Toby Gerhart

[White Power]

Great Pics I'm all in on Toby getting a chance in the pro's God I hope I'm right.

 

[white lightning]

What a likeable guy he is. He reminds me a little of Peyton Manning in the face except alot younger. The All American Boy who is the best running back in the nation!

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Gerhart is the top powerback in college football and arguably the best tailback period. Gerhart's like Beanie Wells, but I think his first few steps are even quicker, he falls forward even better (which is amazing) and is a little lighter on his feet than Beanie. Gerhart is VERY agile for a tailback his size. Stanford just won the game!

<div> </div>
<div>Good comparison. Peyton Hillis also comes to mind. Hopefully Gerhart will be much more durable than the fragile Wells should the NFL in its wise judgment deem Toby worthy of an opportunity. </div>

Yeah, I have to give you and JC credit for the Hillis/Beanie Wells/ Gerhart comparison as well Don. It's quite accurate. I think Gerhart is a rich man's version (athletic wise) of the other two though. Maybe Gerhart could be compared to a bigger version of power-back Marion Barber or a taller/lighter Michael Turner also. I highly doubt Gerhart will be made a FB. Even the caste media would be questioning if that is "racial stereotyping", since Gerhart was always a power tailback and never a FB. WP, great point on the Ravens' Harbaugh connection! Toby would probably have to split carries with Ray Rice there though. I'd rather see Toby in GB where he could become "the man". But I got to say, Toby splitting carries basically 50/50 with a Donald Brown, Ray Rice or a Steve Slaton wouldn't be all too bad!

 

[white lightning]

I want him to go to Green Bay, Cleveland or any other team who really needs an upgrade at running back. The guy is the real deal. Just like Jordan Shipley at wide receiver, these guys are too good to hold down for too long. I still am scared though. Look at Lukc Staley. He won the Doak Walker Award and led the nation in rushing. It didn't matter. Then look at Mike Hass. He won the B.Award as College Footballs Best Receiver and led the nation in receiving. He never even had an injury.

In the NFL, you just never know. It doesn't matter what you did in college if your white. Just ask Eric Crouch, Danny Farmer, or countless others. While I'm excited at the possibility of Gerhart getting a chance, my common sense tells me not to get my hopes up to high. I feel like we are like Charlie Brown. Every time we get ready to kick the football, Lucy pulls it away. The NFL just teases us and we get our hopes up. Let's just stay positive, but realize what we are up against.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Toby Gerhart has more NATIONAL media coverage than either Luke Staley or Mike Hass got though I think. Gerhart's back in the Heisman talk as a dark horse candidate if he keeps playing like this. Stanford also still has an outside chance at a Pac-10 title!

 

[whiteathlete33]

Staley was better than Gerhart and he got screwed real bad.  I hope Toby gets picked by a team that will use him right off the bat.

 

[jaxvid]

Staley was better than Gerhart and he got screwed real bad.  I hope Toby gets picked by a team that will use him right off the bat.

Staley was probably better but he played at BYU which is not considered top notch competition like the Pac 10. Also Staley had some surgery so he could be dismissed as damaged goods. It also depends on what kind of numbers Gerhart has at the combine. That's another way they try to downgrade white college stars.

 

[whiteathlete33]

Nfldraftscout is already saying that he might not have the speed scouts want for a rb.  He should run in the 4.5 range which is an excellent time for a powerback like Toby.   Staley was only about 10 pounds lighter but had more top end speed.  He also averaged 8 yards per carry his senior season.  Toby will do just fine as long as he runs in the 4.5 range.  There are many black runningbacks in the NFL running in the 4.6 range.  

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

I think we can expect a time somewhere around 4.5-4.55 from Gerhart, if you look at his speed numbers out of H.S. Charles Scott, Anthony Dixon, LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Minor will probably all run slower, but they have black skin privilege. I'm guessing Scott and Dixon might be taken ahead of Gerhart based on the melanin, maybe Minor too.

