2017 Running Backs

Phil

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Why not a little video about Zane Dudek. Extra special talent. Also not bad in the mind department. Rhodes scholar material. See below mini profile about the start of his college career at Yale and his high school exploits.

Article titled "Just A Freshman, Zane Dudek Has Led Yale's Rush By Example" at
(http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-sp-zane-dudek-20171116-story.html)

Here is some information we learned about Zane Dudek from this article-

About his high school years-
"The kid had a 4.4 GPA. He was ranked third in his class."

Zane's stats at Yale up to November 17, 2017-
"He has gained 1,069 yards, an average of 8.0 yards per touch. He has scored 14 touchdowns"

Zane has the 2nd best season ever for a Yale freshman running back-
"Since freshman were first allowed to play varsity in the Ivy League in 1993, only Harvard's Clifton Dawson, who gained 1,187 yards as a freshman in 2004, is believed to have ever had a better start than Dudek."

His record breaking success in high school football-
"As a high school senior, Dudek had the most prolific season of any running back in Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League history, rushing for a single season record 2,955 yards in only 11 games, scoring a record 254 points. He finished his career with 6,977 yards and 102 touchdowns.

After that record breaking high school success, how many FBS university programs seriously recruited Dudek?
"And yet, the only FBS programs that seriously recruited him were Kent State, Army, and Air Force."

Dudek's high school coach tries to understand the lack of FBS recruiting. This is the caste system in action.-
"When recruiters would meet with me, I would say, 'Coach, he checks every box. He's smart, he's strong, he's a great teammate, he's a receiver, he's a very good blocker, he's a captain," Fabian said. "I don't know. It's one of the great mysteries. His running style is a little different, more upright. Some of the things he does may appear unique. I just don't know if people didn't understand something they weren't used to seeing. We were dumbfounded, and it frustrated him a lot."

Zane had immediate success at Yale-
"In his first three games at Yale, Dudek gained 460 yards on 35 carries with five touchdowns. That's an average of 13.1 yards per attempt."

A very informative article. The comment about recruiting by Dudek's high school coach will be especially interesting for people who understand the caste system. But to be honest, ending up as the top running back at Yale University while getting a top rate university education is really great for Dudek. Dudek's story from a caste football perspective is bad, but for Dudek's personal life it is actually a great story.
 
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Rocky B

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Ian Eriksen with a rock solid 22-94-3 stat line this evening after 3 quarters......
MAC Midweek games.....

Quick reminder, most of our running backs are underclassmen this year.....
Next year should be a good one.....
 

Rocky B

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Who am I forgetting guys?

Next year running backs...I’ll put the teams they play for to help new members.

Nall Oregon St
Laird. Cal
Epstein. Illinois
I Eriksen Eastern Michigan
Ouellette Ohio
Dudek (I include him due to serious nfl possibilities) Yale

All 1000 yard potential backs (plus qbs like Abey of Navy)

McVey is a rare senior who may be replaced by Nolan Eriksen. Air Force

There’s Josh Hokitt that’s been getting carries for Fresno
Groshek of Wisconsin (and what will become of Sam Brodner)
Funk from Maryland
Gest (Indiana) will only be a sophomore
Jack Wegher (Brandon’s bro) May finally surface for Purdue
Andy Davidson got demoted for Army but will be back next year with Slomka, etc
Cade Carney for Wake Forest is a coaching staff favorite and starter, but often hurt
Beau Bisharat is primed to start for Colorado next year.....
I’d love to see Austin Kafentis start for BYU......Who knows.....
Ga Tech has Weimerskirsh and Cottrell as second stringers.
The kid from Washington (Sam McGrew)

Again, next year should be better than this year for running backs.

Plus, there’s always a sleeper like Laird this year.
 

Rocky B

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Anthony Gargiulo has been getting a bunch of carries of late for Navy.....
He’s a junior fullback. He had a 140yard game a couple weeks ago.......
They’re on tv now if anyone is flipping around. Abey has been dinged up, but he’s in there......
 
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Here's a guy that I never really looked into, because I honestly thought he was mixed. However he seems to be a Tyler Gaffney clone, sharing a similiar skin-tone, and likely a similiar ethnic background...

Boise State (Sr.) RB Ryan Wolpin 5'8 195 has tallied 88 rushing att for 327 yards and 3 TD's, while catching 9 rec for 88 yards this season! Listed as the #2 RB on Boise St.'s depth chart, lets hope he can end his career in style with a nice bowl-game display! It's a shame I just found out about him, as we all know D1 RB's of European heritage are hard to come by :(.
58e127450e780.preview (2).jpg ryan wolpin.jpg
ryan-wolpin-boise-state-football-freaks-list-2017.jpg
 
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white lightning

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Someone posted this in the college football thread but I wanted to repeat it.

Patrick Laird went over 1000 yards against UCLA. What a season he has had. The
guy has so much talent but is on an average team. Cal is way better than Oregon State. I
feel even worst for Ryan Nall. Amazing running back and an incredible athlete stuck on
the worst team in the pac 12.

I really enjoy watching both of these kids play. I hope they both come back to college next year!
 

