Open Field Runners vs Between the Tackles
This is not meant to be a deeply researched post. This is just a discussion. (The post may come later in a diary. We'll see). Anyhow, I'm just wondering, after watching a bunch of recruit's highlight videos, how we come down, as a forum, on the issue of Open Field runners vs Between the Tackle guys.
Obviously, you want both. But lets say you can't have both. You have to chose one. I'm wondering, specifically, this:
Do you feel a, shifty, open field runner who breaks ankles is more or less valuable to a football team than a bowling ball made of knives who is the living embodiment of Leroy Hoard?
vs.
Personally, I love, love LOVE watching an open field runner freeze a linebacker like SubZero, BUT, I ascribe to the notion that there's only one way to score on the 50 yard line, and it's not possible on gamedays.
We all got excited when Mike Hart did show the ability to shift in the open field, but that wasn't what made him great. It was his ability to be indistinguishable from a tiny bulldozer on many occasions.
*Mike Hart in his natural habitat
If you made me choose, I would have to go with Between the Tackles. That is NOT to say a guy can't do both. Just if you have to choose one.
Gotta love those shifty open field running offensive linemen
Gimme a punishing bowling ball. Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson sap the wills of linebackers with every carry.
To combat Ohio State under Urban Meyer, it's my belief that we gotta bring dat beef on every snap. A punishing ball control offense is just what we want. And when the other offense finally does get on the field, good luck trying to score on Mattison's crew!!!
Of course, if I was an Oregon fan, I'd probably tell you having a versatile ankle-breaking speedster like De'Anthony Thomas is more important.
I kind of agree. I was thinking that it depends on the quality of your OL. If you have a great OL, I'd rather have the shifty guy because the OL will get him into the secondary and he can do more from there. If you have a not-so-great OL, then I want the bowling ball so that he can make his own yards.
Even in the spread, though, I always thought that having a big RB who trucks the sole would-be-tackler would be great. Basically, it's how MINOR RAGE was born.
I grew up watching Barry Sanders play. That should explain everything.
Your answer is: you want a RB with the ability to magically teleport up to 3 yards in any direction? I agree with this answer, but there is no one like Barry. I think 7/10 times I'll take the bowling ball, but when a once in a generation guy like Barry comes along he is much more exciting than any bowling ball ever.
perfect answer. all i can do is applaud. This sums up exactly how i feel about barry and how i feel about having a leroy hoard/anthony thomas vs. norfleet.
Did you know that's why he retired young from football? He wanted to dedicate more time to making OTHER things teleport too. He got tired of arriving somewhere without his clothes.
http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/proceeding.aspx?articleid=868474
Wow.
I think it does depend on your style of offense. In addition, I think it partly depends on your defense. If you have a dominant defense, you can go with the shifty back who may lose you three yards but can also take it to the house every time. If your D is not so good, better to have the guy that will eat up clock, shorten the game and sap the life out of the defense.
Personally, I think you must have both, though the best are the guys that can do both ala Wheatley.
With our OL recruiting? I prefer between the tackles. Getting run over by the ball carrier the few times you're not getting run over by lineman just seems totally demoralizing. The ability to turn a rare 10 yard run into a 30 yard run isn't as important as getting 4-5 yards every single carry, IMO.
Hart still looking solid!
In regards to the question, pretty hard to reach the open field without breaking through some tackles first. Love both, but Hoard- style gets my vote. Meat grinding and Molar rattling in 2013!
What about Dexy's Midnight Runners? Why leave them out?
Eileen, come on. Seriously?!
whatever Tyrone Wheatley was I want that. He was my favorite Michigan RB.
I came here to post this. I'll take a (healthy) Tyrone Wheatley every year.
I appear to be in the minority, but I'll take the good open field runner (provided he has speed to go along with his shiftiness). Big plays don't happen very often unless you have speed.
I think big, between-the-tackles runners can be manufactured. You can bulk up running backs, use fullback-type players, etc. Look at Iowa with Mark Weisman, Stanford with Toby Gerhart, etc. Those guys aren't very special as runners, but the coaches used them within the context of their offense and had success. There's nothing wrong with that, because that's what good coaches do...but speed is probably the most valued asset in the sport of football.
Mentioned above already, and I hate to yearn for players that went to Alabama, but Eddie Lacy and Trent Richardson are running backs I love to watch (Mike Hart fits this mold pretty for the most part, also). As 'exciting" as the fleet-footed swifty guys are to watch for most people, I still love watching a guy break a few tackles, follow it up with a "maybe not quite Barry Sanders-cut, but a quick cut nonetheless" move, gain an extra 5-12 yards and probably get tackled. Being able to fly down the field for a TD is of course great, but not everyone possesses the speed for that and for me I'll take the abilities listed above over the speedster who needs open field and one juke, to score.
was not just a between the tackles guys. He was shifty and had speed and juked out guys numerous times. More like Tyrone than A-Train or Hoard.
was not just a between the tackles guys. He was shifty and had speed and juked out guys numerous times. More like Tyrone than A-Train or Hoard.
I admire LSU and Alabama's running games. They seem like old Michigan MANBALL-types but so much of that also has to do with the OL. If I had to choose, I would go with the guy that can help move the pile in those short-yardage situations. Plus, they can draw defenses in and make playaction more effective.
Barry Sanders in college. That's what I want.
Between the tackles without a doubt in college. It's a system you can create. Get some Mr. Plow guys on the offensive line and a back who hits the hole hard and boom you have 3 to 4 yards a carry. Whereas with the open field guy you have a whole litany of requirements. For an open field guy to really be successful he needs an offensive line that can get out in space and potentially zone block for him. When you have your players for a max of five years, recruiting and installing a between the tackles running game seems more feasible.
Of course it is a spectrum. The guy who can run for three yards and then fall forward is nice. The guy who can make the first man miss and get a few yards after first contact before the defense swarms the ball is better, the guy who has the elite speed and moves to avoid being swarmed is the best. That said I honestly don't get that excited about the small shifty guys, they're just change of pace backs/future posistion switches to slot in my mind.
Each of them has a weakness. I think you want a complete back that can run between the tackles, run with toughness, has decent enough speed to break away, and can also make plays in the open field. I think guys like Chris Perry and Tim Biakabutuka were both that sort of guys...6'0" 215-220ish. Fitz is probably a little on the shiftier side and Green is probably a little on the run-you-over side, a little mix of the two would be best I think. A good college guy I can think of is TJ Yeldon and in the pros right now Adiran Peterson both of which are around the same 6'1" 215ish in size and can do all those things.
If Derrick Green is as good as advertised I think we'll be good in the between the tackles department with some decent open field speed.
I watched him carry piles of dudes and he knew how to take care of the football (cough* except the Florida bowl game).
If I was transported to an alien world where the humanoid inhabitants had never heard of or played the game of football and was tasked with re-creating the game on this new planet, I would coach teams based on power running between the tackles and recruit appropriately-sized OL and RBs who could hit the hole with authority and drag men forward with them.
and I've got both.