Semi-OT: Thomas Rawls' first NFL TD: 69 yards for Seattle
Rawl's first rushing TD was a good one. From the broadcast, says it was the 2nd-longest rushing TD for the NFL this season, and I think they said it was Seattle's first rushing TD of the season. Rawls behind two others of more fame and experience, but their injuries are his opportunities.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
Hoke gave him a shot, he definitely got carries at UM. He just didn't do much with them.
If you're going to blame an M coach, you're probably better off looking at Fred.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:19 PM ^
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October 11th, 2015 at 5:39 PM ^
yeah, Funk is probably most to blame
October 11th, 2015 at 3:24 PM ^
Jackson's the one that found and recruited Rawls, who was not highly recruited or well regarded.
Rawls put up respectable stats behind a bad OL in 2012 and got in legal trouble in 2013.
The 2012 and 2013 OLs were some of the worst in Michigan football history. Let's blame that on one of Michigan's best RB coaches ever? A guy who mentored countless future NFL backs including now, apparently, Thomas Rawls.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:31 PM ^
Fred J coached: Ricky Powers, Ty Wheatley, Tim Biakabatuka, Anthony Thomas, Chris Perry and Mike Hart among others in his 20 year Michigan career.
He did not suddenly forget how to coach starting in 2007. The Lunacy that some people seem to have about this is mind-boggling.
The system changed in 2007...the Talent recruited at RB dropped considerably.
Rawls had talent, but was running in a crappy system behind a very crappy Offensive Line.
Funk had more to blame for it not happening.... than FJ for sure.
October 11th, 2015 at 4:37 PM ^
It's not that complicated. Coaches change in the ability to do their job just like anyone else. At one time he was probably an awesome RB coach. But as time went on he probably became less effective. That happens to almost anyone who stays in the same job forever. Maybe he did a fine job coaching Wheatley in 1992, but that doesn't mean that 20 years later he was just as good.
I'd argue that Jackson's decline started under Carr. Mike Hart was awesome, sure, but he basically showed up as a finished product - he rushed for 1,500 yards as a freshman. It's easy to coach a guy who's a stud right off the bat. But where was the depth behind him? David Underwood, Mike Martin, Kevin Grady - all bluechip guys who didn't pan out. Over Jackson's last decade as our RB coach, we had an unusually high rate of busts at the RB position. Either we could no longer identify quality RB recruits anymore or we couldn't coach them up, or both.
Saying that Jackson was not a great RB coach at the end of his tenure is not to condemn his entire coaching record.
October 11th, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^
is that OL play largely determines RB production.
Michigan produced a steady stream of NFL OLmen in the 80s and 90s and their RBs did well. None of them really had great NFL success, which supports the idea that the OL is as important as the backs.
The OL assembly line slowed in the mid 2000's and the 2008 OL and 2013 OL were absolute disasters. Regime and scheme changes affected the team.
We can debate the RB talent, but as Rawls shows it's not true that Michigan was devoid of capable backs during some of these lean years. And anyway, Michigan's RBs were pretty damn good in 2011. (not coincidentally the same time that Rodriguez's rebuilt OL was coming to maturity).
October 11th, 2015 at 4:54 PM ^
So from 2004-07, did we have good OL play when Mike Hart played but not when Underwood, Martin or Grady played?
Again, I'm arguing that Jackson's decline began under Carr, not under RichRod. He had a ready-made star in Hart and that made his job look easy. But he could never develop any of the other backs on the roster to be competent backups. Then when Hart graduated, our RB production fell off a cliff and never recovered.
This all stands in great contrast to the Michigan running back position in the first half of Jackson's tenure. Ricky Powers went down and Wheatley replaced him, to be eventually replaced by Biakabutuka. It was "next man up" for a decade. I give Jackson great credit for that. By the same token, I can't give him much credit for his last decade because the position simply wasn't very good. Again, I think that he was once a fine RB coach, but he declined and probably stayed around too long. That's normal in a coaching tenure.
October 11th, 2015 at 10:34 PM ^
It was 'next man up' because the OL was dominant and you could plug anybody in at tailback and they ran through the goddamn gaping holes that the NFL OL opened up for them. The 2000 team had Thomas, Perry and Walter Fraking Cross all ran for over 5 YPC. None of those guys did anything significant in the NFL, but the OL had 5 guys who started in the NFL playing on it as upperclassmen.
By 2006 Michigan lacked depth on the OL. Reuben Riley should not have been a starter and Michigan had to play a true freshman (Boren) or Alex Mitchell along the line. Hart was special, but his YPC numbers were not. He was the football equivalent of a "volume shooter". His YPC and DeVeon Smiths are indistinguishable, but he ran the ball a lot more.
You can't blame Jackson for Grady and not credit him for Hart. Nobody wins when blamed only for failures and has their successes ignored.