 

[whiteathlete33]

I think we can expect a time somewhere around 4.5-4.55 from Gerhart, if you look at his speed numbers out of H.S. Charles Scott, Anthony Dixon, LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Minor will probably all run slower, but they have black skin privilege. I'm guessing Scott and Dixon might be taken ahead of Gerhart based on the melanin, maybe Minor too.

I believe he ran in the 4.5 range coming out of high school.  He should be slightly faster at this point so maybe even high 4.4's isn't out of the question.

 

[Fightingtowin]

I think we can expect a time somewhere around 4.5-4.55 from Gerhart, if you look at his speed numbers out of H.S. Charles Scott, Anthony Dixon, LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Minor will probably all run slower, but they have black skin privilege. I'm guessing Scott and Dixon might be taken ahead of Gerhart based on the melanin, maybe Minor too.

I believe he ran in the 4.5 range coming out of high school.  He should be slightly faster at this point so maybe even high 4.4's isn't out of the question.

An article about white Running Backs by ESPN's Jemelle Hill said he was timed at 4.43.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Gerhart's electronic time out of H.S, according to CaucasianRivals, was 4.48. He was California's all-time leading H.S rusher and Rivals ranked him as a "FB". That tells you all you need to know about the caste system, ie. "race and roles".

I would suspect Gerhart would be slightly slower on the NFL combine's slower track surface. That is unless he's gotten faster, but his PCL isn't intact from that injury- which is why he wears the knee brace.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

I should add his 4.43 time was probably hand timed by his coaches. Jake Sharp has run a sub 4.3 (4.28 I think) according to Kansas coaches, but I suspect that is hand timed as well.

 

[FootballDad]

I fully expect Toby to be in the 4.4-second range at the combine. After all, he will be attending a pre-combine camp where they pretty much just work on combine skills drills.
As for him going to the Packers or Ravens, well, to heck with that, we could really use him here in KC, since we will be dumping LJ this off-season. That leaves the Chiefs with a couple of scatbacks, Dantrell Savage and Jamaal Charles, with Kolby Smith and Jackie Battle being the change-of-pace backs. Toby is better than any of them, way better. With Mike Cox blocking, it would be a snowy backfield indeed!

 

[SoberWF]

Good news, Toby picked up National Player of the Week honors (see link), with additional props mentioning him as 2nd in the nation in yards per carry. Pretty sweet!

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1013000

 

[Electric Slide]

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/12560/gerhart-rumbles-into-heisman-trophy-consideration

Interesting article from ESPN's Ted Miller who has brought up Toby Gerhart for Heisman before. Unfortunately he sort of gives Gerhart a bulldozer description, instead of a hybrid analysis of being able to run over or away from defenders. You don't get 223 yards on 3 yards up the middle each run. Anyway, here it goes:

Gerhart rumbles into Heisman Trophy consideration

November 10, 2009 11:54 AM
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Yes, he's a big chunk of meat, this Toby Gerhart -- 235 pounds of it to be exact. When he runs -- over and over, carry after carry, trample, trample, smash, smash -- you can sense the collective shoulders start to droop on the opposing defense. "This," those defenders seem to say, "isn't as much fun as my coach told me it would be."

But he's not Superman. He's not made of steel. After he ran for a Stanford school record 223 yards in a 51-42 win over then-No. 8 Oregon, his arms were covered in a road map of red streaks and scratches of varying depths. Gerhart absently pawed at the wounds as he talked. Maybe he was imagining the cooling relief of some cocoa butter or aloe vera? Or maybe he was thinking, "How futile these scratching and clawing defenders are! Now, where is my mutton and mead?"

"We take pride in being physical," Gerhart said. "That's our M.O."

Gerhart ranks second in the nation with 135.2 yards rushing per game. He's eclipsed 200 yards twice and he's been held under under 100 twice -- 82- and 96-yard afternoons. He's scored 16 touchdowns; only Navy's Ricky Dobbs has more. That's twice as many touchdowns as Alabama's Mark Ingram, the top running back on most Heisman Trophy lists.