Phil

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An article about Yale running back Zane Dudek's fantastic first year.
(www.nhregister.com/sports/article/Yale-s-Zane-Dudek-named-Ivy-League-rookie-of-12375632.php)

"Yale freshman running back Zane Dudek was a unanimous selection for Ivy League rookie of the year after becoming the first freshman to lead the league in rushing. Dudek was also....named to the Ivy League's first team."

"Dudek rushed for 1,133 yards on 159 carries, averaging 7.1 yards per carry and 113.3 yards per game. He also led the league in overall touchdowns(16), rushing touchdowns(15), and all-purpose yards(1,345). In the FCS national statistics, Dudek is second in scoring, tied for second in rushing touchdowns, third in yards per carry and total touchdowns, and seventh in rushing yards and rushing yards per game. He leads all freshman in all of those categories."

"Dudek was also a unanimous choice for first-team All-Ivy, .....and the first-ever unanimous selection."
 

Phil

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Zane Dudek is voted 2nd best freshman football player in the FCS division(Divison 1-AA).
(https://www.foxsports.com/college-f...man-lb-armstrong-wins-jerry-rice-award-121217)

"Bryson Armstrong wasn't heavily recruited out of high school, so he jumped at a scholarship offer from Kennesaw State..
Kennesaw State's standout linkebacker became the first defensive player to be named the STATS FCS Jerry Rice Award winner on Tuesday, edging Yale running back Zane Dudek by a single point in the voting (347-346) for the nation's best freshman."

Voting results:
1. Bryson Armstrong LB Kennesaw St.: 29-32-12-12-14-347
2. Zane Dudek RB Yale: 19-31-26-20-9-346

L.A. Rams Cooper Kupp won this award while at Eastern Washington. Bryson Armstrong, caucasian, was lightly recruited out of high school. Then he wins best first year player in the nation(FCS). Go figure.
 

celticdb15

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Thanks for sharing Phil! If Dudek and Armstrong were upsiders they would have had 10+ offers out of HS! Amazing seasons both these young men had, it'd be awesome to see some FBS schools offer these guy's and attempt to lure them up a level! Longshot I know.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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often overlooked even here at Caste Football, Lehigh's Dominick Bragalone was named a First Team FCS All-American after leading the FCS in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. the junior finished the season with 1,388 yards (5.6 yards per carry average) and 18 rushing scores in just 11 games. also named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference, Bragalone is the first player in Lehigh history to rush for 1,000+ yards in three consecutive seasons.

Bragalone set the state of Pennsylvania high school single-season rushing record as a senior with 4,704 yards (the second-highest total for a single season in national high school history) after running for over 3,000 yards as a junior, and he was a standout on the track (10.94 100-meters). he also ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at Penn State's camp the summer before his high school senior year ... but he didn't get an offer from a single FBS school.

the "experts" said it was because he played at a small high school, but strangely that doesn't seem to keep "affletic" types from getting "unearthed," does it? but when it's a White kid with explosive potential, virtually no one is interested. "weird," huh?

edited: corrected the transposed yardage total from the incorrect 4,074 to the correct 4,704.
 
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TwentyTwo

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often overlooked even here at Caste Football, Lehigh's Dominick Bragalone was named a First Team FCS All-American after leading the FCS in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. the junior finished the season with 1,388 yards (5.6 yards per carry average) and 18 rushing scores in just 11 games. also named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference, Bragalone is the first player in Lehigh history to rush for 1,000+ yards in three consecutive seasons.

Bragalone set the state of Pennsylvania high school single-season rushing record as a senior with 4,074 yards (the second-highest total for a single season in national high school history) after running for over 3,000 yards as a junior, and he was a standout on the track (10.94 100-meters). he also ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at Penn State's camp the summer before his high school senior year ... but he didn't get an offer from a single FBS school.

the "experts" said it was because he played at a small high school, but strangely that doesn't seem to keep "affletic" types from getting "unearthed," does it? but when it's a White kid with explosive potential, virtually no one is interested. "weird," huh?
THANKS for posting this Jimmy C
Not overlooked on here....i posted plenty about Domanick Bragalone; at least 7 times on Weekly Stats updates. He & Dudek were regulars on FCS Stat-line Recap!

Dude runs like a Boss! Here are just a few examples...including 201 yards rushing Week #11

http://castefootball.us/index.php?threads/2017-college-football-week-11.36499/page-3#post-711699

http://castefootball.us/index.php?threads/2017-college-football-week-12.36509/page-3#post-712520
 
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Carolina Speed

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often overlooked even here at Caste Football, Lehigh's Dominick Bragalone was named a First Team FCS All-American after leading the FCS in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. the junior finished the season with 1,388 yards (5.6 yards per carry average) and 18 rushing scores in just 11 games. also named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference, Bragalone is the first player in Lehigh history to rush for 1,000+ yards in three consecutive seasons.

