GUS EDWARDS $$$$$

For Chickillo, his lacklucker career was because of Golden and Doritos scheme. For TH, it was Doritos's scheme. How many times did I read about poor player development and usage here for other players?

But for Gus, it wasn't the coaching, development, or scheme, it was because he was soft, ran too high, and wasn't a good running back. At some point, you gotta just say that he was mis-evaluated here, not given enough carries, and not used correctly by his coaches - a common theme the last ten years here.
part.

There were so many fans on this board that got this one flat out WRONG!
 
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Every running back you listed was a better college running back than Edwards. I don’t really care who’s the better pro running back. That’s like saying you’d rather have Chad Henne in college than Johnny Manziel because Henne has had a longer pro career. If this was an NFL board it would matter but we’re talking about college football here.
Stats while at Miami:

Yearby - 2,119 yds - 5.4 ypc
Walton - 1,995 yds - 5.1 ypc
Gus - 977 yds - 5.3 ypc

All 3 were different styles, and all 3 had similar results. The difference was all narrative & perception, because.....

Yearby - #45 overall recruit
Walton - #83 overall recruit
Gus - #681 overall recruit

The fanbase had a very hard time accepting Gus was as good as 2 South Florida "studs" (who it turns out were good, but weren't actually studs). And the thought of Gus actually being better - that blew people's minds. False narratives had to be created to hype Yearby and later Walton.

Like - can you imagine if Gabe Ervin who's the #688 recruit/#43 RB in the 2021 class committed to Miami, and ended up playing as good or better than Don Chaney & Jaylan Knighton? There'd be a million excuses from fans as to why what they were seeing happen wasn't actually happening.
 
Stats while at Miami:

Yearby - 2,119 yds - 5.4 ypc
Walton - 1,995 yds - 5.1 ypc
Gus - 977 yds - 5.3 ypc

All 3 were different styles, and all 3 had similar results. The difference was all narrative & perception, because.....

Yearby - #45 overall recruit
Walton - #83 overall recruit
Gus - #681 overall recruit

The fanbase had a very hard time accepting Gus was as good as 2 South Florida "studs" (who it turns out were good, but weren't actually studs). And the thought of Gus actually being better - that blew people's minds. False narratives had to be created to hype Yearby and later Walton.

Like - can you imagine if Gabe Ervin who's the #688 recruit/#43 RB in the 2021 class committed to Miami, and ended up playing as good or better than Don Chaney & Jaylan Knighton? There'd be a million excuses from fans as to why what they were seeing happen wasn't actually happening.
It's already been established that Gus got most of his work in blowouts against FCS and G5 opponents. He had one 100 yard game against an FBS team. Fans might be stupid enough to play lesser players because of where they're from but coaches aren't purposely sitting guys that can make their team better. I'm 100% positive that Mark Richt knows what a good running back looks like. He wasn't saying "****, that Edwards kid is awesome but I have to play Mark Walton because he's local and fans like that better". Just think about how ridiculous that idea even is.

Besides, Mark Walton would be a NFL starter right now too if not for legal troubles.
 
Richt has also coached some of the best running backs in the modern game during his time at Georgia but for some reason he forgot everything when it came to Gus Edwards.

Deejay Dallas also managed to earn a ton of playing time despite not being a local guy so miss me with that local player politics argument. The coaches aren’t purposely sitting a star player to play a weaker player because he’s a local kid. If that was the case, Choc Gray would have actually gotten carries at Miami.
It was more politics and coaches favorites at that time than straight talent.

Walton was by far the beneficiary of being a coaches favorite.

Others like Choc, Yearby, Gus, Homer suffered from that at different points in different ways during their careers here.
 
It's already been established that Gus got most of his work in blowouts against FCS and G5 opponents. He had one 100 yard game against an FBS team. Fans might be stupid enough to play lesser players because of where they're from but coaches aren't purposely sitting guys that can make their team better. I'm 100% positive that Mark Richt knows what a good running back looks like. He wasn't saying "****, that Edwards kid is awesome but I have to play Mark Walton because he's local and fans like that better". Just think about how ridiculous that idea even is.

Besides, Mark Walton would be a NFL starter right now too if not for legal troubles.

That's the perception. What you're saying actually describes Walton more accurately when you look at the stats. I've posted them countless times.

But the stats don't matter - the narrative is so strong that no one pays attention to what the stats say, and that's why so many people got Gus wrong.

