Any spring buzz on Toussaint?
But I saw Mike Cox doing some good things! Hopefully he won't rage and break...
when my cox rages and breaks. Seriously, can't you get a warranty on these things?
Like Carrot Top.
According to all the reports I have read, the whole stable has been pretty solid including the true freshman. Cox has probably stood out the most though, but all have been solid, nothing real amazing though. I can't wait to check it out myself on the 17th.
Nothing. All that I've heard about is Cox. It sounds like Toussaint is going to be 4th string.
So you think it will look something like this?
1. Shaw
2. Smith
3. Cox
4. Toussaint
With all four getting carries?
Vincent Smith has been tearing it up out there.
Not a sight for sore eyes . . . no, that avatar is a sorry sight. Background? Is this a politico I should recognize?
Grandpa Al Lewis from the Munsters.
Grandpa from the Munsters - nice. +1 for the creative reference to a great show.
I donned this avatar just so I could respond "yes" to Six Zero's question in another thread (Will Heininger Injury): "Is it just Spring or did I miss the memo that all avatars on the blog should be REALLY REALLY hot women??"
But now the old gal is starting to grow on me. It's Betty Friedan, the feminist author, though I care little for or against her politics. I got the picture by searching "ugly women" in google images.
With Smith out until the fall, from the sounds of things, I think it is going to look more like:
1. Cox
2. Shaw/Smith
3. Toussaint
4. White/Hopkins
Also, apparently Kelvin Grady is getting touches out of the backfield. Look for a lot of 2 back sets in order to get more guys touches in a lot of different looks. Especially if Denard wins the job, look for lots of short passes and screens.
shaw has also received positive buzz and i think as it stands, he is the # 1 guy.
I think that Shaw is severely under-appreciated on this board. I've seen more rumbling and discussion about each of Smith, Cox, Toussaint, and Hopkins than Mike Shaw. IMO, if he touches his potential and the rest of the offense is functional, he could put together a massive single season performance this year.
But I guess those are big "ifs".
for returning experience. Shaw & Smith were above Cox on the depth chart last season, and I doubt Cox could do enough in Spring practice alone to dethrone those two guys.
Smith: 358 All-Purpose Yards and 3 TD's last season
Shaw: 437 Career All-Purpose Yards & 3 TD's
Cox was only used against DSU & EMU last season. Not exactly a strong vote of confidence.
... didn't someone do/reference a study that showed that experience had little to with success at the running back position in college? Maybe I'm butchering the findings of the study, but that's how I remember it.
the study that they did didn't really prove anything because their sample size was way to small.
anyways, i was just pointing out that a guy who is impressing people IN SPRING PRACTICE probably won't get the start seeing as he is behind people who have actually played against, you know, real teams in real games.
Well, one guy who played ahead of him isn't playing IN SPRING PRACTICE at all because he tore kind of an important ligament in his knee.
Returning experience at running back is overrated.
Anyway, Smith is coming off ACL surgery. I don't know why so many people expect him to jump back to the top of the heap. And he really only played a lot because Minor, Brown, and Shaw were all hurt last year.
it was Smith who played when they were hurt, not Cox, despite the fact that Cox was a RS freshman and Smith was a true. Furthermore, Smith proved to be more versatile and efficient than both Minor and Brown, imhe. (and according to their respective YPC)
Yeah, well...if you take away Baby Seal University (a game that Minor sat out), Minor's stats blow away Smith's.
Minor: 96 carries, 502 yards, 8 TDs
Smith: 31 carries, 110 yards, 0 TDs
So it's a good thing that your humble e-pinion doesn't decide who gets to play on Saturdays.
your right.
Mike Cox is the starter because the 3 5 minute videos we've seen of him he has been impressive. how silly of me to suggest otherwise.
I didn't even come close to saying that.
I feel like he is taking issue with your claim that Smith was more efficient than Minor and Brown, which is kind of ridiculous.
i was just trying to make a point that Smith, as a returning part-time starter, should not be counted out just yet despite his injury. I know that Minor & Brown were both better than Smith when healthy last year.
I also feel like people read way too much into these 3-5 minute practice videos and spring practice hype. Don't get me wrong I love the watching the videos but because they show a few highlight runs of a guy doesn't mean he's going to be All-Conference.
Ding ding ding!
I like Smith, and I think he can be a good player in the future.
That being said, had Minor been healthy at all last year, we wouldn't be having this discussion. Then again, we wouldn't have finished 5-7 either.
I don't know how much Toussaint will play. I think Smith, Shaw, and Cox will all get a decent number of carries. I think it will be 1. Smith 2. Shaw 3. Cox, but it'll be a close top 3, and I wouldn't be too surprised if all 3 started games this year.
Is it crazy to guess Toussaint will be behind Smith, Shaw, and Cox?
It's most likely that he will be. From what I've been reading from the guys at Rivals, Toussaint has been putting the ball on the ground a lot. Obviously, especially with this team, if you're not going to secure the ball you're not going to play. Toussaint has shown flashes from what I've been reading but he's not quite there yet.
Hopefully not. I think he's underaged.
I really want Toussaint to pan out for us. The coaches said on signing day that he was THE number 1 back on their board; his size, speed, power, and elusiveness seem to be the perfect balance for running this offense in the Big Ten.
