DexterMorgan
Well-Known Member
HOw do you pronounce this? B1G << just "Big"?
Best of the B1G: Running Backs
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
lightning1
Well-Known Member
He has got a ton of talent. No doubting that.
Exactly, if you are going to do your homework, do it well. The point is , who's #1 whos #2 and so on. I think some people were amazed at Coker simply from the fact he was what??? 4 deep???? that just shows, thats what we do and will continue to do so. That kid made a very good impression with just that. Can he live up to it? I think so!!
You either have to break it all the way down by every RB or you have to look deeper and rank the depth in there as well.
He is good yes, but how many carries has he had? I have rather heafty expectations for a few people back there, but realistcly, he needs more time as a younger back, he runs a little high, but has shown he can lower it down and drop a boom. His best game ever was against a team that NEVER lines up in the I formation. So he might have aways to go before we start taking down Greens stuff.
Nebraskas, Rex has ran the ball a bit, and had some sucess doing it, you cant question that. You can however question can he do it as well in the b10. Also after him they dont have any depth. Thats kind of my point. So yes Rex has done more than Coker, so at this point you atleast have to say they are very similar. Rex has carried the ball a little more, but Coker has done it in a more hostile conf. I like the way Coker runs better than Rex. But in Jons defense he is going by numbers. They point to Rex as a "better" back than Coker. But like I said if you watch the games of both of them, Coker is more impressive.
For Ford I am not sure what he sees there.
I think what some people are missing is, in Jons write up's T-mart comes in just above middle of the pack, Rex comes in just a little higher yet. Now consider neither is used to playing the way alot of the teams in the b10 do. Even if they adapt perfectly, if you avg it out they come in around 4th in the conf, most likely not even a spot that will be good enough to make it to the ccg. Then add in that Bo has been recruiting for years to stop the spread (and did great at it) and there is no proven anything behind Rex or T-mart and their stock starts to slide pretty fast. I know they think they are only going to drop 2 or so, but I would think 4 is more like it.
MultipleDundieAwardWinner
Banned
To preface this, I have never seen this Marcus Coker play, nor do I watch Big 12 football, but I have found an inconsistancy in the prevelant argument here.
You claim that the Nebraska backs will have a great deal of difficulty transitioning to the "tougher" defenses in the big 10, yet a quick google search reveals that Coker had 25% of his carries, and 33% of his yards against a Big 12 defense.
A quick look at the math shows that Coker, in the 6 games (4 starts) he had in the Big 10, ran for 346 yards and 1 touchdown, for a whopping 57 YPG average. You denegrate the Big 12 and pump up your RB, but in all honesty, his most successful game was against a Big 12 defense. Besides that, he was fairly average. I know he was just a frosh, but that doesn't make him one of the tops in the league.
/yes, I am very bored at work...
Yes I mentioned this a few posts above. That his best game was against a spread team. But ALL the yards Rex has are against the same teams. Cokers running style and talent are better in my eyes. Thats why I put them at about equal (as I stated above). Now if you put Coker in for the same play time and against the same teams as Rex played, who has the higher numbers? Coker, hands down. Coker is qwicker and flat out runs like angry man.
DexterMorgan
Well-Known Member
YPG isn't really a good marker for a backup RB.
His Yards per carry was 5.5 which is pretty good. And against Ohio State his stat line read. 9 for 70 and a TD for a 7.8 yard average. His long was 26 so it's not like most of the 70 came on a single carry.
But I agree he isn't tops in the league just yet.
EDIT: He also averaged 94.57 yards per game in games that he recorded a stat. 67.16 in his 6 reg. season games.
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MultipleDundieAwardWinner
Banned
Coker player 5 big 10 games, and three of them were against Northwestern, Indiana, and Minnesota, so don't give me this crap about weak defense spread teams.
To futher back up my claim, lets look.
Rex 172 carries, 951yards, 5.5 avg, with the longest being 33 yards
Coker 114 carries, 622 yards. 5.5 avg, longest 62 yards.