Bragalone set the state of Pennsylvania high school single-season rushing record as a senior with 4,074 yards (the second-highest total for a single season in national high school history) after running for over 3,000 yards as a junior, and he was a standout on the track (10.94 100-meters). he also ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash at Penn State's camp the summer before his high school senior year ... but he didn't get an offer from a single FBS school.

the "experts" said it was because he played at a small high school, but strangely that doesn't seem to keep "affletic" types from getting "unearthed," does it? but when it's a White kid with explosive potential, virtually no one is interested. "weird," huh?
Doesn't matter JC. They'll find something just to make an excuse not to offer. North Carolina as you know, had a RB several years ago that rushed for over 3,000 yards as a Junior, averaged over 11 yards per carry in the largest NC division of high school football. His team even went into the third round of the playoffs where he burned many D-1 offered CB's. Too bad we didn't get to see what this kid would have done in his senior year.
JC or Twenty-Two, I would like to know what Bragalone's yards/carry was in HS. Do either of you know? Also, what was his total HS yards? Did he only play his Junior and Senior season?
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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JC or Twenty-Two, I would like to know what Bragalone's yards/carry was in HS. Do either of you know? Also, what was his total HS yards? Did he only play his Junior and Senior season?

from what i found online, Bragalone played in 15 games as a senior and ran the ball 316 times, gaining 4,704 yards (my earlier post had the numbers 7 and 0 transposed) and scoring 64 touchdowns. he averaged 14.9 yards-per-carry, averaged 313.6 yards-per-game, and went over 100 yards rushing in every contest. as a junior, he played in 12 games and ran the ball 273 times, gaining 3,268 yards and scoring 48 touchdowns. he averaged 12.0 yards-per-carry and 272.3 yards-per-game. i couldn't find a total for his sophomore season, but he didn't play very much.

he played in Class A in Pennsylvania, which is a small classification, but the above numbers, combined with his track speed and performance at various camps should've earned him an abundance of D-I offers, but such is life under the Caste System. you're too true, Carolina Speed. there's seemingly always "something" that keeps the White tailback or defensive back from actually being "talented" enough to get a D-I offer.
 

TwentyTwo

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Carolina Speed...trying to think of that name of the HS RB from NC.....tip of my tongue>?

Bragalone was discovered for me following WR Troy Pelletier's Stats...Think he was 2nd Team All FCS

According to Max Preps here are Bragalone's gaudy HS stats! Not sure about a Soph. season; it's not showing here.

His Junior & Senior seasons Combined
27 Games 589 carries......7972 yards.... 13.5 AVG. 295.3 per Game.....112 TD's :eek:
http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/dom...EeKZ5AAmVebBJg/gendersport/football-stats.htm

Just saw your post Jimmy C
 

TwentyTwo

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from what i found online, Bragalone played in 15 games as a senior and ran the ball 316 times, gaining 4,704 yards (my earlier post had the numbers 7 and 0 transposed) and scoring 64 touchdowns. he averaged 14.9 yards-per-carry, averaged 313.6 yards-per-game, and went over 100 yards rushing in every contest. as a junior, he played in 12 games and ran the ball 273 times, gaining 3,268 yards and scoring 48 touchdowns. he averaged 12.0 yards-per-carry and 272.3 yards-per-game. i couldn't find a total for his sophomore season, but he didn't play very much.

he played in Class A in Pennsylvania, which is a small classification, but the above numbers, combined with his track speed and performance at various camps should've earned him an abundance of D-I offers, but such is life under the Caste System. you're too true, Carolina Speed. there's seemingly always "something" that keeps the White tailback or defensive back from actually being "talented" enough to get a D-I offer.
Started a Matt Gadek thread....Senior in HS playing at 6A McKinney HS....BROKE All Time Record in TEXAS 599 yards rushing in a game back in Oct.....NO OFFERS from D1 Schools...Weird Huh?? He is a bit light at 180lbs or so...but i had a black dude tell me Gadek would be good at a Spread school like Texas Tech. I''m thinking not even worthy of an Offer from a Rice? SMU? or UTSA or Texas State???? He was upset about the lack of black college baseball players; then it was my turn to be heard about lack of opportunity for White RB's/Skill players
 

Leonardfan

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Here is the caste system in action at Navy:

Navy HC Ken Niumatalolo said that sophomore SB/QB Malcolm Perry will likely serve as the team's starting quarterback in 2018.

"Probably. We’ll see. I haven’t really thought that far ahead. It’s kind of fresh off this game," Niumatalolo said following Navy's loss to Army earlier this month. He later added, "He’s a talented kid and I’m excited for the future." Perry, who was used mostly as a slotback this year, started two of the final three games at quarterback for the campaign. In those contests, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound sophomore rushed for a combined 532 yards and five touchdowns. He's already been tabbed as the starting quarterback for the team's military Bowl showdown with Virginia on Dec. 28.

The Capital Gazette's Bill Wagner passes along that "[e]arly speculation" has Navy junior QB Zach Abey shifting over to fullback this coming offseason so that "his talents are not wasted."

"Abey did most of his damage between the tackles, routinely running over defenders or breaking tackles," Wagner writes. It should be a relatively easy positional shift for the junior given his running style. This season, the 6-foot-2, 218-pounder has rushed for 1,325 yards and 14 touchdowns.
 
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