2017 Running Backs

[TwentyTwo]

Many years ago in the 90's one asked coach Bobby Bowden if he'd ever recruit a White Running back?? He scoffed & laughed it off. How many more coaches & recruiters have this same attitude?

Documented that Christian McCaffrey wasn't taken that seriously at Summer Football Camps in HS by his NFL Dad...It took coach David Shaw giving him an opportunity...not sure any SEC coach had the stones to start McCaffrey at Tailback; he'd have likely been pigeon-holed into his Caste-appropriate Slot position.

Peyton Hillis was only given the opportunity in the NFL to rush for 1,000 yards in a season because four other RB's were injured....Heisman Runner-up Toby Gerhart didn't pass ex USC coach Pete Carroll's "eye test" & would have been a Fullback . Those are just some of the examples...this trend continues & is a big reason why this thread is so thin...

Ryan Nall (Jr.) 6'-2" 237....Oregon State....former Tight End/H-Back.... 1st full season as a starter (Soph./10 games) amassed 951 yards rushing & 13 TD's...nice blend of size & speed capable of taking it to the house anywhere on the field; had an 89 yard TD run vs. Wash. St! Rushed for 221 yards/ 3 TD's vs Cal ; had 8 receptions for 80 yards vs Minnesota

80 yard TD vs Cal...check out the burst at the 40 pulling away from smaller DB's

Timothy McVey (Sr.) 5'-9" 190... Air Force.....Big-play threat rushed for 708 yards & 10 TD's his Jr. season...has 19 career rushing TD's; 18 career receptions for 500 yards (whopping 28 yd Avg!) 6 TD's

Cade Carney (Soph.) 5"-11" 215 ..Wake Forest....rushed for 589 yards & 6 TD's (including 100+ yard games vs Duke & Syracuse) as a Freshman; First freshman at school to start a game at RB in 65 years (missed three games due to injury)

AJ Ouellette (RS Jr.) 5'-9" 205.... Ohio U. former Walk-on...Led team in rushing in 2014' (785 yds/ 7 TD's) & 15' (691 yds & 6 TD's/started just 7 games)... missed 16' injury;....should be back at least to Split carries w last year's leading rusher Dorian Brown

Gordon Collins (RS Jr.) 6'-0 225....Richmond...Spiders' starting RB
• Carried the ball 15 times for 113 yards and a TD in Richmond's thrilling 37-20 win over ACC foe Virginia to start the season (including out running early-round NFL DB prospect Quin Blanding for a 55 yard TD)
• Suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the Spiders' second game against Norfolk State and missed the rest of the season

Hopefully this list can be added to... speedster Nathan Cottrell (Georgia Tech); Sean McGrew (Washington); Beau Bisharat (Colorado) & Cole Gest (Indiana) & several others will get an opportunity to make an impact & tote the rock!

 

[chris371]

Kinda sad, but the only white RB for a big time Team is Nall.
On the plus side he has great speed for his size and Power. Definitely a promising NFL prospect. I hope some Team has the stones to draft and play him.

 

[Rocky B]

Andy Davidson----Watch all Army games guys......He's a tough runner......
Dean good year last year.....Gets lots of carries.......

 

[Rocky B]

Damn good last year......

Jake Funk-Maryland
Sam Brodner-Wisconsin

2 scholarship guys a little buried on the depth chart.....
Most of you know these dudes......

Ian Eriksen for Eastern Michigan had a lot of carries last year due to an injury

 

[Rocky B]

Jack Wegher (Brandon's bro) at Purdue is another scholarship guy buried......
Someone is going to climb the depth chart due in injury, ignorance or ineptness...
On an Ivy note, I'm curious if the Pittsburgh kid will get some carries as a true freshman at Yale.......?????

I'm a running back guy, I'll be watching all of these games and checking all box scores......

 

[Deceptive Speed]

RB to look out for in 2017-Mike Epstein (Fr.) 6'-0 190 Illinois....Expected to contribute and see carries as a true freshman. Ranked No. 58 running back in the nation by Scout!