Looks pretty even right? Well lets use your percents and figure this out. Coker gained a couple hundered IN ONE GAME against B12. The other 400 were gained in the b10. This all points to, if he had been running the ball those 114 times in the b12 his numbers would be higher than they are and would be better than Rex's. So if we conclude that is possible we have to also conclude that Rex's 5.5 will go down equally as he enters the b10.
I dont think Rex has ever had a 200 yard game and when he was a Fresh he avg 5 yards per carry against Missery. Futhermore Ia St and Wash are not that good, yet those were Rex's best games coming in at 129 yards against Ia St and 104 against Wash. Both teams I would expect an elite runner to get more of a career high of 33 yards as the longest, there by making his avg go up, yet it didnt and stayed about the same as Cokers. I am not saying he is bad, I am not saying he wont have any sucess. What I am trying to point out is if you add it all up Coker is a better back, but since he has less playing time, I have to put the two at about equal.
Rex 172 carries, 951yards, 5.5 avg, with the longest being 33 yards
Coker 114 carries, 622 yards. 5.5 avg, longest 62 yards.
Looks pretty even right? Well lets use your percents and figure this out. Coker gained a couple hundered IN ONE GAME against B12. The other 400 were gained in the b10. This all points to, if he had been running the ball those 114 times in the b12 his numbers would be higher than they are and would be better than Rex's. So if we conclude that is possible we have to also conclude that Rex's 5.5 will go down equally as he enters the b10.
I dont think Rex has ever had a 200 yard game and when he was a Fresh he avg 5 yards per carry against Missery. Futhermore Ia St and Wash are not that good, yet those were Rex's best games coming in at 129 yards against Ia St and 104 against Wash. Both teams I would expect an elite runner to get more of a career high of 33 yards as the longest, there by making his avg go up, yet it didnt and stayed about the same as Cokers. I am not saying he is bad, I am not saying he wont have any sucess. What I am trying to point out is if you add it all up Coker is a better back, but since he has less playing time, I have to put the two at about equal.
DexterMorgan
Well-Known Member
You're making too much of Big 10 vs Big 12 defenses
I dont feel that way, the b12 was pass happy and all those coaches recruited to shut down the pass. They were not as worried about running teams because even if there was one, it was worth the risk.
Look at what Wash did to Nebby in their bowl. Look at what Iowa did to Missery in their bowl. Wash 52 for 268 avg 5.1. Iowa 37 for 225 avg 6.1!!!!!
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DexterMorgan
Well-Known Member
This could be argued as a reason for less production out of a RB. Can there be a discussion about the workings of big 10 vs big 12 defenses? Sure. But I don't think one rbs stats are more valid than anther's because of the conference they play in.
homerHAWKeye777
Well-Known Member
You don't seem to get the point there. In the Big 12, most of the base Ds were nickel formations or similar sets designed more to defend against the pass.
As an immediate trade-off, the Big 12 was necessarily weaker when defending against the run.
Your example of Northwestern, Indiana, and Minnesota doesn't apply ... because those teams still play in a conference that places more emphasis on running the ball. It doesn't matter much what their own particular offense runs.
No not one backs stats. But the fact remains as I pointed out, when Nebraska's D which is ranked right up there was ran at they failed. When Misserys D which if I recall right was like top in red zone D going into the Insight bowl, was ran at they failed. I dont follow b12 enough to do it and just dont have the time, as I follow b10, but I would be VERY interested to see how many losses of the better teams in the b12 came at the hands of running teams.
homerHAWKeye777
Well-Known Member
Helu was the more dynamic back for the Huskers ... and that is the reason why he gashed the Mizzou D far more than Rex did. A primary knock on Helu was the fact that he fumbled the ball quite a bit. Between that fact and injuries ... those were primary reasons why Rex saw as many carries as he did through the past two seasons.
EXACTLY
