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Notes From the Margin
By Jason Roberts | July 14, 2008
Are all running back-by-committee scenarios really that bad?
Remember a few college football seasons back when the Auburn Tigers hosted two of the best RBs in the country with Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown?
Also, remember how difficult it was for most fantasy owners to make the final decision whether to draft Williams or Brown? Picking either would place the team owner in the circumstance of holding a player limited in his production by the dreaded running back-by-committee scenario.
For those that gambled and took the chance, the rewards were well worth the risk. As a senior, Williams ran for over 1,100 yards and scored 12 times. Brown, on the other hand, rushed for just over 900 yards and reached the endzone eight times.
As such, neither panned out as a bad selection. For once, the running back-by-committee model actually played out well for a handful of brave-hearted fantasy college football owners.
But before we end up romanticizing too much over the happenings from four years ago, let us recall that we have yet to pose the following question as it relates to the current day and time: Is there another Williams - Brown situation brewing at Auburn University for the 2008 season?
Tigers tailback coach Eddie Gran states in a recent The Birmingham News article, the likelihood of that scenario playing itself out once again in 2008 is not nearly as unlikely as some fantasy owners might think. Gran even makes the comparison to the past tandem himself.
Tate, as fantasy owners will recall, led the Tigers in 2007 with over 900 yards rushing. Lester, despite missing six games last year due to suspension, added his own numbers to the overall Auburn rushing attack totals, finishing the season with 530 yards on the ground. Should the two be able to remain healthy, the running back coach concludes, the Auburn rushing attack should be one of the best in the SEC.
In order for the latter to be achieved, however, the Auburn offense has to keep a fresh set of legs on the field. This will force opposing defenses to play closer to the line in order to try and stop the Tigers from moving the ball on the ground. That means plenty of interchanging in the backfield between Tate and Lester anytime the offense is out on the field. It also signals that a fairly even number of carries will be split between the two seasoned veterans as the season plays itself out. That being the case, a reemergence of the type of statistics fantasy owners saw with Williams and Brown is a strong possibility this 2008 football season.
Is it a likely enough scenario that fantasy owners should accept the risk of grabbing either Tate or Lester in preseason drafting?
Yes, team owners should absolutely do so. Most fantasy owners are sure to approach the 2008 Auburn backfield with the same level of conservatism which prevented them from committing to Williams or Brown back in 2004. There may be no better time than the middle-rounds of this year’s draft to acquire either Tate or Lester as a solid starter at running back. Either one should be the type of player that brings points consistently week-in and week-out. Lastly, some might argue that the presence of Tristan Davis and freshmen Eric Smith and Reggie Hunt make such a move far too risky…don’t believe it. Tate and Lester are clearly regarded as the workhorses at tailback that will make the Auburn ground game a success this year.
Hidden meaning in reading between the lines at Purdue?
A recent Journal Gazette article out of Fort Wayne, Indiana offers insight into one of Purdue University’s returning receivers and considers the possible role he might play in the upcoming football season. The article centers its coverage on head coach Joe Tiller and his preemptive selections before fall camp of both offensive and defensive team captains.
Fans and fantasy owners will find little surprise that quarterback Curtis Painter was identified by Tiller as the first of the two offensive captains that will lead the team. It’s the second one, however, that has caused more than a few eyebrows to be raised around West Lafayette over this past week.
Why? Because also assigned team captain duties on the offensive side of the ball is Joe Whitest, a 6′2″, 195 pound senior wideout out of Belle Glade, Florida.
Arriving on campus as a sophomore, Whitest was originally identified as a replacement for injured receiver Andre Chattams. He was inserted into Tiller’s offense from time-to-time in 2006 in order to obtain much-needed experience at wideout for the Division I level (he had played minimally at Independence College in Kansas, but was redshirted as a freshman due to a turf toe injury). He also was slated in his first year to play an important role on Purdue’s special teams unit.
Catching only one 20 yard pass in his first season, Whitest seemed inconsequential in comparison to other teammates on the Boilermakers’ offense. In fact, he was regarded as more of an anomaly amongst star-quality players like Taylor Stubblefield, John Standeford, Dorien Bryant, and Dustin Keller.
The fact that Whitest was not involved to any extent in the offensive scheme for the Boilermakers in 2007 only seemed to further support such thinking regarding the then-junior.
Nevertheless, the coaching staff for Purdue has continued to praise Whitest as “a vocal and positive leader” throughout scrimmages and along the Boilermakers’ sidelines over the past two years.
With Greg Orton being withheld from drills with a groin injury, this gave Whitest the chance to get in a great deal of practice with the first-team offense this past spring as he split time with fellow senior wideout Brandon Whittington. Whitest made most of the opportunity to shine in front of both teammates and the Purdue coaching staff. Whitest was eventually identified as one of the most consistent producers throughout spring camp and won plenty of praise with a five catch, 41 yard performance in the final scrimmage.
Many writers covering the Purdue Boilermakers expect that it will be younger receivers like Keith Smith and Waynelle Gravesande whom will be the leading candidates for a breakout season come this fall. Smith, in particular, was a hot name this spring, especially since he was asked last year to “simulate” Indiana Hoosier’s star wideout James Hardy on the practice squad. He did so well that he was subsequently moved from quarterback to wideout permanently with the arrival of the 2007 post-season.
Such thinking may have fantasy owners regarding Whitest as too inexperienced to be of much import to the Boilermakers in 2008, particularly given his lack of a proven track record over the past two years. Still, the fact that Tiller has identified him as an offensive captain may just in fact speak to something that Whitest’ record has not yet revealed, making him a potential sleeper for league managers anxious to acquire an outstanding wide receiver for their roster.
Taking a “Polk” at the University of Colorado starting tailback position: The Daily Camera out of Boulder, Colorado reports sure it is supposed to be Darrell Scott, the number one rated running back in the nation for this current year’s recruiting class, that makes the biggest splash for the Colorado Buffaloes. However, heading into the upcoming football season, both coaches and teammates are instead making plenty of noise about fellow freshman Ray Polk, an Arizona native and former tailback at Brophy Prep School in Phoenix.
While Scott continues to remain home in California working out on his own, both Polk and fellow freshman Rodney Stewart are getting plenty of work with the first time offense and making preparations for a serious run at the starting tailback role for 2008 against seasoned rushers Demetrius Sumler and Brian Lockridge.
A recruiting war down in the heart of Texas: This from The North Texas Daily, dated July 10, 2008 - there is an interesting development currently taking place in the state of Texas, between the University of North Texas, led by head coach Todd Dodge and Southern Methodist’s newly arrived head coach, June Jones. The two coaches are engaging in a hotly contested recruiting battle for the class of 2009. Given that both coaches head up an offensive scheme which draws heavily on the abilities of highly-touted athletic players, high school seniors such as Daniel Mayberry and Darius Johnson are receiving strong offers from both universities. It has even gotten to the point where, at times, players are reversing initial verbal commitments to one program in order to enroll and play football at the other.
An all-purpose sleeper at tailback for New Mexico State?: Within the same article cited above is contained the news that NMSU senior quarterback Chase Holbrook is finding incoming JUCO transfer Marquell Colston a standout at the Aggies’ tailback position. As a sophomore running back for Modesto Community College in 2007, Colston was named Golden Gate Conference All-Purpose Player of the Year, this after rushing for 996 yards and posting 492 yards receiving for the season. With the potential of that offense, he is surely a player to keep an eye on.
Topics: College Football, Jason Roberts, Notes From the Margins |
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