RB -- Brian Leonard

[Don Wassall]

Here's a guy that has been playing under the radar, even ours here at Caste Football. Brian Leonard is a fullback for Rutgers who has been running and receiving quite a bit. In '04 he has 732 yards rushing and another 517 receiving to go along with 9 TDs (7 rushing 2 receiving). He ran for 150 yards in Rutgers' upset of Michigan State. He's only a sophomore and had almost 1,400 total yards last year as a redshirt freshman.

How did I finally hear about this guy? Was reading an article in Sports Illustrated about the "six most underrated" college football players this year. Leonard was one of them. When SI described him as "A 6-2 230-pounder in the mold of John Riggins," I knew then that we had found another white college star!

Too bad he plays for a horrible program. Here's a couple of links:

http://www.scarletknights.com/football/news/feature/leonard. htm

http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2004/Players/Rutgers_Bria nLeonard.htm

both links are from 2003

 

[white lightning]

Thanks for the heads up.I will check out the articles.He is built similar to Nick Hartigan who also had a outstanding year in the Ivy League and was at around
1200 yards rushing last I checked.

 

[IceSpeed]

Its too bad that he plays for a weak Div-1A program where the scouts wont watch.

 

[white lightning]

Brian Leonard started the 2005 season with a bang.He had 12 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown.Brian also had around 70 yards receiving.This kid can do it all and he is only a junior.He is a very powerfull,fast & elusive runner.Expect big things all year long from him!What a incredible game!!

 

[Kaptain]

He had something like a 60 yard run in which he hurdled a defender on his way to the end-zone. They showed the highlight on ESPN last night as a top-ten play.

 

[Bronk]

I LOVE Leonard! Knew nothing about him before yesterday. I am now the president of the Texas chapter of his fan club.

 

[nj816]

Leonard is the probablymost complete running back there is. He is has excellent hands and is even an exceptional blocker. which will probably be to his detriment in the long run.


He is obviously very athletic as evidenced by his 83-yd run yesterday. It should be noted that he runs behind a sub-par offensive line.Whenever I watch Rutgers game he is compared to Mike Alstott,for obvious reasons. Of course he was never given a scholarship and last year I heard the announcer ask increduously. "How could this guy have flown under everyone 's radar screen?" I was watching the game with my brother-in-law and we had a good chuckle over that one.


Leonardshould have along career as a starting tailback inthe NFL. But in all likelihood I predict his career, if he is to have one, will follow the path of Rob Konrad.


It should be noted thatRutgers tight end Clark Harrisis one of the best tight ends in the country. I believe he will have a much more productive NFL career than Leonard because of the caste system.

 

[white lightning]

Brian had 15 carries for 50 yards today.He had a solid game although they didn't use him much in the 2nd half.At least Rutgers bounced back with the win.

 

[Animalmuther0]

Sounds like our boy Leonard is turning some heads.


Brian Leonard Named to Doak Walker Watchlist



9/1/2005





PISCATAWAY, NJ - Rutgers University junior running back Brian Leonard (Gouverneur, NY) has been named a preseason candidate for the 2005 Doak Walker Award, presented annually to the nation's top running back. It is the second-straight year in which Leonard has been nominated for the award.


In 2004, Leonard led the BIG EAST in all-purpose yards per game (125.0), starting all 10 games in which he played. He opened the season by rushing for 56 yards on RU's first play from scrimmage of the 2004 season, setting the tone for a 19-14 win over Michigan State on Sept. 4, finishing with 150 rushing and 190 all-purpose yards vs. the Spartans. A first team All-BIG EAST selection, Leonard posted 100 or more all-purpose yards in all 10 games last season, extending his current streak to 15 games, and led Rutgers in rushing (732 yards) and was second in receiving (61). He finished the 2004 season ranked 12th on RU's career all-purpose yardage list with 2,618, and was named to the Pro Football Weekly's All-America First Team.


As a freshman in 2003, Leonard earned Freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News and was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year by College Football News after rushing for 880 yards and catching 53 passes for 488 yards. He also scored 14 touchdowns, third-best on the single-season Rutgers list.


The Doak Walker Award was created in 1989 to recognize the nation's premier running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community. It is the only major collegiate football award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of other students of the same classification.


Leonard's pre-season recognition is the fourth for Rutgers this season. Senior Tres Moses (Delray Beach, FL) was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list (top wide receiver), while junior Clark Harris (Manahawkin, NJ) was named to both the Lombardi Rotary (top lineman) and Mackey Award (top tight end) lists.







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©2005 Rutgers Athletics.

 

[JoeV]

Since this award has only been around since 1989, has a white RB ever even come close to getting it?

 

[jaxvid]

This is from the JB Cash article: THE CASE AGAINST THE NFL

The most glaring example of the NFL's racial discrimination occurred a couple of years ago against the nation's premier running back, Luke Staley. Staley was a record setting runner for BYU, one of the few college teams that will even start a white player at the running back position. Staley put up some very impressive numbers during his college career. Blessed with the perfect blend of size, strength and speed, Staley gained 2,507 yards with 41 touchdowns on 418 carries (6.0 avg). He caught 86 passes for 1,000 yards (11.6 avg) and seven scores, adding 102 yards on three kickoff returns. His 48 total touchdowns broke the old school all-time record of 40.

In 2001 Luke Staley won the Doak Walker Award given annually to the best running back in college football. One would assume the Doak Walker award selectors know what they are doing and give the award to a player that is highly talented. In the 2002 NFL draft Luke Staley was picked in the seventh round, a selection of the Detroit Lions. With 30 picks each round, Staley was approximately the 210th overall (or more) player picked. Let's look at some other Doak Walker award winners and see where they were picked.

