New RB Transfer
- Thread starter kougkurt
- Start date
After a quick google on him, I found this. Seems.. weird, for lack of a better word. A 4 Star with those offers?
"A former four-star recruit, Watson committed to UW over Nevada, North Texas, Ohio, Bowling Green, and Sam Houston State. A late riser in the class of 2018, Watson was elevated to the nation's No. 11 ranked running back per 247sports. "
"A former four-star recruit, Watson committed to UW over Nevada, North Texas, Ohio, Bowling Green, and Sam Houston State. A late riser in the class of 2018, Watson was elevated to the nation's No. 11 ranked running back per 247sports. "
Grade issue maybe??? Missing a class or maybe not enough gpa to go with test score??
Had an offer from Harvard. Grades weren't an issue.
A late bloomer who committed to Wisconsin early. Might have gotten a larger than normal bump ratings wise due to Bucky recruiting him.
Bigger question to me is why he dropped down the depth chart. He started the year as the guy, even making the Doak Walker watchlist. He didn't start out the year great, got a high ankle sprain, and hit the portal after the season. He didn't seem to draw a ton of interest.
It'll be interesting to see how this works. My gut says Watson has a high floor and could be the workhorse portion of a thunder/lightning combo with Bazile.
I didn't see the offer from Harvard. But I did see his high school film... He isn't a home run back. He had some long runs in high school but I don't see him as having break away speed. Which is fine because he is the back I have been saying WSU needs for years... bruiser, ugly yards, runs between the tackles, makes kids put a body on him, can hit guys in the face over and over and over and over and over.... most of all... he makes teams play 4 DL and a MLB and actually defend the run.
I think he is a great fit for a passing offense like the run and shoot or air raid. He forces the defense to play the run and not just play defense like its a skelly drill and maybe most importantly.... he gives you a goal line run game.
Given that Wisconsin has produced some great RBs over the years (Jonathan Taylor, Ron Dayne, Melvin Gordon, James White), I think they have a good idea of what a good running back looks like. If they liked him coming out of HS, he must have some decent ability. Good pickup!
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
Well, he fills in for Markoff, so it appears to be an upgrade, nothing against Markoff, the guy worked his tail off and maybe should have been considered more in short yardage situations. Welcome Nakia, we wish you nothing but success at WSU, and I do believe this is the power back to complement the rest of the backs.
This feels like a home run transfer. Lets hope it pans out better than other highly rated recruit transfers we have brought in.
I'm going to use some history to show what I hope will happen.
In 1985, Troy Aikman started the season at QB for Oklahoma. He was so good, Barry Switzer retooled his wishbone to a pro set that season, specifically to take advantage of Troy's ability. But...4 or 5 games into the season, Troy went down with a season ending injury. Not career ending, but season ending. OU didn't have a great pro style back up QB, so Jamelle Holieway got the chance to start the rest of the season in the wishbone. That was a pretty smooth transition, since that is the offense OU had been running prior to that season. "Jamelle the Jitterbug" (one Oklahoma sportswriter's phrase) was as good a wishbone QB as probably ever played, and the entire OU offensive roster had been recruited to play wishbone. Not just any wishbone, either, but the kind that you needed to play to beat Texas. That meant you had guards that could get to an inside LB and neutralize them...which is a job, especially with the kids that UT had playing LB. OU ran the string and were national champions. Was Jamelle a better QB than Troy? I don't even know how to make that comparison at the college level. Clearly, Troy was a much better pro prospect, but that did not mean that Jamelle was in danger of losing his job. Barry Switzer and Troy had a frank and open conversation. Barry suggested a transfer to another league to resolve the situation, and he and Troy parted on good terms. Jamelle played QB for a very good OU team the next year. And Troy Aikman went on to be...well, to be Troy Aikman. Troy was a kid who lost his job due to an injury and who was unable to win it back, so he transferred. And UCLA knew what they were getting. The only words I personally traded with Jim Walden in my life were when it was announced that Troy was looking for another school. Jim told me he would be going to UCLA. A couple of weeks later, that was the public announcement....but clearly it had been in the works for a while.
We just picked up a RB from a team that relies heavily on a good RB that can run over a LB. He was their top RB recruit that year and committed early, so his other offers have to be viewed through that lens. He started, got injured, and could not regain the starter's role. I hope that reflects more on the wonderful job that the back-up did than it does on this young man. And in looking at the recruiting film, I have absolutely no idea how he will do with catching passes in space and running. But I know this: he can run; he can run block; and he can pass block. He has acceleration and can change direction quickly, and do all that while carrying enough mass to break the tackle of the typical PAC outside linebacker a good % of the time. While I have no idea how good his hands are at catching a pass, his YAC should be good. And he has a year to prove himself in the system while Max is the starter. It is not hard to foresee red zone and short yardage formations with two RB's in our future.
Will it turn out that way? Who knows? But we have a puncher's chance of making this work better than we can imagine, sitting around in April. Let's see what fall brings.