 

[Vanilla_Sky]

Actually came in here to post about Epstein but coincidentally DS already hit the nail on it! Saw a depth chart projection released tonight that had him listed as the second string RB as a true frosh.

Another Power 5 school guy who will be getting carries this year is Patrick Laird of Cal. The RS-Junior was awarded a scholarship this offseason and is competing for the number two spot behind the incumbent starter. The old coaching staff tried to convert him to fullback but he is now at his more appropriate tailback position.

Additionally, Cal also has Billy McCrary III on scholarship although he had fallen behind Laird on the depth chart and was recently ruled out for the 2017 season due to injury...

 

[Deceptive Speed]

Actually came in here to post about Epstein but coincidentally DS already hit the nail on it! Saw a depth chart projection released tonight that had him listed as the second string RB as a true frosh.

Another Power 5 school guy who will be getting carries this year is Patrick Laird of Cal. The RS-Junior was awarded a scholarship this offseason and is competing for the number two spot behind the incumbent starter. The old coaching staff tried to convert him to fullback but he is now at his more appropriate tailback position.

Additionally, Cal also has Billy McCrary III on scholarship although he had fallen behind Laird on the depth chart and was recently ruled out for the 2017 season due to injury...

Apreciate you Vanilla_Sky!! Glad to hear he's on the 2 deep. He's too talented, even as a true freshman to not to be playing. Check his HS highlights out!

Wish luck to Nall, McEvoy, and Carney they would surely be future NFL'ers without the caste system. Love all of our RB guys, and hopefully they get a fair shot ( looking at Ryan Nall). This Epstein kid is special though (hink McCaffrey). Imo he has the most potential of all of our college guys. No offense to McCaffrey, but I think his dad Ed being a former star WR helped him alot...In the DWF's eyes ofcourse (not mine), anybody with eyes could see he was something else. Christian was probably the best RB in D-1 football history ( blacks included) to grace the college game. Just think the DWF's would even doubt him if it wasn't for the genes.

I'm predicting Mike Epstein to be the next White RB to tear D-!, and the NFL up!

 

[TwentyTwo]

Thanks...was hoping for some feedback...stoked to see Epstein get the chance. Glad to see Laird get a scholarship..remember him getting a few carries late in games last season; hopefully he will have a more prominent role!

Meant to include Davidson in Original post

Andy Davidson (Jr.) 6'-2" 235 ... Army .... ex Linebacker turned Running Back has put on 15lbs since arriving to West Point...Rushed for 961 yards last season w 12 TD's (5.1avg)...had Five 100+ yard rushing games

Ian Eriksen (Jr.) 5'-10" 210....Eastern Michigan....rushed for 771 yards & 9 TD's last season (171 vs. No.Illinios/ 120 vs. Wyoming/ 109 vs. Ball State)

Brady Mengarelli (Sr.) 5'-10" 195....South Dakota State

 

[Leonardfan]

Both Davidson and Eriksen have had their starting jobs stolen from them.

 

[Rocky B]

Both Davidson and Eriksen have had their starting jobs stolen from them.

Eriksen started last year because of an injury to Shaq Vann......
If Davidson isn't starting, I'll be really, really pissed.....
I've got the game Tevo'ed.....Watching it now.....

 

[Rocky B]

1 carry so far for Davidson with the first half almost over.....He had 900 plus yards last year and now he's a backup.....3 minutes left in the first half....Let's hope Davidson gets a few more carries before the half is over....The starter has nearly 100 already....

 

[Rocky B]

Don't know if any of you knew this....Sam Brodner tore his ACL in spring practice.....Out for the year......

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

Mike Epstein got the start for Illinois and he looked great. 11 carries for 54 yards with 2 TDs, and a couple of nice catch and runs for for 32 yards.

He really could be a McCaffrey level talent.

Also Mike Dudek was back and looking as good as ever. Really had some speed in the open field and showed some great cuts on a long punt return.

