Could Coker/Johnson be Hampton/Brinson pt. II

[Mac50702]

Remember back in 2008 when we brought in Brinson and Hampton and everyone was excited about Brinson coming in, but not that many people knew too much about hampton and was writing him off. And then all of a sudden Brinson has some health issues and Hampton gets the nod to burn RS for true freshman season.Now fast forward to 2010. Everyone was excited for Coker, and people really didnt know what to expect from Johnson after his injury that cost him his senior HS season. Now it looks as if there is a pretty good shot that Johnson may be playing this year while Coker misses time in camp with an injury. So could this result in Hampton/Brinson PT II, where the player everyone is sleeping on emerges as the man ahead of the more hyped and known player. BTW i still believe that Johnson would have been as highly hyped and talked about if he would have got to play his senior season. God I'm bored is it september yet?

 

[HawkeyeRyno]

I hope not! Brinson ends up transferring in this story. I don't want that to happen to Coker!!

 

[Mac50702]

Yeah none of us want anyone to transfer, but it happens. And since it looks like we may have lost one back to whom cannot be named, we are going to need all the help we can get.

 

[hawkfan2679]

I blame Hampton for Guillory transferring too! /sarcastic tear



Sidenote: Guillory had a pretty good year last year for NW Oklahoma St...I guess he ran for about 1700 yards and almost 20 TD's.

 

[BALDIES7980]

I blame Hampton for Guillory transferring too! /sarcastic tear



Sidenote: Guillory had a pretty good year last year for NW Oklahoma St...I guess he ran for about 1700 yards and almost 20 TD's.

Did they play any Big 10 teams?

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Folks have to remember what factors also led to Brinson transferring. He had just sustained a pretty severe ankle injury and it was readily apparent, at the time, that there were three other guys in his same class eligibility-wise who were ahead of him on the depth chart. He presumably felt as though he had too much ground to make up in order to be a significant contributer at RB.

In stark contrast, the same situation isn't necessarily true for Coker. At the current juncture, we have NO other guys who can play the role of a "big back." Furthermore, with a redshirt season under his belt, he'll be a year more experienced and have another year separating him and the top guys (ARob and Hampton).

Lastly, I don't think that anybody with an informed opinion thought that DeAndre Johnson was a "diamond in the rough" ... quite frankly, he was a stud in high school. The only reason why Johnson might potentially be a bit of surprise for us in '10 is because most folks probably figured that he wouldn't be able to play so confidently after coming off of his ACL injury. And, that's pretty solid reasoning too.

 

[DexterMorgan]

What is D. Johnson's running style?

 

[tm3308]

Folks have to remember what factors also led to Brinson transferring. He had just sustained a pretty severe ankle injury and it was readily apparent, at the time, that there were three other guys in his same class eligibility-wise who were ahead of him on the depth chart. He presumably felt as though he had too much ground to make up in order to be a significant contributer at RB.

In stark contrast, the same situation isn't necessarily true for Coker. At the current juncture, we have NO other guys who can play the role of a "big back." Furthermore, with a redshirt season under his belt, he'll be a year more experienced and have another year separating him and the top guys (ARob and Hampton).

Lastly, I don't think that anybody with an informed opinion thought that DeAndre Johnson was a "diamond in the rough" ... quite frankly, he was a stud in high school. The only reason why Johnson might potentially be a bit of surprise for us in '10 is because most folks probably figured that he wouldn't be able to play so confidently after coming off of his ACL injury. And, that's pretty solid reasoning too.

