I'm going to try my hand at this, someone else did this last year and if they want to do some previews that would be helpful.

One area of depth for the 2014 EMU football team is running back. Lets start with Bronson Hill 5'10, 215 RB SR. who had over 1,101 yards rushing and 175 yards receiving last year. I expect similar number this year with maybe an uptick in the receiving yard total. Also very effective last year was Ryan Brumfield 5'10, 188 SR. who had 509 yards rushing and 80 yards receiving. Expect some formations this year with both on the field at the same time.

Battling for playing time are Darius Jackson a 6'0 220 JR who had 201 rushing yards last year but had some problems holding on to the ball. Jumar Lewis 5'10, 210 SO had a great spring so maybe there is more playing time in his future this coming year.

We have former walk on Tomaz McNeil 5'8, 195 R-Fr. We also have Qua Barnes 5'7,151 So. who has good speed and may be better suited as a WR than RB.

We have Ian Erickson 5'10 190 FR and Shaq Vann 5'10 195 FR both highly regarded true freshmen. Two late additions were Alec Hullibarger 6'0 200 FR who was a high school teammate of fellow recruit Harris and Blake Benham 5'10, 190 FR who's brother plays for Minnesota and was rated one of the top 40 high school players in Minnesota last year. Expect most of the true frosh to redshirt.

Also in a pinch Tyler Allen who is listed as a WR has played RB in the past.

I think Hill should be able to easily top his yardage total of last year, assuming he stays healthy. He had 1100 rushing yards despite not playing against Toledo, only getting 5 carries against BG, and only getting 10 carries against NIU. Every time we gave him the ball 20+ times, he ran for 100 yards. He has potential to lead the MAC in rushing if he merely gets a normal RB1 workload. But it's great to have depth like Brumfield, Lewis, and Jackson behind him. Brumfield and Lewis could start for other schools.

I wonder how Creighton's admittedly "pass happy" offense will affect the RBs. Hill and Brumfield are both deft receivers and could easily split out wide from the backfield. Hopefully we make good use of them.

Under the English regime, it was noted that Hill lacked practice habits that were expected from coaches. This sometimes led to him not getting carries. I wonder how Hill is applying himself under new staff and with "senior maturity"?

I'd be interested in seeing multiple formations using the RBs, ie wing, maybe even the wishbone. I'm not sure we have a QB that can run those type of multi option running formations. The percentage of pass versus the run will be interesting as I agree our running game appears to be the strong suit.

(08-13-2014 07:10 AM)EagleSam Wrote:  I wonder how Creighton's admittedly "pass happy" offense will affect the RBs. Hill and Brumfield are both deft receivers and could easily split out wide from the backfield. Hopefully we make good use of them.

Exactly.

Unless someone attended the spring game (which wasn't a game, not even a good scrimmage) or attended practices this fall, what do we know about how the players will fit into CC's offensive scheme? Are we simply repeating last year's observations and assume what was true 12 months ago holds true today?

(This isn't the NFL with hundreds of fans attending practice plus full exhibition games).

Hopefully the Ann Arbor News can do an interview with CC and discuss these issues.

I could say that Hill is 'stronger, faster and more mature' but quite frankly that would be speculation on my part. I don't know the answer to the stronger, faster, or more mature attributes. CC does, though and maybe he will address to the press.

Let me frame this in a more general way:

With a new coach who apparently will run both an offense and defense MUCH, MUCH different that RE:

1). English liked big linemen. I assume CC will like smaller, more mobile linemen.

2). CC will probably run both a 4 - 3 and 3 - 4 defense which means the DLs will need to fit the defenses (plural). A good 4 - 3 DT might not be a good fit as a NT and vice versa.

3). QBs. Again we could see real differences in not only mobility but running with the ball. I'm not knocking Roback, but he was brought in to be a thrower not a runner, although he has some running ability.

We saw a lot of this in the transition from Genyk to English. Each had philosophies which were very different from the other (and sought different attributes from their players). Now we are going from RE to CC and there apparently will be significant changes in philosophies on each side of the ball.

Unless we get reporting from eye witnesses or press reporting, I'm kind of like: Surprise me on August 30 and play a good football game. (and if CC is successful, we'll have a big lead and he won't have to show the full playbook).

I like pleasant surprises... (we are only 17 days away).

BTW, this isn't anything like hoops where Murphy could start Talley, Lee, Price, Ajayi and Ward, five players who played or practices last year. I think we know what Murphy's tendencies are as a coach.

EMU has plenty of talent in the backfield. There is also a variety of players with different strengths and a solid OL. Scheme and play calling are vital. This is where the team struggled under RE. Anyone want to see another Karcher-style stretch handoff when the entire stadium knows its coming?

Wonder how the short yardage situations will be handled.



Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App