Coaches play favorites - it happens. It isn't always talent based.

Here's Walton on his Georgia recruiting visit, 11 months before Richt came to Miami. Richt loved Walton - and there wasn't **** thing Yearby, Gus, or Homer could've done on the field with their play to change that. And no, Walton would not be starting in the NFL now. That's just another false narrative.

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Here's one more point: Edwards was the feature back his senior season at Rutgers and was very much an average college running back. 713 yards, 4.3 ypc and 6 TDs. His numbers at Rutgers were actually worse than the guy he replaced, Robert Martin. Maybe he felt he wasn't getting a shot at Miami so he went somewhere that he was the top back. He didn't get drafted. He just happens to be one of those rare players who is a better fit for the pro game than the college game. Tom Brady is probably the best quarterback ever and he was a mediocre college player too. It happens. Some guys are just better in that style game.
 
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Here's one more point: Edwards was the feature back his senior season at Rutgers and was very much an average college running back. 713 yards, 4.3 ypc and 6 TDs. His numbers at Rutgers were actually worse than the guy he replaced, Robert Martin. Maybe he felt he wasn't getting a shot at Miami so he went somewhere that he was the top back. He didn't get drafted. He just happens to be one of those rare players who is a better fit for the pro game than the college game. Tom Brady is probably the best quarterback ever and he was a mediocre college player too. It happens. Some guys are just better in that style game.

I agree Gus's size/speed/athleticism made him a better fit for the pros. And he certainly benefited from landing with the Ravens and getting some injuries ahead of him. That good fortune also shouldn't negate how good he's played and been able to hold off multiple players with higher draft capital than him.

But some context on the 2017 Rutgers team Gus was on:

- Gus had 716 yds, 4.3 ypc, 6TD's & Robert Martin (who spent a year on the Giants practice squad) had 422 yds, 4.5 ypc, 3 TD's - so it's pretty even.
- Rutgers QB's threw 7 TD's / 11 INT's in 2017. So there was absolutely no threat of a passing game.
- Rutgers finished no higher than 128th in Total Offense 2016-2019
- Rutgers hasn't had a OL drafted since 2010

So for all the "OL/coaches/play calling sucked" reasons when making excuses for Miami RB's - you'd need to apply those reasons twice as much when looking at Gus's Rutgers stats.
 
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I agree Gus's size/speed/athleticism made him a better fit for the pros. And he certainly benefited from landing with the Ravens and getting some injuries ahead of him. That good fortune also shouldn't negate how good he's played and been able to hold off multiple players with higher draft capital than him.

But some context on the 2017 Rutgers team Gus was on:

- Gus had 716 yds, 4.3 ypc, 6TD's & Robert Martin (who spent a year on the Giants practice squad) had 422 yds, 4.5 ypc, 3 TD's - so it's pretty even.
- Rutgers QB's threw 7 TD's / 11 INT's in 2017. So there was absolutely no threat of a passing game.
- Rutgers finished no higher than 128th in Total Offense 2016-2019
- Rutgers hasn't had a OL drafted since 2010

So for all the "OL/coaches/play calling sucked" reasons when making excuses for Miami RB's - you'd need to apply those reasons twice as much when looking at Gus's Rutgers stats.
Look at Martin’s stats prior to Edwards’ arrival. He was statistically better than Gus.
 
Look at Martin’s stats prior to Edwards’ arrival. He was statistically better than Gus.

- Martin had a 5.2 ypc at Rutgers & Gus had a 5.3 ypc at Miami (before Gus transferred).
- Martin had a 4.5 ypc at Rutgers & Gus had a 4.3 ypc at Rutgers (when they were on the same team).

It looks very similar to me.

If you're going to say - Martin's 5.2 ypc at Rutgers was better than Gus's 5.3 ypc at Miami (because of a sliding scale for Rutgers)
That's fine, BUT you'd then also have to say - Martin's 5.2 ypc shows he was better than Yearby's 5.4 ypc or Walton's 5.1 ypc at Miami too, right?
 
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- Martin had a 5.2 ypc at Rutgers & Gus had a 5.3 ypc at Miami (before Gus transferred).
- Martin had a 4.5 ypc at Rutgers & Gus had a 4.3 ypc at Rutgers (when they were on the same team).

It looks very similar to me.

