forums

We need a big time recruit at RB

Advertisement
HarryCarayisGoat said:
Knighton is at his best a below average running back...deal with it
Click to expand...
Frank Gore had 562 yards as a true freshmen 2nd string. Jaylen has 340 something yards from scrimmage with no spring, no fall, and he's third string. His true freshman season isn't even over yet asshat. You'd throw away a gold bar because you couldn't be bothered to look inside the box. What was your genius take on Harley two months ago? Don Chaney Jr has 360 yards. Calm your ***** **** and let the kid get his feet under him.
 
Advertisement
AllAboutTheU said:
I disagree that they been underwhelming. Both have flashed big time despite our run blocking being bad for most of the year. They’ll be behind a much better line in year 2. I think the struggles are more indicative of that than them.
Click to expand...

The OP was over the top - and the RB's just had their best game in the last 7 games - so bad/weird timing optic wise. I'm looking at the full season.

Cam/Chaney/Knighton were all receiving "next Duke Johnson" type hype before the season (which I warned was overhyping them at the time). They haven't been close.

Use Deejay Dallas as the measuring stick instead - Cam hasn't been as good as Deejay was as a Jr. Chaney/Knighton haven't been as good as Deejay was as a Fr. I love Deejay Dallas. I'd be happy if Chaney/Knighton became Deejay level players - but be honest with yourself - their expectations have always been above Deejay.

Chaney/Knighton have shown glimpses this year, and I think they can be great RB's here. But I was expecting them to be closer to the finished product right off the bat (and my expectations were lower than most). They've been good, not great.

IMO there's obviously a next step they need to take. I don't think they're already the finished product, and now it's just up to the OL to step up.
 
Last edited:
running back is easily one of our best position groups with dline and tight ends. we have 3 very good running backs with another stud coming in. The constant dive up the middle does our running backs no favors(would work a lot better if king kept the ball more often). Our offensive lines weakness is the main problem our running backs have to deal with.
 
Our RBs would look more big time if our O line was the level they were 20 years ago.
 
Advertisement
HarryCarayisGoat said:
Cam’ron and Chaney are both good...but we need a home run hitter out of the backfield to really take the next step. Now that we know Knighton ain’t the guy, is there any big time recruit we are getting that can fill this role?
Click to expand...
Animated GIF
 
bshaw28 said:
The OP was over the top - and the RB's just had their best game in the last 7 games - so bad/weird timing optic wise. I'm looking at the full season.

Cam/Chaney/Knighton were all receiving "next Duke Johnson" type hype before the season (which I warned was overhyping them at the time). They haven't been close.

Use Deejay Dallas as the measuring stick instead - Cam hasn't been as good as Deejay was as a Jr. Chaney/Knighton haven't been as good as Deejay was as a Fr. I love Deejay Dallas. I'd be happy if Chaney/Knighton became Deejay level players - but be honest with yourself - their expectations have always been above Deejay.

Chaney/Knighton have shown glimpses this year, and I think they can be great RB's here. But I was expecting them to be closer to the finished product right off the bat (and my expectations were lower than most). They've been good, not great.

IMO there's obviously a next step they need to take. I don't think they're already the finished product, and now it's just up to the OL to step up.
Click to expand...

this is more like it...only part I disagree with is the comment that both have been good. Chaney has been good but Knighton has been below average. He seems to lack vision which can’t be taught.
 
HarryCarayisGoat said:
this is more like it...only part I disagree with is the comment that both have been good. Chaney has been good but Knighton has been below average. He seems to lack vision which can’t be taught.
Click to expand...
Knighton has 209 yds, 4.0 ypc, 1 TD & fumbled 3 times on 52 carries. I agree with you - that's not good, and there's just no way around that.

I disagree when you say things like he's a poor mans Cooper, slow, should transfer, etc. - that's just going way too far. He's more talented than you're giving him credit for.

My basic take is:

He's shook. He's lost confidence since he lost that fumble vs FSU, and it hasn't come back. But if it does next year - watchout.


My long winded take is:

Before the FSU fumble you could really see his speed and change of direction quickness (even in just a few runs). I think he had a bit of a rude awakening getting caught from behind by DL & LB's in those games that surprised him a little - that didn't happen much in HS. I admire his willingness to cut back into the heart of the defense and be physical. I would rather have a RB that you need to teach to bounce runs outside a little more (which is what Knighton needs to do) vs. a RB that bounces outside too much and needs to work the middle of the field more (which is what Cam needs to do). But that's just my personal preference. Vs FSU I saw Knighton stack defenders at the 2nd & 3rd level with moves better than I've seen Cam & Chaney do this year.

After the FSU game, he's become very vanilla, straightfoward runner. He isn't even trying to make moves. Again, I think it's a confidence thing - and it's been weird to watch. The fumbles aren't helping. You can really see this if you watch his kick returns vs NC St. He just ran straight forward on all 4 He had plenty of runway and space and didn't even try to change directions. Really weird. Again, I admire the physicality - but that's never going to be his game. Speed & shiftiness is.

Starting Knighton vs Duke was a weird decision - and this is me totally reading between the lines - but that might have been part of Manny trying to build his confidence back up by getting in some good runs early vs a terrible Duke run defense. It backfired with him fumbling the first carry and then getting hurt - but I like the idea.

So - it's been a rough year for Knighton, no question. But the talent is there - just need to be patient. Increased confidence/size/experience should show next year. He's got natural talent, and there's plenty of things he can improve on independent of OL play that'll make him a better player with better results.
 
