Word is fletcher is out for the season…

[Angry Ibis]

he averaged 3 yards a carry that game. there was also a true freshman starting qb who couldnt connect on a pass.
fletcher was a true freshman who was hurt and put up Posted 514 yards on 105 carries, averaging 4.9 yards per carry .

OSU desperately wanted him but you guys will go crazy over local scrubs that weren't highly recruited or guys who didnt produce and degrade a kid who had some of our best rushes of the year. Fletcher will be in NFL and this board will still be talking about how Chris Johnson wasnt used right.

Or....12-13 teams can find a way to use more than one player right at a time .... hmmmm.

That would be something.

 

[Angry Ibis]

this I agree with.

Poor eval?

 

[Angry Ibis]

(PSA never search O boy in gifs)

You found CIO's stage name.... yikes

 

[AlexCane]

Spoke with Mark at the spring game. Here’s a photo of him with my son! He said he’s definitely not out for the season. He doesn’t know if he’ll be ready for the UF game but he assured me he’ll be back this season

This is awesome to hear (cool photo too!) but it is hard to expect objectivity from an injured player about their return to action-and a college kid at that. Not the most trustworthy source, but again, I hope we just have bad info on this thread.

 

[Trav]

I'm glad you had a chance to meet him, and it's a great picture, but were you thinking that Fletcher would tell you the truth if indeed he was out for the year?

As a guy who battled all kinds of injuries my last 2 years of high school, as a player you ALWAYS think you're coming back ASAP no matter what the doctors tell you. So I'm not saying he's wrong, but take it with a grain of salt.

 

[miamimike305]

Even that would make him a Top 10-15 RB. I know RBs are a position that can contribute early. But most get better from Y1 to Y3 in college, So there's no reason to think Fletcher couldn't take another step once he's back and fully healthy. Kid is really good if not quite great yet.

All that said, we legit have no reliable running backs at them moment. 99% of our 2023 production is unavailable with Parrish and Chaney transferred out, Allen and Fletcher recovering from injury. And either CJ nor CWH look ready (like CHW's potential though).

As crazy as it sounds, I would take 2 in the portal. Do we really want to trust that Lyle or Allen can take us to the playoffs if our portal RB1 goes down and Fletcher doesn't recover as quickly as hoped?

 

[brock]

I’m not even sure martinez is the back we need for this offense. Miami has missed having a home run element in the backfield for so long and I’m not sure he’s that. I know He has good yardage from last year but we need a game breaker in the backfield

 

[Geddy Lee]

I’m not even sure martinez is the back we need for this offense. Miami has missed having a home run element in the backfield for so long and I’m not sure he’s that. I know He has good yardage from last year but we need a game breaker in the backfield

Brock what up you sack of dong

 

[JZCane0825]

I’m not even sure martinez is the back we need for this offense. Miami has missed having a home run element in the backfield for so long and I’m not sure he’s that. I know He has good yardage from last year but we need a game breaker in the backfield

Guy is literally a top 10 RB in the country and you think that we don't need him? Your the king of awful of takes but this is a new level even for you.

 

[Cookie917]

I’m not even sure martinez is the back we need for this offense. Miami has missed having a home run element in the backfield for so long and I’m not sure he’s that. I know He has good yardage from last year but we need a game breaker in the backfield

I think two things can be true... 1. I do think Martinez is a top 10 back in the country and 2. I agree he likely does not have that "home run" threat like a Duke or Lamar Miller when they hit a crease you KNEW no one was catching em.

But also beggars cannot be choosers, do you see anyone else in the portal or potentially in that can handle 15-20 carries a game AND is a game changing burner? Those are just rare. I think best case is we get Martinez and rely on him to get a consistent 6 YPC with the occasional 20-40 yarder and hope Chris Johnson can be that homerun threat on limited touches.