In 1985, Troy Aikman started the season at QB for Oklahoma. He was so good, Barry Switzer retooled his wishbone to a pro set that season, specifically to take advantage of Troy's ability. But...4 or 5 games into the season, Troy went down with a season ending injury. Not career ending, but season ending. OU didn't have a great pro style back up QB, so Jamelle Holieway got the chance to start the rest of the season in the wishbone. That was a pretty smooth transition, since that is the offense OU had been running prior to that season. "Jamelle the Jitterbug" (one Oklahoma sportswriter's phrase) was as good a wishbone QB as probably ever played, and the entire OU offensive roster had been recruited to play wishbone. Not just any wishbone, either, but the kind that you needed to play to beat Texas. That meant you had guards that could get to an inside LB and neutralize them...which is a job, especially with the kids that UT had playing LB. OU ran the string and were national champions. Was Jamelle a better QB than Troy? I don't even know how to make that comparison at the college level. Clearly, Troy was a much better pro prospect, but that did not mean that Jamelle was in danger of losing his job. Barry Switzer and Troy had a frank and open conversation. Barry suggested a transfer to another league to resolve the situation, and he and Troy parted on good terms. Jamelle played QB for a very good OU team the next year. And Troy Aikman went on to be...well, to be Troy Aikman. Troy was a kid who lost his job due to an injury and who was unable to win it back, so he transferred. And UCLA knew what they were getting. The only words I personally traded with Jim Walden in my life were when it was announced that Troy was looking for another school. Jim told me he would be going to UCLA. A couple of weeks later, that was the public announcement....but clearly it had been in the works for a while.
We just picked up a RB from a team that relies heavily on a good RB that can run over a LB. He was their top RB recruit that year and committed early, so his other offers have to be viewed through that lens. He started, got injured, and could not regain the starter's role. I hope that reflects more on the wonderful job that the back-up did than it does on this young man. And in looking at the recruiting film, I have absolutely no idea how he will do with catching passes in space and running. But I know this: he can run; he can run block; and he can pass block. He has acceleration and can change direction quickly, and do all that while carrying enough mass to break the tackle of the typical PAC outside linebacker a good % of the time. While I have no idea how good his hands are at catching a pass, his YAC should be good. And he has a year to prove himself in the system while Max is the starter. It is not hard to foresee red zone and short yardage formations with two RB's in our future.
Will it turn out that way? Who knows? But we have a puncher's chance of making this work better than we can imagine, sitting around in April. Let's see what fall brings.
I hope he never catches a pass. The running backs need to run the ball. Let them do what they do best, be running backs. I’ve seen my fill of backs catching passes out of the backfield. It doesnt do a damn thing for your passing game downfield or your running game. It is exactly what the DC wants. No passes to the wide receivers and no touches running the ball. Passing to the RB removes touches from the WRs doing what they do best and removes touches from the RBs doing what they do best. What more could you ask for as DC??? The offense neuters itself.
Your actually partly right and partly wrong.
Your right that you dont want the RB to have some to a lot of CATCHES, for the reasons you named.
You do however want the RB to catch 1, a couple, few, almost some passes, in certain limited situations.
When it happens, it wont be expected, and can get about 4 to 14 to 18 yards, and a chain moving 1st down, on a 2nd, 3rd down and 3 to 6 yards to go.
The Run and Shoot has 2,3,4 WR, RB, no Tight Ends.
The MODERN RS passes about 63% to 65% to 67% to 69% of the time.
The RS runs about 34% to 38.5% of the time, between the tackles, etc, to both gain some good yardage, because of Pass Defense, and to help keep defense honest, and to help passblock, and run block.
But despite keeping the Defense Honest, the defense is going to at least run a nickel defense, with a Run/Pass zone a lot.
That kind of defense can cover 2,3 WR, and sometimes even 4 WR, if the DB's, are semi pro DB's.
To deal with that, you sometimes need a 4th, 5th, extra WR, in the RB.
The trick is to hide that, pick spots well, and have RB run SEMI DELAYED ROUTES OCCASIONALLY.
Basically a RB catching a pass for the Run and Shoot is kind of like a QB doing a between the tackles QB draw 3 to 7.5 times per game.
They both serve the same purpose.
Its also kind of like the Tight End catching 2,3,4 passes per game in the Mike Price Offense.
So a MODERN Run and Shoot does need the RB to catch 2,3,4 passes in certain limited situations.
So in that sense your semi wrong.
But your right that the RB doesnt and shouldnt be catching a lot of passes.
I’m not sure I’d go that far. Here’s where this is accurate. You get an overly jumpy QB (Falk during his tough days) and he’s checking to the RB before guys have a chance to break open downfield. Defense recognizes it, starts to creep, and swing passes are getting blown up after a yard or two. Yeah we’ve seen this happen. Doesn’t mean a running back catching the ball out of the backfield in a well balanced offense is a bad thing. Plenty of NFL coaches won’t touch a RB if he can’t catch, and their offenses are better for it.