"Toby's been our shining star all year," Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh said. "He's a man. He's a true warrior."

So let's just run against conventional thinking for a moment and ask two questions. 1. Are rushing yards and touchdowns important for a running back? 2. If so, why isn't Gerhart on every Heisman Trophy list?

"Toby Gerhart proved he's one of the top running backs in the country," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said.

Kelly volunteered that after reporters asked him if Stanford, which gained 505 yards against a previously stout Oregon defense, had provided a blueprint that other teams could copy to beat the Ducks. He scoffed at the question.

"If they can get Toby Gerhart and Andrew Luck to transfer to their school, maybe they will," he said.

Gerhart, who's also a major league baseball prospect, was a good back last year. He rushed for 1,136 yards and 15 touchdowns. But he was a one-man show. The Cardinal ranked ninth in the Pac-10 in passing yards and were 91st in the nation in passing efficiency.

But redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck has given the Cardinal a passing attack, which means defenses can't gang up on Gerhart.

Defenses would much prefer to gang up on Gerhart.

"Usually the first guy doesn't take him down," Kelly said. "You've got to get more than one guy to him."

Gerhart will get his Heisman Trophy stage Saturday at USC. The Cardinal are back in the national rankings. They already are bowl eligible for the first time since 2001. Beating the Trojans could thrust the Cardinal into even the Rose Bowl hunt.

And if Gerhart hangs up big numbers on a USC defense that is still trying to regain its footing?

How could this 235-pound side of beef not become a leading Heisman Trophy candidate?

Pac-10, Toby Gerhart, Stanford Cardinal

 

[dwid]

Hope he has close to 200 yards against USC. Last year USC's defense was much better and only allowed 2 100 yard rushers. Toby was one of those.

It is funny how people perceive his style of running. From watching most of his highlights that the school provides you would think he was mainly a goal-line back. Im having a hard time finding footage to make a 2009 highlight video of him. I want it to be much better than the one I made last year but I had the same problem last year, not having enough footage.
.
I have mainly watched him this year from streaming sites. It is a shame that only a few of Stanford's games this year are televised nationally, they are doing quite well.Edited by: dwid

 

[jacknyc]

Gerhart was fantastic on Saturday. And Oregon knew he was coming but they couldn't stop him.
I hope he has a great game against USC, because even though Oregon is the better team, USC is more prominent nationally.
However, I wouldn't be surprised if Toby has a let down either. 40 carries is a really heavy load. He looked pretty exhausted at game's end. I hope he can make a full recovery by Saturday.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1035761


<H1>Jaffe: Gerhart should be Heisman frontrunner</H1>
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<H4>By: Jacob Jaffe</H4>
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<DIV id=ecxentry>Stanford senior running back Toby Gerhart should not be "bursting onto the scene,"Â￾ and he should not be a "dark horse"Â￾ Heisman Trophy candidate.

Toby Gerhart deserves to win the Heisman Trophy. Seriously.

Let's just start with some basic information. Gerhart is second in the nation with 1,217 rushing yards in nine games, for an average of just over 135 yards per game. He is also second in the nation (and first among running backs) in scoring with 16 rushing touchdowns, along with two two-point conversions.

That right there is enough to put him squarely in the Heisman race. But looking deeper, his performance is even more impressive.

Some argue (fairly or unfairly) that the Heisman Trophy is more of a Most Valuable Player award, rather than an award honoring the best player. Well, Gerhart fits the bill for that too.

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(ARNAV MOUDGIL/Staff Photographer)
Gerhart has carried the ball an astounding 233 times in nine games this season (about 26 carries per game), which is easily the most in the country and more than some entire teams. Clearly, he carries the load for Stanford more than any other back does for a program.

Stanford's star tailback unsurprisingly also has an enormous impact on his team's success. When Gerhart receives more than 20 carries, Stanford is 6-1, while the Cardinal is 0-2 when he does not eclipse 20 carries. So the secret to Stanford's success is not much of a secret.