If you're going to say - Martin's 5.2 ypc at Rutgers was better than Gus's 5.3 ypc at Miami (because of a sliding scale for Rutgers)
That's fine, BUT you'd then also have to say - Martin's 5.2 ypc shows he was better than Yearby's 5.4 ypc or Walton's 5.1 ypc at Miami too, right?
Martin also averaged 5.4 ypc in 2015 but the points isn’t that either guy would have been better at Miami. It’s that Gus Edwards was a very average college player. That’s all I’m saying. The people here saying otherwise are just spouting personal opinion because there’s nothing he did at Miami or Rutgers that would make anybody think he was a special talent.
 
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IMO opinion he got more than his fair share of a payday off of what he brings to the table.

Good for him.
There’s certainly varying opinions on what NFL teams think running backs are worth in terms of dollars.
 
Martin also averaged 5.4 ypc in 2015 but the points isn’t that either guy would have been better at Miami. It’s that Gus Edwards was a very average college player. That’s all I’m saying. The people here saying otherwise are just spouting personal opinion because there’s nothing he did at Miami or Rutgers that would make anybody think he was a special talent.

I agree Gus was a an average RB and didn't do anything to indicate he'd be a "special talent" in the NFL.

- But Gus was the same level of talent as Walton/Yearby/Martin - and you're saying all 3 were better than Gus.
- You're saying Gus underachieved in college, but given he was the #681 overall recruit, he's actually consistently overachieved.

You can say Gus wasn't "special" without having to also always sell him short.

What I'm saying is the lens for a lot of people is still the "Walton/Yearby is special, Gus isn't a Miami caliber RB" opinion. They can't shake that.

The market correction should be realizing what was always the actual situation "Gus/Walton/Yearby" were all similar talents. Understanding that puts Gus's career into a more understandable and realistic context.
 
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Why can’t this just be: “Hey look at Gus—he was injured and didn’t perform well at Miami, did ok at Rutgers, didn’t get drafted, but has somehow found himself a good spot in the league” without having to add in all the crazy???

CiS gonna CiS...
This is the probably the most accurate post in this thread.
 
I disagree. He had his moments in prime time and put up numbers in garbage time but they tried to make him a short yardage/goal line back and he didn't finish runs. He got stuffed on 3rd and 4th and short a bunch of times and other times left tons of yards on the field. He underperformed here, period.
I agree to disagree. Not enough carries. Pigeon holed into short yardage role with subpar blocking.

He obviously had the goods as he would have never made it to the NFL and stuck. He didn't just improve over night. I just think he was misused. Like I said in other posts, we get so enamored with shake n bake of smaller backs that we forget about power running. I don't think our blocking scheme was a good fit either.
 
I agree to disagree. Not enough carries. Pigeon holed into short yardage role with subpar blocking.

He obviously had the goods as he would have never made it to the NFL and stuck. He didn't just improve over night. I just think he was misused. Like I said in other posts, we get so enamored with shake n bake of smaller backs that we forget about power running. I don't think our blocking scheme was a good fit either.

Safe to say Richt used Gus in very weird ways. Examples:

Blowouts vs FAMU, FAU, App St:

Walton - 48 carries
Yearby - 35 carries
Gus - 11 carries

FAU - Yearby had 20 carries, Walton 16, Gus 0 in a 20 pt blowout. Why? Why so many carries for your lead RB and so little for the backup in blowouts? Made no sense

GT - Gus doesn't even come on the field until the 4th quarter to run out the clock. Doesn't even play the full drive. Huh?

Richt gives Gus 6 carries in a 2 month period - and people wonder why he transferred?

My favorite - running him on sweeps with Mark Walton as his lead blocker. I would like to know the genius responsible for designing this play.

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It was all very strange
 
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Safe to say Richt used Gus in very weird ways. Examples:

Blowouts vs FAMU, FAU, App St:

Walton - 48 carries
Yearby - 35 carries
Gus - 11 carries

FAU - Yearby had 20 carries, Walton 16, Gus 0 in a 20 pt blowout. Why? Why so many carries for your lead RB and so little for the backup in blowouts? Made no sense

Gus doesn't even come on the field until the 4th quarter to run out the clock. Doesn't even play the full drive. Huh?

Richt gives Gus 6 carries in a 2 month period - and people wonder why he transferred?

My favorite - running him on sweeps with Mark Walton as his lead blocker. I would like to know the genius responsible for designing this play.

View attachment 147695

It was all very strange
The haters have left this thread. Too much logic, stats, and good points being made here by Bshaw28
 
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