I'm hoping he takes advantage of the opportunities he will get in games this coming season and make his mark.
In fact, I think that he'll be a great back for us. But he's definitely not ready yet. That's as it should be though. The kid is only a redshirt freshman. To expect him to be amazing right now is getting a little ahead of ourselves. Both Shaw and Cox have both been in the program an entire year longer than Toussaint and both have game experience. It is only spring practice though. No one knows how things will end up in the fall.
As for the frosh, I've heard good things about Hopkins, apparently the kid is just a load. He has slimmed down to around 230 (slimmed down!) and looks solid. He'd be a good kid to employ against one of those "spread" offenses.
That's the part I love the most about this offense, just in the run game: When we play a big, strong, physical defense, get the ball to Odoms, Gallon, or VSmith and let them run around defenders. When we play the quick, spread out defenses, give the ball to Cox and Hopkins and have them run everyone over. This is before we even throw the ball, or heaven forbid, let DRob keep it.
Make no mistake, Cox is surprisingly quick and agile for a guy his size. He runs a 4.5 40 with a lot of wiggle, so he's by no means exclusively a bruiser.
How do you neg someone who successfully turns the topic into a penis joke? +1 my friend.
I want Fitz to excel, mostly so we're good, but I really want to hear his name by some of the TV guys. Did I mention I also want to be good?
I hope they use more deception with their formations and utilize a little jet action. They have so many potential hybrid guys that they might as well confuse the defense as to who might be getting the ball. Jet motion would work nicely to open up the read play on the inside and likewise for the read play opening up the outside.
For whatever reason, Fitz became the starter in the internet world. Did a few nice things on the scout team last year and people kinged him the starting job in 2010. When I did a poll on MM asking who would be the starter come UCONN, Fitz won the poll by a good 10 votes over Smith. With Shaw coming in 3rd. That just blows my mind.
I see Shaw and Cox getting most the load unless RB hating god strikes. Michigan fans love to hype young players they have never seen. Grady,Mallett and Devin ect. It happens every year.
I did win the Heisman twice with Fitz in NCAA10. Perhaps others had similar success with Fitz?
We have so many options for this year it's crazy. I think if Smith is fully healthy coming back he is the guy because he showed a lot of good things in the last two games. Also I expect Shaw to have a big role and Cox to have a bigger role this year as well. In the future I think Toussaint can be better than all of them but I don't know if he's ready yet.
Talk to any person that has had the type of injury Smith had and ask them how they felt a year later.
Now talk to football players and ask them how they felt a year later....To expect Smith to be 100% by the start of the season is insane. I would be surprised if Smith feels is 100% at any point next season. He might technically be 100% healed, but I doubt he will feel confident making cuts and running on that knee the entire year.
I am not trying to be a buzzkill, just a realist in this discussion. I have a few friends who I went to med school with that are now orthopods and I asked each of them what they thought about the situation. None thought he would feel confident on with his knee for close to two years.
Shaw has been very promising when not hurt (rare), and was rated higher than any of our current backs if my memory serves me right.
IIRC, at the end of the run in the second video the announcer says, "that is what we call giving them the skittles." I think that was in reference to the juke, but who knows with these btn guys.
Michigan needs a playmaker at running back and it sounds like Toussaint is the best -- if not the only -- candidate to be that guy. Shaw hasn't shown much in his first two years and Smith has limited upside. If Toussaint isn't better than those two guys or at least competitive, then that sounds like another bad sign.
Shaw hasn't shown much? He had a 47- or 48-yard run as a true freshman and, if I remember correctly, scored the first TD of the Rodriguez era. He also made a couple guys look silly in the videos above. Oh yeah...he's also really, really fast.
Secondly, you're forgetting about Cox, who had virtually nothing but long runs last year.
I agree that Smith's upside is limited, but I'm not worried at all about our running backs.
vs Big Ten/ND, Shaw has 51 career carries for only 189 yards. That 189 yards includes the one 48-yarder than you speak of. I think it was obvious that Smith was the better back at the end of the year last year, which is why Smith got more snaps. If Shaw is the #1 back, that's more than likely a bad sign. Unless he's one of those rare backs who blossoms after his sophomore year or he has had nagging injuries and he finally gets healthy. So far, both Shaw and Smith haven't shown that they are more than what would historically have been backup caliber at Michigan.
"Unless he's one of those rare backs who blossoms after his sophomore year or he has had nagging injuries and he finally gets healthy."
I don't know about the blossoming part, but the nagging injuries part fits. He had a groin pull as a freshman and I believe he pulled his hamstring last year.
Shaw seems similar to Carlos Brown - poor at breaking tackles, worse at staying healthy, but super fast and dangerous when healthy.
CB didn't do much until this past year, but when he was healthy and he didn't get hit, he was lethal. Shaw might end up being that guy for us.
I just don't see what everyone is talking about with him being easy to take down like Carlos. I remember seeing him power forward on several occasions.
He's not going to break tackles like Hart/Minor, but he doesn't go down at the slightest breeze like Brown. He's kind of in between the two styles, which is fine if we can open some running lanes for him. I feel like that's been one of the biggest problems with our running game the past couple years - we haven't had a great offensive line.