And the defenses against Stanford clearly know this, so one would assume that good defenses find a way of shutting him down. One would be wrong making this assumption. Despite receiving so many carries and being the undeniable focal point of Stanford's offense, Gerhart has averaged at least 4.4 yards per carry in every game so far this season, making him the most consistently dominant runner in the nation. Don't believe me? Find me another runner that averages even 20 carries per game and hasn't had a game under 4 yards per carry.

You can't, because Gerhart is the only one in the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A to most people).

Despite his unbelievable numbers, some stubborn people think that numbers lie and only the eye test can show a player's true value, which is why a Texas Tech quarterback hasn't won the Heisman each of the last five years. Anyone who has watched Gerhart play knows what a bruising workhorse he is and it is fair to say that he breaks tackles that would take down anyone else in the nation. In particular, Gerhart stepped up when his team needed him the most, racking up an absurd 223 yards (a Stanford record) and three touchdowns on 38 carries in Stanford's impressive dismantling of the vaunted Oregon defense on Saturday.

As ESPN.com Pac-10 blogger Ted Miller succinctly put it: "1. Are rushing yards and touchdowns important for a running back? 2. If so, why isn't Gerhart on every Heisman Trophy list?"Â￾

Well, if you haven't noticed, Gerhart isn't on everyone's lists yet and he's certainly not on the top of many. On ESPN.com, he received only four fifth-place votes out of 15 voters and no one voted him higher than fifth. If Gerhart isn't garnering national respect, who is?
The biggest competition, by far, for Gerhart is Alabama sophomore running back Mark Ingram, who is first on ESPN.com's ballot, receiving 10 of the 15 first place votes. Is Ingram that much better than Gerhart?

Quite simply, no. Ingram averages 127 yards per game to Gerhart's 135 and Gerhart has twice as many touchdowns (16) as Ingram (8). Just think about that, the most important thing a running back can do is to score and Gerhart scores twice as often as Ingram.
Normally, an Ingram supporter would point out that Ingram faces much more difficult competition than Gerhart, because Ingram is in the SEC. This year, though, the SEC has some abysmal defenses and the Pac-10 is actually better in terms of rushing defense, allowing 133 yards per game (122 not counting Washington State), compared to 136 yards per game in the SEC (132 not counting Kentucky).

In particular, Ingram has played against much poorer competition than Gerhart â€" Ingram has not played any team ranked higher than 39th in rush defense and three of his opponents are ranked worse than 100th in rush defense. Gerhart, on the other hand, has played three of the top 15 rush defenses and has played only one opponent worse than 100th (San Jose State).

Every statistic favors Gerhart, so it is tough to see why he should be ranked below Mark Ingram.

The only player with more rushing yards than Gerhart, Fresno State's Ryan Mathews, plays in the WAC, so he has played four of the 13 worst rush defenses in the nation and has not played any of the top 15 rush defenses.

No running back can put up numbers comparable to Toby Gerhart and few players in other positions can compete.

Clemson's C.J. Spiller, despite his explosiveness, is primarily a running back, yet is not even on pace to run for a thousand yards this season.

Media favorites Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Texas quarterback Colt McCoy have comparable numbers to Andrew Luck, yet no one puts him anywhere near Heisman discussion.

The only player who has numbers as impressive as Gerhart is Houston quarterback Case Keenum, but his performance is oddly reminiscent of Graham Harrell (Texas Tech) and Colt Brennan (Hawai'i). All three light up the scoreboard for wide-open, pass-happy teams with subpar defenses. Like Brennan, Keenum plays for a team in a non-automatic qualifying conference, so the quality of his competition is constantly questioned. Like Harrell, Keenum constantly plays in shootouts that enhance his statistics without impressing voters. In case you didn't notice, neither Harrell nor Brennan won the Heisman and every Heisman winner since 1990 has been from a BCS-conference team.

Quite frankly, no player in college football can match the level of Toby Gerhart's production against his level of competition.

Luckily for Gerhart and anyone who likes watching the best football players play, the workhorse back has three more chances to show what an unstoppable force he is.

Hopefully Heisman voters start taking notice.

