If Alley Broussard becomes his old self for 2 years, Keiland Williams is the stud we expect him to be, Antonio Robinson or RJ Jackson progress, or if one of our true freshmen progress, will we see the odd man out changing positions? We have 1 back for 2 years (alley), 1 back for 1 year (JV), and 5 backs for 4 years... Something has got to give! But this is also a great problem to have! :yelwink2:
First of all, the RB position is one in which injuries tend to strike fairly often. It's also a position where a player often just needs an opportunity to shine, so that year classification isn't a factor in who is truly the best player. It's weird to think about, but as of right now, we don't have a single proven running back. Both Broussard & Vincent are injured, but should be back for next season. We won't know possibly until the season starts whether Broussard is back to his old self. Vincent will likely be a decent back once again. We sign 3 top RBs this class, any or all of which could redshirt. Likely, atleast 2 will. That will space out the runningbacks some. Other than that, I'd guess that Antonio Robinson would be the odd man out. Maybe a position change, maybe transfer. Who knows.
Well, if history at LSU! --and in the SEC in general-- has shown us, programs with multiple "productive backs" still get their guys in the pros. Davis and Toefield....Ronnie Brown and Cadillac.... You're right, something will probably "give" (and YES, what a GREAT problem to have...) but I would like to see us maximize our talent by redshirting a few and spacing them out. Look, even if 3 of these backs reach their potential, and they all rush for 500-700 yards--even if it's the same season, all 3 will get a hard look at the pro level. Also, you have to understand that once some of these players reach college, and see some practice time, etc., a few will realize that they're not ready to play as a Freshman. Take Priest Holmes for instance....He sat behind Ricky Williams for what seemed like an eternity! before getting his shot. What all these running backs need to realize is that 4-year college starters at running back don't nec. have the desired effect that they think. Not every 4-year starting running back turns out to be Ricky Williams--who has shown incredible durability and sustained production years after departing from college. Ron Dayne took too many hits.... Seems like the better pro running backs are those that either split time in backfields (ala Brown and Cadillac) or those that wait patiently for their turn and spend 1-3 years as 3rd down back, or back-up that averages a few carries a game and THEN is given a chance to be a featured back as a Jr. or Sr. I don't think that ALL of our running backs have the mindset of "if I don't play THIS year, I'm leaving...". Like I said, in earlier threads of this nature, I would like to see Scott and Murphy redshirt. Not that I don't think either one wouldn't or couldn't be a productive back for us, but we already have RJ Jackson and A-Rob who have already used their redshirt years, and are perfectly capable of doing the job in their own rights. But even as RS-Freshman, if both RJ Jackson and A-Rob don't get 100 carries this coming season, it SHOULDN"T mean the end of the road for those two. I think the best way to handle the running backs, IMO is as follows: 2006 AB is your starter JV begins the season as the #2 Similar to when DD and Toefield were here, AB gets about 60% of the carries, JV gets 30% in the early going with KW and fullbacks Hester/Korte getting the other 10%. (should JV start out slow again, KW will be given the opportunity for more carries early in the season, and if he does as expected, by the end of the year, he and AB will be vying for 50/50 split in carries) RJ Jackson and A-Rob get their most extensive playing time in OOC games and occassionally some carries in "mop-up" duty throughout the season. They also represent your "emergency guys" in the event of injury. Scott and Murphy redshirt 2007 AB, Sr. KW, Soph. RJ Jackson, RS-Soph A-Rob, RS-Soph Scott, RS-Fresh Murphy, RS-Fresh This is the year that it TRUELY gets "cloudy"... If AB returns to '05 form, he MAY decide to leave early (for risk of another injury). If that happens, then, as you can see, we're only left with 5 running backs...and I say "only" because we have a track record of utilizing 2-3 backs. And injury bugs bite all the time....
From the last 2 classes i would expect at least one transfer and at least one position change... WR, SS, FS, LB, CB.. all positions that a runningback can make the move to..
I've never seen him play, but a coach who coached against Murphy this year told me he thinks he looks like a better fit in the secondary than at running back in college.