 

[Warrior808]

I’m not even sure martinez is the back we need for this offense. Miami has missed having a home run element in the backfield for so long and I’m not sure he’s that. I know He has good yardage from last year but we need a game breaker in the backfield

Having an every down big back who can be physzical and pound a defense is really helpfull to the entire offense. Facing Ward with guys like Restrepo and RayRay in the slot means a lot of defenses will want to go nickel and use a smaller / cover CB type at the "star" position. Think of us last year with someone like Tecory Couch.

Throw a back like Martinez in there and it gets hard to do that. He would just get trucked. If we get the power run game going you have to respond with LBs or larger safety type DBs and that makes it very hard to cover our passing game.

With the smaller, home run hitter type backs you can stay small/fast in your packages which also helps defend the passing game.

 

[SWFLHurricane]

I think two things can be true... 1. I do think Martinez is a top 10 back in the country and 2. I agree he likely does not have that "home run" threat like a Duke or Lamar Miller when they hit a crease you KNEW no one was catching em.

But also beggars cannot be choosers, do you see anyone else in the portal or potentially in that can handle 15-20 carries a game AND is a game changing burner? Those are just rare. I think best case is we get Martinez and rely on him to get a consistent 6 YPC with the occasional 20-40 yarder and hope Chris Johnson can be that homerun threat on limited touches.

Duke wasn't the HR threat people make him out to be. Nowhere near Miller's speed.

 

[Cookie917]

Duke wasn't the HR threat people make him out to be. Nowhere near Miller's speed.

I agree no where near Millers speed and his TF year he seemed much faster, not a true burner but his vision, cuts, acceleration and that stiff arm made him a "big play" or "game changing" back which I guess is what I was getting at. At any moment Duke (and Lamar) could house a big one.

 

[88]

I agree no where near Millers speed and his TF year he seemed much faster, not a true burner but his vision, cuts, acceleration and that stiff arm made him a "big play" or "game changing" back which I guess is what I was getting at. At any moment Duke (and Lamar) could house a big one.

This, he looked speedy af early on then slowed up a bit putting on the weight to be a full-time back

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

I agree no where near Millers speed and his TF year he seemed much faster, not a true burner but his vision, cuts, acceleration and that stiff arm made him a "big play" or "game changing" back which I guess is what I was getting at. At any moment Duke (and Lamar) could house a big one.

"When looking at the Damien Martinez player stats, Martinez leads the Pac-12 with 34 running plays at 10 yards or more and that is five more than he had all of last season.

His 38 plays from scrimmage of at least 10 yards trail only Washington receiver Rome Odunze and Oregon receiver Troy Franklin among Pac-12 players.

There are 16 players at the Football Bowl Subdivision with at least 1000 yards so far this season and only Oklahoma State‘s Ollie Gordon averages more yards per carry than Martinez."

Damien Martinez Player Stats: Rising Star Sparks Oregon State Success

After setting season-highs in rushing yards and touchdowns, Oregon State sophomore Damien Martinez is now the leading rusher in the Pac-12.

www.pointspreads.com

That last part changed by the end of the season, as Martinez ended up with more yards per carry than Gordon.

He is an explosive playmaker.

 

[brock]

I think two things can be true... 1. I do think Martinez is a top 10 back in the country and 2. I agree he likely does not have that "home run" threat like a Duke or Lamar Miller when they hit a crease you KNEW no one was catching em.

But also beggars cannot be choosers, do you see anyone else in the portal or potentially in that can handle 15-20 carries a game AND is a game changing burner? Those are just rare. I think best case is we get Martinez and rely on him to get a consistent 6 YPC with the occasional 20-40 yarder and hope Chris Johnson can be that homerun threat on limited touches.

Yeah I agree with all this and it would be nice to have. But in hindsight we had this with Parrish already and if he wasn’t splitting reps with 4 other backs he would have been a 1000 yard plus rusher and provided the same thing, he still averaged like what 6.3 ypc last year?

 

[Cookie917]

"When looking at the Damien Martinez player stats, Martinez leads the Pac-12 with 34 running plays at 10 yards or more and that is five more than he had all of last season.

