The Curious Case of Ty Isaac

But almost no chance of playing on Sundays for Mr. Isaac. Work that degree young man.

He has deluxe size and speed combo for a RB.  He is willing to use his speed, but not the size.  I'm sure the Coaches have tried to change his running style, but its just who he is.

He's a "smart" runner who picks his way and uses his blockers well.

Devon Smith runs with serious aggression.

Who do you think Coach Harbaugh is going to favor?

Remember how much he liked Frank Gore.

The reason you don't see Perr, A-Train or even Mike Hart on the list is because they were products of the Lloyd-ball era.  They were all talented and great players for the teams they were on.  But they also fell victim to the simplistic play-calling, run-run-run-punt-play D, and play close games mentality of Carr.  I remember Perry's awesome 200-yard game against MSU that one year......but it took him 52 carries to do it.  

Isaac puts on a bit of bulk this offseason. Convinces during practice that he can take a hit without fumbling (fumble tendency trumps YPC), improves blocking technique just a bit, and has a great season next year.

Deveon Smith=Evander Holyfield. Know what I mean?

Isaac seems to just need "Beast Mode" where at certain times he should try to run people over rather than cutting or juking them.  Even if he gets tackled putting that shoulder into people is going to send a message maybe they don't want to do that next time.  There's no time for readjustment now, it has to happen in '17 or that's all she wrote.

The guy has the body to wreck all kinds of people in pass pro, just get lower.

Evans despite his great jump cuts and ability to saw guys off at the ankles doesn't seem much of a stopper in passpro (yet).  It was almost like when he came into the game it was guaranteed handoff.

Hopefully Coach Wheat can get all of these guys hammering LBs  and blitzing safeties at a high level (err, like lower pad level, I mean 8-)

May be next summer he can break through. He's big enough to be an every down back. Just secure the ball and pass block a bit better.

I think he needs a lot work when it comes to protecting the QB in the passing game. That's just not where he excels.

my head the last two years also. They guy has all the tools, size, strength, speed and vision. He seems to do a good job everytime he gets carries and considering he's averaging 5.9YPC it's pretty obvious. 

Not sure what is going on behind the scense, but most games I sit watching wondering why they don't play him more. I think it was Iowa he came in for one carry of about 9 yards for a TD and if you watch the replay it was a very good run, then he's sitting the rest of the game.

I don't get it, but I wonder what next year will bring with him. Will he stick around and battle for the starting position, which I think he could win, or does he leave as a grad transfer and play immediately somewhere else. I hope he sticks around.

Not to switch the topic to other backs but I don't think that the absence of Perry or the A-Train on that list can be solely attributed to the Carr offense. Both of those backs took time to develop and only became stars in their final year.

One thing consistent about most of the backs on the list is that they were good immediately. If you look at Wheatley's and Biakabatuka's stats you will see that their averages were pretty consistently good from the beginning. The same cannot be said for Perry or Thomas. In 1999, Thomas had 283 carries and a 4.4 YPC. Previous years have fewer carries but the same uninspiring average. In 2000, the carries remained similar at 287 but the average jumped to 5.4 YPC. The same is true for Perry who had 267 carries in 20002 and a 4.2 YPC. That YPC jumped in 2003 to 5.0 YPC on 338 carries.

Mike Hart is a little different. He was pretty uniform, with a dip in 2005 when he got hurt and offense was really bad. But he was what he was which was not quite enough to get him on this list.