OTish: Thomas Rawls: 27 carries, 161 yards, 1 TD

Submitted by westwardwolverine on

Heh. 

Never stops being funny. 

Edit: Sounds like its a Seahawks record. 

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Mr Miggle

January 8th, 2017 at 11:00 AM ^

Maybe the truth is that he was simply a late bloomer. I know our RB development seemed poor under Hoke, but I wonder if the bigger issue was that they were rarely put in position to excel.  Probably Rawls did pick up a lot during his time in AA. He just needed the opportunity he got at CMU to put it all together.

Joined: 10/07/2010

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Swayze Howell Sheen

January 8th, 2017 at 9:38 AM ^

when anybody says "Bring hoke back" I can't believe they are serious. That guy was one of the worst things to happen to Michigan football in my lifetime, and in his time, took millions of dollars doing it. I don't want to see him anywhere near UM football again. 

Joined: 10/05/2008

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BALDA55ARRE

January 7th, 2017 at 11:22 PM ^

Brady Hoke shits the bed every time he hears his name lol! Rawls is better than Green and Smith put together. I remember Rawls in one of our spring games breaking off big runs and scoring touchdowns

Joined: 08/18/2011

MGoPoints: 581

MJ14

January 7th, 2017 at 11:23 PM ^

Remember when a certain someone said he could be better than Ingram and most laughed it off? He seems to be doing better than Ingram now that he has an actual line. 

Joined: 01/09/2011

MGoPoints: 16412

Reader71

January 8th, 2017 at 1:48 AM ^

Yes but not disastrous. They made the playoffs fairly comfortably, which is almost impossible if your line is really bad. They do have one of the worst lines of all of the decent teams in football. But there are many horseshit teams with worse lines that nobody talks about because the entire team sucks. The Seahawks line is basically ours. Not great, and noticeable because the rest of the team is so good. Quick examples of worse lines are MSU and the Browns. It nobody cares to talk about their lines because that would be a waste of everyone's time.

Joined: 08/30/2009

MGoPoints: 22968

PurpleStuff

January 7th, 2017 at 11:42 PM ^

Rawls didn't play a bunch and struggle at UM. He just didn't play. As an underclassman he was a backup to Fitz and later Denard when he moved to RB (understandable), then got buried on the depth chart behind freshman versions of Derrick Green and Smith. He got 3 carries as a junior and transferred. Rawls wasn't limited by any circumstances other than never seeing the field.

Joined: 04/21/2009

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stephenrjking

January 7th, 2017 at 11:26 PM ^

Nobody could run behind that Michigan line, and then it got worse. 

One thing that has become apparent is that while Hoke talked a big game about "competition," he leaned toward playing guys that he was already comfortable with, and it was hard to beat guys out. Rawls didn't do much when he was on the field for us, so it's not like he didn't get a chance... but with Green coming in and Touissant already the established starter, he also knew he had little chance to earn a spot even if he deserved it.

The Harbaugh regime hasn't been perfect at this (Bolden over Gedeon) but it's pretty clear that if a guy can win a job he can have it. 

Joined: 03/15/2012

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Reader71

January 8th, 2017 at 2:16 AM ^

Every coach has favorites. Whether he recruited him, he likes him as a person, he likes his leadership, he likes the way he does a certain thing, etc. I don't know why the persistent belief that Hoke was resistant to benching guys. The OL changed every week. Green was passed by Smith. Clark passed Stribling. The Glasgows passed scholarship players. Time has shown that it's not like the backups were being held back -- almost none of them broke through under Harbaugh either. Meanwhile, under Harbaugh, Poggi gets more snaps than Hill and Isaac never sees the field. The vast majority of the time, the backup is the backup for a reason. Coaches watch a lot of practice, and picking the best guys can be the difference between having a job and not having one.

Joined: 08/30/2009

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Mr. Elbel

January 7th, 2017 at 11:30 PM ^

I hate this thread in so many ways. can't even really do the whole brady/Woodson 'great job representing the university' thing bc of freakin hoke. just have to say congrats for beating my team to a pulp. please sir may I have another.

Joined: 03/02/2014

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SugarShane

January 7th, 2017 at 11:31 PM ^

Sometimes peoples greatest successes come after their greatest failures. You think tom Brady would have had the same motivation had he been he #1 overall draft pick?

Joined: 10/19/2011

MGoPoints: 6949

mgoblueben

January 7th, 2017 at 11:46 PM ^

Funny how Rawls was arrested twice and people gush about the wasted potential at michigan but these same people bash Lewan who was only ever guilty of punching an osu deuche bag (allegations excluded).

Joined: 06/23/2011

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Dr. Emil Shuffhausen

January 8th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^

I clearly remember him running harder

than anyone else, hitting defenders and

driving them back.  He had good speed

and ran angry.  He had a ton of potential

but never got a fair chance. 

 

I know the O-Line sucked but it always

pissed me off to see him get 1 good carry

and sit the rest of the game while Greene

gets tripped by a blade of grass and

blown up on a blitz protection.

Joined: 11/10/2013

MGoPoints: 724

Mr. W

January 8th, 2017 at 12:13 AM ^

I wouldn't call it funny, but more of a guy taking full advantage of an opportunity at the highest level.

His numbers weren't great at Michigan mainly due to being behind Fitz, who has three years in the NFL albeit as a backup to Le'Veon, and the inability to get anything going behind a poor line. His numbers improved at Central when he saw games with 40+ carries multiple times, but even then he was still unstaffed.

Reminds me of Michael Cox, but Rawls is breaking through. Cox couldn't move up the depth chart as a senior for multiple reasons, but he still was able to start for the Giants briefly.

Joined: 08/03/2014

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Mr. W

January 8th, 2017 at 6:09 AM ^

To say he was an UFDA solely because of off the field issues seems like an easy excuse. The same team who signed him also drafted Frank Clark in the second round that year and his off field issues were much more egregious. They probably did help push him out of the 6th/7th round, but so did his inability to stay healthy, being undersized at 5'9", and his lack of consistency. My point is when he's healthy and can consistently get carries he's been able to produce. He was unable to do this at either Michigan or Central.

Joined: 08/03/2014

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Avon Barksdale

January 8th, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^

Remember when Lloyd Carr probably could have won a second but he kept putting in Drew Henson to replace the best QB of all time? Remember that time Lloyd Carr could have won a third but he stopped recruiting defensive backs as Ohio State was moving to an offense that had an NFL first rounder as their slot receiver? I do.

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