 

[forty-four]

Great find Jimmy. I heard some talking (empty) heads discussing Toby. They tried to say that he was overlooked because he plays at Stanford. Right...Edited by: forty-four

 

[Fightingtowin]

When I watched him a few games last year I was much less excited about him than other white running backs. But now I realize why that was. He often has an effortless running style like Robert Smith and Eric Dickerson. Toby often looks like he's just gliding through the hole or off tackle. Somebody here wrote that he's "slippery." That's a great description. He often runs in a patient efficient way, then makes a cut just enough to cause an arm tackle, which we know is impossible to do against him. However, if he has nowhere to go, he'll run you straight over because he's built like a bull. He also has the burners to outrun DBs, which Smith and Dickerson seemed to have also. I think the running style has to do with intelligence and understanding blockers. Being from Stanford and hearing how well-spoken he is, I'm assuming Toby is extremely smart. Listening to Dickerson and Smith talk, they both seem much smarter than your average running back. The 4.7 40 midget Mike Hart from Michigan was the same way. As an MSU fan I couldn't stand him, but he did score something like a 1300 on his SATs; you combine that with running behind Jake Long and you're going to be good. Here's hoping to a 130+ rushing game and a win against USC, which will thrust him into major Heisman contention.

 

[SteveB]

With all of Toby's success, it is interesting to look back a few years when we were discussing his incredible, record setting high school career and utter lack of scholarship offers. He was rated a 3 star prospect by Rivals at fullback, despite his high school success as a tailback. Once again the "experts" missed on a tremendous white athlete and now Stanford's opponents are paying for it.

Here's our thread in the High School section, from 4 years ago, interesting read. The only schools that recruited him were Stanford, UCLA, Ole Miss, Duke, and Utah. None of the top Division 1 programs recruited who is now the best RB in college football.
http://www.castefootball.us/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1613&title=toby-gerhart-norcoca-rb

Here is his Rivals profile, http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Toby-Gerhart-24345Edited by: SteveB

 

[dwid]

When I watched him a few games last year I was much less excited about him than other white running backs. But now I realize why that was. He often has an effortless running style like Robert Smith and Eric Dickerson. Toby often looks like he's just gliding through the hole or off tackle. Somebody here wrote that he's "slippery." That's a great description. He often runs in a patient efficient way, then makes a cut just enough to cause an arm tackle, which we know is impossible to do against him. However, if he has nowhere to go, he'll run you straight over because he's built like a bull. He also has the burners to outrun DBs, which Smith and Dickerson seemed to have also. I think the running style has to do with intelligence and understanding blockers. Being from Stanford and hearing how well-spoken he is, I'm assuming Toby is extremely smart. Listening to Dickerson and Smith talk, they both seem much smarter than your average running back. The 4.7 40 midget Mike Hart from Michigan was the same way. As an MSU fan I couldn't stand him, but he did score something like a 1300 on his SATs; you combine that with running behind Jake Long and you're going to be good. Here's hoping to a 130+ rushing game and a win against USC, which will thrust him into major Heisman contention.

Great analysis. I was trying to think of a player comparison in another thread when watching his running style, Dickerson is very similar from what little footage I have recently watched. Ive noticed with Gerhart that sometimes it does not look like he running that fast, but then you see a defenders leg's churning trying to get to him you realize how fast he is actually going, so "gliding through" is a great description as well as slippery.

He has everything you could want in a halfback at the next level. I just hope he gets a real shot to play his true position at the next level.
Edited by: dwid

 

[white lightning]

I'm so excited for this weekend. I really want Toby to continue to get the national respect he deserves. The guy is simply the best rb in the country. The media and fans are naive if they think Toby is not a stud running back. He brings everything you could ask for in a power running back. I hope they have rested him most of the week. Like another poster said, 40 carries is very hard to recover from. Then practice on top of that. Good luck Toby. He is by far my favorite player in the nation! Go Stanford!

 

[Alworth No.19]

Toby Gerhart runs like Eric Dickerson?