A few passes here and there to keep the defense on its toes is fine. If your RB has 4 carries and 15 catches in a game that is a bad thing. You might as well line the RB up in the slot at that point.
It'll be an interesting experiment to have a pure battering ram. I think it'll make the most impact in the redzone. I don't think we will be able to feed the RB's the 35-40 times a game to break the will of opposing defenses though, which is what Watson seems made to do.
Huge impact on goal line play calling. Huge impact on how the defense plays on the goal line.
I dont know what the number of carries is that forces the defense to change. Could be 15. Could be 25. Who knows? What I do know is that the sooner the DC has to take away one pass defender and add a DL... the sooner the odds tip in the WRs favor.... the sooner the DC has to play a MLB to stop the inside run and not a MLB that plays like a safety... the odds tip even more in favor of the WRs.... Make the defense defend the inside run and change their personnel.
Agreed. A symptom of this approach with a lazy or happy footed QB is going to be an over reliance on the check down, and an offense that bogs down against solid defenses.
I don’t think Rolo would hesitate to do it though if that’s what the defense is giving them. No doubt in my mind Leach would bench his QB if they checked to a run 35 times, even if the backs were getting 10 yards a pop.
I would rather see the QB tuck the ball and run than throw to the back, throw the ball away or make a poor attempt downfield. Make the defense defend the entire field and all ways of moving the ball.
You used to see a lot of coaches teach their QBs to throw the ball away if no one was open. What does that do for you? You gained no yards. You haven't forced the defense to do anything it doesn't wanna do. You burned a down. You got zero value out of that play.
The QB has to run the ball. You have to get at least a yard. Always be moving forward. Make the defense defend the pass AND the QB run. Make the DBs peak back while running with the WR. Make the linebackers be linebackers. Make the DC actually coach his team to play run/pass/qb run rather than just pass.
If your offense gets funneled thru 1 guy, whether pass or run, you're not going to beat teams that are coached up. The DC is now essentially calling the offenses plays.
This is, IMHO, the essential post here. A big, between-the-tackles RB forces the DC to make personnel changes. In most cases it will mean both 4 DL and a big, tough MLB (not a converted safety who is also a pretty decent pass defender). It guarantees at least 5 guys dedicated to run coverage first on all but really long yardage plays. And in the red zone, or even mid-field short yardage situations, it dramatically complicates the DC's job. All of that can both delay a pass rush and give WR's time and space to do their thing. As I understand it, that is the essence of the R&S...plus the WR's ability to improvise, and the QB's ability to run if the opportunity presents itself. The more we complicate the DC's job, the more often we get the benefit of a complete coverage bust, whether that is run coverage or pass coverage. And those busts are often what result in the explosive plays.
It changes the defense from 3 pass rushers and a safety at MLB to 4 DL and a MLB that has to play like a MLB. Forcing the defense to defend inside run, passing game and qb run is 3 dimensional and now forces them to defend too much field and too many ways to move the ball.
The goal line package has a bruiser back, a passing game, play action run or pass and qb run. Goal line offense that can show diff packages and still hammer the ball? That’s 6 points every time.
This kid was a good pick up. He will complement the backs on the roster nicely.
Trigger warning:
Art Briles offense at Baylor was basically pound the ball up the middle...and throw 4 verticals with some play action of the same thrown in.
That was basically it and it put the safeties in a huge bind.
And yes, I know...Art Briles is a POS. Last time I mentioned his offense people flew off the handle.
Art Briles offense at Baylor was basically pound the ball up the middle...and throw 4 verticals with some play action of the same thrown in.
That was basically it and it put the safeties in a huge bind.
And yes, I know...Art Briles is a POS. Last time I mentioned his offense people flew off the handle.
It works. It puts the defense in position where they cant defend it all. Stretched too thin. Makes 3 star kids look like 4 star kids.
Art Briles, Les Miles, and Rick Neuheisel walk into a bar...
And the bartender, Mike Price, asks, what'll ya'll have?
He would throw an occasional wr screen... because he had big ass receivers and it could set up more big plays vertically but he didn't really throw the ball laterally much.
It was run and pass vertically.
Jim Lambright is at the end of the bar drinking by himself. He's forbidden to talk to patrons.
Les Miles makes sure there is a empty seat next to him and says, "I will have 1 oz. pineapple juice, 1 oz. blue curacao, 1 oz. 7 up, 1 oz. peach schnapps and a bud light". He takes a drink of the beer and says, "Mike you seen any hot blondes in this place? My wife is gone for the weekend and I need a babysitter".
Dementia Jim just six months older than Dementia Joe who quit the Delaware freshman team due to his 1.9 GPA
Yes. He got 2 guards that went 6’4” 350 and mauled people inside. Then bombs away.
