Mike James, Javarris James, and Damien Berry all made NFL teams, but they weren't anywhere near "elite".
That's the talent level of our RB's right now. Good, but not great.
Thomas Brown is just trying to create excitement. It's just coach talk.
And Thomas Brown's coaching had nothing to do with Gurley or Chubb being "elite" RB's. Those guys were studs from the minute they stepped on campus. Our RB's have athletic limitations that all the coaching in the world can't do anything about.
The OL and coaching definitely didn't help our RB's last year - but a bigger factor is that our RB's aren't that great to begin with.
No matter how bad the OL, Walton's 3.5 yds a carry is really bad.
Yearby gained 1,000 yards last year because he had so many carries. He had 205 carries and 1,002 yards. Every Miami RB that's ever had 200 carries in a season has gained 1,000 yards. 50 of the 53 RB's that had 200+ carries last year gained 1,000 yards. 15 RB's gained 1,000 yards last year with less than 200 carries. It's pretty hard not to get 1,000 yards if you have over 200 carries.
Its amazing yearby had that much considering how the oline played at times and how they called plays
The same dude was calling the plays in 2014. Duke Johnson had 37 more carries, 650 more yards, and averaged 2 more yards per carry in 2014 than Yearby did in 2015.
That's why - for me - Duke was "elite" and Yearby is not. Duke didn't need good blocking or play calling to make him look good, he could make things happen himself. Yearby/Walton/Gus can't.
Multiple players on dukes starting five offensive lineman ( flowers, feliciano, McDermott) are all in the NFL
I hear you - the OL was not good last year no question.
But Yearby did nothing to show he was "elite" in 2014 when he was running behind those OL you just mentioned.
I feel last years OL has become more of an excuse and a scapegoat than they should be. It'll have multiple guys that will end up being NFL players as well - Isadora, Linder, McDermott, Darling. I don't think the OL play in 2014 to 2015 was a 2 yard per carry difference.
To me, the drop off in talent going from a RB like Duke, who was "elite", to RB's like Yearby and Walton is MUCH more the reason for the drop off in production than the OL or coaching.