Jackson is getting blamed for something that is much bigger than him. Any position coach that stuck around would have had inconsistent production. The decline and lack of stability in the program affected everybody. QB play was great in the 90s through mid aughts and then it sucked mostly save for some brilliance from Denard. Same for the OL save 2010-11. Same for the WRs save Hemingway and Gallons senior years. So have TEs till Butt. So did the DL save Graham and Martin. Look at any position and none of them have stayed as good as they were. Thats the program turning from a rock of stability to not.
Jackson is also getting blamed for a problem that is being grossly exaggerated. In 2011 Michigan backs were all very productive. Did jackson just have a good year? No - the OL was good (veterans from rich rodriguez) and the offense was effective.
What the hell are we even complaining about? In 2013 Michigan (with Fred Jackson as coach) had the same backs they have now pretty much and they ran for 4.6 ypc as a team (vs 4.8 ypc this year) . In 2006 Michigan ran for 4.3 ypc and it was 3.8 ypc the year before that.
Look at every year that Michigan has a really good run game and they have a really good OL. 2011 was when Rodriguz's guys got mature. This year we're a lot better because all these guys are 4th or 5th year. Next year is when Hoke's guys will mature, and I bet the RBs have a great year then too.
The RB coach's job is mostly about recruiting (not just RBs). As far as on field stuff it's blocking and holding on to the damn ball. Not many guys get a lot better from their freshman to their senior year, at least not as runners. Chris Perry had the biggest development I've ever seen in a RB from freshman to senior, but he was always a talented runner. But still, for doing all the rest, his RB coach deserves some credit. Whoever that was...
October 11th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
Rawls never really played in 2013 (3 carries all year). He backed up Fitz and later Denard as a sophomore in 2012 when he posted 242 yards on 57 carries (4.2 avg.) and 4 TD.
Rawls wasn't a guy who got a ton of opportunities and failed to perform. He got benched after his sophomore year (legal trouble may have had something to do with it or coaching staff preference for Green and Smith) and then transferred a year later. If there is a criticism to be made it has nothing to do with his instruction but rather with the decision to give him the ball or not.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:31 PM ^
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October 11th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
Unfortunately, the reason Rawls never was a starter at Michigan was his own doing. It was later discovered well after his transfer to Central Michigan at the beginning of 2013 that he was facing felony charges of larceny purse theft and stealing credit cards. He missed two games of his initial and final 2014 season with the Chippewas. Rawls was not charged, however, and got probation after cooperating with authorities.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2015-09-29/thomas-rawls-marshawn-…
October 12th, 2015 at 9:51 AM ^
Rawls probably wasn't going to be the starter at Michigan in 2014, anyway. But the purse-stealing incident occurred in April 2014, so he was never on the team after that.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
Fortunately, Seattle doesn't play the Saints this year. Or we might have been sucked into some sort of Fred Jackson vision-meets-reality comparison black-hole event horizon.
Maybe comparing their performances against common opponents would not be too dangerous...
October 11th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 3:18 PM ^
The pride of Flint. Sam Webb is very happy right now
October 11th, 2015 at 3:19 PM ^
Rawls is an average back. That being said I am happy for him.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
Average backs dont put up 163 yds vs the Cincinnati Bengals.
October 11th, 2015 at 4:03 PM ^
And the Lions run D is good?
Rawls and his stellar 48 yds on 17 carries vs Detroit.
I dumped his butt after last week. Everyone said "start him last week" and he was a dud. Then against the Bengal they said sit b/c of Bengals D and now he has 169 yds and TD.
October 11th, 2015 at 4:05 PM ^
Any running back looks good with the threat of Russell Wilson as your QB.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
I just listened to a fantasy podcast with matthew berry and he told me not to start thomas rawls. I thought all these pundits knew everything!! They should get everything right all the time. But the thing that really gets me is that I don't even own thomas rawls! What kind of fan am I!
October 11th, 2015 at 6:32 PM ^
Started him this week. He saved my ass.
I am declaring myself a fantasy and also sports gambling expert and ask that people call my toll-free number for my Big Lock of the Week. I'm sure I could get rich by following my own advice, but I prefer to rely on the compulsive nature of addicts. It's more reliable.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 6:27 PM ^
If Cox gets 69, this board won't keep it a secret.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
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October 11th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
....or rather, the link to the article where the video is located. Most NFL sites seems a bit skittish about letting people embed wherever they please, but that's because....well....anything you can monetize.
October 11th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 3:56 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^
October 12th, 2015 at 10:07 AM ^
Why yes, he did.
Also, Barack Obama is President of the United States of America, according to lunch ladies.
October 11th, 2015 at 4:16 PM ^
Nice work by Cousins - throws an INT in OT returned for TD
October 11th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
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October 11th, 2015 at 4:46 PM ^
Good for him.
Love to see an ex-Michigan player making it in the pros regardless of the path he took to get there.
October 11th, 2015 at 5:17 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 6:20 PM ^
October 11th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^
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October 11th, 2015 at 8:39 PM ^
69 Yards? Nicccccccce.
October 11th, 2015 at 9:28 PM ^
When Lynch was questionable two weeks ago i picked up Rawls on my fantasy team. He has proven to be a solid pick up in my league.