I think that Johnson qualifies as a "diamond", but not for lack of talent or high school production. I don't know how many offers he had before he hurt his knee, or how many schools backed out on him. But Iowa, Florida, Minnesota, Purdue, and Duke were the only schools still offering when he committed to us. Not an overly impressive list. Again, I'm sure his injury probably turned off a lot of folks. But KF believed (and is looking smarter all the time for it) that Johnson could still be a VERY good D-1 back, while many others shyed away. That's maybe not a "diamond" in the mold of Dallas Clark, but a "diamond" nonetheless.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

I think that Johnson qualifies as a "diamond", but not for lack of talent or high school production. I don't know how many offers he had before he hurt his knee, or how many schools backed out on him. But Iowa, Florida, Minnesota, Purdue, and Duke were the only schools still offering when he committed to us. Not an overly impressive list. Again, I'm sure his injury probably turned off a lot of folks. But KF believed (and is looking smarter all the time for it) that Johnson could still be a VERY good D-1 back, while many others shyed away. That's maybe not a "diamond" in the mold of Dallas Clark, but a "diamond" nonetheless.

My view is simply that Johnson was a commodity before his injury and would undoubtedly have garned a lot more attention. Kudos to him for working hard before and after his injury ... and kudos to the Hawks for sticking with him!

 

[CAARHawk]

I think that Johnson qualifies as a "diamond", but not for lack of talent or high school production. I don't know how many offers he had before he hurt his knee, or how many schools backed out on him. But Iowa, Florida, Minnesota, Purdue, and Duke were the only schools still offering when he committed to us. Not an overly impressive list. Again, I'm sure his injury probably turned off a lot of folks. But KF believed (and is looking smarter all the time for it) that Johnson could still be a VERY good D-1 back, while many others shyed away. That's maybe not a "diamond" in the mold of Dallas Clark, but a "diamond" nonetheless.

You do realize that the freaking University of Florida is in your list don't you?

 

[tm3308]

You do realize that the freaking University of Florida is in your list don't you?

You do realize that the guys who never qualify as "diamonds in the rough" usually have USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, etc. on their lists, in addition to Florida? That's all I meant by that. Florida is great, but after that the list drops off in a hurry.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

You do realize that the freaking University of Florida is in your list don't you?

Florida didn't have an offer extended to him when Iowa landed him ... at least that is to my recollection. However, that said, DeAndre was "blowing up" on the recruiting scene prior to his ACL injury.

Another thing to note is that DeAndre had a pretty early offer from the Hawks too ... so he was a guy who was pretty high up Iowa's "want" list at RB. There's a reason why Iowa didn't accept Rhodes's verbal ....

 

[tm3308]

Florida didn't have an offer extended to him when Iowa landed him ... at least that is to my recollection. However, that said, DeAndre was "blowing up" on the recruiting scene prior to his ACL injury.

Another thing to note is that DeAndre had a pretty early offer from the Hawks too ... so he was a guy who was pretty high up Iowa's "want" list at RB. There's a reason why Iowa didn't accept Rhodes's verbal ....

My bad, I just looked at his "schools of interest". Iowa, Duke, Minnesota and Troy were the only schools to actually offer a scholarship.

 

[homerHAWKeye777]

Anyhow, whether or not the parallel turns out to be "true" or not will depend more on how Coker fares in the 2011 season.

I, for one, think that Iowa will be doing fine at RB ... and I think that Iowa will be rushing the ball like nobody's business in 2011. We lose so little on the OL ... and some of our biggest stars on the OL are only going to be getting bigger, better, and faster!

Our offense is going to be dominating in 2011 ... mark my words!

 

[MidnightBlueSix]

Here's the way I see RB panning out for the foreseeable future.

This year, I don't think #3 comes back. That means week 1 we basically have A-Rob and then Paki. I expect to see one of our freshmen, either De'Andre Johnson or Marcus Coker, as our #2 back. The last thing we want is to have to pull some kinda miracle to win over a team we should be able to beat up on. I don't think anybody on this coach staff wants to deal with another 6 weeks of being named the upset special because they held back on week 1. After then, said freshman settles into the #3 spot but probably sees time during second-half garbage time and is likely to get back onto the field with our injury history.

Next year, I see Hampton settling comfortably into the #1 spot with Robinson as his #2. Coker will likely be the #3 and De'Andre will sit at #4, maybe using his redshirt if he burns it this season. New recruit Melvin Gordon (and God willing Rodney Coe) will redshirt. If he has a hot season and gets a lot of buzz, expect Hampton to jump early to the NFL, maybe weary of another long-term injury going into his final year of eligibility.