Last edited:
bshaw28 said:
Knighton has 209 yds, 4.0 ypc, 1 TD & fumbled 3 times on 52 carries. I agree with you - that's not good, and there's just no way around that.

I disagree when you say things like he's a poor mans Cooper, slow, should transfer, etc. - that's just going way too far. He's more talented than you're giving him credit for.

My basic take is:

He's shook. He's lost confidence since he lost that fumble vs FSU, and it hasn't come back. But if it does next year - watchout.


My long winded take is:

Before the FSU fumble you could really see his speed and change of direction quickness (even in just a few runs). I think he had a bit of a rude awakening getting caught from behind by DL & LB's in those games that surprised him a little - that didn't happen much in HS. I admire his willingness to cut back into the heart of the defense and be physical. I would rather have a RB that you need to teach to bounce runs outside a little more (which is what Knighton needs to do) vs. a RB that bounces outside too much and needs to work the middle of the field more (which is what Cam needs to do). But that's just my personal preference. Vs FSU I saw Knighton stack defenders at the 2nd & 3rd level with moves better than I've seen Cam & Chaney do this year.

After the FSU game, he's become very vanilla, straightfoward runner. He isn't even trying to make moves. Again, I think it's a confidence thing - and it's been weird to watch. The fumbles aren't helping. You can really see this if you watch his kick returns vs NC St. He just ran straight forward on all 4 He had plenty of runway and space and didn't even try to change directions. Really weird. Again, I admire the physicality - but that's never going to be his game. Speed & shiftiness is.

Starting Knighton vs Duke was a weird decision - and this is me totally reading between the lines - but that might have been part of Manny trying to build his confidence back up by getting in some good runs early vs a terrible Duke run defense. It backfired with him fumbling the first carry and then getting hurt - but I like the idea.

So - it's been a rough year for Knighton, no question. But the talent is there - just need to be patient. Increased confidence/size/experience should show next year. He's got natural talent, and there's plenty of things he can improve on independent of OL play that'll make him a better player with better results.
Click to expand...

well put my man! Yes I did go to far with the transfer comments
 
Advertisement
HarryCarayisGoat said:
Cam’ron and Chaney are both good...but we need a home run hitter out of the backfield to really take the next step. Now that we know Knighton ain’t the guy, is there any big time recruit we are getting that can fill this role?
Click to expand...
Or listen to me hear recruit lineman that can open holes for any tier running back. Idc how good u are if u grab the ball and there is 300lb dude in ur face along with ur teammate flying past u. Most of the time ur gonna lose yards
 
bshaw28 said:
Weird timing of the post - but the sentiment isn't completely off base.

Chaney & Knighton have been a bit underwhelming - but they're just Freshman. They should benefit from better experience/confidence/strength/conditioning next year.

The talent is there, so just gotta be patient and have some faith they'll take the next step.
Click to expand...
Chaney is averaging over 5ypc and Knighton over 4, each with multiple TDs and receiving TDs. For true freshmen rotating behind an older RB and a medioce OL isn't "underwhelming" by any stretch unless you think video games are real life.
 
OP is trolling but he’s not necessarily wrong think about it.

What back on our roster is as good as

Duke Johnson,
Clinton Portis
Edge
Mcgahee
Gore?

Duke was the last great back that we had.

Its early but usually RBs flash and play early. I remember Dukes first game at BC and you knew he was a Stud. Dude made his impact known right away.

I’m not sure we have that superstar RB on the roster. Maybe some pretty good backs but Superstars?

We’ll see. Chaney has more upside than Rooster

One thing that is good is we finally will have that big back thumper in Franklin. This scheme and a thumper for the inside runs are a nice fit.

But whose our Etienne or Najee Harris
 
Advertisement
Trav said:
Chaney is averaging over 5ypc and Knighton over 4, each with multiple TDs and receiving TDs. For true freshmen rotating behind an older RB and a medioce OL isn't "underwhelming" by any stretch unless you think video games are real life.
Click to expand...
Here's the YPC since Duke for True Freshman with 40+ carries:

Duke - 6.8
Yearby - 5.9
Dallas - 5.3
Gus - 5.1
Chaney - 4.6
Knighton - 4.0
Walton - 3.5

IMO the OL & Offense in 2020 hasn't been noticeably worse than it was 2012 - 2019 - and multiple other RB's have put up better numbers.

The OL plays a role - but if you place ALL the running troubles on the OL, then you're not looking critically enough at the RB's.
 
HarryCarayisGoat said:
Cam’ron and Chaney are both good...but we need a home run hitter out of the backfield to really take the next step. Now that we know Knighton ain’t the guy, is there any big time recruit we are getting that can fill this role?
Click to expand...
Chaney is the most elite RB we’ve had in twenty years. I absolutely loved Duke here and will forever be a fan. However, he didn’t have the size, power or speed that Chaney has. The kid high jumped 7’1”, ran a sub 21, a 4.4 40, 41 vert and can back squat as a freshman 600 PLUS pounds. LMAO if you’ve ever even smelled anyone with these physical attributes. Oh... he’s going to be a ******* Doctor!!! Grow a brain. When he’s in New York for the Heisman ceremony, eat ****.
 
HarryCarayisGoat said:
What have you seen from Knighton that makes anyone think he’s “that dude”.

Some kids abilities just don’t translate to the College game. His lack of vision and speed are hurting him big time. He’s super sneaky slow, if ya know what I mean.
Click to expand...
i know this is twice as dumb as the first post.....
 
Advertisement
Back
Top