His 38 plays from scrimmage of at least 10 yards trail only Washington receiver Rome Odunze and Oregon receiver Troy Franklin among Pac-12 players.

There are 16 players at the Football Bowl Subdivision with at least 1000 yards so far this season and only Oklahoma State‘s Ollie Gordon averages more yards per carry than Martinez."

Damien Martinez Player Stats: Rising Star Sparks Oregon State Success

After setting season-highs in rushing yards and touchdowns, Oregon State sophomore Damien Martinez is now the leading rusher in the Pac-12.

www.pointspreads.com

That last part changed by the end of the season, as Martinez ended up with more yards per carry than Gordon.

He is an explosive playmaker.

IDK man, lots of qualifiers in those quotes. 38 plays from scrimmage of at least 10 yards are 3rd in the pac 12 only.

Then only 16 players with 1000 yards and he is second in YPC of that bunch.

I dont want to split hairs, he is a top 10 back. Bar none. But his highlights dont look like an "explosive playmaker" to me, they look like a guy who has good vision, decent speed, and excellent balance. I think the above confirms my thoughts on him. He averages 6 ypc and will regularly break off 15-25 yard runs. But there is a big difference in doing that (which is what the above quotes are all geared towards) and consistently being able to break off 60 yarders.

His longest runs for 2023 per game:
6
20
59
12
17
15
24
14
27
43
64
28

so only 3 were over 40 yards, and 2/3 came against San Diego State and UC Davis Aggies (the 59 yarder was against Stanford who won 3 games last year and was dog ****)

I guess the point I am trying to make is lets not hype him up too much to where we think he is a 1st round RB with the explosive playmaker tag. I think he is perfect for Mario, always moving the pile, falling forward, no negative plays and does not fumble type back. Like I said top 10 bar none. Would be an amazing get.

 

[Cookie917]

Yeah I agree with all this and it would be nice to have. But in hindsight we had this with Parrish already and if he wasn’t splitting reps with 4 other backs he would have been a 1000 yard plus rusher and provided the same thing, he still averaged like what 6.3 ypc last year?

seems like Parrish also wanted to leave, I dont think he was pushed. Parrish also could not handle a load like this guy has, when Parrish was asked to do that he got hurt (he runs hard) but he seemed consistently dinged up. Martinez has the frame to wear people out and run people over. Parrish ran like a bigger back because he did not have elite speed but he did not have the size of Martinez to overpower people. Martinez is def better than Parrish and I like Parrish as a RB. I think Martinez can get drafted, IDK about Parrish.

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

IDK man, lots of qualifiers in those quotes. 38 plays from scrimmage of at least 10 yards are 3rd in the pac 12 only.

Then only 16 players with 1000 yards and he is second in YPC of that bunch.

I dont want to split hairs, he is a top 10 back. Bar none. But his highlights dont look like an "explosive playmaker" to me, they look like a guy who has good vision, decent speed, and excellent balance. I think the above confirms my thoughts on him. He averages 6 ypc and will regularly break off 15-25 yard runs. But there is a big difference in doing that (which is what the above quotes are all geared towards) and consistently being able to break off 60 yarders.

His longest runs for 2023 per game:
6
20
59
12
17
15
24
14
27
43
64
28

so only 3 were over 40 yards, and 2/3 came against San Diego State and UC Davis Aggies (the 59 yarder was against Stanford who won 3 games last year and was dog ****)

I guess the point I am trying to make is lets not hype him up too much to where we think he is a 1st round RB with the explosive playmaker tag. I think he is perfect for Mario, always moving the pile, falling forward, no negative plays and does not fumble type back. Like I said top 10 bar none. Would be an amazing get.

Which RB in cfb would you consider to be an explosive RB?

 

[252cane]

Duke wasn't the HR threat people make him out to be. Nowhere near Miller's speed.

He still broke a lot of long runs so he was a hr threat