Bag of Marbles

July 26th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^

Just watched his film ... and got really excited because he reminds me of mike hart. Anyone else get that feeling? The kid just doesn't go down after first contact.

Belisarius

July 26th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^

It's nice that when we discover someone now, they get a "Michigan bump" in the ratings. It wasn't long ago that as soon as a prospect committed we would wait for an uncalled for "Michigan slump."

Bodogblog

July 26th, 2011 at 6:08 PM ^

cyberspace, into the machines of our detractors

Allen Trieu said this morning that Scout's just ranked the FB's, in fact they did it last night.  So expect that to come out soon - he didn't really say where Houma would appear on that list, but you get the feeling it wasn't too low.

There's a kid from Trotwood down there at #15, I'm surprised we didn't give him a look (or maybe we did and I just haven't heard of it)

EDIT: b/c Trepps beat me, here's some more info.  Houma didn't get into games until later, or at least didn't become the primary ballcarrier until later.  Injury he had or something else, it wasn't clear, but he didn't really start playing until the 6th or 7th game last year.  I also believe Trieu said - and someone correct me if I'm wrong - that he had something like 900 yards in 3 playoff games?  Sounds crazy, so maybe I heard incorrectly.  

stefan-nyc

July 26th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^

Per the write-up on the Main Page, Scout and Rivals list Houma as rushing for 1,211 yards and 9 TDs during his junior year, while his highlights video lists him rushing only 1,064 yards and 7 TDs.  If his highlights video did not include his playoff stats, that would mean he rushed for 147 yards and 2 TDs during the playoffs.

Elmer

July 27th, 2011 at 10:05 AM ^

I read an article in a Utah paper and he ran for 661 yards and 5 TDs in the final three playoff games during their state championship run.  He was behind a Sr. fullback at the start of the season.  They saw a ton of potential, but he had a problem with fumbling.  They worked on his technique in practice, he fixed the fumbling issue and then the Sr. FB got sick and the rest is history.   

NOLA Blue

July 26th, 2011 at 8:13 PM ^

I was under the impression that the star-system is designed to correlate to a player's likelihood of being drafted.  So, I guess the question is "how many fullbacks are drafted each year?"  Judging by the stars granted fullbacks, I would guess the answer is "less than two."

Steenie

July 26th, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^

recruiting sites just arent that high on FB's for whatever reason, and never have been.  I suspect this for a couple of reasons. First its just not as glamorous as other positions of comparable body type like tailback or linebacker, and second, FB has been over the last few years an increasingly underused position thats starting to disappear from rosters due to lack of use in certain offensive schemes.  

rockydude

July 26th, 2011 at 6:01 PM ^

This is a normal year, they just don't respect fullbacks. However, to put it in perspective, they also don't respect kickers. Only the top five or so kickers can even get three stars. I think most coaches would agree that a top five kicker is well worth a scholarship though. I'm not too stressed on what the ratings gurus have to say. We just need to put the right guy in the right spot, and we probably just did.

chunkums

July 26th, 2011 at 8:14 PM ^

I feel like if a fullback was more athletic, he'd usually be a tight end.  I find it intriguing that this kid is a rated fullback considering his size.  He's smaller than Toussaint and Hopkins, but whatever; I'm sure the coaches know what they're doing.

BlueByTheAlamo

July 26th, 2011 at 10:02 PM ^

Exactly right. Look at the best fullbacks from the NFL level in the recent era and they are mostly 5'11"-6'1". Le'Ron McClain, Lorenzo Neal, Mike Alstott. Of course, they all have at least 30 pounds on Houma, but combine his attitude and get him in the strength program for a few years and he can get there. Can potentially be a great lead blocker, check-down receiver, and short yardage running option.

joeyb

July 26th, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^

I'm kind of wondering if we are going to run some triple option out of the I formation or even some Flexbone. You'd pretty much have to sellout on Denard and the pitch man, leaving this guy going up the middle for 6. If you sellout on both then you're going to get burned over the top.

Sopwith

July 26th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^

The west coast offense at its best has a FB who catches swing passes out in the flat roughly as often as Bo like running off tackle.  I'm thinking Tom Rathman to cite the most famous example.  I believe I read on another site that the FB had the 3rd most receptions on SDSU last year-- maybe someone more intrepid can do the googling to see if that's accurate.

In The Shadow …

July 26th, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^

I was just looking at our recruits on ESPN and they show Allen Gant as a WR any thoughts as to whether he could be a WR for us and then we could bring in Wayne Morgan or someone else for a DB position.

Naked Bootlegger

July 26th, 2011 at 6:53 PM ^

Anyone remember Gerald White from those great mid-80's teams?   He came in as a highly touted tailback, but Bo converted him to FB.    Look at his stats over his last two years:

ATT   YDS    TD     REC    YDS   TD

133   564*     7       18     123     4

 88    323      5       38     408     3

 

I would love to see production from our FB like White's numbers, especially in the short passing game.   I know these stats are from a different era, but a FB can be a useful offensive weapon (e.g., Tom Rathman, as someone mentioned above).

*Rushing stats this year were heavily skewed by his 29 ATT/129 YD outburst vs. OSU...was Jamie Morris hurt this game?  I, of course, cannot remember.

 

Naked Bootlegger

July 26th, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^

Floyd was a monster, and could defnitely catch the ball.   Askew had probably the best stats of any FB-type for Michigan in the past 30 years.  I didn't originally include him because I remember him in a lot of single-back formations...he didn't exclusively live off of FB dives up the middle, but actually had some speed to get to the corner (feel free to correct me if my memory is shaky here).   Here are Askew's impressive 2001/2002 stats:

 

ATT   YDS   TD    REC   YDS    TD

199   902   10      26    236    2

110   568    6       36    280    1