If Hampton is gone, I would expect Coker to be the #1 during Robinson's final season, with De'Andre at #3. Gordon gets time on special teams and may be worked into a slot receiver for certain packages, taking advantage of his route running and catching skills, plus his open-field moves. If we have Coe, he may get the nod before Coker.

Of course, all of this can be affected by who we put at QB. If we go with Rudock instead of Derby, I would expect us to use a bigger, more physical RB to help pick up the blitz and to compliment his skill set. With Derby, I would think that we go with the quicker, shiftier Gordon and run a lot of options/passes to the flat.

 

[JoeHawki]

Folks have to remember what factors also led to Brinson transferring. He had just sustained a pretty severe ankle injury and it was readily apparent, at the time, that there were three other guys in his same class eligibility-wise who were ahead of him on the depth chart. He presumably felt as though he had too much ground to make up in order to be a significant contributer at RB.

In stark contrast, the same situation isn't necessarily true for Coker. At the current juncture, we have NO other guys who can play the role of a "big back." Furthermore, with a redshirt season under his belt, he'll be a year more experienced and have another year separating him and the top guys (ARob and Hampton).

Lastly, I don't think that anybody with an informed opinion thought that DeAndre Johnson was a "diamond in the rough" ... quite frankly, he was a stud in high school. The only reason why Johnson might potentially be a bit of surprise for us in '10 is because most folks probably figured that he wouldn't be able to play so confidently after coming off of his ACL injury. And, that's pretty solid reasoning too.

Given what has happened with the nameless one, Brinson may have gotten a real shot this year. Hindsite is.. Either way, where ever he ended up, i hope he has a great season, if he is not sitting out this year.

 

[LutherHawk]

Here's the way I see RB panning out for the foreseeable future.

This year, I don't think #3 comes back. That means week 1 we basically have A-Rob and then Paki. I expect to see one of our freshmen, either De'Andre Johnson or Marcus Coker, as our #2 back. The last thing we want is to have to pull some kinda miracle to win over a team we should be able to beat up on. I don't think anybody on this coach staff wants to deal with another 6 weeks of being named the upset special because they held back on week 1. After then, said freshman settles into the #3 spot but probably sees time during second-half garbage time and is likely to get back onto the field with our injury history.

Next year, I see Hampton settling comfortably into the #1 spot with Robinson as his #2. Coker will likely be the #3 and De'Andre will sit at #4, maybe using his redshirt if he burns it this season. New recruit Melvin Gordon (and God willing Rodney Coe) will redshirt. If he has a hot season and gets a lot of buzz, expect Hampton to jump early to the NFL, maybe weary of another long-term injury going into his final year of eligibility.

If Hampton is gone, I would expect Coker to be the #1 during Robinson's final season, with De'Andre at #3. Gordon gets time on special teams and may be worked into a slot receiver for certain packages, taking advantage of his route running and catching skills, plus his open-field moves. If we have Coe, he may get the nod before Coker.

Of course, all of this can be affected by who we put at QB. If we go with Rudock instead of Derby, I would expect us to use a bigger, more physical RB to help pick up the blitz and to compliment his skill set. With Derby, I would think that we go with the quicker, shiftier Gordon and run a lot of options/passes to the flat.

Whoa....whoa....whoa....getting way ahead of ourselves here. Let's wait until we at least see a couple games this year before projecting out 3 years.

Plus, I think Hampton showed some real signs of potential backing up Shonn Greene. But please, everyone on the Hampton bandwagon, remember that most of his yards came early in the season against lesser talent and in a true backup role when teams were already worn down. It is a much different thing to be the featured back. Let's wait and see how things play out. BTW...Robinson is a good back and deserves some credit for his production last year and playing hurt much of the time. Go back and watch the PSU game last year...he had some phenomenal runs that really kept drives going.