Chris Perry - Michigan; 26th overall, 2004 NFL Draft

Larry Johnson - Penn State; 27th overall, 2003 NFL Draft,

LaDainian Tomlinson - TCU; 5th overall in the 2001 NFL Draft.

Ron Dayne - Wisconsin; 11th overall, 2000 NFL Draft,

Ricky Williams - Texas; 5th overall of the 1999 NFL Draft.

Eddie George - Ohio State; 14th overall in the 1996 NFL Draft.

The other recent winners all were first round selections, all are highly paid superstars, and all are black. The lone white Doak Walker award winner in the history of the award was a last round selection, about 200 player selections behind the others! He was given no chance to play, got hurt, came back, and was again given no chance to play. He is an obvious victim of racial discrimination.

 

[white lightning]

I love to watch Leonard but I can't see him winning it because he doesn't touch the ball enough.Peyton Hillis might have a chance because he will get more carries.I will root for both of these guys.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Hillis is definitely good enough, but then again since when has that mattered?!? both he and Leonard are talented enough to be featured backs who get 20-25 touches per game, but it's unlikely either will have that happen.

can you imagine, though, a backfield with two backs like Hillis and Leonard lined up in a split formation? a defense wouldn't be able to key on either guy since both can block, catch, and run, and both are unselfish enough to pull for their teammate's success. that kind of system was en vogue back in the day according to some of the oldsters on the board, but wouldn't it be awesome to see it now! how unreal and fun to watch would that be!?! and can you imagine the nightmares for opposing defensive coordinators?

 

[white lightning]

Leonard had 23 rushes for 129 yards today in Rutgers 17-3 victory.He looked solid all day with one of his runs going for 42 yards!This guy can really punish people.He is a great running back that hopefully will eventually get to play on Sundays as a running back.We all know that even if he makes the NFL,they will want him to be nothing more than a blocker.He needs to run the ball.This kid is a star!

 

[white lightning]

In three games so far this season,Leonard has 50 rushes for a total of 300 yards.He is averaging 100 yards even a game and a outstanding 6 yards per carry.He is a freak of nature that someone with his size can run the way he does.If allowed to be,he could be similar to Riggins,Czsonka,Alstott.Keep up the great work Leonard!

 

[Bronk]

I doubt Rutgers will be on TV much, but everytime they are, I'll watch for Leonard.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Rutgers and Brian Leonard will be on ESPN 2 Friday Night at 8PM Eastern. Rutgers hosts Caste System posterboy Dave Wannstsedt and his Pittsburgh black panthers. Let's hope Leonard runs wild!

Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Don Wassall]

Brian Leonard is every bit as talented as Kyle Bell, but he's just not gonna get the chance to be the featured back at a Caste System school like Rutgers. Rutgers team is predominantly black, including an all-black offensive line. Colorado State it ain't.

Leonard had 68 yards rushing and 62 receiving and 2 receiving TDs tonight as Rutgers beat Pitt 37-29. He split the carries with a black tailback. It was the first time I've seen him play and he's a great combination of size, speed and running know-how, a lot like Bell in fact.

Brian is a fourth year junior. Hopefully he'll enter the NFL draft next spring instead of coming back for a fifth year at Rutgers.

 

[white lightning]

Why is he splitting time.That other back hasn't even earned his right to carry the ball that much yet as a freshman.Leonard has run for over 100 yards twice and is capable of being the star back!Oh well,I agree with you that he is probably wasting his time there.It's a damn shame because he could easily average over 100 yards every game and force the NFL to take notice.He can catch as good as he runs.Amazing moves & speed for a big man.

 

[Kaptain]

Rutgers just can't get over that caste system hump of putting a white running back in the tailback position full-time. It has to be insulting to leonard to have to play full-back over half the time when he is clearly the best runner on the team.
Why would a team jerk around its best player like that and make him play two positions? It doesn't make sense. It definetly doesn't make the team better. Kinda like Mike Alstott splitting out to wide reciever on many plays when he clearly isn't a good wide reciever.
He is a lot like Kyle Bell. I haven't seen any running backs in college football with the power of these two backs.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I wish I could have seen it. Even with Rutgers being a Caste school, I'm glad they beat Pittsblack! I wish Brian the best the rest of the season.

 

[whiteCB]

Wow check out this article I found on the front page of ESPN.com. Also look for the player on Pitt giving Brain all the complements. It's a black guy giving props to a white RB.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2180594

 

[Colonel_Reb]

That is a really good article. Here's an excerpt from it.

"He's a very, very underrated player," said Pitt linebacker H.B. Blades, who watched Leonard roll up 130 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in a 37-29 Rutgers victory last Friday. "He's the best running back I've played against since I've been in college."

Whoa. Better than Kevin Jones, Julius Jones, Walter Reyes and Darius Walker?

Blades didn't flinch.

"That combination of power and speed is amazing," he said. "Some of the runs he makes in the open field, he can cut like a tailback. He jumps over safeties when they try and cut him, but then he runs over linebackers and defensive linemen. His combination of power and speed just makes him the best at what he does."

 

[kevin]

If he was black they would be callinghim the next Priest Holms. However because he is whitehe will be forced to be another brad hoover.

 

[white lightning]

Why is it that even some players can admit how good these guys are?Wake up people,coaches,scouts,owners,fans,etc.What is wrong with you people.Talent is so easy to see.Brian Leonard is as good as almost any back in the country.Draft this kid and play him at running back,not full back.