Remember, Cronk would have to still compete with not only Dex, JScar, and Marky Mark, he also has to get through Joystick and Chocolate. That said, I really like Walton a lot. I think Dex is more of an athlete, Percy Harvin kind of player. Walton and Scarlett will be a problem here soon. Building a backfield comparable to the old days.
Old days? We never had talent like that, save the year we had Portis, McGahee, Davenport together. We didn't have Gore that year, as I recall. That was a perfect storm. Our top teams in the '80s were never like that. We might have Bratton, Highsmith, Warren Williams together. Throw Before that maybe Al Bentley, Highsmith, Keith Griffin and Williams. They were good, but not all were truly elite. I can't think of a year we might have Yearby, Chocolate (who might turn out to be elite, I don't know), Edwards (might be better than people think, but not the kind of big back you expect), Yearby, then the three coming in 2015 (who are all elite, it seems.)
People tend to rewrite history and think our talent was a lot better than it was. Maybe it was exceptional in 2001, but other years we had solid and good talent, with a sprinking of elite talent. We had better coaching, more speed, and extraordinary work ethic by the players. Now, the coaching is not necessarily worse, the opposition's coaching (as well as speed) has caught up. No longer do we have better concepts on offense and defense, we're facing very well-schooled and clever coaches on the other side, true innovators at the college level. That didn't exist, at least not to this degree, before. Other teams seem to be just about as fast.
It's not necessarily all Al, guys. Get over it. I can see the changes. I could see how our pro passing attack could not be stopped by other teams. How our defensive speed and attacking scheme used to give people fits. We don't have speed or scheme advantages against most teams any more.
We had a ridiculous run of talent at RB from Edge to Najeh to Jackson to Portis to McGahee to Gore to even Tyrone Moss before he imploded. From 96 to 05
People don't realize, Najeh was a freak of nature with size and speed before his injury. Was very explosive. Had the injury first game of his sophomore year and was never the same. Najeh could have been one of the best of the bunch.
Same goes for Gore with his injuries as well. Amazing how he's still going in the nfl today. If he didn't blow his knees out, god **** what he could have done. And to think he was the starter over McGahee that year in 2002 before McGahee took off after Gores injury in spring.
Edge, Portis, McGahee, Najeh, Jackson and Gore were all great Runningbacks. Despite Najeh and Gore injuries severely holding back what they could have done here, but when they were healthy and pre-injury they were nasty.
****, even Payton was pretty good, not as talented as the others but he was good.
Tyrone Moss if it wasn't for the injuries and getting out of shape,he was actually very good and had the potential of greatness if he continued. He really fell off after the injury. Could have been great.
Javarris was decent to average sadly. Regressed over time.
Cooper was good, that injury in the bowl game threw away any future at the next level. Wasn't a great back but he was good.
Damien Berry IMO was a very good back. Wasn't great, mind you he had a horrific injury before he came here too. Could have been a great safety or runningback when he was coming in. He also tied the record for consecutive 100 yard games in cane history. I think he could have been a great one if it wasn't for the injury he suffered his senior year of high school.
Lamar Miller was a great RB in the line of the others I listed earlier despite leaving way too early IMO. He was projected first round by all scouts throughout his last year, but a nagging injury of the shoulder since high school to college slid him down a bit. You look at most threads back then of draft sites or reviews. He was pretty much consensus that year as the 2nd best RB prospect behind Trent Richardson who was a freak going into the nfl draft.
Mike James was a good RB, wasn't great but he was a tough runner and hard worker.
And now leaves me to Duke. Duke is a great RB, he's in the same breath as the others but must continue his legacy this year.
We've only had two great RBs since the run of the late 90's to early 2000's. Miller and Duke.
I surely hope these cats Yearby, Gray, Scarlett, Dex and Walton can join those ranks of Cane greats at RB.
I didn't even mentioned the years before Edge came in. 95 and back We had some good to great ones back then too.
I'll throw something in though. The most loaded talent at RB in a single year was 01. Portis, McGahee, Gore and Najeh all on the same team. And this was with Najeh after injury.
Sometimes I doubt if people ever watched us back then, cause people forget how ridiculous Najeh was before the injury. People say Gore this and Gore that. Najeh was the same thing. Both got ruined by injuries. Najeh and Gore pre-injury were unreal.
And even after both of their injuries. Najeh went on to become a great fullback after the injury in 99. And Gore went on to become a future HOFer in the nfl at RB after blowing out both of his knees in 2002 and 2003.
The current talent of RBs here now and the ones coming in is very reminiscent of that great run we had at the position, but they must live up to it first, injuries always happen and many things come into play.
