the zone read play.  Look at the fumble between Sheridan and McG.  That was most likely a case of poor communication / understanding of what each player was trying to do. 

Without practice, this understanding will be worse.  hence, play time will be more limited.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 3656

rlc

September 9th, 2008 at 2:52 PM ^

It's not bad to have a team leader in huddle and since day one RR has mentioned Minor as one. I think we will see plenty of him this year. RR also mentioned the freshmen will play and we will see that plenty of that as well.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 294