The RB Rotation

Submitted by CCBlue on

An emotional roller coaster today, but awesome win.  Cannot put my love for Dilithium into words.  And I think both sides of the ball will only get better, and special teams certainly can't get worse.  We are gonna f*ck some people up.

After two weeks I cannot help but dream about how dynamic the offense could be with a real RB threat.  It's early, but neither Shaw nor Smith have really done it for me.  Which leaves me with two questions:

1. By the end of the year, are we going to have a clear-cut top back(s)?

2. If so, who will it be?

I loved Smith last year, but I think he's still recovering from the injury.  I have an intuition that Cox or Fitz will emerge (if Fitz can get and stay healthy).  I think Cox is the guy.

 

Thoughts?

MinorRage

September 11th, 2010 at 8:05 PM ^

disappointed in the line. I'll obviously wait for Brian's UFR for final judgement, but it seemed like ND was owning us up front and the RB's had nowhere to go. I think (from practice reports, no inside info) that Touissaint might be our most complete back so I hope he can get healthy.

Hoken's Heroes

September 11th, 2010 at 8:07 PM ^

Is fine and at 100%. Not sure if he or Shaw is the answer. I'd love to see a bigger more physical back but that doesn't seem to be what RR is looking for or has really recruited (or found yet).

 

All I know is that UM can not continue to rely on DROB to be the sole answer for the offense because if he gets hurt, it's going to go down hill fast, imho.

Hoken's Heroes

September 11th, 2010 at 8:28 PM ^

...but I am not sure if that is what RR is looking for as an everydown back or if he'll be used  short yardage. Time will tell. It just seemed to me that the backs were very hesitant today. I just didn't see any confidence in how they ran. But what do I know. I am just a jinxed pussy!

SysMark

September 11th, 2010 at 8:10 PM ^

I think they need to loosen up the downfield passing attack a bit, and will.  As far as I could see we had open receivers on just about every play - ND was stacking the front against the run.  Thinking they use the next few weeks to work on that.

johnvand

September 11th, 2010 at 8:11 PM ^

I thought so too until I looked at the box score and saw 40 pass attempts for DRob.  We're passing a bunch, I'd just like to see a little more outside streak passing to Stonum and Odoms.

Especially with the safeties quick to crash on the run.

A2MIKE

September 11th, 2010 at 8:10 PM ^

I thought their D-line pushed our O-line around a lot.  Really disappointed in Omameh and Dorrenstein.  I thought the right side had trouble all day.  Not sure if everything was on the backs, also think that ND game planned really well around the read option and playing lanes, Denard just beat people one on one.

Rico616

September 11th, 2010 at 8:11 PM ^

The running game outside of D Rob was a glaring concern for me today too. Michigan also lacks a big back for those tough 3rd and 2 downs. I'm guessing that guy will eventually be Hopkins. I do like Roundtree, Odoms, and Stonum at WR.

How great would Dee Hart look in Michigans backfield ?

joeyb

September 11th, 2010 at 8:16 PM ^

I still think Cox will be the answer. Maybe Toussaint, but I think we want a back that can break a tackle or two when the entire play is flowing his direction. Having a back that is a threat will take a lot of pressure off of Denard and hopefully open up the defense for him.

ndjames86

September 11th, 2010 at 11:35 PM ^

to be the back that finally steps up, but I think the line wasn't as dominant today. It seemed like the interior line was having trouble, especially with the late shift ND kept doing right before the snap. I could have underestimated the number of times we did this, but I was surprised we didn't run the hurry up more, where we get to the line and then check to the sidelines to change the play more often. I think that both shaw and smith have skills, but its hard to pick up decent yards when you dont have any holes to run through.