It should be fun to follow the progress of this team the rest of the year.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Mike Epstein got the start for Illinois and he looked great. 11 carries for 54 yards with 2 TDs, and a couple of nice catch and runs for for 32 yards.

He really could be a McCaffrey level talent.

Also Mike Dudek was back and looking as good as ever. Really had some speed in the open field and showed some great cuts on a long punt return.

It should be fun to follow the progress of this team the rest of the year.

I watched Illinois for a bit, and Epstein is the absolute real deal. Even the announcers were saying he should start for them. Him and Dudek saved the Illini today.

I love the fact that those two are Lovie Smith's best skill position players. It must be torture for Smith (who once called Brock Forsey a "manager" or "waterboy" when he was trying to make the Bears way back when) to have these two tearing it up on a weekly basis. How ironic that he'll have to rely on a white freshman stud RB and a white WR (who the announcer today called the fastest man on the team) over his precious affletes to win him games.

 

[Leonardfan]

Some good news here. I'd post it under the Illini team write up but still waiting on Phall to complete it Lol

Illinois offensive coordinator Garrick McGee announced that freshman RB Mike Epstein will start this weekend against Western Kentucky.

Epstein rushed for 54 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in Saturday's 24-21 win over Ball State, adding another 32 yards through the air. For now, he has hopped senior Kendrick Foster on the depth chart.

 

[Rocky B]

AJ Ouellette (Ohio U) is playing Purdue this evening......
Let's hope he gets 20+ carries......
OU had 7 rushing touchdowns last week and AJ had none of them......
Fox sports (219 direct tv)

 

[Rocky B]

Touchdown AJ!!

 

[Rocky B]

Not a good start for our running backs.....
Davidson with zero carries halfway through the 2nd quarter
Ga Tech guys one carry..... (Cottrell 1 carry for nothing).......

 

[Rocky B]

Cade Carney getting half of the carries of his backup. He's got 5-14.....Backup has 10-26.....Tough sledding for both, but it has been a step back for some of our running back guys this year.......No carries for Bisharat, but it's early......

The Army game and the GA Tech game sucked for the running backs.....

 

[Rocky B]

Funk had a nice run in garbage time.....
Laird had a 50 yard run......

Tough game for Carney and Davidson......
Eriksen for EMU is basically 3rd string.....

Epstein and Nall this evening........

 

[Heretic]

Cal RB, Patrick Laird now over 100 yards for the day, still in the 4th.

9 CAR, 104 YDS, 2 TD

 

[Rocky B]

Cal RB, Patrick Laird now over 100 yards for the day, still in the 4th.

9 CAR, 104 YDS, 2 TD

Another long touchdown run......190+ yards for the game........

 

[Rocky B]

Tough game for Nall so far....Not many carries, it's like they have him second string...???
Sean McGrew had 6 carries for 26 yards and a td in garbage time......

 

[TwentyTwo]

Nice job with the Run Down...

How many Patrick Laird's are there across the U.S. playing HS Football being overlooked by Recruiters & asked to just Walk on?? Props to him! 191 yards rushing on just 12 carries & 3 TD's!! The Starter got hurt...where have we heard this before??

Props to Illinois Freshman Mike Epstein 114 yards on 22 carries

Oregon State is pretty bad...Ryan Nall just 7 carries for 31 yards early 4th...the putrid Defense puts them Behind the 8 Ball playing catch up forced to Pass...

Didn't get to see the Wake Forest game..is Cade Carney being used properly? He's NOT a Fullback... Had 40 yards rushing on 13 carries & TD...BC is a decent Defense...

After a nice performance last week (6 carries for 79 yards)...How is Nathan Cottrell rewarded?? Mostly token carries in garbage time...just 4 for 17 yards

Maryland RB Jake Funk had 3 carries for 32 yards including a 25 yard TD

What happened to Army RB Andy Davidson?
Air Force had a BYE Week

FCS Max Norris (Western Illinois) had 103 yards rushing on 23 carries & TD